The feminine dress has been another way of controlling women though history and we have had to struggle to make a difference or change it to adapt it to our needs and not to society standards. They were like dolls who didn't have an opinion or personal thought, they were something beautiful to be shown.
On the International Women's Day I thought it would be interesting to comment on some revolutionary changes and some women who made it possible.
The Empire line dress ( 18th- 19th century)
The waist was set just below the bust, giving a high-waisted appearance. It represented freedom from the corset that caused women couldn't breathe properly. Clothes were lighter, shoes were more comfortable and they could move freely. There were important women writers (Jane Austen, Brönte sisters) but they had to use a pen name to publish, they couldn't show their ideas as freely as they liked.
The Bloomers (19th century)
In the 19th century women went back to corsets and crinolines, but women had their own ideas. They wanted to vote as men did. The women's rights activist Amelia Bloomer was the promotor of the bloomer troussers. She was the first woman to edit a newspaper for women. This revolutionary attire provided more physical freedom to women and represented the equal rights women demanded. Now women could ride bycicles and move without restraint. Society oposed to them because they were considered an usurpation of male authority.
Coco Chanel (1883-1971)
She was a revolutionary, she wanted to liberate women from uncomfortable fashions, and she created a new style with women wearing troussers, loose dresses, suits, knitwear, sporty and casual clothing.
The Roaring Twenties: the flappers
After the war women wanted to be free, independent, they wanted to vote and work. They started to wear make up and didn't use corsets anymore, comfortable underwear was created and skirts were shorter.
The 60s: Mary Quant
She became an outstanding figure in the Mod and youth fashion movements. She was one of the designers who took credit for the miniskirt and hotpants, she encouraged young people to dress to please themselves and to treat fashion as a game.
Women wore colours and bell-bottom troussers and lived the life they wanted.
The Punk Movement: Vivienne Westwood
Westwood was one of the architects of the punk fashion phenomenon of the 1970s. she was the designer who wanted to let her clothes speak for themselves, she is a rebel who uses new materials: chains, zips, plastic, tartan, she represented the fashion of the streets, the urban fashion. Women are definetely free to wear whatever they like to.
But are we really free? How do you think fashion limits women's rights?
- What about sizes in clothing?
- What about the different prices for women's and men's articles "The pink tax"?
- What about the "objectification" of women in fashion advertising?
- What about women not being able to go out wearing what they like because they could be accused of provoking men?
Things have changed but prejudices and fears still exist.
