Choosing what to wear can be an exciting and yet a daunting task for many women. There are times when I could take almost 15 mins or more trying on different cloths to see the ones that match and fit. I know this is the experience of many women too. However, there is a sage that says, “You will be addressed the way you are dressed,” and this simply means that whatever you wear determines how people will treat you and the kind of attention or response you get. Perhaps this understanding has made a lot of women and men pay more attention to what they wear and how they wear it. The wardrobe is not just a place to store or arrange cloths anymore; it has become an essential part of everyone’s life. In fact, it has taken on a life and career of its own. I have a friend who started out as a wardrobe consultant a couple of years back in my home country and she was pretty good at it, even though it was not a popular profession in our African culture.
The clothing industry has experienced so much transformation over the centuries and it is constantly driven by trends. There was a time when women dressed without exposing any part of their body apart from their head. During this age, it was a sign of modesty to cover up any suggestive part that could attract the opposite sex. But gradually, as the world and the people in it began to evolve, certain things that were considered modesty started to fall away from the cultural fabric of the society.
When I was preparing for my wedding, I wanted a gown that would not be revealing but all the beautiful ones that I really liked came as tube gowns which I didn’t think were appropriate. Silently, I wondered why most of the gowns had to be tubes. I thought the manufacturers were the ones changing the styles and compelling women to wear revealing gowns. Eventually, I learnt that it wasn’t the manufacturers but the customers themselves that wanted the gowns that way. I went with a friend of mine sometimes last year to shop for her wedding gown somewhere in New York and all the gowns that were available were tubes (just like my case), but she wanted something that wasn’t too revealing as well. She then asked the attendant at the bridal store why they didn’t have gowns that weren’t tubes and she said because people are not buying them. Brides stopped buying them so the manufacturers had to make gowns that people wanted. I was quite shocked to learn that revealing gowns were as a result of customers’ preference and taste and not the manufacturer’s manipulation. This saddened me. How did the human race get to this point? The point where it is now fashionable and socially acceptable to dress in skimpy and revealing cloths, exposing the parts of the body that shouldn’t be seen by the opposite sex?
I once heard about a story of Muhammed Ali and his daughters. They came to see their father and were dressed in skimpy and revealing cloths. He usually hides behind the door whenever they come just to scare them (I guess that was something he used to do with them when they were much younger). They laughed and played and after a while he sat one of them on his laps and talked with them. He asked them were gold is found, and they said deep in the earth. He then asked his daughters why it is hidden deep in the ground and out of everyone’s sight, and they said because it is precious and expensive. So he pointed out to them that their bodies are more precious than gold so it should not be exposed to eye of everyone. He told them that since their bodies are very precious, they should not reveal it but cover it up nicely.
The world has gotten to the point were good is termed as bad and bad is now seen as good. What was once a taboo is now a social lifestyle.
Let’s take a look at how women dress in sports, tennis for example. Back in the 19th century, female tennis players wore floor length dresses and those who wore knee length didn’t go without long stockings. Some even wore bonnets and corsets. Younger girls were allowed to wear calf length skirts because they were still considered school girls. But this style didn’t last for too long. In 1926, French tennis player Suzanne Lenglen wore a revealing calf-length cotton frock with short sleeves. This daring style encouraged many women to begin to loosen up and inculcate a bit of fashion and exposure into their costumes. One would have thought that the sense of modesty would still be retained but as women began to dress fashionably for their matches, little by little the skirts began to grow shorter and the tops more revealing. Up until the 70’s, women dressed modestly for their matches. Their skirts, although were shorter but just a little above their knee. Some still maintained the long sleeves while others wore short sleeves. At the dawn of the 20th century, everything changed. From the knee length skirts to the bump shorts and miniskirts and from the long sleeves shirts to the bra tops and tank tops.
Some people in an opinion poll said the costumes had to be changed to draw male viewership because in general, men watch sports more than women. It was also stated that it's more socially acceptable for women to wear less clothing and in any sport it's ideal for a person to wear less restrictive clothing, thus, less fabric. Wearing less restrictive clothing is understandable but where do we draw the line between decent and indecent? Some people in the opinion poll also stated that the difference between men's and women's sports is publicity and image. Male sports get more publicity than female sports. So in order to give more publicity to female sports, women need to wear what will make the male folks stay glued to the TV, hence the need for skimpy costumes.
This trend cannot only be seen in female sports but in other aspects of the society. The sense of modesty in dressing and virtually every aspect of our culture is long gone. Many women now live by a perception of “if you have it, flaunt it.” If you have nice boobs, why hide it? If you have hot legs, put it on display for the world to see. But it wasn’t so during the days of our fore bearers. Women dressed decently and covered up the sexy or should I say the, “tempting” parts of their bodies and guess what? They were respected for it. They were seen as noble, dignified women whether they were rich or poor. Maybe the Victorian and Edwardian garments that they wore back then were too tight and it definitely won’t fit into today’s culture, but modesty can still be applied. However, it is fast declining. Today, modesty and decency doesn’t sell any more, rather sex sells. So does STIs and diseases, teenage pregnancy and abortion, broken relationships and suicide. Our fore bearers may not have had all the education and exposure as we have today, but they had an understanding of what is right and true and they held on to it. Why have we thrown that away for what is wrong and false and sadly killing us?
No comments:
Post a Comment