Clothing

(See also List of types of clothing and Clothing terminology)

Clothing as social message

Social messages sent by clothing, accessories, and decorations can involve social status, occupation, ethnic and religious affiliation, marital status and sexual availability, etc. Humans must know the code in order to recognise the message transmitted. If different groups read the same item of clothing or decoration with different meanings, the wearer may provoke unanticipated responses.

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Social status

In many societies, people of high rank reserve special items of clothing or decoration for themselves as symbols of their social status. In ancient times, only Roman senators could wear garments dyed with Tyrian purple; only high-ranking Hawaiian chiefs could wear feather cloaks and palaoa or carved whale teeth. In China before the establishment of the republic, only the emperor could wear yellow. In many cases throughout history, there have been elaborate systems of sumptuary laws regulating who could wear what. In other societies (including most modern societies), no laws prohibit lower-status people wearing high status garments, but the high cost of status garments effectively limits purchase and display. In current Western society, only the rich can afford haute couture. The threat of social ostracism may also limit garment choice.

Related Topics:
Social status - Roman - Tyrian purple - Feather cloak - Palaoa - China - Republic - Sumptuary law - Haute couture

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Occupation

Military, police, and firefighters usually wear uniforms, as do workers in many industries. School-children often wear school uniforms, while college and university students sometimes wear academic dress. Members of religious orders may wear uniforms known as habits. Sometimes a single item of clothing or a single accessory can declare one's occupation or rank within a profession — for example, the high toque or chef's hat worn by a chief cook.

Related Topics:
Uniform - School uniform - Habit - Toque - Chef's hat

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Ethnic, political, and religious affiliation

In many regions of the world, national costumes and styles in clothing and ornament declare membership in a certain village, caste, religion, etc. A Scotsman declares his clan with his tartan. A Sikh may display his religious affiliation by wearing a turban and other traditional clothing. A French peasant woman may identify her village with her cap or coif.

Related Topics:
National costume - Tartan - Sikh - Turban - Coif

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Clothes can also proclaim dissent from cultural norms and mainstream beliefs, as well as personal independence. In 19th-century Europe, artists and writers lived la vie de Bohème and dressed to shock: George Sand in men's clothing, female emancipationists in bloomers, male artists in velvet waistcoats and gaudy neckcloths. Bohemians, beatniks, hippies, Goths, punks and Skinheads have continued the (counter-cultural) tradition in the 20th-century West. Now that haute couture plagiarises street fashion within a year or so, street fashion may have lost some of its power to shock, but it still motivates millions trying to look hip and cool.

Related Topics:
19th-century - La vie de Bohème - George Sand - Bloomers - Beatnik - Hippie - Goth - Punk - Skinhead - Counter-cultural - 20th-century - West - Haute couture - Street fashion - Hip - Cool

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Marital status

Hindu women, once married, wear sindoor, a red powder, in the parting of their hair; if widowed, they abandon sindoor and jewelry and wear simple white clothing. Men and women of the Western world may wear wedding rings to indicate their marital status. See also Visual markers of marital status.

Related Topics:
Married - Sindoor - Wedding ring - Visual markers of marital status

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Attitudes and Perceived Attitudes Toward Sexuality

Throughout history, ideas of human sexuality have been inextricably linked to complex cultural, social and personal beliefs. In its role as both covering and adornment for the human body, and as the outward face humans present to their peers in society, clothing has historically proved to be a charged and versatile symbol.

Related Topics:
Human body - Society

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Clothing's use as a representation of sexuality and of larger cultural identity varies with the same extraordinarily wide range and complexity of human beliefs themselves. What constitutes beauty, desirability, morality, modesty and other subjective intangibles varies radically from culture to culture, within different contexts in the same culture, and over time as different fashions rise and fall.

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Attitudes about the morals and messages perceived to be conveyed by clothing have historically created much controversy between social and cultural groups. The inherent subjectivity of symbolic meaning presents issues for cross-cultural communications. Defined by sociological factors such as cultural background, religious convictions, class, age, gender, and even personal experience, the inherent subjectivity of the perceived symbolic meaning of clothing makes clothing a common point of contention between individuals as well.

Related Topics:
Subjectivity - Symbolic meaning

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The failure to recognize that cultural differences in the sexual meaning of clothing can hold distinctly different meanings for different cultures or individuals can create tremendous misunderstandings between peoples. For example, some Muslim women proudly wear a head or body covering as an expression of modesty (see hijab, burqa or bourqa, chador and abaya), while others are required to wear them by male elders of their communities; many Western Muslims and women's rights activists fail to see the distinction, and much controversy has taken place as a result. As another example, persons of a particular background may feel that a woman's choice of dress indicates flirtatious intent or even sexual availability, while the woman may feel quite differently and may be expressing her own standard of beauty.

Related Topics:
Hijab - Burqa - Chador - Abaya

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