The Significance of Clothing and Fashion in Both Ancient and Modern World

4.0 Different Aesthetic Concept

4.1 British Simile Culture: Personality and Comfortable of Clothing

Unlike the Chinese clothing design worn during the Warring State Period, the Elizabethan period clothing was worn more for fashion than for comfort. This is an interesting observation given that even the under garments worn next to the skin were modified to help improve the appearance of the wearers. Members of the society endowed with great wealth (mostly members of the royal family and upper class) wore shirts as their inner garments, the women version of the shirt referred to as “smock” (La Mar, 1958).

For instance, following the French revolution the French culture gained a lot of popularity across Europe. As a result clothing designs in British underwent a significant change. For example, the jean De Bry Coat was introduced for the first time in England from France in the year 1799. This new Dress Coat was characterized by a stand-up velvet collar and has a short-waist that was fastened by only three buttons. On the front side, the coat was cut so that it took the shape of a curve at the front and a tail at the back. It also had narrow pockets flaps attached near the back tails. In addition, the sleeves were padded at the shoulders but close fitting on the rest of the other parts (Norris & Curtis, 1988).

The living standards in England during eighteenth and nineteenth are portrayed to depend on the propensity of the income that is associated to a certain social class. The ruling class has an executive living standard followed by the mixed colored race and the slaves have poor living standards all social amenities taken into account. Differences in clothing and dressing are clear indication of how types of societies and ...

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