In Western culture, dresses are usually considered women's clothing. The hemline of dresses can be as high as the upper thigh or as low as the ground, depending on the whims of fashion and the modesty or personal taste of the wearer.

19th century

Dresses increased dramatically to the hoopskirt and crinoline-supported styles of the 1860s; then fullness was draped and drawn to the back by any dresses had a "day" bodice with a high neckline and long sleeves, and an "evening" bodice with a low neckline (decollete) and very short sleeves.

Throughout this period, the length of fashionable dresses varied only slightly, between ankle-length and floor-sweeping.

See also History of Western fashion: 1795-1820, 1820s, 1830s, 1840s,1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s

Victorian fashion, Artistic Dress movement, Victorian dress reform.

Dress types

Depending on design dresses are classified. Different basic dress shapes are:

• Shirtwaist, a dress with a bodice (waist) like a tailored shirt and an attached straight or full skirt
• Sheath, a fitted, often sleeveless dress, often without a waistseam (1960s)

  

  Fads and fashions

  • Chanel's little black dress (1920s and on)
  • Tea gown, a frothy, semiformal dress
  • Dinner dress, a semiformal dress worn when fashionable people "dressed for dinner" (men in tuxedos or dinner jackets, even at home)
  • Coronation gown, formal wear for coronations
  • Evening gown or formal, a long dress for formal occasions
  • Ball gown, a long dress with a full, sweeping, or trained skirt for dancing
  • Kitty Foyle, a dark-colored dress with contrasting (usually white) collar and cuffs (1940s, after a dress worn by Ginger Rogers in the movie of the same name)
  • Cocktail dress, a semiformal party dress of the current street length (1950s and sporadically popular since)
  • Granny gown, an ankle-length, often ruffled, day dress of printed calico, cut like a Victorian nightgown, popularized by designer Laura Ashley (late 1960s-1970s)
  • Formal dress - a formal dress
  • Ballroom dancing gown - a formal dress for ballroom dancing
  • Fairy tale gown - a dreamy styled dress
  • Queen's gown - a long formal dress for a queen
  • Princess's gown - a princess's dress for balls

  Usage

  POV: date=May 2008

  

  Potential drawbacks of dresses include being either too long or cumbersome for the performance of some physical activities such as climbing stairs or ladders. Their use can run contrary to the individual or wider public sense of modesty and decency, especially given their potential to intentionally or accidentally expose the wearer's underwear. In addition, some dress styles, particularly those with back closures, can be difficult or even impossible to don or remove without assistance.