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2000s
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Romanticism and historical revival

The past could appear unsettling as well as beautiful on the 2000s runway. Historical references gave McQueen, Galliano and Takahashi different ways to shape contemporary dress.

Historical dress reinterpretedDramatic volume and fabricRomantic and Gothic narratives

About Romanticism and historical revival

In the 2000s, designers continued to use history as a source of contemporary fashion. Alexander McQueen’s Widows of Culloden collection connected tartan and expansive skirts with Scottish history. John Galliano’s work for Dior revisited earlier eveningwear through inventive cutting and fabric. Jun Takahashi gave Edwardian-looking clothes an aged, unsettling character for Undercover. Romanticism could be dark, questioning or deliberately artificial; historical revival did not require an idealized view of the past.

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The Met: Alexander McQueen, Savage BeautyThe Met: Dior evening dress, 2000Powerhouse: Undercover, But Beautiful II
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