Aestheticism

Aestheticism was a late 19th-century artistic and literary movement championing 'art for art's sake,' rejecting Victorian utilitarianism in favor of beauty as life's highest purpose. Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley, and the Pre-Raphaelites are the names attached to it, and its dress ran medieval-inspired and Eastern-influenced. Loosely draped silk or velvet gowns come in peacock blue, amber, and sage. Embroidered Aesthetic dress reform garments dispense with corsets entirely. Liberty of London prints and Japanese kimono-influenced robes extend the range, alongside sunflower or lily motif jewelry and artistic pieces in silver and semi-precious stones.