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“If history has taught us anything, it is that Fashion means change. However, the 21 century design landscape changes 24/7, so what arguably might be the way fashion starts trends and forecasts the image of fashion itself in the Future?” My argument: Women’s role in society affects the sexuality of their clothing and the masculinity of their style.
The gender role of women has been something of a focus point amongst fashion designers since fashion itself began. Women for centuries have been seen as petite, lady-like housewives and/or mothers with limited fashion choices other than skirts, dresses and blouses. Women’s figures were known to be curvy and their hourglass figure has been enhanced for years through the use of corsets, which enhanced the breasts and tightened a woman’s waist. Women were to have their hips emphasised as their role in life was to bear and raise children, as men would subconsciously look for big hips in a woman to carry out that role. Equality of the sexes was unthinkable in Victorian times and men were by far superior to women. Women were known to conform to their social standards and the act of rebellion regarding fashion was unheard of. The culture of the Victorian era associated trousers with male authority. Dress reformers attempted to convince upper and middle class women to wear trousers, but on the whole they were unsuccessful, probably because women who wore trousers were seen as attempting to usurp male authority (McCrone 1988:221) - Diana Crane (Page 122) This shows that women needed the courage and the support for a movement to take place. It would take a lot for a movement to take place purely on opinions of women’s argument for rights during this time- it would have to take a lot for them to get their opinions heard and/or valued. During the 1940’s, there were fewer men around to complete manual labour due to the World War and so women were appointed these job roles instead and therefore needed practical clothing to work in- thus the trouser was commonly seen amongst women all over Britain. This fashion movement was a success as the change in clothing was functional, not aesthetical. I think that was the reason the movement was able to happen, it was the physical need of the woman, not the emotional want therefore the movement was not seen as an ‘attempt to usurp male authority’. (IMAGE 1) This image shows how women were wearing denim overalls- most likely men’s, (as opposed to newly fashioned to fit their size) which shows how the clothes are not tight, do not show any leg or breast and generally do not accentuate the female form. This would empower women as they were treated for once as equals and that they were as capable as men to labour in the towns. Although this was a big movement in women’s rights, women would change back into their feminine outfits after labour was complete and still at this time had to take care of the children as well as working – further work was needed to cement this movement. Men’s clothing introduced more so into women’s fashion the nineteenth century, There were in fact two distinct styles of dress for women in the second half of the nineteenth century. Photographs reveal that, coexisting with the fashionable style was another style, which I will call the
alternative style. It was widely word but has seldom been discussed. This style incorporated items from men’s clothing, such as ties, men’s hats, suit jackets, waistcoats and men’s shirts. - Diane Crane (Page 101) These clothes would hide cleavage, would not accentuate any sort of waist and would not be as tight fitted as women’s clothing. This made the female figure less curvy which, with regards to fashion, would change the tailoring dimensions, as women’s clothing was normally very fitted. As women gained more independence they were keen to show off their newfound respect and equality. This quote is interesting as it states it was ‘seldom discussed’ which means that it was not mentioned and certainly not advertised. Women’s masculine fashion began to be documented and used in advertising and designer brands around the 1990’s. (Image 2) This image shows one of the first advertisements that featured a woman wearing men’s clothing for Ralph Lauren. The movement was now in the media. More recently, in 2000, the Sex and the City episode aired that involved an artist displaying his work at a gallery that featured photographs of women posing as men. As Sex and the City was always first to put across new and diverse concepts to the media, this would have been rare at the time for cross dressing to be shown in the media so casually and would have caused a big reaction. The collision of illusion and reality. – Sex and the City “Was sexual flipping the wave of the future? If women can transform into men and men can become women and we can choose to sleep with everyone maybe gender doesn’t exist anymore. If we can take the best of the other sex and make it our own has the opposite sex become obsolete?” – Carrie Bradshaw.
In terms of high-street fashion, women’s fashion has become a lot more masculine since the millennium. Office wear has now become the norm for a suit jacket and trousers to be worn. Women now have accessibility to more types of clothing to choose from in everyday wear for their bottom half that cover them up as opposed to skirts and dresses i.e. leggings, jeans, jeggings, trousers etc. These are also becoming very common to wear on a sophisticated night out i.e. Wet-look leggings. Trousers styles are also less curvaceous- straight leg trousers and the boot cut jeans are on trend at the moment, which do not highlight any shapely assets a woman may have. Jumpers and t-shirts also feature different necklines; high neck, round neck, turtle neck etc. Shirts are commonly buttoned all the way up and women are also wearing ties to the work place and in everyday wear. This shows how the traditional and most common dress for women where by they accentuate their breasts and legs. Men and women –Claudia Brush Kidwell and Valerie Steele “It goes without saying that the Erotic Principle has, for almost the whole of human history, been the dominant factor in female dress . . . The function of fashion is to increase the erotic appeal of the female body by constantly shifting the emphasis from one part of it to another. Hence we find that at one period the bosom is the centre of attraction; at another, the legs.” James Laver.
