“The art of dressing is part of the art of living,” so say the French, the world-famous fashionistas. So, clothes are not just fabrics to cover the body? Of course, my friend, of course. Behind the seeming simplicity and frivolity of clothes are sometimes long thoughts and hard work of those who create them (and those who make money from them). And I wish you wouldn’t just “squeeze” the next update out of your mother first, and then, perhaps, out of your husband, but to treat your clothes with the proper understanding, awareness of their importance, their laws and rules.
The function of clothing
Since its inception, clothing has served several functions. First of all, it is a protective or comfort function. It’s simple: to protect people from the cold, wind, insects and other nuisances of the environment.
You’ll say: but our time is not the time of wild tribes, when skins really protected against snow, frost, mosquitoes, sharp prickles and other things. We live in apartments with central heating and upholstered furniture. It would be safe to exist in an Eve costume. Why don’t we do this? Because clothes have another function, a very strict one: decorum.
The rules of modesty varied from time to time. It is said, for example, that a famous German poet of the last century tried to challenge a man to a duel if he accidentally saw the edge of the white stocking of the poet’s beloved, when the girl lifted her skirt to cross a puddle.
The more puritanical society was, the more thoroughly the body, especially the woman’s, should have been concealed. So it was in the Middle Ages. It continues to be so in some Muslim countries, where not only the body but also the face is concealed. A thick veil of burqa is obligatory for a woman who goes out into the street. Only her husband can know who she really is – a beauty or a freak.
Another function has been asserted since long ago: demonstration. For example, a necklace of wild animal fangs was supposed to show everyone that its wearer was an excellent hunter. Some tribes used to make a garment of bright feathers of rare birds as a distinctive sign of a chief. Remember the American Indians?
Why clothes are so important
Do you think that people communicate only through language? Yes, that’s right, gestures, facial expressions, posture also tell us a lot. But also clothes help us to “read” a lot of signals transmitted by other people. That guy over there, in the suit, obviously wants to emphasize that he is a high-flying businessman. And the other one, the one in the worn-out jeans and long hair and the one with the weird glasses, he’s not that kind of guy. Look at those girls. You see, they’ve obviously recently moved to our big city from the provinces. In their efforts to dress on par, you can see many flaws of ignorance, poor taste, and insufficient funds. Very different from them are well-groomed regulars in expensive restaurants, wearing lycra tights and almost flawless makeup. And here is a woman in a strict business suit getting out of the car. The chauffeur parks the car, she is greeted respectfully at the entrance to the office. You’ve learned by now that clothes are a handy way of showing status and looks, haven’t you?
And this has always been the case, there have always been distinctive clothes in order to emphasize different social status. And people sometimes tried to use costume in order to exaggerate their social status with it. Therefore, in past centuries, the demonstration function of clothing was regulated very strictly.
For example, the English Parliament determined what clothes a person of this or that class could wear. If an outfit was worn that belonged to people on a higher level of the social ladder, then the guilty person was fined heavily and the clothes were simply taken away.
In Renaissance Germany, a woman who violated the strict regulations was punished shamefully: she had to wear a heavy wooden collar around her neck.
In France in the fourteenth century special regulations of the authorities determined the length of toe shoes for each class: for the nobility – no more than two feet – almost half a meter (some dandies wore shoes with a much longer front part, which had to be attached by chains or straps to the belt to somehow walk), for the city – one foot, others – six inches. For women, the length of the plume was limited. Depending on social status, it was defined as 11 cubits for a queen, eight for a princess, five for a duchess, and so on up to one cubit.
Even seemingly democratic America at first forbade a woman to wear a silk scarf if her husband “cost” less than a thousand dollars.
In this day and age, try to forbid anyone from doing anything about it!
Not long ago I was in a café, where a skinny, blond, painted girl in a dirty white robe was cleaning dishes and wiping the tables. But at the very end she suddenly appeared in the hall in a marvelous silk scarlet suit, whose price I couldn’t name at the time. Who, seeing such a lavishly dressed girl on the street, would think she worked as a cleaner in a catering outlet? Maybe it is through such a simple deception that she hopes to arrange her fate? Maybe “Prince Charming” would make her happy, or maybe she, a catering worker, would make someone with a more modest income happy.
In the robe, the girl acted accordingly, you know how. And in her silk gown, she acted like a princess. I mean, clothes are a role, and not just on the stage. And in life, in the depths of the clothing-role a person lurks. Some people say they are indifferent to clothing. Their attire is unfashionable or slovenly. But it, too, speaks for its owner: this person is indifferent to society with its culture, and to his own role in it. Or he is absolutely confident in the rightness and correctness of his views on the world and life, absolutely rejects all and any authority and can afford not to pay attention to what he is wearing. Could he be “not quite himself”?
You must understand, my dear, that there is a great mute connection between everything in the world.
When it comes to clothing, society develops certain standards, including in dress, and from its rank-and-file members it demands more or less strict adherence to them. Without this, a person runs the risk of falling down the rung of the social ladder he or she is on.
For the individual himself, how well he or she is dressed is also very important. If you are poorly dressed, you will be constrained and silent. So you will not be able to show your abilities. And vice versa – in beautiful clothes you feel as if you have wings! Well-dressed person even feels smarter. For he is confident in himself in the morning. One more thing. Know that poorly and boringly dressed people are tedious and groom each other. However, do not go to the other extreme. A girl once admired a young man, “Ah, I’m crazy about him: he has such a cool coat!”
Clothing has always served the purpose of impressing others. It is believed that women dress to “impress” men. Perhaps they do, but only to a certain extent. Don’t be fooled. We women dress for other women first and foremost. It is to impress our acquaintances and girlfriends that is the motive that often guides us in the process of choosing and preparing an outfit.
Admit it, you’re thinking to yourself as you try on your new jacket: “Here will choke with envy girls! Especially that jerk Oksana! Oh, how spectacular I’ll look!” and so on and so forth…
It is women who have to assess the firm, the cut and the quality of the fabric. Men, as a rule, understand nothing about this, or are indifferent. It is the overall impression that is important to them. Although in my life there were two men who understood women’s clothes better than I did, and sometimes I used their advice, because I found it difficult to make the right decision myself.
What clothes should be
Firstly, its functionality is important, that is, what is it for: to work on the garden, go to the mountains, study at the institute or go to the disco? In any case it should be comfortable and you should feel comfortable in it. I always am amused by girls in a super-short elastic skirts, which now and again have to be pulled up, and right in front of others. Or when the T-shirt, designed to be worn in the bedroom or its surroundings, becomes the basis for the image. Also an interesting sight on the street.
Although, maybe girls want to implement the second function of clothing – the aesthetic? Considering this type of underwear beautiful, using it to emphasize the advantages of their figure? Of course, nowadays it seems that “everything is possible. But I am reminded of our grandmother’s story about how, after the war, many ladies received trophy German peignoirs from their returning husbands and wore them to theaters and movies. Or a recent impression, when in a dark part of the famous rue Saint-Denis in Paris, I saw a very beautiful prostitute in a black lace jumpsuit (a combination of shirt and panties). Which version of the explanation suits our girls?
They, apparently, do not quite correctly understand the third function of the clothing: to emphasize the modernity of its owner. Yes, a T-shirt with lace on the bottom is beautiful, but not on the streets in it?
No, I will not grumble. Everyone has the right to individuality (the fourth function of his clothes). But if that individuality every ten yards? Let it go. I won’t look back and shush. A normal modern person doesn’t behave like that.
Ask me your questions in comments and I will answer you! Also watch the cool video below!
