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TheUn-CorsetedBody
17
Therationaldress-reformsocieties,thus,wereconcernedwithbothaspects
ofVictorianmodernityindress-beingmodernandlookingmodern-asthey
emphasizedmobility,comfort,health,rationalityandbeautyindressbutnotat
theexpenseofthecontemporary,fashionablelook.Thiswaspartlythereason
whythedressbecamequicklyawidelyacceptedlook.
Until1880,however,inBritaintheonlyexistingalternativetothefashionable
corseteddresswasthePre-Raphaelitedress,anditiswidelyrecognizedthat
thereformdresswasheavilyinfluencedbythisartisticstyle.Thefocusis,then,
onhowthedressoftheRe-RaphaeliteBrotherhood,thatinmanyrespectswas
clearlyanti-modern,couldbecomethebasisforamodernalternativelook.
ThefoundationalyearsofthePre-RaphaeliteBrotherhoodsucceedAugustus
Pugin’sContrasts(1836)-whicharguesforarevivalofmedievalaesthetics,
faith,andsocialstructures-andprecedeWilliamMorris’NewsfromNowhere
(1890)-whichpresentsautopianvisionoftherevivalofcraftsmanship.The
Pre-Raphaelitedresswascreatedintheearlystageofthemovement,spanning
1849-52,whenthemovementfocusedonreligiousandliteraryfiguresasthe
primarysubjectmatterwithhighmoralstakesandpsychologicaltension.
TheartisticPre-Raphaelitedressoriginatedfromtheideasandworkoftwo
importantsocialphilosophersofthetime,JohnRuskinandWilliamMorris.
In1848,inspiredbyRuskinwhoadvocatedthestudyofartandnatureas
aspiritual,moralpursuit,threeyoungartistsattheAcademyofArtinLondon
-WilliamHolmanHunt,DanteGabrielRossetti,andJohnEverettMillais-
formedthePre-RaphaeliteBrotherhood,andotherartistssuchasFordMadox
BrownandEdwardBurne-Jonescametobeassociatedwiththem.Thesecond
waveofPre-Raphaelites,includingEdwardBurne-JonesandRossetti,worked
closelywithWilliamMorrisandWalterCrane,playinganactiveroleintheArts
andCraftsMovementandholdingstrongcriticalviewsuponcontemporary
fashion.13
ThedesignofPre-Raphaelitedressstemmedfromtheconceptualprinciples
oftheBrotherhoodart.Aimingtoreformcontemporaryart,thePre-Raphaelites
rejectedthemannerismandconventionsofacademicpaintingrootedinthe
HighItalianRenaissanceandmechanicalmassreproduction,andstrovefor
spiritualintensityandadherencetonature.Themedievalperiodofferedparticular
inspiration,forintheviewoftheBrotherhood,itsartofferedpatternsoftrue
beauty,spiritualdepthandmoralinsight.
OneofthemaindeparturesthePre-Raphaelitesmadefromcontemporary
pictorialconventionswasthroughtheirrepresentationofthehumananatomy.14
13
TimBarringer.ReadingthePre-Raphaelites.NewHaven2012,pp.26-42.
14
LisaMichelleHoffman-Reyes.SubversiveBeauty-VictorianBodiesofExpression.
GraduateThesesandDissertations,UniversityofSouthFlorida,2014,p.37.
www.scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5042.