This paper will be concerned with the ways that fashion influences dance movement. Emphasis will be placed on the influence of fashion on American ballroom dancing as it developed between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. There is little doubt that fashion has an impact on dance movement. In this regard, the historian Peter Buckman has claimed that "styles in dress and manners have as important an effect on dance as does music" (Buckman, 1978, p. 114). In contemporary ballroom dancing, freedom of movement is considered to be a very important factor. This is because most modern dances require the dancers to move their entire bodies (Allen, 1985, p. 28). However, this freedom of movement was not always as important in ballroom dancing as it is today. In the early part of the nineteenth century, dancers were far more restricted in their motions. This was primarily because the clothing styles of the time were more binding than they are today. Throughout the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, fashion styles underwent dramatic change. As a result of this development, clothing styles gradually permitted more fluidity of motion for dancers. In turn, dance styles in America also became more flexible until they reached the level of freedom which has existed since the late 1950's and which continues to exist today.
Prior to the middle of the nineteenth century, fashions for both women and men were very restrictive. Women generally wore a type of skirt known as a polonaise. This type of skirt was designed to puff out either at the sides or in the back. Sometimes, women also wore a pannier, or wire framing, which helped puff out the skirt. Padded bustles were also used to help make the skirts stick out in the rear. Men generally wore knee breeches and tight jackets. It was also fashionable for both men and women to wear wigs. Often, these wigs were piled up to ridiculous heights on top of the...