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The study of textilesThe study of the techniques and production of textiles has been largely ignored by the archaeological community until quite recently. There still remains a vast field of problems, both with regard to the way in which different textiles were made, and to the material and tools used in the process. In spite of the importance of textiles to the general household, farmers and townsmen, trade, and past and present economy, there is an extraordinary lack of general information concerning historical and economic matters in this field. This is especially the case with regard to early history.
The scarceness of information on this subject is partly due to the lack of sources. Although textiles are a very important part of everyday life they are extremely perishable compared to such items as bronze axes or gold torcs. The material which the archaeologist is able to exhume is greatly dependent upon climate, soil and the details of deposition. In Europe really well preserved textiles are the exception rather than the rule; this is in contrast to the treasures from the graves of Egypt and the Near East. Nevertheless the early history of textiles in Europe does have some highlights including the well preserved textiles and clothing from the oak coffins of the Danish Bronze age. In this chapter I will discuss the evidence we have for early textile production starting with methods and materials. I feel this is important to provide a sufficient background to the theory that fulachta fiadh were used as centres for textile production.
The history of material
‘Textile’ comes from the Latin ‘texere’ meaning to weave. When our first ancestors began hunting animals and keeping their hides for clothes the first ‘material’ was born. Even though “food, clothes and housing are the most important needs of a man” (Jørgensen 1992) textile production is a craft that took a long time developing. It seems that the first material that was used was of a vegetative nature. In 1962, digging into level VI at the Turkish site of Catal Hüyük archaeologists uncovered the carbonised remains of a variety of textiles. The date was set at the beginning of the 6th millennium BC. It took some time for the remains to be analysed as they were in quite bad condition. It was finally established that the remains were flax - and the material linen (Barber 1992). As we move into the Neolithic, flax turns up again, the Swiss ‘lake dwellings’ dated to c. 3000BC provide our earliest substantial piece of material. Excellently made fragments of linen cloth were uncovered. They were of a very high quality and contained various patterns and elaborately fringed areas. Small quantities of spun thread were also found dotted around the site thus suggesting that the production of cloth was quite developed (Barber 1992). More Neolithic cloth turns up in Egypt. It was found in the 5th Millennium layer of a site in the Faiyum. A piece of coarse linen was found in a small cooking pot. (Barber 1992). Linen is an excellent material but not as good as wool for warmth and durability so why was wool not used before this?
The sheep was domesticated by 9000BC in N.E. Iraq and by 3000BC at the latest there are firm indications that its coat was being converted into wool felt or woven fabric. In Britain
the earliest finds of sheep bones date to the early Neolithic (from c 3700BC), but the first extant wool textiles are those from the oak coffin at Rylston, E. Yorkshire. The wild ancestor of domestic sheep has “a short hairy, outer coat composed of bristly fibres knows as kemps which obscure an even sorter, fine woolly undercoat” (Ryder 1981). The coat of the first domesticated sheep must have been the same as that of the wild ancestor and quite unsuitable for material. After domestication the woolly undercoat became denser, and many of the kemps in the outer coat were replaced by long-stapled wool. Eventually, probably as a result of direct selection by man, there evolved a uniform fleece of generalised medium wool. The earlier short, hairy and coarse coat would not have been suitable for spinning like the later woolly fleece. It is not until the bronze age that these changes take place. Until shears came into use in the iron age the wool was obtained by from the sheep by simply pulling the hair off. Wool was probably spun directly from the fleece with little or no preparation. It then needs to be combed to straighten the fibres in perpetration for spinning. Bone combs have survived from prehistoric times and some were probably used for this purpose.
It is not until the Bronze Age that we begin to get substantial evidence for textile production. It comes from the graves of the ‘mound people’ in Denmark where each grave contains significant textile remains. The waterlogging of the sites made for excellent preservation of the costumes and gave us a real insight to fashion in Bronze Age Europe. The clothes recovered include cloaks, hats, hair-nets, tunics, belts and skirts. They are all made of woven woollen fabric and some if not all of the material was fulled (Glob 1974). It also seems that the costumes were woven on a loom (Broholm & Hald 1948). Similar material also turns up in Ireland at Armoy in Co.Antrim. Here a horsehair belt and woven woollen bag were uncovered in a bog. This represents a major development in the technology of textile production. The techniques used in making these costumes i.e. loom weaving is still practised all over the world today and has remained more or less unchanged. We learn then, that the knowledge of textile production had reached its height in the Bronze age - around the same time that fulachta fiadh start appearing in the landscape.
What are fulachta fiadh? | Arguments for cooking | Arguments for bathing/saunas | Arguments for textile centres/laundries |
A compendium of excavted fulachta fiadh | The study of textiles in archaeology | Bibliography |
The washing experiment | The dyeing experiment | The fulling experiment | Results and concluding thoughts |
Email: [email protected]
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Fashion designFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Fashion house" redirects here. For other uses, see Fashion house (disambiguation).
Finale of fashion show, 2009
Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories. Some work alone or as part of a team. They attempt to satisfy consumer desire for aesthetically designed clothing; and, because of the time required to bring a garment onto the market, must at times anticipate changing consumer tastes.
Fashion designers attempt to design clothes which are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. They must consider who is likely to wear a garment and the situations in which it will be worn. They have a wide range and combinations of materials to work with and a wide range of colors, patterns and styles to choose from. Though most clothing worn for everyday wear fall within a narrow range of conventional styles, unusual garments are usually sought for special occasions, such as evening wear or party dresses.
Some clothes are made specifically for an individual, as in the case of haute couture. Today, most clothing is designed for the mass market, especially casual and every-day wear.
Contents[hide]
1 Structure 2 Designing a garment 3 History 4 Types of fashion
o 4.1 Haute couture o 4.2 Ready-to-wear o 4.3 Mass market
5 Income 6 Fashion education 7 Areas of Fashion Design 8 Star system 9 World fashion industry
o 9.1 American fashion design o 9.2 British fashion design o 9.3 Philippine fashion design o 9.4 French fashion design o 9.5 Italian fashion design o 9.6 Swiss fashion design o 9.7 Japanese fashion design o 9.8 Indian fashion design
10 Fashion design terms 11 See also 12 References 13 Bibliography
[edit] Structure
Fashion designers can work in a number of ways. Fashion designers may work full-time for one fashion company, known as 'in-house designers' which owns the designs. They may work alone or as part of a team. Freelance designers work for themselves, selling their designs to fashion houses, directly to shops, or to clothing manufacturers. The garments bear the buyer's label. Some fashion designers set up their own labels, under which their designs are marketed. Some fashion designers are self-employed and design for individual clients. Other high-fashion designers cater to specialty stores or high-fashion department stores. These designers create original garments, as well as those that follow established fashion trends. Most fashion designers, however, work for apparel manufacturers, creating designs of men’s, women’s, and children’s fashions for the mass market. Large designer brands which have a 'name' as their brand such as Abrecrombie, Justice, or Juicy are likely to be designed by a team of individual designers under the direction of a designer director.
[edit] Designing a garment
Fashion designers work in different ways. Some sketch their ideas on paper, while others drape fabric on a dress form. When a designer is completely satisfied with the fit of the toile (or muslin), he or she will consult a professional pattern maker who then makes the finished,
working version of the pattern out of card. The pattern maker's job is very precise and painstaking. The fit of the finished garment depends on their accuracy. Finally, a sample garment is made up and tested on a model to make sure it is an operational outfit.
Fashion designers work in different ways. But they all start similarly with a sketch which is a rough or illustrated drawing of the design. Once the designer has its vision on paper, 2 ways might be chosen to start the production of the sample. Myriam Chalek, owner and founder of Creative Business House, exposes in Vogue magazine the 2 paths:The designer can either make a pattern out of a dot or hard paper and then have the sample sewed or he can make the pattern out of muslin, make all the necessary adjustments and once satisfied with the fit and flow of the sewing, a paper pattern will be made and used to make the final sample with the designated fabric. Myriam Chalek recommends the second option since it allows the fashion designer to bring modifications to its design while the first option may entail wasting fabric if any change is brought. The most crucial step in designing a garment is the pattern.Indeed, it required a lot of details, time and calculations. A mistake of half an inch can jeopardize the cutting and therefore the sewing of the garment. Hence the pattern maker's job is very precise and painstaking. The fit of the finished garment depends on the pattern's accuracy.
[edit] History
Fashion design is generally considered to have started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth who was the first designer to have his label sewn into the garments that he created.it was started in paris (france). Before the former draper set up his maison couture (fashion house) in Paris, clothing design and creation was handled by largely anonymous seamstresses, and high fashion descended from that worn at royal courts. Worth's success was such that he was able to dictate to his customers what they should wear, instead of following their lead as earlier dressmakers had done. The term couturier was in fact first created in order to describe him. While all articles of clothing from any time period are studied by academics as costume design, only clothing created after 1858 could be considered as fashion design.
It was during this period that many design houses began to hire artists to sketch or paint designs for garments. The images were shown to clients, which was much cheaper than producing an actual sample garment in the workroom. If the client liked their design, they ordered it and the resulting garment made money for the house. Thus, the tradition of designers sketching out garment designs instead of presenting completed garments on models to customers began as an economy.
[edit] Types of fashion
The garments produced by clothing manufacturers fall into three main categories, although these may be split up into additional, more specific categories:
[edit] Haute coutureMain article: Haute couture
Until the 1950s, fashion clothing was predominately designed and manufactured on a made-to-measure or haute couture basis (French for high-fashion), with each garment being created for a specific client. A couture garment is made to order for an individual customer, and is
usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric, sewn with extreme attention to detail and finish, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. Look and fit take priority over the cost of materials and the time it takes to make.
[edit] Ready-to-wearMain article: Ready-to-wear
Ready-to-wear clothes are a cross between haute couture and mass market. They are not made for individual customers, but great care is taken in the choice and cut of the fabric. Clothes are made in small quantities to guarantee exclusivity, so they are rather expensive. Ready-to-wear collections are usually presented by fashion houses each season during a period known as Fashion Week. This takes place on a city-wide basis and occurs twice a year.
[edit] Mass marketMain article: Mass market
Currently the fashion industry relies more on mass market sales. The mass market caters for a wide range of customers, producing ready-to-wear clothes in large quantities and standard sizes. Inexpensive materials, creatively used, produce affordable fashion. Mass market designers generally adapt the trends set by the famous names in fashion. They often wait around a season to make sure a style is going to catch on before producing their own versions of the original look. In order to save money and time, they use cheaper fabrics and simpler production techniques which can easily be done by machine. The end product can therefore be sold much more cheaply.
There is a type of design called "kutch" design originated from the German word "kitschig" meaning "ugly" or "not aesthetically pleasing." Kitsch can also refer to "wearing or displaying something that is therefore no longer in fashion." Often, high-waisted trousers, associated with the 1980s, are considered a "kitsch" fashion statement.[1]
[edit] IncomeThe examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010)
Median annual wages for salaried fashion designers were $61,160 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $42,150 and $87,120. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $32,150, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $124,780.. Median annual earnings were $52,860 (£28,340) in apparel, piece goods, and notions - the industry employing the largest numbers of fashion designers.[2]
[edit] Fashion education
A classroom filled with sewing machines and mannequins.
A student fashion show, 2007
There are a number of well known art schools and design schools world wide that offer degrees in fashion design and fashion design technology. Some colleges also offer Masters of Fashion courses. Though it is not a requirement to have a Masters level, it is recommended by those already working in the industry to study at this level. The most notable of design schools in Europe include London College of Fashion, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of Westminster and Kingston University in London, Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland, and the University of East London (UEL) also in London. Limerick School of Art and Design, Griffith College and the National College of Art and Design offer reputable BA of Fashion Design courses in Ireland. Istituto Marangoni, Domus Academy, Politecnico of Milan, NABA - Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano, Istituto Europeo di Design, University Iuav of Venice in Italy, the Fashion Federation PARIS] European Fashion Accreditation www.Fashion-Board.com, Antwerp Fashion Academy in
Belgium. There is Parsons The New School for Design, Creative Business House, Fashion Institute of Technology and the Pratt Institute in New York City. Elsewhere in the United States there is the Savannah College of Art and Design, Virginia Commonwealth University, Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago in Chicago. The National Institute of Fashion Technology in India, Shih Chien University in Hong Kong, RMIT University in Melbourne, Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan and the Asian University chain, Raffles College of Design and Commerce, all have reputable fashion design courses.
The only Ivy League University having a Fashion Design undergraduate program is Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The program is offered by the department of Fiber Science & Apparel Design]. Cornell University also offers the only Ph.D. program in apparel design in the United States. The program is intended to address the needs of academia, industry and research by considering apparel design as an applied science that embraces design, technology, physical sciences, the humanities and social sciences in order to meet the human needs for clothing. There are many universities that offer fashion design throughout the United States. The major incorporating fashion design may have alternative names like Apparel and Textiles or Apparel and Textile Design and may be housed in departments such as Art and Art History or Family and Consumer Studies.
[edit] Areas of Fashion DesignArea Brief Market
Women's Day wear Practical, comfortable, fashionableHaute couture, ready-to-wear, mass market
Women's Evening wear
Glamorous, sophisticated, apt for the occasionHaute couture, ready-to-wear, mass market
Women's Lingerie Glamorous, comfortable, washableHaute Couture, ready-to-wear, mass market
Men's Day wear Casual, practical, comfortableTailoring, ready-to-wear, mass market
Men's Evening wear Smart, elegant, formal, apt for the occasionTailoring, ready-to-wear, mass market
Kidswear Trendy or Classy, practical, washable, functionalReady-to-wear, mass market
Girls' Wear Pretty, colorful, practical, washable, inexpensiveReady-to-wear, mass market
Teenager Girl Wear Colorful,comfortable,glamorous,pretty,Ready-to-wear, mass market
Sportswear Comfortable, practical, well-ventilated, washable, Ready-to-wear, nike , or
functional addidas
Knitwear Right weight and color for the seasonReady-to-wear, mass market
OuterwearStylish, warm, right weight and color for the season
Ready-to-wear, mass market
Bridal wear Sumptuous, glamorous, classicHaute couture, ready-to-wear, mass market
Accessories Striking, fashionableHaute couture, ready-to-wear, mass market
File:Lt6.jpg:
Latoya Walker for 'Lost in Translation' collection 2008
[edit] Star system
Designers work within a hierarchical system.
"The designers are most stratified in the French system of fashion [...] Fashion ensures the functioning of a system of dominant and subordinate positions within a social order. Fashion is ideological in that it is also part of the process in which particular social groups, in this case elite designers, establish, sustain and reproduce positions of power and relations of dominance and subordination. The positions of dominance and subordination appear natural and legitimate, not only to those in positions of dominance, but also to those in subordinate positions. Fashion and the medium of fashion, that is clothing, offer means to make inequalities of socioeconomic status appear legitimate, and, therefore, acceptable."[3]
A "mythical conception of a designer as a 'creative genius' disconnected from social conditions"[4] is central for the working of the fashion system and for the reproduction of fashion as ideology. Creativity is socially constructed and not an innate given, i.e. many may be gifted but no one can become a famous designer without being legitimized by the fashion system and its gatekeepers.[5]
The star system is as essential for the fashion industry as for any Culture industry. "Genre and the star system are attempts to produce something analogous to brand names in cultural industries. [...] Stars are indispensable because it is part of the ideology of creativity that creative works must have an identifiable author."[6]
[edit] World fashion industry
Fashion today is a global industry, and most major countries have a fashion industry. Some countries are major manufacturing centers, notably China, South Korea, Spain, Germany, Brazil, and India. Five countries have established an international reputation in fashion: France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan.
[edit] American fashion design
The majority of American fashion houses are based in New York, although there are also a significant number in Los Angeles, where a substantial percentage of high fashion clothing manufactured in the US is actually made. There are also burgeoning industries in Miami, Chicago and especially San Francisco. American fashion design is dominated by a clean-cut, urban, casual style; reflecting the athletic, health-conscious lifestyles of American city-dwellers. A designer who helped to set the trend in the United States for sport-influenced day wear throughout the 1940s and 50's was Claire McCardell. Many of her designs have been revived in recent decades.
[edit] British fashion design
London has long been the capital of the UK fashion industry and has a wide range of foreign designs which have integrated with modern British styles. Typical British design is smart but innovative yet recently has become more and more unconventional, fusing traditional styles with modern techniques. Vintage styles play an important role in the British fashion and styling industry. Stylists regularly 'mix and match' the old with the new, which gives British style that unique, bohemian aesthetic that many of the other fashion capitals try to imitate. Irish fashion (both design and styling) is also heavily influenced by fashion trends from Britain.
[edit] Philippine fashion design
Most Pinoy filipino fashion houses and designers are based abroad but definitely portraying the beauty and significance of Philippine culture and fashion sense.
[edit] French fashion designMain article: French fashion
Most French fashion houses are in Paris, which is the capital of French fashion. Traditionally, French fashion is chic and stylish, defined by its sophistication, cut, and smart accessories. Although the Global Language Monitor placed it 3rd in the Media, after Milan and New York, French fashion is internationally acclaimed and Paris remains the symbolic home of fashion.