On the catwalk, we see models that have very masculine figures. It is not common for women to have large breasts on the catwalk- their hips are bony, their chests are flat and their legs lack curves completely. This shows that the traditional figure for a woman has changed and now the high end of fashion is promoting women that do not have full figures and/or curves. This contradicts with certain theories written about women’s fashion that suggests it is purely for sexual purposes to attract males. Annette Lynch – Changing fashion Theory four: Libido, fashion change driven by the desire to look. This theory, based on Freud’s theory of personality, interpreted fashion change as driven by the pleasure-seeking libido. According to Freud, libido-driven “looking” is a core element of the sex drive, with the female-dressed body playing the tantalizing role of representing sexuality to the viewer and the wearer alike. While both men and women experience libido-driven pleasure as a result of the use of dress to represent female sexuality, the sources of the pleasure are very different. Both are fundamentally based in the sexual objectification of women’s bodies, and the use of dress and appearance to accentuate and mark sensuality. The pleasure women experience is indirect, based on imagining themselves as objects of male gaze. The pleasure men experience is more direct, with women’s clothing eliciting an erotic male response. This may be why the masculine shape has been used on the catwalk as they tend to use models and themes that will shock their audiences to create attention and press about the collection. Women loose their sexuality when they stop portraying their sex i.e. Gender. Women will become less attractive to heterosexual men if they dress in a masculine way. Hairstyles on the catwalk also show that women are becoming portrayed as more masculine as women are known to have long, tousled hair to portray their femininity- on the catwalk we see slick back gelled hair, centre partings and smooth straight low pony tails. These types of hairstyles accentuate the jaw line and cheek bonesfacial features usually associated with those of a man. French model Andrej Pejic walked for both the Men and Women’s Jean-Paul Gaultier collection in the Paris fashion shows of 2011. He is a well-known androgynous model that models alternatively as a woman and a man, although he himself is male. He featured in the Androgynous Fairy Tale Fall 2007 collection for Jean-Paul Gaultier, a designer renown for his androgynous “gender-bender” collections. This poses that if women posing as men, and vice versa for one off photography shoots as stated before- and to present are now featured in high fashion catwalks- that angrodgeny in the future will simply grow to be more prominent in this field and gender will not matter when model casting. (image 3) This image shows Pejic walking for Jean-Paul Gaultier’s wedding couture collection. His figure does not seem misplaced or shocking, as it is similar to those women modelling with flat chests and thin legs. This suggests that women and men are blending into one regarding bodily shape as they simultaneously blend into one regarding their career choices, social status and equal rights. Despite most high-street collections now including a plus-size range, I believe however popular they may be amongst these high-street brands and outlets; curvy women will not feature on a London Catwalk for a designer
brand anytime in the near future. Designers will not showcase their collection on overweight models, as the clothes will look unflattering. The exaggerated female figure used within the fashion industry is common during each process whether it be design, manufacture or promotion. Fashion templates are of narrow figures and ill proportioned body parts which only leads to a designers visions being tarnished and therefore their designs only suit women with extreme bodily proportions in the real world- hence models going to extremes to achieve these figures that are un-natural. This image will, and is, effecting women worldwide- the aspirations amongst women and especially young teenagers to loose weight and be as skinny as the catwalk models is a concern and an unrealistic goal. It would appear that the more equality women achieve, the more so they present themselves and aspire to be masculine. I also think that the more so that women focus on their careers the less that they will have time to raise children and settle down- this means that as the breadwinner role in a typical family may change to the female, the number of large families will decrease amongst Britain. I think it will continue to be on trend within designer labels to wear unfitted clothing i.e. straight cut trousers and loose fitting shirts, jumpers and t-shirts. Women will combine office wear in their everyday/casual outfits more so. High-end designers will never want to be the first to change from using size 0 to a size 10 as in comparison- their collections will look like they are designed for larger women. The model industry will continue to compete for the most unique looking models with the most shocking figures. To conclude, fashion in terms of garments, models and styling are affecting the fashion of body image and will continue to do so until a powerful enough movement overrides the need for disproportionate models in high-end fashion. High-end fashion will always look to shock and be different to separate it from high-street fashion.
Image 1 http://www.wornthrough.com/2010/04/13/women-pants-politics/
Image 2
Diane Crane - Page 102 Parody of the tie, as a statement of feminine independence, with the female models tie worn askew in contrast of those to her male counterparts Ralph Lauren advertisement 1995
Image 3 fashion.telegraph.co.uk