LATEST EVENING GOWN

 The vibrant court life of the 16th and 17th centuries with its focus on art, literature and music created a fertile environment for feminine formal clothing. Elaborate dinners, dances, and theatre productions allowed fashionable ladies to showcase their finery. The Italian Renaissance courts were the pinnacle of style and elegance in Europe. With the advent of the Baroque era, the focus began to shift to France and the court of Louis XIV. 17th century court dresses featured draped skirts with long trains, tight bodices, low necklines trimmed with lace, and embroidered, lace- and-ribbon-trimmed full sleeves. Rick silk weaves, such as satin, taffeta and velvet created luxurious gowns. In the 18th century, formal dress started as the mantua, but later developed into the elaborate sack-back gown. The farthingale so popular during the 16th/17th centuries, evolved into the pannier to give dresses and skirts extra volume and the desired court silhouette.

 The vibrant court life of the 16th and 17th centuries with its focus on art, literature and music created a fertile environment for feminine formal clothing. Elaborate dinners, dances, and theatre productions allowed fashionable ladies to showcase their finery. The Italian Renaissance courts were the pinnacle of style and elegance in Europe. With the advent of the Baroque era, the focus began to shift to France and the court of Louis XIV. 17th century court dresses featured draped skirts with long trains, tight bodices, low necklines trimmed with lace, and embroidered, lace- and-ribbon-trimmed full sleeves. Rick silk weaves, such as satin, taffeta and velvet created luxurious gowns. In the 18th century, formal dress started as the mantua, but later developed into the elaborate sack-back gown. The farthingale so popular during the 16th/17th centuries, evolved into the pannier to give dresses and skirts extra volume and the desired court silhouette.

Styles

Sheath

The sheath style evening gown, like the usual sheath dress, is designed to fit the body tightly. It is generally unbelted, and has a straight drape. It can have shoulder straps or be strapless.

Mermaid

Mermaid, as the name suggests, means that the evening gown is shaped like a mermaid. It is form-fitting at the bodice, and the skirt is designed to resemble a mermaid's tail in silhouette. The skirt may or may not be of the same colour or texture.

A-line

The A-line style evening gown is somewhat bell-shaped, it is close-fitting at the top and widens gradually at the bottom, without gathers or pleats. This makes for a simple but elegant appearance.

Trumpet

If the evening gown is trumpet shaped, it is tight-fitting until it reaches the knees, where it flares.

Empire

The Empire silhouette involves the waistline coming up to just below the bust, from which the skirt hangs straight and loose, in a simple breezy style.

Dropped waist

The waistline is dropped below the actual waistline. The skirt can be fitted or flared.

Princess

The princess style evening gown is also tight, cut in single pieces, such as gores, and hanging in an unbroken line from shoulder to flared hem.

Crafting

Evening gowns can be distinguished from conventional or day dresses by two primary features. The first is the cut, which tends to be couture and in line with the latest fashions, unless the article of clothing is a ball gown, in which case it will tend to be cut along more classic lines. The second distinguishing feature is the fabric. Evening gowns tend to use luxury materials such as silk, velvet, and taffeta, and they may be richly embroidered or decorated with beads, sequins, jewels, and other ornaments. Wealthy women also prefer to purchase tailored evening gowns, which are designed to flatter their figures. In all cases, evening gowns are designed to be worn with high quality jewellery.

Evening gowns are typically associated with glamour and luxury, and appear at events like the Academy Awards in the United States, the opening of the society season in urban areas, and formal receptions. In most instances, evening gowns are not designed to be worn more than once, although high profile members of society such as celebrities may auction off gowns which they have worn for charity. In some cases, especially for highly public events, well known designers will lend custom or vintage dresses to famous attendees of the event, in order to showcase their design skills, and then take the evening gowns back at the end of the evening for part of a permanent archive

 An evening gown or gown is a long flowing women's dress usually worn to a semi-formal or formal affair. It ranges from tea and ballerina to full-length. Evening gowns are usually made of luxurious fabrics such as chiffon, velvet, satin, organza, etc. Silk is a popular fibre for many evening gowns. Although the terms are used interchangeably, ball gowns and evening gowns differ in that a ball gown will always have a full skirt and a fitted bodice; in contrast, an evening gown can be any silhouette—sheath, mermaid, A-line or trumpetshaped—and may have a empire or dropped waist.