[edit] Italian fashion designMain article: Italian fashion
Milan is Italy's capital of fashion. Most of the older Italian couturiers are in Rome. However, Milan and Florence are the Italian fashion capitals, and it is the exhibition venue for their collections. Italian fashion features casual elegance and luxurious fabrics.
[edit] Swiss fashion design
Most of the Swiss fashion houses are in Zürich. The Swiss look is casual elegant and luxurious.
[edit] Japanese fashion design
Most Japanese fashion houses are in Tokyo. The Japanese look is loose and unstructured (often resulting from complicated cutting), colours tend to the sombre and subtle, and richly textured fabrics. Famous Japanese designers are Yohji Yamamoto, Kenzo, Issey Miyake (masterful drape and cut), and Comme des Garçons 's Rei Kawakubo, who developed a new way of cutting (comparable to Madeleine Vionnet's innovation in the 1930s).
[edit] Indian fashion design
A lot of Indian fashion design is born from Bollywood and its culture. Right now, a fusion of Indian and Western fashion is quite popular.
[edit] Fashion design terms
A fashion designer conceives garment combinations of line, proportion, color, and texture. While sewing and pattern-making skills are beneficial, they are not a pre-requisite of successful fashion design. Most fashion designers are formally trained or apprenticed.
A pattern maker (or pattern cutter) drafts the shapes and sizes of a garment's pieces. This may be done manually with paper and measuring tools or by using an AutoCAD computer software program. Another method is to drape fabric directly onto a dress form. The resulting pattern pieces can be constructed to produce the intended design of the garment and required size. Formal training is usually required for working as a pattern marker.
A tailor makes custom designed garments made to the client's measure; especially suits (coat and trousers, jacket and skirt, et cetera). Tailors usually undergo an apprenticeship or other formal training.
A textile designer designs fabric weaves and prints for clothes and furnishings. Most textile designers are formally trained as apprentices and in school.
A stylist co-ordinates the clothes, jewelry, and accessories used in fashion photography and catwalk presentations. A stylist may also work with an individual client to design a coordinated wardrobe of garments. Many stylists are trained in fashion design, the history of fashion and historical costume, and have a high level of expertise in the current fashion market and future market trends. However, some simply have a strong aesthetic sense for pulling great looks together.
A fashion buyer selects and buys the mix of clothing available in retail shops, department stores and chain stores. Most fashion buyers are trained in business and/or fashion studies.
A seamstress sews ready to wear or mass produced clothing by hand or with a sewing machine, either in a garment shop or as a sewing machine operator in a factory. She (or he) may not have the skills to make (design and cut) the garments, or to fit them on a model.
A teacher of fashion design teaches the art and craft of fashion design in art or fashion school.
A custom clothier makes custom-made garments to order, for a given customer. A dressmaker specializes in custom-made women's clothes: day, cocktail, and evening
dresses, business clothes and suits, trousseaus, sports clothes, and lingerie. An illustrator draws and paints clothing designs for commercial use. A fashion forecaster predicts what colours, styles and shapes will be popular ("on-trend")
before the garments are on sale in stores. A model wears and displays clothes at fashion shows and in photographs. A fit model aids the fashion designer by wearing and commenting on the fit of clothes during
their design and pre-manufacture. Fit models need to be a particular size for this purpose.
A fashion journalist writes fashion articles describing the garments presented or fashion trends, for magazines or newspapers.
An alterations specialist (alterationist) adjusts the fit of completed garments, usually ready-to-wear, and sometimes re-styles them. NOTE: despite tailors altering garments to fit the client, not all alterationists are tailors.
An Image Consultant, wardrobe consultant or fashion advisor recommends styles and colors that are flattering to the client.
[edit] See also
List of fashion designers
[edit] References
1. ̂ Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition, Fashion Designers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos291.htm (visited March 09, 2010).
2. ̂ [1]3. ̂ Kawamura 2005:704. ̂ Kawamura 2005:625. ̂ Kawamura 2005:636. ̂ Kawamura 2005:66
[edit] Bibliography
Encyclopedia of clothing and fashion, Valerie Steele, Detroit [etc.] : Thomson Gale, 2005 Yuniya Kawamura: Fashion-ology. An introduction to Fashion Studies, Oxford and New York:
Berg, 2005, ISBN 1-85973-814-1
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion_design"Categories: Fashion design | Arts occupations
Hidden categories: Articles with limited geographic scope from December 2010
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http://www.dexigner.com/directory/cat/Fashion-Design/Companies.htmlClothingFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article needs attention from an expert on the subject. See the talk page for details. Consider associating this request with a WikiProject. (July 2010)
This article needs additional citations for verification.Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009)
Clothing in history
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of most human societies. The amount and type of clothing worn depends on functional considerations (such as a need for warmth or protection from the elements) and social considerations. In some situations the minimum amount of clothing (i.e. covering of a person's genitals) may be socially acceptable, while in others much more clothing is expected.
Functionality is the primary purpose of clothing. It can serve as protection from the elements. Clothes also enhance safety during hazardous activities such as hiking and cooking, by providing a barrier between the skin and the environment. Further, clothes provide a hygienic barrier, keeping toxins away from the body and limiting the transmission of germs.
Clothing performs a range of social and cultural functions, such as individual, occupational and sexual differentiation, and social status.[1] A uniform, for example, may identify civil authority figures, such as police and military personnel, or it may identify team, group or political affiliations.
In many societies, norms about clothing reflect standards of modesty, religion, gender, and social status. Clothing may also function as a form of adornment and an expression of personal taste or style.
Clothing can and has in history been made from a very wide variety of materials. Materials have ranged from leather and furs, to woven materials, to elaborate and exotic natural and synthetic fabrics.
Not all body coverings are regarded as clothing. Articles carried rather than worn (such as purses), worn on a single part of the body and easily removed (scarves), worn purely for adornment (jewelry), or those that serve a function other than protection (eyeglasses), are normally considered accessories rather than clothing,[citation needed] as are footwear and hats. However, if functional due to local and weather condition and benefits your well being, footwear can be considered clothing.
Contents[hide]
1 Functions 2 Scholarship 3 Cultural aspects
o 3.1 Gender differentiation o 3.2 Social status o 3.3 Religion
4 Origin and history o 4.1 First recorded use o 4.2 Making clothing
5 Contemporary clothing o 5.1 Spread of western styles o 5.2 Ethnic and cultural heritage o 5.3 Sport and activity o 5.4 Fashion o 5.5 Future trends
6 Political issues o 6.1 Working conditions o 6.2 Fur
7 Life cycle o 7.1 Clothing maintenance o 7.2 Laundry, ironing, storage o 7.3 Non-iron o 7.4 Mending o 7.5 Recycling
8 See also 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links
[edit] Functions
A baby wearing many items of winter clothing: headband, cap, fur-lined coat, shawl and sweater
It can be said that there are four primary factors in clothing comfort, identifiable as the '4 Fs of Comfort' (1) fashion; (2) feel; (3) fit; and (4) function.[2] The only purposes of clothing is to keep the body warm and comfortable. In hot climates, clothing provides protection from sunburn or wind damage, while in cold climates its thermal insulation properties are generally more important. Shelter usually reduces the functional need for clothing. For example, coats, hats, gloves, shoes, socks, and other superficial layers are normally removed when entering a warm home, particularly if one is residing or sleeping there. Similarly, clothing has seasonal and regional aspects, so that thinner materials and fewer layers of clothing are generally worn in warmer seasons and regions than in colder ones.
Clothing protects people against many things that might injure the uncovered human body. Clothes act as protection from the elements, including rain, snow and wind and other weather conditions, as well as from the sun. However, if your clothes is too sheer, thin, small, tight, etc., the protection effect is minimized. Clothes also reduce the level of risk during activity, such as work or sport. Clothing at times is worn as protection from specific environmental hazards, such as insects, noxious chemicals, weapons, and contact with abrasive substances. Conversely, clothing may protect the environment from the clothing wearer, as with doctors wearing medical scrubs.
Humans have shown extreme inventiveness in devising clothing solutions to environmental hazards. Some examples include: space suits, air conditioned clothing, armor, diving suits, swimsuits, bee-keeper gear, motorcycle leathers, high-visibility clothing, and other pieces of protective clothing. Meanwhile, the distinction between clothing and protective equipment is not always clear-cut, since clothes designed to be fashionable often have protective value and clothes designed for function often consider fashion in their design.
[edit] Scholarship
Although dissertations on clothing and its functionality are found from the 19th century as colonising countries dealt with new environments,[3] concerted scientific research into psycho-social, physiological and other functions of clothing (e.g. protective, cartage) occurred in the first half of the 20th century, with publications such as Flugel's Psychology of Clothes in 1930,[1] and Newburgh's seminal Physiology of Heat Regulation and The Science of Clothing in 1949.[4] By 1968, the field of environmental physiology had advanced and expanded significantly, but the science of clothing in relation to environmental physiology had changed little.[5] While considerable research has since occurred and the knowledge-base has grown significantly, the main concepts remain unchanged, and indeed Newburgh's book continues to be cited by contemporary authors, including those attempting to develop thermoregulatory models of clothing development.[6]
[edit] Cultural aspects
[edit] Gender differentiation
Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Turkish President Abdullah Gül both wearing Western-style business suits.
In most cultures, gender differentiation of clothing is considered appropriate for men and women. The differences are in styles, colors and fabrics.
In Western societies, skirts, dresses and high-heeled shoes are usually seen as women's clothing, while neckties are usually seen as men's clothing. Trousers were once seen as exclusively male clothing, but are nowadays worn by both genders. Male clothes are often more practical (that is, they can function well under a wide variety of situations), but a wider range of clothing styles are available for females. Males are typically allowed to bare their chests in a greater variety of public places. It is generally acceptable for a woman to wear traditionally male clothing, while the converse is unusual.
In some cultures, sumptuary laws regulate what men and women are required to wear. Islam requires women to wear more modest forms of attire, usually hijab. What qualifies as "modest" varies in different Muslim societies; however, women are usually required to cover more of their bodies than men are. Articles of clothing worn by Muslim women for purposes of modesty range from the headscarf to the burqa.
Men may sometimes choose to wear men's skirts such as togas or kilts, especially on ceremonial occasions. Such garments were (in previous times) often worn as normal daily clothing by men. Compared to men's clothing, women's clothing tends to be more attractive, often intended to be looked at by men.[7] In modern industrialized nations, women are more likely to wear makeup, jewelry, and colorful clothing, while in very traditional cultures women are protected from men's gazes by modest dress.
[edit] Social status
Alim Khan's bemedaled robe sends a social message about his wealth, status, and power
In some societies, clothing may be used to indicate rank or status. In ancient Rome, for example, only senators were permitted to wear garments dyed with Tyrian purple. In traditional Hawaiian society only high-ranking chiefs could wear feather cloaks and palaoa or carved whale teeth. Under the Travancore Kingdom of Kerala, (India), lower caste women had to pay a tax for the right to cover their upper body. In China, before the establishment of the republic, only the emperor could wear yellow. History provides many examples of elaborate sumptuary laws that regulated what people could wear. In societies without such laws, which includes most modern societies, social status is instead signaled by the purchase of rare or luxury items that are limited by cost to those with wealth or status. In addition, peer pressure influences clothing choice.
[edit] ReligionSee also: Category:Religious vesture
Muslim men traditionally wear white robes and a cap during prayers
Religious clothing might be considered a special case of occupational clothing. Sometimes it is worn only during the performance of religious ceremonies. However, it may also be worn everyday as a marker for special religious status.
For example, Jains wear unstitched cloth pieces when performing religious ceremonies. The unstitched cloth signifies unified and complete devotion to the task at hand, with no digression.[citation needed] Sikhs wear a turban as it is a part of their religion.
The cleanliness of religious dresses in Eastern Religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism is of paramount importance, since it indicates purity.
Clothing figures prominently in the Bible where it appears in numerous contexts, the more prominent ones being: the story of Adam and Eve, Joseph's cloak, Judah and Tamar, Mordecai and Esther. Furthermore the priests officiating in the Temple had very specific garments, the lack of which made one liable to death.
Jewish ritual also requires rending of one's upper garment as a sign of mourning. This practice is found in the Bible when Jacob hears of the apparent death of his son Joseph.[8]
[edit] Origin and historyMain article: History of clothing
See also: History of Western fashion and Category:History of clothing
[edit] First recorded use
According to archaeologists and anthropologists, the earliest clothing likely consisted of fur, leather, leaves, or grass that were draped, wrapped, or tied around the body. Knowledge of such clothing remains inferential, since clothing materials deteriorate quickly compared to stone, bone, shell and metal artifacts. Archeologists have identified very early sewing needles of bone and ivory from about 30,000 BC, found near Kostenki, Russia in 1988.[9] Dyed flax fibers that could have been used in clothing have been found in a prehistoric cave in the Republic of Georgia that date back to 36,000 BP.[10][11]
Scientists are still debating when people started wearing clothes. Ralf Kittler, Manfred Kayser and Mark Stoneking, anthropologists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, have conducted a genetic analysis of human body lice that suggests clothing originated quite recently, around 107,000 years ago. Body lice is an indicator of clothes-wearing, since most humans have sparse body hair, and lice thus require human clothing to survive. Their research suggests the invention of clothing may have coincided with the northward migration of modern Homo sapiens away from the warm climate of Africa, thought to have begun between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. However, a second group of researchers using similar genetic methods estimate that clothing originated around 540,000 years ago (Reed et al. 2004. PLoS Biology 2(11): e340). For now, the date of the origin of clothing remains unresolved.[citation needed]
[edit] Making clothingSee also: Weaving, Knitting, and Twining
Some human cultures, such as the various people of the Arctic Circle, make their clothing entirely of prepared and decorated furs and skins. Other cultures have supplemented or replaced leather and skins with cloth: woven, knitted, or twined from various animal and vegetable fibers.
Although modern consumers may take the production of clothing for granted, making fabric by hand is a tedious and labor intensive process. That the textile industry was the first to be mechanized — with the powered loom — during the Industrial Revolution attests to this fact.
Different cultures have evolved various ways of creating clothes out of cloth. One approach simply involves draping the cloth. Many people wore, and still wear, garments consisting of rectangles of cloth wrapped to fit — for example, the dhoti for men and the sari for women in the Indian subcontinent, the Scottish kilt or the Javanese sarong. The clothes may simply be tied up, as is the case of the first two garments; or pins or belts hold the garments in place, as in the case of the latter two. The precious cloth remains uncut, and people of various sizes or the same person at different sizes can wear the garment.
Another approach involves cutting and sewing the cloth, but using every bit of the cloth rectangle in constructing the clothing. The tailor may cut triangular pieces from one corner of the cloth, and then add them elsewhere as gussets. Traditional European patterns for men's shirts and women's chemises take this approach.
Modern European fashion treats cloth much less conservatively, typically cutting in such a way as to leave various odd-shaped cloth remnants. Industrial sewing operations sell these as waste; home sewers may turn them into quilts.
In the thousands of years that humans have spent constructing clothing, they have created an astonishing array of styles, many of which have been reconstructed from surviving garments, photos, paintings, mosaics, etc., as well as from written descriptions. Costume history serves as a source of inspiration to current fashion designers, as well as a topic of professional interest to costumers constructing for plays, films, television, and historical reenactment.
[edit] Contemporary clothingThis section requires expansion.
[edit] Spread of western styles
By the early years of the 21st century, western clothing styles had, to some extent, become international styles. This process began hundreds of years earlier, during the periods of European colonialism. The process of cultural dissemination has perpetuated over the centuries as Western media corporations have penetrated markets throughout the world, spreading Western culture and styles. Fast fashion clothing has also become a global phenomenon. These garments are less expensive, mass-produced Western clothing. Donated used clothing from Western countries are also delivered to people in poor countries by charity organizations.
[edit] Ethnic and cultural heritage
People may wear ethnic or national dress on special occasions or in certain roles or occupations. For example, most Korean men and women have adopted Western-style dress for daily wear, but still wear traditional hanboks on special occasions, like weddings and cultural holidays. Items of Western dress may also appear worn or accessorized in distinctive, non-Western ways. A Tongan man may combine a used T-shirt with a Tongan wrapped skirt, or tupenu.
[edit] Sport and activity
A woman wearing a Polo Ralph Lauren shirt.
Most sports and physical activities are practiced wearing special clothing, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Common sportswear garments include short pants, T-shirts, tennis shirts, tracksuits, and trainers. Specialized garments include wet suits (for swimming, diving or surfing), salopettes (for skiing) and leotards (for gymnastics). Also, spandex materials are often used as base layers to soak up sweat. Spandex is also preferable for active sports that require form fitting garments, such as wrestling, track & field, dance, gymnastics and swimming.
[edit] FashionMain article: Fashion
There exists a diverse range of styles in fashion, varying by geography, exposure to modern media, economic conditions, and ranging from expensive haute couture to traditional garb, to thrift store grunge.
