Crinoline Caged Skirt. Wearing what is in fashion is a form of obedience, and many people who do not obey it are viewed as an oddity. “What clothing communicates has mostly to do with the self and our social identity as it is framed by cultural values bearing on gender, sexuality, social status and age.” (Davis, 1994) Fashion is also about individuality but only to a certain extent.
The specific garment in that I have chosen to discuss throughout my essay is the crinoline skirt that has been popular at various times since the mid nineteenth century. The crinoline skirt conjures up the idea that the woman wearing it (or her wealthy father or husband) can afford all the fabric that it requires. The crinoline skirt is a stiffened or structured
…show more content…
They ensured that there was a sufficient gap between the elites of the time and the working class people. A commentator from Quill Bell Magazine has argued that: “Wearing a giant cage in the form of a crinoline skirt could be regarded as a form of protection against the hundreds and thousands of suspicious strangers a woman might come into contact with walking down the street. Furthermore, caging a woman's sexuality can be seen from another angle. By putting her genitals behind a cage, a woman is at least symbolically protecting herself from sexual predators.”
The crinoline skirt came with positives also. Prior to crinoline caged skirts, women wore many layers of petticoats to resemble that bell-like shape at the bottom half of their body. It was unhealthy and uncomfortable for women to wear that many layers of clothing. The crinoline was a better alternative as it was much lighter and was not nearly as hot. Therefore, in its own way, the crinoline was a revolutionary garment during this time. On the one hand it symbolized female repression, but on the other it provided a sort of female liberation. “They freed women from the layers and layers of heavy petticoats and were much more hygienic and comfortable.” (Victoria & Albert Mueseum,
Victorian Fashion refers to the styles and clothing worn before and during the Civil War era of the United States, 1860-1900. This era was filled with a very difficult way of dressing oneself and to deviate from this line of dress was unheard of, and worthy of being outcaste. Victorian women’s clothing was layers, heavy, and barely manageable to even wear. Many different articles made up the full garment such as the undergarments, the skirt, top, shoes, accessories, and even the hair. How did women ready themselves for the day in this era and how did they deal with all the cumbersome attire?
for fear of men seeing them as women's legs, it was a bit like the
...d women’s fashion to break free from convention. Bras and corsets were seen as symbols of oppression and conformity. They were discarded by many women as many new fads appeared,(). Women also exhibited their newfound freedom by wearing traditional male clothing such as baggy trousers, men's jackets, vests, over-sized shirts, ties and hats.
Clothing for women was custom-made although women’s clothing “developed more slowly.” (Source 1) Women accepted ready-made clothing because it was more affordable. Instead of going to general stores, they used catalogs to look for more “modern and fashionable”
Back in Celie’s time women putting on a pair of pants was a paramount statement. The pants are also her source of economic success. Page 146: "Well,
were not subjected to regular health checks at school and took little physical exercise. Girls' bodies were hardly ever seen undressed, except perhaps by their mothers, sisters, or maid servants. In the higher socio-economic classes, women generally dressed elaborately, wearing corsets and other apparel which concealed and transformed their figures. (van't Hof 28)
There are many reasons for this. Women had to deal with hardships such as wars where there was limited supplies of fabrics, needles, and thread. These are just a few of the many hardships women have faced with their clothing. Historical Context There were two large events that changed fashion for women forever.
Royal women often wore stockings that covered the lower edges of their legs, they were called nether hoses. Headdresses that looked like veils covered the ears and the front part of the head, and no hair was visible. A form of their sleeves were having them start big and tighten as they move closer to the cuff, they formed a
There has been a case of a death brought about my corset steel embedded into a mother’s heart. Corsets, however harsh they may have been, were not the most common death bringer. Crinolines were quite the dangerous piece for women’s clothing. A crinoline is a structured petticoat designed to hold out a women’s skirt. They were composed of hoops, sometimes lacing, and made of flammable material.
Women were required to wear conservative clothing, nothing that show cases the body or skin. Women must wear their veil with long sleeves shirts, long pants, or long dresses. The new commander set rules where women would be punished for being in public without their veils or skin coverings. Daring women tried to find loop holes in their dress code laws, while other women would cover as much skin as humanly possible. “In no time, the way people dressed became an ideological sign.
The ideal silhouette of the time demanded a narrow waist, which was accomplished by constricting the abdomen with a laced corset. While the silhouette was striking, and the dresses themselves were often exquisitely detailed creations, the fashions were cumbersome. At best, they restricted women's movements and at worst, they had a harmful effect on women's health. Physicians turned their attention to the use of corsets and determined that they caused several medical problems: compression of the thorax, restricted breathing, organ displacement, poor circulation, and prolapsed uterus. But these garments are what was expected of a woman to wear, regardless of the physical damage it may cost
The overall idea of what a women should wear was extremely unpractible, causing women intense sickness and immobility due to things like “tight garters” and “corseted waists” (Riegl 176). Women could not wear loose, practical, comfortable clothes like mens fashion, but were confined to a life of solitude in their own clothing. Women’s fashion created a very large and unneeded burden (Riegl 176). Women felt violated that this uncomfortable and unhealthy way of life was being forced upon them. Eventually women got fed up by these Fashions and a sense of rebellion was triggered in many women. They finally felt they had to do something about the unfair treatment that took too large of a toll on their lives (Riegl 176)
“For as long as men and women have been wearing clothing, there has been a hierarchy based on garments. The clearest example arose when the sexes were segregated into skirts and pants: women would only wear dresses (a symbol of submission) and men would only wear trousers (proof of domination). Women’s clothing was created to impede and hamper movement (through tight or many layered skirts), while men enjoyed the ease and comfort of pant legs.” (Meza, Echazarreta) Women’s fashion throughout the ages can be used to trace the history of equality between men and women. As women achieved greater independence, they claimed the right to choose what they wore, and that included women being able to wear pants. There are three things that were instrumental in making it socially acceptable for women to wear pants, they include: the invention of the bicycle, WWII, and influential women.
Tertullian. “Chapter1. Modesty in Apparel Becoming to Women, in Memory of the Introduction of Sin into the World Through a Woman.” On the Apparel of Women. Trans. S. Thelwall. Ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. Vol. 4. Buffalo,NY: Christian Literature, 1885. Print.
middle of paper ... ... It also analyzed the influences of modern dresses. As Palmer and Clark (2005) mentioned earlier, both decades are the classic era in fashion history.