[edit] Future trends
The world of clothing is always changing, as new cultural influences meet technological innovations. Researchers in scientific labs have been developing prototypes for fabrics that can serve functional purposes well beyond their traditional roles, for example, clothes that can automatically adjust their temperature, repel bullets, project images, and generate electricity. Some practical advances already available to consumers are bullet-resistant garments made with kevlar and stain-resistant fabrics that are coated with chemical mixtures that reduce the absorption of liquids.
[edit] Political issues
[edit] Working conditions
This section requires expansion.
Though mechanization transformed most aspects of human industry by the mid-20th century, garment workers have continued to labor under challenging conditions that demand repetitive manual labor. Mass-produced clothing is often made in what are considered by some to be sweatshops, typified by long work hours, lack of benefits, and lack of worker representation. While most examples of such conditions are found in developing countries, clothes made in industrialized nations may also be manufactured similarly, often staffed by undocumented immigrants.[citation needed]
Coalitions of NGOs, designers (Katharine Hamnett, American Apparel, Veja, Quiksilver, eVocal, Edun,...) and campaign groups like the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) have sought to improve these conditions as much as possible by sponsoring awareness-raising events, which draw the attention of both the media and the general public to the workers.
Outsourcing production to low wage countries like Bangladesh, China, India and Sri Lanka became possible when the Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA) was abolished. The MFA, which placed quotas on textiles imports, was deemed a protectionist measure.[citation needed] Globalization is often quoted as the single most contributing factor to the poor working conditions of garment workers. Although many countries recognize treaties like the International Labor Organization, which attempt to set standards for worker safety and rights, many countries have made exceptions to certain parts of the treaties or failed to thoroughly enforce them. India for example has not ratified sections 87 and 92 of the treaty.[citation needed]
Despite the strong reactions that "sweatshops" evoked among critics of globalization, the production of textiles has functioned as a consistent industry for developing nations providing work and wages, whether construed as exploitative or not, to thousands of people.
[edit] FurMain article: Fur clothing
The use of animal fur in clothing dates to prehistoric times. It is currently associated in developed countries with expensive, designer clothing, although fur is still used by indigenous people in arctic zones and higher elevations for its warmth and protection. Once uncontroversial, it has recently been the focus of campaigns on the grounds that campaigners consider it cruel and unnecessary. PETA, along with other animal rights and animal liberation groups have called attention to fur farming and other practices they consider cruel.
[edit] Life cycle
[edit] Clothing maintenance
Clothing suffers assault both from within and without. The human body sheds skin cells and body oils, and exudes sweat, urine, and feces. From the outside, sun damage, moisture, abrasion and dirt assault garments. Fleas and lice can hide in seams. Worn clothing, if not
cleaned and refurbished, itches, looks scruffy, and loses functionality (as when buttons fall off, seams come undone, fabrics thin or tear, and zippers fail).
In some cases, people wear an item of clothing until it falls apart. Cleaning leather presents difficulties, and bark cloth (tapa) cannot be washed without dissolving it. Owners may patch tears and rips, and brush off surface dirt, but old leather and bark clothing always look old.
But most clothing consists of cloth, and most cloth can be laundered and mended (patching, darning, but compare felt).
[edit] Laundry, ironing, storage
Humans have developed many specialized methods for laundering, ranging from early methods of pounding clothes against rocks in running streams, to the latest in electronic washing machines and dry cleaning (dissolving dirt in solvents other than water). Hot water washing (boiling), chemical cleaning and ironing are all traditional methods of sterilizing fabrics for hygiene purposes.
Many kinds of clothing are designed to be ironed before they are worn to remove wrinkles. Most modern formal and semi-formal clothing is in this category (for example, dress shirts and suits). Ironed clothes are believed to look clean, fresh, and neat. Much contemporary casual clothing is made of knit materials that do not readily wrinkle, and do not require ironing. Some clothing is permanent press, having been treated with a coating (such as polytetrafluoroethylene) that suppresses wrinkles and creates a smooth appearance without ironing.
Once clothes have been laundered and possibly ironed, they are usually hung on clothes hangers or folded, to keep them fresh until they are worn. Clothes are folded to allow them to be stored compactly, to prevent creasing, to preserve creases or to present them in a more pleasing manner, for instance when they are put on sale in stores.
Many kinds of clothes are folded before they are put in suitcases as preparation for travel. Other clothes, such as suits, may be hung up in special garment bags, or rolled rather than folded. Many people use their clothing as packing material around fragile items that might otherwise break in transit.
[edit] Non-iron
A resin used for making non-wrinkle shirts releases formaldehyde, which could cause contact dermatitis for some people; no disclosure requirements exist, and in 2008 the U.S. Government Accountability Office tested formaldehyde in clothing and found that generally the highest levels were in non-wrinkle shirts and pants.[12] In 1999, a study of the effect of washing on the formaldehyde levels found that after 6 months after washing, 7 of 27 shirts had levels in excess of 75 ppm, which is a safety limit for direct skin exposure.[13]
[edit] Mending
In past times, mending was an art. A meticulous tailor or seamstress could mend rips with thread raveled from hems and seam edges so skillfully that the tear was practically invisible. When the raw material — cloth — was worth more than labor, it made sense to expend labor
in saving it. Today clothing is considered a consumable item. Mass-manufactured clothing is less expensive than the labor required to repair it. Many people buy a new piece of clothing rather than spend time mending. The thrifty still replace zippers and buttons and sew up ripped hems.
[edit] Recycling
Used, unwearable clothing was once used for quilts, rags, rugs, bandages, and many other household uses. It could also be recycled into paper. Today, used clothing is usually thrown out or donated to charity. It is also sold to consignment shops, dress agencies and flea markets and in online auctions.
There are many concerns about the life cycle of synthetics, which come primarily from petrochemicals.[weasel words] Unlike natural fibers, their source is not renewable (in less than millions of years) and they are not biodegradable.
[edit] See also
History of clothing and textiles Naturism (which includes nudism) Second hand store Thermoregulation Timeline of non-sexual social nudity Timeline of requisite dress in Western civilization
[edit] References
1. ^ a b Flugel, John Carl (1976. First published 1930), The Psychology of Clothes, International Psycho-analytical Library, No.18, New York: AMS Press. First published by Hogarth Press, London, ISBN 0404147216 Alternative ISBN 9780404147211 (This work is one of the earliest attempts at an overview of the psycho-social and practical functions of clothing)
2. ̂ Goldman, Ralph F (2005), "The four 'Fs' of clothing comfort", in Tochihara, Yutaka & Ohnaka, Tadakatsu (editors), Environmental Ergonomics: The Ergonomics of Human Comfort, Health and Performance in the Thermal Environment, Vol.3, Amsterdam & Boston: Elsevier, pp. 315–320, ISBN 0-080-44466-0, http://books.google.com/books?id=Sfs6mvw98toC&pg=PA315&dq=clothing+function&hl=en&ei=ugaHTOTgMI2KvgPh9cSrCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=clothing%20function&f=false, retrieved 8 September 2010
3. ̂ e.g. Jeffreys, Julius (1858), The British Army in India: Its Preservation by an appropriate Clothing, Housing, Locating, Recreative Employment, and Hopeful Encouragement of the Troops, London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts, http://www.archive.org/stream/britisharmyinin01jeffgoog#page/n7/mode/1up, retrieved 8 September 2010
4. ̂ Newburgh, Louis Harry, ed. (1968. Reprint of 1949 edition), Physiology of Heat Regulation and The Science of Clothing, New York & London: Hafner Publishing
5. ̂ Hertig, Bruce A (February 1969), "Book review: Physiology of Heat Regulation and the Science of Clothing", Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 11 (2): 100, http://journals.lww.com/joem/Citation/1969/02000/Physiology_of_Heat_Regulation_and_the_Science_of.12.aspx, retrieved 8 September 2010 (reviewer's name appears next to Newburgh, but was not the co-author. See also reviewer's name at bottom of page).
6. ̂ Gilligan, Ian (January 2010), "The Prehistoric Development of Clothing: Archaeological Implications of a Thermal Model", Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 17 (1): 15–80, doi:10.1007/s10816-009-9076-x
7. ̂ The Pursuit of Attention, 20008. ̂ "?". http://www.divreinavon.com/pdf/BegedSimlaJBQ.pdf. Retrieved 9 August 2010.[self-published source?]
9. ̂ Hoffecker, J., Scott, J., Excavations In Eastern Europe Reveal Ancient Human Lifestyles, University of Colorado at Boulder News Archive, March 21, 2002, colorado.edu
10. ̂ Balter M. (2009). Clothes Make the (Hu) Man. Science,325(5946):1329.doi:10.1126/science.325_1329a
11. ̂ Kvavadze E, Bar-Yosef O, Belfer-Cohen A, Boaretto E,Jakeli N, Matskevich Z, Meshveliani T. (2009).30,000-Year-Old Wild Flax Fibers. Science, 325(5946):1359. doi:10.1126/science.1175404 Supporting Online Material
12. ̂ When Wrinkle-Free Clothing Also Means Formaldehyde Fumes. New York Times.13. ̂ Changes of Free Formaldehyde Quantity in Non-iron Shirts by Washing and Storage. Journal of
Health Science.
[edit] Further reading
Finnane, Antonia (2008), Changing Clothes in China: Fashion, History, Nation, New York: Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0-231-14350-9, http://books.google.com/?id=Ju3N4VeiQ28C&printsec=frontcover&dq=clothes+history&q, retrieved 8 September 2010 ebook ISBN 978-0-231-51273-2
Forsberg, Krister & Mansdorf, S.Z (2007), Quick Selection Guide to Chemical Protective Clothing (5th ed.), Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0-470-14681-1, http://books.google.com/?id=UkA2MK9vXEIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=clothing+protective&q, retrieved 8 September 2010
Gavin, Timothy P (2003), "Clothing and Thermoregulation During Exercise", Sports Medicine 33 (13): 941–947, doi:10.2165/00007256-200333130-00001, PMID 14606923, http://adisonline.com/sportsmedicine/Abstract/2003/33130/Clothing_and_Thermoregulation_During_Exercise.1.aspx, retrieved 8 September 2010
Hollander, Anne L (1993), Seeing Through Clothes, Berkley & Los Angeles, California, and London, UK: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-08231-1, http://books.google.com/?id=CSItqzbG9nIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=clothes&q, retrieved 8 September 2010
Montain, Scott J; Sawaka, Michael N; Cadarett, Bruce S; Quigley, Mark D; McKay, James M (1994), "Physiological tolerance to uncompensable heat stress: effects of exercise intensity, protective clothing, and climate", Journal of Applied Physiology 77 (1): 216–222, PMID 7961236, http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA283851&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf, retrieved 8 September 2010
Ross, Robert (2008), Clothing, a Global History: or, The Imperialist's New Clothes, Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, ISBN 978-0-7456-3186-8, http://books.google.com/?id=e7LZe4b18ScC&printsec=frontcover&dq=clothes+history&q, retrieved 8 September 2010 Paperback ISBN 978-0-7456-3187-5
Tochihara, Yutaka & Ohnaka, Tadakatsu, ed. (2005), Environmental Ergonomics: The Ergonomics of Human Comfort, Health and Performance in the Thermal Environment, Vol.3, Amsterdam & Boston: Elsevier, pp. 315–320, ISBN 0-080-44466-0, http://books.google.com/?id=qvh2sdJoQR8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=environmental+ergonomics&q, retrieved 8 September 2010 (see especially sections 5 - 'Clothing' - & 6 - 'Protective clothing').
Yarborough, Portia & Nelson, Cherilyn N, ed. (2005), Performance of Protective Clothing: Global Needs and Emerging Markets, 8th Vol., West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International, ISBN 0-8031-3488-6, ISSN 1040-3035, http://books.google.com/?id=pbnN_SL4H9AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=protective+clothing+nelson&q, retrieved 8 September 2010
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BBC Wiltshire Dents Glove Museum International Textile and Apparel Association , scholarly publications German Hosiery Museum (English language) Molecular Evolution of Pediculus humanus and the Origin of Clothing by Ralf Kittler, Manfred
Kayser and Mark Stoneking (.PDF file) Cornell Home Economics Archive: Research, Tradition, History (HEARTH)
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Clothing in history
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of most human societies. The amount and type of clothing worn depends on functional considerations (such as a need for warmth or protection from the elements) and social considerations. In some situations the minimum amount of clothing (i.e. covering of a person's genitals) may be socially acceptable, while in others much more clothing is expected.
Functionality is the primary purpose of clothing. It can serve as protection from the elements. Clothes also enhance safety during hazardous activities such as hiking and cooking, by providing a barrier between the skin and the environment. Further, clothes provide a hygienic barrier, keeping toxins away from the body and limiting the transmission of germs.
Clothing performs a range of social and cultural functions, such as individual, occupational and sexual differentiation, and social status.[1] A uniform, for example, may identify civil authority figures, such as police and military personnel, or it may identify team, group or political affiliations.
In many societies, norms about clothing reflect standards of modesty, religion, gender, and social status. Clothing may also function as a form of adornment and an expression of personal taste or style.
Clothing can and has in history been made from a very wide variety of materials. Materials have ranged from leather and furs, to woven materials, to elaborate and exotic natural and synthetic fabrics.
Not all body coverings are regarded as clothing. Articles carried rather than worn (such as purses), worn on a single part of the body and easily removed (scarves), worn purely for adornment (jewelry), or those that serve a function other than protection (eyeglasses), are normally considered accessories rather than clothing,[citation needed] as are footwear and hats. However, if functional due to local and weather condition and benefits your well being, footwear can be considered clothing.
Contents[hide]
1 Functions 2 Scholarship 3 Cultural aspects
o 3.1 Gender differentiation o 3.2 Social status o 3.3 Religion
4 Origin and history o 4.1 First recorded use o 4.2 Making clothing
5 Contemporary clothing o 5.1 Spread of western styles o 5.2 Ethnic and cultural heritage o 5.3 Sport and activity o 5.4 Fashion o 5.5 Future trends
6 Political issues o 6.1 Working conditions o 6.2 Fur
7 Life cycle o 7.1 Clothing maintenance o 7.2 Laundry, ironing, storage o 7.3 Non-iron o 7.4 Mending o 7.5 Recycling
8 See also 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links
[edit] Functions
A baby wearing many items of winter clothing: headband, cap, fur-lined coat, shawl and sweater
It can be said that there are four primary factors in clothing comfort, identifiable as the '4 Fs of Comfort' (1) fashion; (2) feel; (3) fit; and (4) function.[2] The only purposes of clothing is to keep the body warm and comfortable. In hot climates, clothing provides protection from sunburn or wind damage, while in cold climates its thermal insulation properties are generally more important. Shelter usually reduces the functional need for clothing. For example, coats, hats, gloves, shoes, socks, and other superficial layers are normally removed when entering a warm home, particularly if one is residing or sleeping there. Similarly, clothing has seasonal and regional aspects, so that thinner materials and fewer layers of clothing are generally worn in warmer seasons and regions than in colder ones.
Clothing protects people against many things that might injure the uncovered human body. Clothes act as protection from the elements, including rain, snow and wind and other weather conditions, as well as from the sun. However, if your clothes is too sheer, thin, small, tight, etc., the protection effect is minimized. Clothes also reduce the level of risk during activity, such as work or sport. Clothing at times is worn as protection from specific environmental hazards, such as insects, noxious chemicals, weapons, and contact with abrasive substances. Conversely, clothing may protect the environment from the clothing wearer, as with doctors wearing medical scrubs.
Humans have shown extreme inventiveness in devising clothing solutions to environmental hazards. Some examples include: space suits, air conditioned clothing, armor, diving suits, swimsuits, bee-keeper gear, motorcycle leathers, high-visibility clothing, and other pieces of protective clothing. Meanwhile, the distinction between clothing and protective equipment is not always clear-cut, since clothes designed to be fashionable often have protective value and clothes designed for function often consider fashion in their design.
[edit] Scholarship
Although dissertations on clothing and its functionality are found from the 19th century as colonising countries dealt with new environments,[3] concerted scientific research into psycho-social, physiological and other functions of clothing (e.g. protective, cartage) occurred in the first half of the 20th century, with publications such as Flugel's Psychology of Clothes in 1930,[1] and Newburgh's seminal Physiology of Heat Regulation and The Science of Clothing in 1949.[4] By 1968, the field of environmental physiology had advanced and expanded significantly, but the science of clothing in relation to environmental physiology had changed little.[5] While considerable research has since occurred and the knowledge-base has grown significantly, the main concepts remain unchanged, and indeed Newburgh's book continues to be cited by contemporary authors, including those attempting to develop thermoregulatory models of clothing development.[6]
[edit] Cultural aspects
[edit] Gender differentiation
Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Turkish President Abdullah Gül both wearing Western-style business suits.
In most cultures, gender differentiation of clothing is considered appropriate for men and women. The differences are in styles, colors and fabrics.
In Western societies, skirts, dresses and high-heeled shoes are usually seen as women's clothing, while neckties are usually seen as men's clothing. Trousers were once seen as exclusively male clothing, but are nowadays worn by both genders. Male clothes are often more practical (that is, they can function well under a wide variety of situations), but a wider range of clothing styles are available for females. Males are typically allowed to bare their chests in a greater variety of public places. It is generally acceptable for a woman to wear traditionally male clothing, while the converse is unusual.
In some cultures, sumptuary laws regulate what men and women are required to wear. Islam requires women to wear more modest forms of attire, usually hijab. What qualifies as "modest" varies in different Muslim societies; however, women are usually required to cover more of their bodies than men are. Articles of clothing worn by Muslim women for purposes of modesty range from the headscarf to the burqa.
Men may sometimes choose to wear men's skirts such as togas or kilts, especially on ceremonial occasions. Such garments were (in previous times) often worn as normal daily clothing by men. Compared to men's clothing, women's clothing tends to be more attractive, often intended to be looked at by men.[7] In modern industrialized nations, women are more likely to wear makeup, jewelry, and colorful clothing, while in very traditional cultures women are protected from men's gazes by modest dress.
[edit] Social status
Alim Khan's bemedaled robe sends a social message about his wealth, status, and power
In some societies, clothing may be used to indicate rank or status. In ancient Rome, for example, only senators were permitted to wear garments dyed with Tyrian purple. In traditional Hawaiian society only high-ranking chiefs could wear feather cloaks and palaoa or carved whale teeth. Under the Travancore Kingdom of Kerala, (India), lower caste women had to pay a tax for the right to cover their upper body. In China, before the establishment of the republic, only the emperor could wear yellow. History provides many examples of elaborate sumptuary laws that regulated what people could wear. In societies without such laws, which includes most modern societies, social status is instead signaled by the purchase of rare or luxury items that are limited by cost to those with wealth or status. In addition, peer pressure influences clothing choice.
[edit] ReligionSee also: Category:Religious vesture
Muslim men traditionally wear white robes and a cap during prayers
Religious clothing might be considered a special case of occupational clothing. Sometimes it is worn only during the performance of religious ceremonies. However, it may also be worn everyday as a marker for special religious status.
For example, Jains wear unstitched cloth pieces when performing religious ceremonies. The unstitched cloth signifies unified and complete devotion to the task at hand, with no digression.[citation needed] Sikhs wear a turban as it is a part of their religion.
The cleanliness of religious dresses in Eastern Religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism is of paramount importance, since it indicates purity.
Clothing figures prominently in the Bible where it appears in numerous contexts, the more prominent ones being: the story of Adam and Eve, Joseph's cloak, Judah and Tamar, Mordecai and Esther. Furthermore the priests officiating in the Temple had very specific garments, the lack of which made one liable to death.
Jewish ritual also requires rending of one's upper garment as a sign of mourning. This practice is found in the Bible when Jacob hears of the apparent death of his son Joseph.[8]
[edit] Origin and historyMain article: History of clothing
See also: History of Western fashion and Category:History of clothing
[edit] First recorded use
According to archaeologists and anthropologists, the earliest clothing likely consisted of fur, leather, leaves, or grass that were draped, wrapped, or tied around the body. Knowledge of such clothing remains inferential, since clothing materials deteriorate quickly compared to stone, bone, shell and metal artifacts. Archeologists have identified very early sewing needles of bone and ivory from about 30,000 BC, found near Kostenki, Russia in 1988.[9] Dyed flax fibers that could have been used in clothing have been found in a prehistoric cave in the Republic of Georgia that date back to 36,000 BP.[10][11]
Scientists are still debating when people started wearing clothes. Ralf Kittler, Manfred Kayser and Mark Stoneking, anthropologists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, have conducted a genetic analysis of human body lice that suggests clothing originated quite recently, around 107,000 years ago. Body lice is an indicator of clothes-wearing, since most humans have sparse body hair, and lice thus require human clothing to survive. Their research suggests the invention of clothing may have coincided with the northward migration of modern Homo sapiens away from the warm climate of Africa, thought to have begun between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. However, a second group of researchers using similar genetic methods estimate that clothing originated around 540,000 years ago (Reed et al. 2004. PLoS Biology 2(11): e340). For now, the date of the origin of clothing remains unresolved.[citation needed]
[edit] Making clothingSee also: Weaving, Knitting, and Twining
Some human cultures, such as the various people of the Arctic Circle, make their clothing entirely of prepared and decorated furs and skins. Other cultures have supplemented or replaced leather and skins with cloth: woven, knitted, or twined from various animal and vegetable fibers.
Although modern consumers may take the production of clothing for granted, making fabric by hand is a tedious and labor intensive process. That the textile industry was the first to be mechanized — with the powered loom — during the Industrial Revolution attests to this fact.
Different cultures have evolved various ways of creating clothes out of cloth. One approach simply involves draping the cloth. Many people wore, and still wear, garments consisting of rectangles of cloth wrapped to fit — for example, the dhoti for men and the sari for women in the Indian subcontinent, the Scottish kilt or the Javanese sarong. The clothes may simply be tied up, as is the case of the first two garments; or pins or belts hold the garments in place, as in the case of the latter two. The precious cloth remains uncut, and people of various sizes or the same person at different sizes can wear the garment.
Another approach involves cutting and sewing the cloth, but using every bit of the cloth rectangle in constructing the clothing. The tailor may cut triangular pieces from one corner of the cloth, and then add them elsewhere as gussets. Traditional European patterns for men's shirts and women's chemises take this approach.
Modern European fashion treats cloth much less conservatively, typically cutting in such a way as to leave various odd-shaped cloth remnants. Industrial sewing operations sell these as waste; home sewers may turn them into quilts.
In the thousands of years that humans have spent constructing clothing, they have created an astonishing array of styles, many of which have been reconstructed from surviving garments, photos, paintings, mosaics, etc., as well as from written descriptions. Costume history serves as a source of inspiration to current fashion designers, as well as a topic of professional interest to costumers constructing for plays, films, television, and historical reenactment.
[edit] Contemporary clothingThis section requires expansion.
[edit] Spread of western styles
By the early years of the 21st century, western clothing styles had, to some extent, become international styles. This process began hundreds of years earlier, during the periods of European colonialism. The process of cultural dissemination has perpetuated over the centuries as Western media corporations have penetrated markets throughout the world, spreading Western culture and styles. Fast fashion clothing has also become a global phenomenon. These garments are less expensive, mass-produced Western clothing. Donated used clothing from Western countries are also delivered to people in poor countries by charity organizations.
[edit] Ethnic and cultural heritage
People may wear ethnic or national dress on special occasions or in certain roles or occupations. For example, most Korean men and women have adopted Western-style dress for daily wear, but still wear traditional hanboks on special occasions, like weddings and cultural holidays. Items of Western dress may also appear worn or accessorized in distinctive, non-Western ways. A Tongan man may combine a used T-shirt with a Tongan wrapped skirt, or tupenu.
[edit] Sport and activity
A woman wearing a Polo Ralph Lauren shirt.
Most sports and physical activities are practiced wearing special clothing, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Common sportswear garments include short pants, T-shirts, tennis shirts, tracksuits, and trainers. Specialized garments include wet suits (for swimming, diving or surfing), salopettes (for skiing) and leotards (for gymnastics). Also, spandex materials are often used as base layers to soak up sweat. Spandex is also preferable for active sports that require form fitting garments, such as wrestling, track & field, dance, gymnastics and swimming.
[edit] FashionMain article: Fashion
There exists a diverse range of styles in fashion, varying by geography, exposure to modern media, economic conditions, and ranging from expensive haute couture to traditional garb, to thrift store grunge.
[edit] Future trends
The world of clothing is always changing, as new cultural influences meet technological innovations. Researchers in scientific labs have been developing prototypes for fabrics that can serve functional purposes well beyond their traditional roles, for example, clothes that can automatically adjust their temperature, repel bullets, project images, and generate electricity. Some practical advances already available to consumers are bullet-resistant garments made with kevlar and stain-resistant fabrics that are coated with chemical mixtures that reduce the absorption of liquids.
[edit] Political issues
[edit] Working conditions
This section requires expansion.
Though mechanization transformed most aspects of human industry by the mid-20th century, garment workers have continued to labor under challenging conditions that demand repetitive manual labor. Mass-produced clothing is often made in what are considered by some to be sweatshops, typified by long work hours, lack of benefits, and lack of worker representation. While most examples of such conditions are found in developing countries, clothes made in industrialized nations may also be manufactured similarly, often staffed by undocumented immigrants.[citation needed]
Coalitions of NGOs, designers (Katharine Hamnett, American Apparel, Veja, Quiksilver, eVocal, Edun,...) and campaign groups like the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) have sought to improve these conditions as much as possible by sponsoring awareness-raising events, which draw the attention of both the media and the general public to the workers.
Outsourcing production to low wage countries like Bangladesh, China, India and Sri Lanka became possible when the Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA) was abolished. The MFA, which placed quotas on textiles imports, was deemed a protectionist measure.[citation needed] Globalization is often quoted as the single most contributing factor to the poor working conditions of garment workers. Although many countries recognize treaties like the International Labor Organization, which attempt to set standards for worker safety and rights, many countries have made exceptions to certain parts of the treaties or failed to thoroughly enforce them. India for example has not ratified sections 87 and 92 of the treaty.[citation needed]
Despite the strong reactions that "sweatshops" evoked among critics of globalization, the production of textiles has functioned as a consistent industry for developing nations providing work and wages, whether construed as exploitative or not, to thousands of people.
[edit] FurMain article: Fur clothing
The use of animal fur in clothing dates to prehistoric times. It is currently associated in developed countries with expensive, designer clothing, although fur is still used by indigenous people in arctic zones and higher elevations for its warmth and protection. Once uncontroversial, it has recently been the focus of campaigns on the grounds that campaigners consider it cruel and unnecessary. PETA, along with other animal rights and animal liberation groups have called attention to fur farming and other practices they consider cruel.
[edit] Life cycle
[edit] Clothing maintenance
Clothing suffers assault both from within and without. The human body sheds skin cells and body oils, and exudes sweat, urine, and feces. From the outside, sun damage, moisture, abrasion and dirt assault garments. Fleas and lice can hide in seams. Worn clothing, if not
cleaned and refurbished, itches, looks scruffy, and loses functionality (as when buttons fall off, seams come undone, fabrics thin or tear, and zippers fail).
In some cases, people wear an item of clothing until it falls apart. Cleaning leather presents difficulties, and bark cloth (tapa) cannot be washed without dissolving it. Owners may patch tears and rips, and brush off surface dirt, but old leather and bark clothing always look old.
But most clothing consists of cloth, and most cloth can be laundered and mended (patching, darning, but compare felt).
[edit] Laundry, ironing, storage
Humans have developed many specialized methods for laundering, ranging from early methods of pounding clothes against rocks in running streams, to the latest in electronic washing machines and dry cleaning (dissolving dirt in solvents other than water). Hot water washing (boiling), chemical cleaning and ironing are all traditional methods of sterilizing fabrics for hygiene purposes.
Many kinds of clothing are designed to be ironed before they are worn to remove wrinkles. Most modern formal and semi-formal clothing is in this category (for example, dress shirts and suits). Ironed clothes are believed to look clean, fresh, and neat. Much contemporary casual clothing is made of knit materials that do not readily wrinkle, and do not require ironing. Some clothing is permanent press, having been treated with a coating (such as polytetrafluoroethylene) that suppresses wrinkles and creates a smooth appearance without ironing.
Once clothes have been laundered and possibly ironed, they are usually hung on clothes hangers or folded, to keep them fresh until they are worn. Clothes are folded to allow them to be stored compactly, to prevent creasing, to preserve creases or to present them in a more pleasing manner, for instance when they are put on sale in stores.
Many kinds of clothes are folded before they are put in suitcases as preparation for travel. Other clothes, such as suits, may be hung up in special garment bags, or rolled rather than folded. Many people use their clothing as packing material around fragile items that might otherwise break in transit.
[edit] Non-iron
A resin used for making non-wrinkle shirts releases formaldehyde, which could cause contact dermatitis for some people; no disclosure requirements exist, and in 2008 the U.S. Government Accountability Office tested formaldehyde in clothing and found that generally the highest levels were in non-wrinkle shirts and pants.[12] In 1999, a study of the effect of washing on the formaldehyde levels found that after 6 months after washing, 7 of 27 shirts had levels in excess of 75 ppm, which is a safety limit for direct skin exposure.[13]
[edit] Mending
In past times, mending was an art. A meticulous tailor or seamstress could mend rips with thread raveled from hems and seam edges so skillfully that the tear was practically invisible. When the raw material — cloth — was worth more than labor, it made sense to expend labor
in saving it. Today clothing is considered a consumable item. Mass-manufactured clothing is less expensive than the labor required to repair it. Many people buy a new piece of clothing rather than spend time mending. The thrifty still replace zippers and buttons and sew up ripped hems.
[edit] Recycling
Used, unwearable clothing was once used for quilts, rags, rugs, bandages, and many other household uses. It could also be recycled into paper. Today, used clothing is usually thrown out or donated to charity. It is also sold to consignment shops, dress agencies and flea markets and in online auctions.
There are many concerns about the life cycle of synthetics, which come primarily from petrochemicals.[weasel words] Unlike natural fibers, their source is not renewable (in less than millions of years) and they are not biodegradable.
[edit] See also
History of clothing and textiles Naturism (which includes nudism) Second hand store Thermoregulation Timeline of non-sexual social nudity Timeline of requisite dress in Western civilization
[edit] References
1. ^ a b Flugel, John Carl (1976. First published 1930), The Psychology of Clothes, International Psycho-analytical Library, No.18, New York: AMS Press. First published by Hogarth Press, London, ISBN 0404147216 Alternative ISBN 9780404147211 (This work is one of the earliest attempts at an overview of the psycho-social and practical functions of clothing)
2. ̂ Goldman, Ralph F (2005), "The four 'Fs' of clothing comfort", in Tochihara, Yutaka & Ohnaka, Tadakatsu (editors), Environmental Ergonomics: The Ergonomics of Human Comfort, Health and Performance in the Thermal Environment, Vol.3, Amsterdam & Boston: Elsevier, pp. 315–320, ISBN 0-080-44466-0, http://books.google.com/books?id=Sfs6mvw98toC&pg=PA315&dq=clothing+function&hl=en&ei=ugaHTOTgMI2KvgPh9cSrCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=clothing%20function&f=false, retrieved 8 September 2010
3. ̂ e.g. Jeffreys, Julius (1858), The British Army in India: Its Preservation by an appropriate Clothing, Housing, Locating, Recreative Employment, and Hopeful Encouragement of the Troops, London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts, http://www.archive.org/stream/britisharmyinin01jeffgoog#page/n7/mode/1up, retrieved 8 September 2010
4. ̂ Newburgh, Louis Harry, ed. (1968. Reprint of 1949 edition), Physiology of Heat Regulation and The Science of Clothing, New York & London: Hafner Publishing
5. ̂ Hertig, Bruce A (February 1969), "Book review: Physiology of Heat Regulation and the Science of Clothing", Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 11 (2): 100, http://journals.lww.com/joem/Citation/1969/02000/Physiology_of_Heat_Regulation_and_the_Science_of.12.aspx, retrieved 8 September 2010 (reviewer's name appears next to Newburgh, but was not the co-author. See also reviewer's name at bottom of page).
6. ̂ Gilligan, Ian (January 2010), "The Prehistoric Development of Clothing: Archaeological Implications of a Thermal Model", Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 17 (1): 15–80, doi:10.1007/s10816-009-9076-x
7. ̂ The Pursuit of Attention, 20008. ̂ "?". http://www.divreinavon.com/pdf/BegedSimlaJBQ.pdf. Retrieved 9 August 2010.[self-published source?]
9. ̂ Hoffecker, J., Scott, J., Excavations In Eastern Europe Reveal Ancient Human Lifestyles, University of Colorado at Boulder News Archive, March 21, 2002, colorado.edu
10. ̂ Balter M. (2009). Clothes Make the (Hu) Man. Science,325(5946):1329.doi:10.1126/science.325_1329a
11. ̂ Kvavadze E, Bar-Yosef O, Belfer-Cohen A, Boaretto E,Jakeli N, Matskevich Z, Meshveliani T. (2009).30,000-Year-Old Wild Flax Fibers. Science, 325(5946):1359. doi:10.1126/science.1175404 Supporting Online Material
12. ̂ When Wrinkle-Free Clothing Also Means Formaldehyde Fumes. New York Times.13. ̂ Changes of Free Formaldehyde Quantity in Non-iron Shirts by Washing and Storage. Journal of
Health Science.
[edit] Further reading
Finnane, Antonia (2008), Changing Clothes in China: Fashion, History, Nation, New York: Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0-231-14350-9, http://books.google.com/?id=Ju3N4VeiQ28C&printsec=frontcover&dq=clothes+history&q, retrieved 8 September 2010 ebook ISBN 978-0-231-51273-2
Forsberg, Krister & Mansdorf, S.Z (2007), Quick Selection Guide to Chemical Protective Clothing (5th ed.), Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0-470-14681-1, http://books.google.com/?id=UkA2MK9vXEIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=clothing+protective&q, retrieved 8 September 2010
Gavin, Timothy P (2003), "Clothing and Thermoregulation During Exercise", Sports Medicine 33 (13): 941–947, doi:10.2165/00007256-200333130-00001, PMID 14606923, http://adisonline.com/sportsmedicine/Abstract/2003/33130/Clothing_and_Thermoregulation_During_Exercise.1.aspx, retrieved 8 September 2010
Hollander, Anne L (1993), Seeing Through Clothes, Berkley & Los Angeles, California, and London, UK: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-08231-1, http://books.google.com/?id=CSItqzbG9nIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=clothes&q, retrieved 8 September 2010
Montain, Scott J; Sawaka, Michael N; Cadarett, Bruce S; Quigley, Mark D; McKay, James M (1994), "Physiological tolerance to uncompensable heat stress: effects of exercise intensity, protective clothing, and climate", Journal of Applied Physiology 77 (1): 216–222, PMID 7961236, http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA283851&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf, retrieved 8 September 2010
Ross, Robert (2008), Clothing, a Global History: or, The Imperialist's New Clothes, Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, ISBN 978-0-7456-3186-8, http://books.google.com/?id=e7LZe4b18ScC&printsec=frontcover&dq=clothes+history&q, retrieved 8 September 2010 Paperback ISBN 978-0-7456-3187-5
Tochihara, Yutaka & Ohnaka, Tadakatsu, ed. (2005), Environmental Ergonomics: The Ergonomics of Human Comfort, Health and Performance in the Thermal Environment, Vol.3, Amsterdam & Boston: Elsevier, pp. 315–320, ISBN 0-080-44466-0, http://books.google.com/?id=qvh2sdJoQR8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=environmental+ergonomics&q, retrieved 8 September 2010 (see especially sections 5 - 'Clothing' - & 6 - 'Protective clothing').
Yarborough, Portia & Nelson, Cherilyn N, ed. (2005), Performance of Protective Clothing: Global Needs and Emerging Markets, 8th Vol., West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International, ISBN 0-8031-3488-6, ISSN 1040-3035, http://books.google.com/?id=pbnN_SL4H9AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=protective+clothing+nelson&q, retrieved 8 September 2010
[edit] External linksFind more about clothing on Wikipedia's sister projects:
Definitions from Wiktionary
Images and media from Commons
Learning resources from Wikiversity
News stories from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
BBC Wiltshire Dents Glove Museum International Textile and Apparel Association , scholarly publications German Hosiery Museum (English language) Molecular Evolution of Pediculus humanus and the Origin of Clothing by Ralf Kittler, Manfred
Kayser and Mark Stoneking (.PDF file) Cornell Home Economics Archive: Research, Tradition, History (HEARTH)
Clothing in history
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of most human societies. The amount and type of clothing worn depends on functional considerations (such as a need for warmth or protection from the elements) and social considerations. In some situations the minimum amount of clothing (i.e. covering of a person's genitals) may be socially acceptable, while in others much more clothing is expected.
Functionality is the primary purpose of clothing. It can serve as protection from the elements. Clothes also enhance safety during hazardous activities such as hiking and cooking, by providing a barrier between the skin and the environment. Further, clothes provide a hygienic barrier, keeping toxins away from the body and limiting the transmission of germs.
Clothing performs a range of social and cultural functions, such as individual, occupational and sexual differentiation, and social status.[1] A uniform, for example, may identify civil authority figures, such as police and military personnel, or it may identify team, group or political affiliations.
In many societies, norms about clothing reflect standards of modesty, religion, gender, and social status. Clothing may also function as a form of adornment and an expression of personal taste or style.
Clothing can and has in history been made from a very wide variety of materials. Materials have ranged from leather and furs, to woven materials, to elaborate and exotic natural and synthetic fabrics.
Not all body coverings are regarded as clothing. Articles carried rather than worn (such as purses), worn on a single part of the body and easily removed (scarves), worn purely for adornment (jewelry), or those that serve a function other than protection (eyeglasses), are normally considered accessories rather than clothing,[citation needed] as are footwear and hats. However, if functional due to local and weather condition and benefits your well being, footwear can be considered clothing.
It can be said that there are four primary factors in clothing comfort, identifiable as the '4 Fs of Comfort' (1) fashion; (2) feel; (3) fit; and (4) function.[2] The only purposes of clothing is to keep the body warm and comfortable. In hot climates, clothing provides protection from sunburn or wind damage, while in cold climates its thermal insulation properties are generally more important. Shelter usually reduces the functional need for clothing. For example, coats, hats, gloves, shoes, socks, and other superficial layers are normally removed when entering a warm home, particularly if one is residing or sleeping there. Similarly, clothing has seasonal and regional aspects, so that thinner materials and fewer layers of clothing are generally worn in warmer seasons and regions than in colder ones.
Clothing protects people against many things that might injure the uncovered human body. Clothes act as protection from the elements, including rain, snow and wind and other weather conditions, as well as from the sun. However, if your clothes is too sheer, thin, small, tight, etc., the protection effect is minimized. Clothes also reduce the level of risk during activity, such as work or sport. Clothing at times is worn as protection from specific environmental hazards, such as insects, noxious chemicals, weapons, and contact with abrasive substances. Conversely, clothing may protect the environment from the clothing wearer, as with doctors wearing medical scrubs.
Humans have shown extreme inventiveness in devising clothing solutions to environmental hazards. Some examples include: space suits, air conditioned clothing, armor, diving suits, swimsuits, bee-keeper gear, motorcycle leathers, high-visibility clothing, and other pieces of protective clothing. Meanwhile, the distinction between clothing and protective equipment is not always clear-cut, since clothes designed to be fashionable often have protective value and clothes designed for function often consider fashion in their design.
[edit] Scholarship
Although dissertations on clothing and its functionality are found from the 19th century as colonising countries dealt with new environments,[3] concerted scientific research into psycho-social, physiological and other functions of clothing (e.g. protective, cartage) occurred in the first half of the 20th century, with publications such as Flugel's Psychology of Clothes in 1930,[1] and Newburgh's seminal Physiology of Heat Regulation and The Science of Clothing in 1949.[4] By 1968, the field of environmental physiology had advanced and expanded significantly, but the science of clothing in relation to environmental physiology had changed little.[5] While considerable research has since occurred and the knowledge-base has grown significantly, the main concepts remain unchanged, and indeed Newburgh's book continues to be cited by contemporary authors, including those attempting to develop thermoregulatory models of clothing development.[6]
[edit] Cultural aspects
[edit] Gender differentiation
Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Turkish President Abdullah Gül both wearing Western-style business suits.
In most cultures, gender differentiation of clothing is considered appropriate for men and women. The differences are in styles, colors and fabrics.
In Western societies, skirts, dresses and high-heeled shoes are usually seen as women's clothing, while neckties are usually seen as men's clothing. Trousers were once seen as exclusively male clothing, but are nowadays worn by both genders. Male clothes are often more practical (that is, they can function well under a wide variety of situations), but a wider range of clothing styles are available for females. Males are typically allowed to bare their chests in a greater variety of public places. It is generally acceptable for a woman to wear traditionally male clothing, while the converse is unusual.
In some cultures, sumptuary laws regulate what men and women are required to wear. Islam requires women to wear more modest forms of attire, usually hijab. What qualifies as "modest" varies in different Muslim societies; however, women are usually required to cover more of their bodies than men are. Articles of clothing worn by Muslim women for purposes of modesty range from the headscarf to the burqa.
Men may sometimes choose to wear men's skirts such as togas or kilts, especially on ceremonial occasions. Such garments were (in previous times) often worn as normal daily clothing by men. Compared to men's clothing, women's clothing tends to be more attractive, often intended to be looked at by men.[7] In modern industrialized nations, women are more likely to wear makeup, jewelry, and colorful clothing, while in very traditional cultures women are protected from men's gazes by modest dress.
[edit] Social status
Alim Khan's bemedaled robe sends a social message about his wealth, status, and power
In some societies, clothing may be used to indicate rank or status. In ancient Rome, for example, only senators were permitted to wear garments dyed with Tyrian purple. In traditional Hawaiian society only high-ranking chiefs could wear feather cloaks and palaoa or carved whale teeth. Under the Travancore Kingdom of Kerala, (India), lower caste women had to pay a tax for the right to cover their upper body. In China, before the establishment of the republic, only the emperor could wear yellow. History provides many examples of elaborate sumptuary laws that regulated what people could wear. In societies without such laws, which includes most modern societies, social status is instead signaled by the purchase of rare or luxury items that are limited by cost to those with wealth or status. In addition, peer pressure influences clothing choice.
[edit] ReligionSee also: Category:Religious vesture
Muslim men traditionally wear white robes and a cap during prayers
Religious clothing might be considered a special case of occupational clothing. Sometimes it is worn only during the performance of religious ceremonies. However, it may also be worn everyday as a marker for special religious status.
For example, Jains wear unstitched cloth pieces when performing religious ceremonies. The unstitched cloth signifies unified and complete devotion to the task at hand, with no digression.[citation needed] Sikhs wear a turban as it is a part of their religion.
The cleanliness of religious dresses in Eastern Religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism is of paramount importance, since it indicates purity.
Clothing figures prominently in the Bible where it appears in numerous contexts, the more prominent ones being: the story of Adam and Eve, Joseph's cloak, Judah and Tamar, Mordecai and Esther. Furthermore the priests officiating in the Temple had very specific garments, the lack of which made one liable to death.
Jewish ritual also requires rending of one's upper garment as a sign of mourning. This practice is found in the Bible when Jacob hears of the apparent death of his son Joseph.[8]
[edit] Origin and historyMain article: History of clothing
See also: History of Western fashion and Category:History of clothing
[edit] First recorded use
According to archaeologists and anthropologists, the earliest clothing likely consisted of fur, leather, leaves, or grass that were draped, wrapped, or tied around the body. Knowledge of such clothing remains inferential, since clothing materials deteriorate quickly compared to stone, bone, shell and metal artifacts. Archeologists have identified very early sewing needles of bone and ivory from about 30,000 BC, found near Kostenki, Russia in 1988.[9] Dyed flax fibers that could have been used in clothing have been found in a prehistoric cave in the Republic of Georgia that date back to 36,000 BP.[10][11]
Scientists are still debating when people started wearing clothes. Ralf Kittler, Manfred Kayser and Mark Stoneking, anthropologists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, have conducted a genetic analysis of human body lice that suggests clothing originated quite recently, around 107,000 years ago. Body lice is an indicator of clothes-wearing, since most humans have sparse body hair, and lice thus require human clothing to survive. Their research suggests the invention of clothing may have coincided with the northward migration of modern Homo sapiens away from the warm climate of Africa, thought to have begun between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. However, a second group of researchers using similar genetic methods estimate that clothing originated around 540,000 years ago (Reed et al. 2004. PLoS Biology 2(11): e340). For now, the date of the origin of clothing remains unresolved.[citation needed]
[edit] Making clothingSee also: Weaving, Knitting, and Twining
Some human cultures, such as the various people of the Arctic Circle, make their clothing entirely of prepared and decorated furs and skins. Other cultures have supplemented or replaced leather and skins with cloth: woven, knitted, or twined from various animal and vegetable fibers.
Although modern consumers may take the production of clothing for granted, making fabric by hand is a tedious and labor intensive process. That the textile industry was the first to be mechanized — with the powered loom — during the Industrial Revolution attests to this fact.
Different cultures have evolved various ways of creating clothes out of cloth. One approach simply involves draping the cloth. Many people wore, and still wear, garments consisting of rectangles of cloth wrapped to fit — for example, the dhoti for men and the sari for women in the Indian subcontinent, the Scottish kilt or the Javanese sarong. The clothes may simply be tied up, as is the case of the first two garments; or pins or belts hold the garments in place, as in the case of the latter two. The precious cloth remains uncut, and people of various sizes or the same person at different sizes can wear the garment.
Another approach involves cutting and sewing the cloth, but using every bit of the cloth rectangle in constructing the clothing. The tailor may cut triangular pieces from one corner of the cloth, and then add them elsewhere as gussets. Traditional European patterns for men's shirts and women's chemises take this approach.
Modern European fashion treats cloth much less conservatively, typically cutting in such a way as to leave various odd-shaped cloth remnants. Industrial sewing operations sell these as waste; home sewers may turn them into quilts.
In the thousands of years that humans have spent constructing clothing, they have created an astonishing array of styles, many of which have been reconstructed from surviving garments, photos, paintings, mosaics, etc., as well as from written descriptions. Costume history serves as a source of inspiration to current fashion designers, as well as a topic of professional interest to costumers constructing for plays, films, television, and historical reenactment.
[edit] Contemporary clothingThis section requires expansion.
[edit] Spread of western styles
By the early years of the 21st century, western clothing styles had, to some extent, become international styles. This process began hundreds of years earlier, during the periods of European colonialism. The process of cultural dissemination has perpetuated over the centuries as Western media corporations have penetrated markets throughout the world, spreading Western culture and styles. Fast fashion clothing has also become a global phenomenon. These garments are less expensive, mass-produced Western clothing. Donated used clothing from Western countries are also delivered to people in poor countries by charity organizations.
[edit] Ethnic and cultural heritage
People may wear ethnic or national dress on special occasions or in certain roles or occupations. For example, most Korean men and women have adopted Western-style dress for daily wear, but still wear traditional hanboks on special occasions, like weddings and cultural holidays. Items of Western dress may also appear worn or accessorized in distinctive, non-Western ways. A Tongan man may combine a used T-shirt with a Tongan wrapped skirt, or tupenu.
[edit] Sport and activity
A woman wearing a Polo Ralph Lauren shirt.
Most sports and physical activities are practiced wearing special clothing, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Common sportswear garments include short pants, T-shirts, tennis shirts, tracksuits, and trainers. Specialized garments include wet suits (for swimming, diving or surfing), salopettes (for skiing) and leotards (for gymnastics). Also, spandex materials are often used as base layers to soak up sweat. Spandex is also preferable for active sports that require form fitting garments, such as wrestling, track & field, dance, gymnastics and swimming.
[edit] FashionMain article: Fashion
There exists a diverse range of styles in fashion, varying by geography, exposure to modern media, economic conditions, and ranging from expensive haute couture to traditional garb, to thrift store grunge.
[edit] Future trends
The world of clothing is always changing, as new cultural influences meet technological innovations. Researchers in scientific labs have been developing prototypes for fabrics that can serve functional purposes well beyond their traditional roles, for example, clothes that can automatically adjust their temperature, repel bullets, project images, and generate electricity. Some practical advances already available to consumers are bullet-resistant garments made with kevlar and stain-resistant fabrics that are coated with chemical mixtures that reduce the absorption of liquids.
[edit] Political issues
[edit] Working conditions
This section requires expansion.
Though mechanization transformed most aspects of human industry by the mid-20th century, garment workers have continued to labor under challenging conditions that demand repetitive manual labor. Mass-produced clothing is often made in what are considered by some to be sweatshops, typified by long work hours, lack of benefits, and lack of worker representation. While most examples of such conditions are found in developing countries, clothes made in industrialized nations may also be manufactured similarly, often staffed by undocumented immigrants.[citation needed]
Coalitions of NGOs, designers (Katharine Hamnett, American Apparel, Veja, Quiksilver, eVocal, Edun,...) and campaign groups like the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) have sought to improve these conditions as much as possible by sponsoring awareness-raising events, which draw the attention of both the media and the general public to the workers.
Outsourcing production to low wage countries like Bangladesh, China, India and Sri Lanka became possible when the Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA) was abolished. The MFA, which placed quotas on textiles imports, was deemed a protectionist measure.[citation needed] Globalization is often quoted as the single most contributing factor to the poor working conditions of garment workers. Although many countries recognize treaties like the International Labor Organization, which attempt to set standards for worker safety and rights, many countries have made exceptions to certain parts of the treaties or failed to thoroughly enforce them. India for example has not ratified sections 87 and 92 of the treaty.[citation needed]
Despite the strong reactions that "sweatshops" evoked among critics of globalization, the production of textiles has functioned as a consistent industry for developing nations providing work and wages, whether construed as exploitative or not, to thousands of people.
[edit] FurMain article: Fur clothing
The use of animal fur in clothing dates to prehistoric times. It is currently associated in developed countries with expensive, designer clothing, although fur is still used by indigenous people in arctic zones and higher elevations for its warmth and protection. Once uncontroversial, it has recently been the focus of campaigns on the grounds that campaigners consider it cruel and unnecessary. PETA, along with other animal rights and animal liberation groups have called attention to fur farming and other practices they consider cruel.
[edit] Life cycle
[edit] Clothing maintenance
Clothing suffers assault both from within and without. The human body sheds skin cells and body oils, and exudes sweat, urine, and feces. From the outside, sun damage, moisture, abrasion and dirt assault garments. Fleas and lice can hide in seams. Worn clothing, if not
cleaned and refurbished, itches, looks scruffy, and loses functionality (as when buttons fall off, seams come undone, fabrics thin or tear, and zippers fail).
In some cases, people wear an item of clothing until it falls apart. Cleaning leather presents difficulties, and bark cloth (tapa) cannot be washed without dissolving it. Owners may patch tears and rips, and brush off surface dirt, but old leather and bark clothing always look old.
But most clothing consists of cloth, and most cloth can be laundered and mended (patching, darning, but compare felt).
[edit] Laundry, ironing, storage
Humans have developed many specialized methods for laundering, ranging from early methods of pounding clothes against rocks in running streams, to the latest in electronic washing machines and dry cleaning (dissolving dirt in solvents other than water). Hot water washing (boiling), chemical cleaning and ironing are all traditional methods of sterilizing fabrics for hygiene purposes.
Many kinds of clothing are designed to be ironed before they are worn to remove wrinkles. Most modern formal and semi-formal clothing is in this category (for example, dress shirts and suits). Ironed clothes are believed to look clean, fresh, and neat. Much contemporary casual clothing is made of knit materials that do not readily wrinkle, and do not require ironing. Some clothing is permanent press, having been treated with a coating (such as polytetrafluoroethylene) that suppresses wrinkles and creates a smooth appearance without ironing.
Once clothes have been laundered and possibly ironed, they are usually hung on clothes hangers or folded, to keep them fresh until they are worn. Clothes are folded to allow them to be stored compactly, to prevent creasing, to preserve creases or to present them in a more pleasing manner, for instance when they are put on sale in stores.
Many kinds of clothes are folded before they are put in suitcases as preparation for travel. Other clothes, such as suits, may be hung up in special garment bags, or rolled rather than folded. Many people use their clothing as packing material around fragile items that might otherwise break in transit.
[edit] Non-iron
A resin used for making non-wrinkle shirts releases formaldehyde, which could cause contact dermatitis for some people; no disclosure requirements exist, and in 2008 the U.S. Government Accountability Office tested formaldehyde in clothing and found that generally the highest levels were in non-wrinkle shirts and pants.[12] In 1999, a study of the effect of washing on the formaldehyde levels found that after 6 months after washing, 7 of 27 shirts had levels in excess of 75 ppm, which is a safety limit for direct skin exposure.[13]
[edit] Mending
In past times, mending was an art. A meticulous tailor or seamstress could mend rips with thread raveled from hems and seam edges so skillfully that the tear was practically invisible. When the raw material — cloth — was worth more than labor, it made sense to expend labor
in saving it. Today clothing is considered a consumable item. Mass-manufactured clothing is less expensive than the labor required to repair it. Many people buy a new piece of clothing rather than spend time mending. The thrifty still replace zippers and buttons and sew up ripped hems.
[edit] Recycling
Used, unwearable clothing was once used for quilts, rags, rugs, bandages, and many other household uses. It could also be recycled into paper. Today, used clothing is usually thrown out or donated to charity. It is also sold to consignment shops, dress agencies and flea markets and in online auctions.
There are many concerns about the life cycle of synthetics, which come primarily from petrochemicals.[weasel words] Unlike natural fibers, their source is not renewable (in less than millions of years) and they are not biodegradable.
[edit] See also
History of clothing and textiles Naturism (which includes nudism) Second hand store
Thermoregulation Timeline of non-sexual social nudity Timeline of requisite dress in Western civilization
clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of most human societies. The amount and type of clothing worn depends on functional considerations (such as a need for warmth or protection from the elements) and social considerations. In some situations the minimum amount of clothing (i.e. covering of a person's genitals) may be socially acceptable, while in others much more clothing is expected.
Functionality is the primary purpose of clothing. It can serve as protection from the elements. Clothes also enhance safety during hazardous activities such as hiking and cooking, by providing a barrier between the skin and the environment. Further, clothes provide a hygienic barrier, keeping toxins away from the body and limiting the transmission of germs.
Clothing performs a range of social and cultural functions, such as individual, occupational and sexual differentiation, and social status.[1] A uniform, for example, may identify civil authority figures, such as police and military personnel, or it may identify team, group or political affiliations.
In many societies, norms about clothing reflect standards of modesty, religion, gender, and social status. Clothing may also function as a form of adornment and an expression of personal taste or style.
Clothing can and has in history been made from a very wide variety of materials. Materials have ranged from leather and furs, to woven materials, to elaborate and exotic natural and synthetic fabrics.
Not all body coverings are regarded as clothing. Articles carried rather than worn (such as purses), worn on a single part of the body and easily removed (scarves), worn purely for adornment (jewelry), or those that serve a function other than protection (eyeglasses), are normally considered accessories rather than clothing,[citation needed] as are footwear and hats. However, if functional due to local and weather condition and benefits your well being, footwear can be considered clothing.
Functions
A baby wearing many items of winter clothing: headband, cap, fur-lined coat, shawl and sweater
It can be said that there are four primary factors in clothing comfort, identifiable as the '4 Fs of Comfort' (1) fashion; (2) feel; (3) fit; and (4) function.[2] The only purposes of clothing is to keep the body warm and comfortable. In hot climates, clothing provides protection from sunburn or wind damage, while in cold climates its thermal insulation properties are generally more important. Shelter usually reduces the functional need for clothing. For example, coats, hats, gloves, shoes, socks, and other superficial layers are normally removed when entering a warm home, particularly if one is residing or sleeping there. Similarly, clothing has seasonal and regional aspects, so that thinner materials and fewer layers of clothing are generally worn in warmer seasons and regions than in colder ones.
Clothing protects people against many things that might injure the uncovered human body. Clothes act as protection from the elements, including rain, snow and wind and other weather conditions, as well as from the sun. However, if your clothes is too sheer, thin, small, tight, etc., the protection effect is minimized. Clothes also reduce the level of risk during activity, such as work or sport. Clothing at times is worn as protection from specific environmental
hazards, such as insects, noxious chemicals, weapons, and contact with abrasive substances. Conversely, clothing may protect the environment from the clothing wearer, as with doctors wearing medical scrubs.
Humans have shown extreme inventiveness in devising clothing solutions to environmental hazards. Some examples include: space suits, air conditioned clothing, armor, diving suits, swimsuits, bee-keeper gear, motorcycle leathers, high-visibility clothing, and other pieces of protective clothing. Meanwhile, the distinction between clothing and protective equipment is not always clear-cut, since clothes designed to be fashionable often have protective value and clothes designed for function often consider fashion in their design.
[edit] Scholarship
Although dissertations on clothing and its functionality are found from the 19th century as colonising countries dealt with new environments,[3] concerted scientific research into psycho-social, physiological and other functions of clothing (e.g. protective, cartage) occurred in the first half of the 20th century, with publications such as Flugel's Psychology of Clothes in 1930,[1] and Newburgh's seminal Physiology of Heat Regulation and The Science of Clothing in 1949.[4] By 1968, the field of environmental physiology had advanced and expanded significantly, but the science of clothing in relation to environmental physiology had changed little.[5] While considerable research has since occurred and the knowledge-base has grown significantly, the main concepts remain unchanged, and indeed Newburgh's book continues to be cited by contemporary authors, including those attempting to develop thermoregulatory models of clothing development.[6]
[edit] Cultural aspects
[edit] Gender differentiation
Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Turkish President Abdullah Gül both wearing Western-style business suits.
In most cultures, gender differentiation of clothing is considered appropriate for men and women. The differences are in styles, colors and fabrics.
In Western societies, skirts, dresses and high-heeled shoes are usually seen as women's clothing, while neckties are usually seen as men's clothing. Trousers were once seen as exclusively male clothing, but are nowadays worn by both genders. Male clothes are often more practical (that is, they can function well under a wide variety of situations), but a wider range of clothing styles are available for females. Males are typically allowed to bare their chests in a greater variety of public places. It is generally acceptable for a woman to wear traditionally male clothing, while the converse is unusual.
In some cultures, sumptuary laws regulate what men and women are required to wear. Islam requires women to wear more modest forms of attire, usually hijab. What qualifies as "modest" varies in different Muslim societies; however, women are usually required to cover more of their bodies than men are. Articles of clothing worn by Muslim women for purposes of modesty range from the headscarf to the burqa.
Men may sometimes choose to wear men's skirts such as togas or kilts, especially on ceremonial occasions. Such garments were (in previous times) often worn as normal daily clothing by men. Compared to men's clothing, women's clothing tends to be more attractive, often intended to be looked at by men.[7] In modern industrialized nations, women are more likely to wear makeup, jewelry, and colorful clothing, while in very traditional cultures women are protected from men's gazes by modest dress.
[edit] Social status
Alim Khan's bemedaled robe sends a social message about his wealth, status, and power
In some societies, clothing may be used to indicate rank or status. In ancient Rome, for example, only senators were permitted to wear garments dyed with Tyrian purple. In traditional Hawaiian society only high-ranking chiefs could wear feather cloaks and palaoa or carved whale teeth. Under the Travancore Kingdom of Kerala, (India), lower caste women had to pay a tax for the right to cover their upper body. In China, before the establishment of the republic, only the emperor could wear yellow. History provides many examples of elaborate sumptuary laws that regulated what people could wear. In societies without such laws, which includes most modern societies, social status is instead signaled by the purchase of rare or luxury items that are limited by cost to those with wealth or status. In addition, peer pressure influences clothing choice.
[edit] ReligionSee also: Category:Religious vesture
Muslim men traditionally wear white robes and a cap during prayers
Religious clothing might be considered a special case of occupational clothing. Sometimes it is worn only during the performance of religious ceremonies. However, it may also be worn everyday as a marker for special religious status.
For example, Jains wear unstitched cloth pieces when performing religious ceremonies. The unstitched cloth signifies unified and complete devotion to the task at hand, with no digression.[citation needed] Sikhs wear a turban as it is a part of their religion.
The cleanliness of religious dresses in Eastern Religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism is of paramount importance, since it indicates purity.
Clothing figures prominently in the Bible where it appears in numerous contexts, the more prominent ones being: the story of Adam and Eve, Joseph's cloak, Judah and Tamar, Mordecai and Esther. Furthermore the priests officiating in the Temple had very specific garments, the lack of which made one liable to death.
Jewish ritual also requires rending of one's upper garment as a sign of mourning. This practice is found in the Bible when Jacob hears of the apparent death of his son Joseph.[8]
[edit] Origin and historyMain article: History of clothing
See also: History of Western fashion and Category:History of clothing
[edit] First recorded use
According to archaeologists and anthropologists, the earliest clothing likely consisted of fur, leather, leaves, or grass that were draped, wrapped, or tied around the body. Knowledge of such clothing remains inferential, since clothing materials deteriorate quickly compared to stone, bone, shell and metal artifacts. Archeologists have identified very early sewing needles of bone and ivory from about 30,000 BC, found near Kostenki, Russia in 1988.[9] Dyed flax fibers that could have been used in clothing have been found in a prehistoric cave in the Republic of Georgia that date back to 36,000 BP.[10][11]
Scientists are still debating when people started wearing clothes. Ralf Kittler, Manfred Kayser and Mark Stoneking, anthropologists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, have conducted a genetic analysis of human body lice that suggests clothing
originated quite recently, around 107,000 years ago. Body lice is an indicator of clothes-wearing, since most humans have sparse body hair, and lice thus require human clothing to survive. Their research suggests the invention of clothing may have coincided with the northward migration of modern Homo sapiens away from the warm climate of Africa, thought to have begun between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. However, a second group of researchers using similar genetic methods estimate that clothing originated around 540,000 years ago (Reed et al. 2004. PLoS Biology 2(11): e340). For now, the date of the origin of clothing remains unresolved.[citation needed]
[edit] Making clothingSee also: Weaving, Knitting, and Twining
Some human cultures, such as the various people of the Arctic Circle, make their clothing entirely of prepared and decorated furs and skins. Other cultures have supplemented or replaced leather and skins with cloth: woven, knitted, or twined from various animal and vegetable fibers.
Although modern consumers may take the production of clothing for granted, making fabric by hand is a tedious and labor intensive process. That the textile industry was the first to be mechanized — with the powered loom — during the Industrial Revolution attests to this fact.
Different cultures have evolved various ways of creating clothes out of cloth. One approach simply involves draping the cloth. Many people wore, and still wear, garments consisting of rectangles of cloth wrapped to fit — for example, the dhoti for men and the sari for women in the Indian subcontinent, the Scottish kilt or the Javanese sarong. The clothes may simply be tied up, as is the case of the first two garments; or pins or belts hold the garments in place, as in the case of the latter two. The precious cloth remains uncut, and people of various sizes or the same person at different sizes can wear the garment.
Another approach involves cutting and sewing the cloth, but using every bit of the cloth rectangle in constructing the clothing. The tailor may cut triangular pieces from one corner of the cloth, and then add them elsewhere as gussets. Traditional European patterns for men's shirts and women's chemises take this approach.
Modern European fashion treats cloth much less conservatively, typically cutting in such a way as to leave various odd-shaped cloth remnants. Industrial sewing operations sell these as waste; home sewers may turn them into quilts.
In the thousands of years that humans have spent constructing clothing, they have created an astonishing array of styles, many of which have been reconstructed from surviving garments, photos, paintings, mosaics, etc., as well as from written descriptions. Costume history serves as a source of inspiration to current fashion designers, as well as a topic of professional interest to costumers constructing for plays, films, television, and historical reenactment.
Spread of western styles
By the early years of the 21st century, western clothing styles had, to some extent, become international styles. This process began hundreds of years earlier, during the periods of European colonialism. The process of cultural dissemination has perpetuated over the centuries as Western media corporations have penetrated markets throughout the world,
spreading Western culture and styles. Fast fashion clothing has also become a global phenomenon. These garments are less expensive, mass-produced Western clothing. Donated used clothing from Western countries are also delivered to people in poor countries by charity organizations.
[edit] Ethnic and cultural heritage
People may wear ethnic or national dress on special occasions or in certain roles or occupations. For example, most Korean men and women have adopted Western-style dress for daily wear, but still wear traditional hanboks on special occasions, like weddings and cultural holidays. Items of Western dress may also appear worn or accessorized in distinctive, non-Western ways. A Tongan man may combine a used T-shirt with a Tongan wrapped skirt, or tupenu.
[edit] Sport and activity
A woman wearing a Polo Ralph Lauren shirt.
Most sports and physical activities are practiced wearing special clothing, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Common sportswear garments include short pants, T-shirts, tennis shirts, tracksuits, and trainers. Specialized garments include wet suits (for swimming, diving or surfing), salopettes (for skiing) and leotards (for gymnastics). Also, spandex materials are often used as base layers to soak up sweat. Spandex is also preferable for active sports that require form fitting garments, such as wrestling, track & field, dance, gymnastics and swimming.
[edit] FashionMain article: Fashion
There exists a diverse range of styles in fashion, varying by geography, exposure to modern media, economic conditions, and ranging from expensive haute couture to traditional garb, to thrift store grunge.
[edit] Future trends
The world of clothing is always changing, as new cultural influences meet technological innovations. Researchers in scientific labs have been developing prototypes for fabrics that can serve functional purposes well beyond their traditional roles, for example, clothes that can automatically adjust their temperature, repel bullets, project images, and generate electricity. Some practical advances already available to consumers are bullet-resistant garments made with kevlar and stain-resistant fabrics that are coated with chemical mixtures that reduce the absorption of liquids
Working conditions
This section requires expansion.
Though mechanization transformed most aspects of human industry by the mid-20th century, garment workers have continued to labor under challenging conditions that demand repetitive manual labor. Mass-produced clothing is often made in what are considered by some to be sweatshops, typified by long work hours, lack of benefits, and lack of worker representation. While most examples of such conditions are found in developing countries, clothes made in industrialized nations may also be manufactured similarly, often staffed by undocumented immigrants.[citation needed]
Coalitions of NGOs, designers (Katharine Hamnett, American Apparel, Veja, Quiksilver, eVocal, Edun,...) and campaign groups like the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) have sought to improve these conditions as much as possible by sponsoring awareness-raising events, which draw the attention of both the media and the general public to the workers.
Outsourcing production to low wage countries like Bangladesh, China, India and Sri Lanka became possible when the Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA) was abolished. The MFA, which placed quotas on textiles imports, was deemed a protectionist measure.[citation needed] Globalization is often quoted as the single most contributing factor to the poor working conditions of garment workers. Although many countries recognize treaties like the International Labor Organization, which attempt to set standards for worker safety and rights, many countries have made exceptions to certain parts of the treaties or failed to thoroughly enforce them. India for example has not ratified sections 87 and 92 of the treaty.[citation needed]
Despite the strong reactions that "sweatshops" evoked among critics of globalization, the production of textiles has functioned as a consistent industry for developing nations providing work and wages, whether construed as exploitative or not, to thousands of people.
[edit] FurMain article: Fur clothing
The use of animal fur in clothing dates to prehistoric times. It is currently associated in developed countries with expensive, designer clothing, although fur is still used by indigenous people in arctic zones and higher elevations for its warmth and protection. Once uncontroversial, it has recently been the focus of campaigns on the grounds that campaigners consider it cruel and unnecessary. PETA, along with other animal rights and animal liberation groups have called attention to fur farming and other practices they consider cruel.
[edit] Life cycle
[edit] Clothing maintenance
Clothing suffers assault both from within and without. The human body sheds skin cells and body oils, and exudes sweat, urine, and feces. From the outside, sun damage, moisture, abrasion and dirt assault garments. Fleas and lice can hide in seams. Worn clothing, if not cleaned and refurbished, itches, looks scruffy, and loses functionality (as when buttons fall off, seams come undone, fabrics thin or tear, and zippers fail).
In some cases, people wear an item of clothing until it falls apart. Cleaning leather presents difficulties, and bark cloth (tapa) cannot be washed without dissolving it. Owners may patch tears and rips, and brush off surface dirt, but old leather and bark clothing always look old.
But most clothing consists of cloth, and most cloth can be laundered and mended (patching, darning, but compare felt).
[edit] Laundry, ironing, storage
Humans have developed many specialized methods for laundering, ranging from early methods of pounding clothes against rocks in running streams, to the latest in electronic washing machines and dry cleaning (dissolving dirt in solvents other than water). Hot water washing (boiling), chemical cleaning and ironing are all traditional methods of sterilizing fabrics for hygiene purposes.
Many kinds of clothing are designed to be ironed before they are worn to remove wrinkles. Most modern formal and semi-formal clothing is in this category (for example, dress shirts and suits). Ironed clothes are believed to look clean, fresh, and neat. Much contemporary casual clothing is made of knit materials that do not readily wrinkle, and do not require ironing. Some clothing is permanent press, having been treated with a coating (such as polytetrafluoroethylene) that suppresses wrinkles and creates a smooth appearance without ironing.
Once clothes have been laundered and possibly ironed, they are usually hung on clothes hangers or folded, to keep them fresh until they are worn. Clothes are folded to allow them to be stored compactly, to prevent creasing, to preserve creases or to present them in a more pleasing manner, for instance when they are put on sale in stores.
Many kinds of clothes are folded before they are put in suitcases as preparation for travel. Other clothes, such as suits, may be hung up in special garment bags, or rolled rather than folded. Many people use their clothing as packing material around fragile items that might otherwise break in transit.
[edit] Non-iron
A resin used for making non-wrinkle shirts releases formaldehyde, which could cause contact dermatitis for some people; no disclosure requirements exist, and in 2008 the U.S. Government Accountability Office tested formaldehyde in clothing and found that generally the highest levels were in non-wrinkle shirts and pants.[12] In 1999, a study of the effect of
washing on the formaldehyde levels found that after 6 months after washing, 7 of 27 shirts had levels in excess of 75 ppm, which is a safety limit for direct skin exposure.[13]
[edit] Mending
In past times, mending was an art. A meticulous tailor or seamstress could mend rips with thread raveled from hems and seam edges so skillfully that the tear was practically invisible. When the raw material — cloth — was worth more than labor, it made sense to expend labor in saving it. Today clothing is considered a consumable item. Mass-manufactured clothing is less expensive than the labor required to repair it. Many people buy a new piece of clothing rather than spend time mending. The thrifty still replace zippers and buttons and sew up ripped hems.
[edit] Recycling
Used, unwearable clothing was once used for quilts, rags, rugs, bandages, and many other household uses. It could also be recycled into paper. Today, used clothing is usually thrown out or donated to charity. It is also sold to consignment shops, dress agencies and flea markets and in online auctions.
There are many concerns about the life cycle of synthetics, which come primarily from petrochemicals.[weasel words] Unlike natural fibers, their source is not renewable (in less than millions of years) and they are not biodegradable.
[edit] See also
History of clothing and textiles Naturism (which includes nudism) Second hand store Thermoregulation Timeline of non-sexual social nudity Timeline of requisite dress in Western civilization
History of clothing and textilesFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Ladies making silk, early 12th century painting by Emperor Huizong of Song (a remake of an 8th century original by artist Zhang Xuan), illustrates silk fabric manufacture in China.
The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of most human societies. It is not known when humans began wearing clothes. Anthropologists believe that animal skins and vegetation were adapted into coverings as protection from cold, heat and rain, especially as humans migrated to new climates; alternatively, covering may have been invented first for other purposes, such as magic, decoration, cult, or prestige, and later found to be practical as well.
Clothing and textiles have been important in human history and reflects the materials available to a civilization as well as the technologies that it has mastered. The social significance of the finished product reflects their culture.
Textiles, defined as felt or spun fibers made into yarn and subsequently netted, looped, knit or woven to make fabrics, appeared in the Middle East during the late stone age.[1] From ancient times to the present day, methods of textile production have continually evolved, and the choices of textiles available have influenced how people carried their possessions, clothed themselves, and decorated their surroundings.[2]
Sources available for the study of the history of clothing and textiles include material remains discovered via archaeology; representation of textiles and their manufacture in art; and documents concerning the manufacture, acquisition, use, and trade of fabrics, tools, and finished garments. Scholarship of textile history, especially its earlier stages, is part of material culture studies.
Contents[hide]
1 Prehistoric development 2 Ancient textiles and clothing
o 2.1 Ancient Near East o 2.2 Ancient India o 2.3 Ancient Egypt o 2.4 Ancient China o 2.5 Ancient Japan o 2.6 The textile trade in the ancient world o 2.7 Classical antiquity o 2.8 Iron age Europe
3 Medieval clothing and textiles o 3.1 Byzantium o 3.2 Early medieval Europe o 3.3 High middle ages and the rise of fashion
4 Renaissance and early modern period o 4.1 Renaissance Europe o 4.2 Early Modern Europe
5 Enlightenment and the Colonial period 6 Industrial revolution 7 Contemporary technology 8 See also 9 External links 10 Notes 11 Bibliography
[edit] Prehistoric development
A Solutrean needle and fishhook.
Recent scientific research estimates that humans have been wearing clothing for as long as 190,000 years.[3]
The development of textile and clothing manufacture in prehistory has been the subject of a number of scholarly studies since the late 20th century, including Prehistoric Textiles: The
Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with Special Reference to the Aegean,[4] as well as Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times.[5] These sources have helped to provide a coherent history of these prehistoric developments. Evidence suggests that human beings may have begun wearing clothing as far back as 100,000 to 500,000 years ago.[6]
Genetic analysis suggests that the human body louse, which lives in clothing, may have diverged from the head louse some 107,000 years ago, evidence that humans began wearing clothing at around this time.[7]
Possible sewing needles have been dated to around 40,000 years ago.[8] The earliest definite examples of needles originate from the Solutrean culture, which existed in France from 19,000 BC to 15,000 BC. The earliest dyed flax fibers have been found in a prehistoric cave in the Republic of Georgia and date back to 36,000 BP.[9][10]
The earliest evidence of weaving comes from impressions of textiles and basketry and nets on little pieces of hard clay, dating from 27,000 years ago and found in Dolni Vestonice in the Czech Republic.
At a slightly later date (25,000 years) the Venus figurines were depicted with clothing.[11] Those from western Europe were adorned with basket hats or caps, belts worn at the waist, and a strap of cloth that wrapped around the body right above the breast. Eastern European figurines wore belts, hung low on the hips and sometimes string skirts.[12]
Archaeologists have discovered artifacts from the same period that appear to have been used in the textile arts: (5000 BC) net gauges, spindle needles and weaving sticks.[13]
[edit] Ancient textiles and clothing
The first actual textile, as opposed to skins sewn together, was probably felt. Surviving examples of Nålebinding, another early textile method, date from 6500 BC. Our knowledge of ancient textiles and clothing has expanded in the recent past thanks to modern technological developments.[14] Our knowledge of cultures varies greatly with the climatic conditions to which archeological deposits are exposed; the Middle East and the arid fringes of China have provided many very early samples in good condition, but the early development of textiles in the Indian subcontinent, sub-Saharan Africa and other moist parts of the world remains unclear. In northern Eurasia peat bogs can also preserve textiles very well.
Early woven clothing was often made of full loom widths draped, tied, or pinned in place.
[edit] Ancient Near East
The earliest known woven textiles of the Near East may be fabrics used to wrap the dead, excavated at a Neolithic site at Çatalhöyük in Anatolia, carbonized in a fire and radiocarbon dated to c. 6000 BC.[15] Evidence exists of flax cultivation from c. 8000 BC in the Near East, but the breeding of sheep with a wooly fleece rather than hair occurs much later, c. 3000 BC.[15]
[edit] Ancient India
The inhabitants of the Indus Valley Civilization used cotton for clothing as early as the 5th millennium BC – 4th millennium BC.[16]
According to The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition:[17]
"Cotton has been spun, woven, and dyed since prehistoric times. It clothed the people of ancient India, Egypt, and China. Hundreds of years before the Christian era cotton textiles were woven in India with matchless skill, and their use spread to the Mediterranean countries. In the 1st cent. Arab traders brought fine Muslin and Calico to Italy and Spain. The Moors introduced the cultivation of cotton into Spain in the 9th cent. Fustians and dimities were woven there and in the 14th cent. in Venice and Milan, at first with a linen warp. Little cotton cloth was imported to England before the 15th cent., although small amounts were obtained chiefly for candlewicks. By the 17th cent. the East India Company was bringing rare fabrics from India. Native Americans skillfully spun and wove cotton into fine garments and dyed tapestries. Cotton fabrics found in Peruvian tombs are said to belong to a pre-Inca culture. In color and texture the ancient Peruvian and Mexican textiles resemble those found in Egyptian tombs."
[edit] Ancient EgyptMain article: Clothing in the ancient world#Egyptian clothing
Queen Nefertari in a sheer, pleated linen garment, Egypt, c. 1298–1235 BC
Woven silk textile from tombs at Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province, China, from the Western Han Dynasty, 2nd century BC
Evidence exists for production of linen cloth in Ancient Egypt in the Neolithic period, c. 5500 BC. Cultivation of domesticated wild flax, probably an import from the Levant, is documented as early as c. 6000 BC Other bast fibers including rush, reed, palm, and papyrus were used alone or with linen to make rope and other textiles. Evidence for wool production in Egypt is scanty at this period.[18]
Spinning techniques included the drop spindle, hand-to-hand spinning, and rolling on the thigh; yarn was also spliced.[18] A horizontal ground loom was used prior to the New Kingdom, when a vertical two-beam loom was introduced, probably from Asia.
Linen bandages were used in the burial custom of mummification, and art depicts Egyptian men wearing linen kilts and women in narrow dresses with various forms of shirts and jackets, often of sheer pleated fabric.[18]
[edit] Ancient ChinaMain articles: History of silk and Hanfu
The earliest evidence of silk production in China was found at the sites of Yangshao culture in Xia, Shanxi, where a cocoon of bombyx mori, the domesticated silkworm, cut in half by a sharp knife is dated to between 5000 and 3000 BC. Fragments of primitive looms are also seen from the sites of Hemudu culture in Yuyao, Zhejiang, dated to about 4000 BC. Scraps of silk were found in a Liangzhu culture site at Qianshanyang in Huzhou, Zhejiang, dating back to 2700 BC.[19][20] Other fragments have been recovered from royal tombs in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 – c. 1046 BC).[21]
Under the Shang Dynasty, Han Chinese clothing or Hanfu consisted of a yi, a narrow-cuffed, knee-length tunic tied with a sash, and a narrow, ankle-length skirt, called shang, worn with a bixi, a length of fabric that reached the knees. Clothing of the elite was made of silk in vivid primary colours.
[edit] Ancient Japan
The earliest evidence of weaving in Japan is associated with the Jōmon period. This culture is defined by pottery decorated with cord patterns. In a shell mound in the Miyagi Prefecture, dating back about 5,500, some cloth fragments were discovered made from bark fibers.[22] Hemp fibers were also discovered in the Torihama shell midden, Fukui Prefecture, dating back to the Jōmon period, suggesting that these plants could also have been used for clothing. Some pottery pattern imprints depict also fine mat designs, proving their waving techniques. Since bone needles were also found, it is assumed that they wore dresses that were sewn together.[23]
[edit] The textile trade in the ancient worldMain article: Silk Road
The exchange of luxury textiles was predominant on the Silk Road, a series of ancient trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting East and West by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from China to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time. The trade route was initiated around 114 BC by the Han Dynasty,[24] although earlier trade across the continents had already existed. Geographically, the Silk Road or Silk Route is an interconnected series of ancient trade routes between Chang'an (today's Xi'an) in China, with Asia Minor and the Mediterranean extending over 8,000 km (5,000 miles) on land and sea. Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and Rome, and helped to lay the foundations for the modern world.
[edit] Classical antiquityMain articles: Clothing in the ancient world and Clothing in ancient Rome
Greek chiton (left) and chiton worn under himation
Dress in classical antiquity favored wide, unsewn lengths of fabric, pinned and draped to the body in various ways.
Ancient Greek clothing consisted of lengths of wool or linen, generally rectangular and secured at the shoulders with ornamented pins called fibulae and belted with a sash. Typical garments were the peplos, a loose robe worn by women; the chlamys, a cloak worn by men; and the chiton, a tunic worn by both men and women. Men’s chitons hung to the knees, whereas women’s chitons fell to their ankles. A long cloak called a himation was worn over the peplos or chlamys.
The toga of ancient Rome was also an unsewn length of wool cloth, worn by male citizens draped around the body in various fashions, over a simple tunic. Early tunics were two simple rectangles joined at the shoulders and sides; later tunics had sewn sleeves. Women wore the draped stola or an ankle-length tunic, with a shawl-like palla as an outer garment. Wool was the preferred fabic, although linen, hemp, and small amounts of expensive imported silk and cotton were also worn.
[edit] Iron age Europe
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[edit] Medieval clothing and textiles
The history of Medieval European clothing and textiles has inspired a good deal of scholarly interest in the 21st century. Elisabeth Crowfoot, Frances Pritchard, and Kay Staniland authored Textiles and Clothing: Medieval Finds from Excavations in London, c.1150-c.1450 (Boydell Press, 2001). The topic is also the subject of an annual series Medieval Clothing and Textiles (Boydell Press) edited by Robin Netherton and Professor Gale R. Owen-Crocker of Anglo-Saxon Culture at the University of Manchester.
[edit] ByzantiumMain articles: Byzantine dress and Byzantine silk
The Byzantines made and exported very richly patterned cloth, woven and embroidered for the upper classes, and resist-dyed and printed for the lower.[25] By Justinian's time the Roman toga had been replaced by the tunica, or long chiton, for both sexes, over which the upper classes wore various other garments, like a dalmatica (dalmatic), a heavier and shorter type of tunica; short and long cloaks were fastened on the right shoulder.
Leggings and hose were often worn, but are not prominent in depictions of the wealthy; they were associated with barbarians, whether European or Persian.[26]
[edit] Early medieval Europe
Edgar I of England in short tunic, hose, and cloak, 966
Main articles: Early medieval European dress, Anglo-Saxon dress, and English Medieval fashion
European dress changed gradually in the years 400 to 1100. People in many countries dressed differently depending on whether they identified with the old Romanised population, or the new invading populations such as Franks, Anglo-Saxons, and Visigoths. Men of the invading peoples generally wore short tunics, with belts, and visible trousers, hose or leggings. The Romanised populations, and the Church, remained faithful to the longer tunics of Roman formal costume.[27]
The elite imported silk cloth from the Byzantine, and later Muslim worlds, and also probably cotton. They also could afford bleached linen and dyed and simply patterned wool woven in
Europe itself. But embroidered decoration was probably very widespread, though not usually detectable in art. Lower classes wore local or homespun wool, often undyed, trimmed with bands of decoration, variously embroidery, tablet-woven bands, or colorful borders woven into the fabric in the loom.[28][29]
[edit] High middle ages and the rise of fashionMain articles: 1100–1200 in fashion, 1200–1300 in fashion, and 1300–1400 in fashion
14th century Italian silk damasks
Clothing in 12th and 13th century Europe remained very simple for both men and women, and quite uniform across the subcontinent. The traditional combination of short tunic with hose for working-class men and long tunic with overgown for women and upper class men remained the norm. Most clothing, especially outside the wealthier classes, remained little changed from three or four centuries earlier.[30]
The 13th century saw great progress in the dyeing and working of wool, which was by far the most important material for outer wear. Linen was increasingly used for clothing that was directly in contact with the skin. Unlike wool, linen could be laundered and bleached in the sun. Cotton, imported raw from Egypt and elsewhere, was used for padding and quilting, and cloths such as buckram and fustian.
Crusaders returning from the Levant brought knowledge of its fine textiles, including light silks, to Western Europe. In Northern Europe, silk was an imported and very expensive luxury.[31] The well-off could afford woven brocades from Italy or even further afield. Fashionable Italian silks of this period featured repeating patterns of roundels and animals, deriving from Ottoman silk-weaving centres in Bursa, and ultimately from Yuan Dynasty China via the Silk Road.[32]
Cultural and costume historians agree that the mid-14th century marks the emergence of recognizable "fashion" in Europe.[33][34] From this century onwards Western fashion changes at a pace quite unknown to other civilizations, whether ancient or contemporary.[35] In most other cultures only major political changes, such as the Muslim conquest of India, produced radical changes in clothing, and in China, Japan, and the Ottoman Empire fashion changed only slightly over periods of several centuries.[36]
In this period the draped garments and straight seams of previous centuries were replaced by curved seams and the beginnings of tailoring, which allowed clothing to more closely fit the human form, as did the use of lacing and buttons.[37] A fashion for mi-parti or parti-coloured garments made of two contrasting fabrics, one on each side, arose for men in mid-century,[38] and was especially popular at the English court. Sometimes just the hose would be different colours on each leg.
[edit] Renaissance and early modern period
[edit] Renaissance Europe
Bold floral patterned silks, 15th century.
Main article: 1400–1500 in fashion
Wool remained the most popular fabric for all classes, followed by linen and hemp.[32] Wool fabrics were available in a wide range of qualities, from rough undyed cloth to fine, dense broadcloth with a velvety nap; high-value broadcloth was a backbone of the English economy and was exported throughout Europe.[39] Wool fabrics were dyed in rich colours, notably reds, greens, golds, and blues.[32]
Silk-weaving was well-established around the Mediterranean by the beginning of the 15th century, and figured silks, often silk velvets with silver-gilt wefts, are increasingly seen in Italian dress and in the dress of the wealthy throughout Europe. Stately floral designs featuring a pomegranate or artichoke motif had reached Europe from China in the previous century and became a dominant design in the Ottoman silk-producing cities of Istanbul and Bursa, and spread to silk weavers in Florence, Genoa, Venice, Valencia and Seville in this period.[32][40]
As prosperity grew in the 15th century, the urban middle classes, including skilled workers, began to wear more complex clothes that followed, at a distance, the fashions set by the elites. National variations in clothing increased over the century.[41]
[edit] Early Modern EuropeMain articles: 1500–1550 in fashion, 1550–1600 in fashion, 1600–1650 in fashion, and 1650–1700 in fashion
Slashing at its height: Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, c. 1514.
Spanish fashion with elaborate reticella ruff, 1609
By the first half of the 16th century, the clothing of the Low Countries, German states, and Scandinavia had developed in a different direction than that of England, France, and Italy, although all absorbed the sobering and formal influence of Spanish dress after the mid-1520s.[42]
Elaborate slashing was popular, especially in Germany. Black was increasingly worn for the most formal occasions. Bobbin lace arose from passementerie in the mid-16th century, probably in Flanders.[43] This century also saw the rise of the ruff, which grew from a mere ruffle at the neckline of the shirt or chemise to immense cartwheel shapes. At their most extravagant, ruffs required wire supports and were made of fine Italian reticella, a cutwork linen lace.
By the turn of the 17th century, a sharp distinction could be seen between the sober fashions favored by Protestants in England and the Netherlands, which still showed heavy Spanish influence, and the light, revealing fashions of the French and Italian courts.
The great flowering of needlelace occurred in this period. Geometric reticella deriving from cutwork was elaborated into true needlelace or punto in aria (called in England "point lace"), which reflected the scrolling floral designs popular for embroidery. Lacemaking centers were established in France to reduce the outflow of cash to Italy.[43][44][45]
According to Dr. Wolf D. Fuhrig, "By the second half of the 17th century, Silesia had become an important economic pillar of the Habsburg monarchy, largely on the strength of its textile industry."[46]
[edit] Enlightenment and the Colonial period
This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.
[edit] Industrial revolutionThis section requires expansion.
Main article: Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution
During the industrial revolution, fabric production was mechanised with machines powered by waterwheels and steam-engines. Production shifted from small cottage based production to mass production based on assembly line organisation. Clothing production, on the other hand, continued to be made by hand.
Sewing machines emerged in the 19th century [47] streamlining clothing production.
In the early 20th century workers in the clothing and textile industries became unionised.[48] Later in the 20th century, the industry had expanded to such a degree that such educational institutions as UC Davis established a Division of Textiles and Clothing,[49] The University of Nebraska-Lincoln also created a Department of Textiles, Clothing and Design that offers a Masters of Arts in Textile History,[50] and Iowa State University established a Department of Textiles and Clothing that features a History of costume collection, 1865–1948.[51] Even high school libraries have collections on the history of clothing and textiles.[52]
Alongside these developments were changes in the types and style of clothing produced. During the 1960s, had a major influence on subsequent developments in the industry.[53]
Textiles were not only made in factories. Before this that they were made in local and national markets. Dramatic change in transportation throughout the nation is one source that encouraged the use of factories. New advances such as steamboats, canals, and railroads lowered shipping costs which caused people to buy cheap goods that were produced in other places instead of more expensive goods that were produced locally. Between 1810 and 1840 the development of a national market prompted manufacturing which tripled the output’s worth. This increase in production created a change in industrial methods, such as the use of factories instead of hand made woven materials that families usually made.[54]
The vast majority of the people who worked in the factories were women. Women went to work in textile factories for a number of reasons. Some women left home to live on their own because of crowding at home; or to save for future marriage portions. The work enabled them to see more of the world, to earn something in anticipation of marriage, and to ease the crowding within the home. They also did it to make money for family back home. The money they sent home was to help out with the trouble some of the farmers were having. They also worked in the millhouses because they could gain a sense of independence and growth as a personal goal.[55]
[edit] Contemporary technology
Synthetic fibers such as nylon were invented during the 20th century and synthetic fibers have been added to many natural fibers.
[edit] See also
Timeline of clothing and textiles technology History of Western fashion History of fashion design History of silk Cotton
[edit] External links
Textile production in Europe, 1600–1800 , at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Things to Wear — A History of Japanese Clothing Spindle, Loom, and Needle – History of the Textile Industry Australian Museum of Clothing And Textiles Inc. – Why have a Museum of Clothing and
Textiles? Linking Anthropology and History in Textiles and Clothing Research: The Ethnohistorical
Method by Rachel K. Pannabecker – from Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, Vol. 8, No. 3, 14–18 (1990)
The drafting history of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing American Women's History: A Research Guide Clothing and Fashion Historical Clothing/Fabric History of Clothing Around the World All Sewn Up: Millinery, Dressmaking, Clothing and Costume Gallery of English Medieval Clothing from 1906 by Dion Clayton Calthrop A Short History of Japanese Cotton Textiles
[edit] Notes
1. ̂ Creativity In The Textile Industries: A Story From Pre-History To The 21st Century2. ̂ Cambridge History of Western Textiles, p. 1–6.3. ̂ John Travis (2003-08-23) (– Scholar search), The naked truth? Lice hint at a recent origin of
clothing, 164, Science News, pp. 118, http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/58435/title/Lice_hang_ancient_date_on_first_clothes.
4. ̂ Barber 1992; see Bibliography5. ̂ Barber 1995; see Bibliography.
6. ̂ The History of Clothing – How Did Specific Items of Clothing Develop? by Mary Bellis7. ̂ Stoneking, Mark. "Erratum: Molecular Evolution of Pediculus humanus and the Origin of
Clothing". http://www.current-biology.com/content/article/fulltext?uid=PIIS0960982204009856. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
8. ̂ Travis, John. "The Naked Truth? Lice hint at a recent origin of clothing". Archived from the original on March 4, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070304054636/http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20030823/fob7.asp. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
9. ̂ Balter M. (2009). Clothes Make the (Hu) Man. Science,325(5946):1329.doi:10.1126/science.325_1329a
10. ̂ Kvavadze E, Bar-Yosef O, Belfer-Cohen A, Boaretto E,Jakeli N, Matskevich Z, Meshveliani T. (2009).30,000-Year-Old Wild Flax Fibers. Science, 325(5946):1359. doi:10.1126/science.1175404 Supporting Online Material
11. ̂ Early History of Textiles & Clothing12. ̂ Barber (1994).13. ̂ Chang, Gloria. "Stone Age clothing more advanced than thought". http://www.textile-
technology.com/2010/04/stone-age-clothing-more-advanced-than-thought/. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
14. ̂ FORENSIC PHOTOGRAPHY BRINGS COLOR BACK TO ANCIENT TEXTILES15. ^ a b Cambridge History of Western Textiles p. 39–4716. ̂ Stein, page 4717. ̂ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. cotton.18. ^ a b c Cambridge History of Western Textiles p. 30–3919. ̂ Tang, Chi and Miao, Liangyun, "Zhongguo Sichoushi" ("History of Silks in China").
Encyclopedia of China, 1st ed.20. ̂ "Textile Exhibition: Introduction". Asian art. http://www.asianart.com/textiles/intro.html.
Retrieved 2007-08-02.21. ̂ (French) Charles Meyer, Des mûriers dans le jardin du mandarin, Historia, no. 648,
December 2000.22. ̂ Liddell, Jill, The story of the Kimono, E. P. Dutton New Zork, 1989, ISBN 0-525-24574-X23. ̂ Zamanaka, Norio, The Book of Kimono, Kodansha International, 1986, ISBN 0-87011-785-824. ̂ Elisseeff, Vadime, The Silk Roads: Highways of Culture and Commerce, UNESCO Publishing /
Berghahn Books, 2001, ISBN 978-92-3-103652-125. ̂ Payne et al.26. ̂ Payne 1992, p. 128.27. ̂ Piponnier & Mane, p. 114–11528. ̂ Owen-Crocker, Gale R., Dress in Anglo-Saxon England, p. 309–31529. ̂ Østergård, Else, Woven into the Earth: Textiles from Norse Greenland30. ̂ Françoise Piponnier and Perrine Mane; Dress in the Middle Ages; p. 39; Yale UP, 1997;
ISBN 030006906531. ̂ Donald King in Jonathan Alexander & Paul Binski (eds), Age of Chivalry, Art in Plantagenet
England, 1200–1400, p 157, Royal Academy/Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London 198732. ^ a b c d Koslin, Désirée, "Value-Added Stuffs and Shifts in Meaning: An Overview and Case-
Study of Medieval Textile Paradigms", in Koslin and Snyder, Encountering Medieval Textiles and Dress, p. 237–240
33. ̂ Laver, James: The Concise History of Costume and Fashion, Abrams, 1979, p. 6234. ̂ Fernand Braudel, Civilization and Capitalism, 15th–18th Centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of
Everyday Life," p. 31735. ̂ "The birth of fashion", in Boucher, François: 20,000 Years of Fashion, Harry Abrams, 1966,
p.192
36. ̂ Fernand Braudel, Civilization and Capitalism, 15th–18th Centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of Everyday Life," p 312–3 and 323
37. ̂ Singman, Jeffrey L. and Will McLean: Daily Life in Chaucer's England, page 93. Greenwood Press, London, 2005 ISBN 0-313-29375-9
38. ̂ Black, J. Anderson, and Madge Garland: A History of Fashion, 1975, ISBN 0-6880-2893-4, p.122
39. ̂ Crowfoot, Elizabeth, Frances Prichard and Kay Staniland, Textiles and Clothing c. 1150 – c. 1450
40. ̂ Late 15th century Italian (Venice) Velvet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art41. ̂ Boucher, François: 20,000 Years of Fashion, Harry Abrams, 1966.42. ̂ Boucher, François: 20,000 Years of Fashion, pages 219 and 24443. ^ a b Montupet, Janine, and Ghislaine Schoeller: Lace: The Elegant Web44. ̂ Berry, Robin L.: "Reticella: a walk through the beginnings of Lace" (2004) (PDF)45. ̂ Kliot, Jules and Kaethe: The Needle-Made Lace of Reticella.46. ̂ Dr. Wolf D. Fuhrig, "German Silesia: Doomed to Extinction," Heritage: For German-
Americans who want to be informed (May 2007): 1.47. ̂ Spindel, Loom, and Needle – History of the Textile Industry48. ̂ Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union49. ̂ UC Davis Department of Textiles and Clothing History50. ̂ University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Textiles, Clothing and Design M.A. in Textile
History51. ̂ Iowa State University College of Family and Consumer Sciences. Department of Textiles
and Clothing History of costume collection, 1865–1948, n. d.52. ̂ Union-Endicott High School Library Clothing and Textiles – Fashion History53. ̂ History of 1960s Fashion and Textiles54. ̂ Rorabough, W.J. 1979 The Alcoholic Republic, and American Tradition. New York: Oxford
University Press. p.129–13155. ̂ Dublin, Thomas. 1994 Transforming Women’s Work: New England Lives in the Industrial
Revolution. Ithica, NY: Cornell University Press. p.82
[edit] Bibliography
Alexander, Jonathan, and Paul Binski, eds., Age of Chivalry, Art in Plantagenet England, 1200–1400, Royal Academy/Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London 1987
Ashelford, Jane: The Art of Dress: Clothing and Society 1500–1914, Abrams, 1996. ISBN 0-8109-6317-5
Arnold, Janet : Patterns of Fashion: the cut and construction of clothes for men and women 1560–1620, Macmillan 1985. Revised edition 1986. (ISBN 0-89676-083-9)
Arnold, Janet: Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd, W S Maney and Son Ltd, Leeds 1988. ISBN 0-901286-20-6
Barber, E.J.W. (Elizabeth Wayland): Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with Special Reference to the Aegean, Princeton University Press, 1992 (Barber 1992)
Barber, Elizabeth Wayland, Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times, W. W. Norton & Company, new edition, 1995 (Barber 1995)
Robin L.: "Reticella: a walk through the beginnings of Lace" (2004) (PDF) Black, J. Anderson and Madge Garland: A History of Fashion, Morrow, 1975. ISBN 0-688-
02893-4 Braudel, Fernand, Civilization and Capitalism, 15th–18th Centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of
Everyday Life, p 312–3 and 323, William Collins & Sons, London 1981
Crowfoot, Elizabeth, Frances Prichard and Kay Staniland, Textiles and Clothing c. 1150 -c. 1450, Museum of London, 1992, ISBN 0-1129-0445-9
Darwin, George H. , "Development in Dress", Macmillan's magazine, vol. 26, May to Oct. 1872, pages 410–416
Elisseeff, Vadime, The Silk Roads: Highways of Culture and Commerce, UNESCO Publishing / Berghahn Books, 2001, ISBN 978-92-3-103652-1
Favier, Jean, Gold and Spices: The Rise of Commerce in the Middle Ages, London, Holmes and Meier, 1998, ISBN 0841912327
Gordenker, Emilie E.S.: Van Dyck and the Representation of Dress in Seventeenth-Century Portraiture, Brepols, 2001, ISBN 2-503-50880-4
Jenkins, David, ed.: The Cambridge History of Western Textiles, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003, ISBN 0521341078
Kliot, Jules and Kaethe: The Needle-Made Lace of Reticella, Lacis Publications, Berkeley, CA, 1994. ISBN 0-916896-57-9.
Kõhler, Carl: A History of Costume, Dover Publications reprint, 1963, from 1928 Harrap translation from the German, ISBN 0-4862-1030-8
Koslin, Désirée and Janet E. Snyder, eds.: Encountering Medieval Textiles and Dress: Objects, texts, and Images, Macmillan, 2002, ISBN 0-3122-9377-1
Laver, James: The Concise History of Costume and Fashion, Abrams, 1979*Lefébure, Ernest: Embroidery and Lace: Their Manufacture and History from the Remotest Antiquity to the Present Day, London, H. Grevel and Co., 1888, ed. by Alan S. Cole, at Online Books , retrieved October 14, 2007
Montupet, Janine, and Ghislaine Schoeller: Lace: The Elegant Web, ISBN 0-8109-3553-8 Netherton, Robin, and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, editors, Medieval Clothing and Textiles,
Volume 1, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK, and Rochester, NY, the Boydell Press, 2005, ISBN 1843831236
Netherton, Robin, and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, editors, Medieval Clothing and Textiles, Volume 2, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK, and Rochester, NY, the Boydell Press, 2006, ISBN 1843832038
Netherton, Robin, and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, editors, Medieval Clothing and Textiles, Volume 3, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK, and Rochester, NY, the Boydell Press 2007, ISBN 9781843832911
Østergård, Else, Woven into the Earth: Textiles from Norse Greenland, Aarhus University Press, 2004, ISBN 8772889357
Owen-Crocker, Gale R., Dress in Anglo-Saxon England, revised edition, Boydell Press, 2004, ISBN 1-8438-3081-7
Payne, Blanche: History of Costume from the Ancient Egyptians to the Twentieth Century, Harper & Row, 1965. No ISBN for this edition; ASIN B0006BMNFS
Payne, Blanche; Winakor, Geitel; Farrell-Beck Jane: The History of Costume, from the Ancient Mesopotamia to the Twentieth Century, 2nd Edn, p1 28, HarperCollins, 1992. ISBN0060471417
Piponnier, Françoise, and Perrine Mane; Dress in the Middle Ages; Yale UP; 1997; ISBN 0300069065
[show]v · d · e Clothing
[show]v · d · e Textile arts
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