Fashion and Emancipation of Women

Fashion is not something new. It has been in existence ever since records of written history are available. But there is no doubt that the present age is certainly this where fashion is becoming universal in the sense that it's in the reach of the commoner.

Since it stands fashion is really a statement also of self expression, more so in the case of women who've been always subjected to some types of restriction. Through out history fashion has been a symbol of the class structure in society. In fact a report of fashion down the ages may also lead students to unravel the socio economic condition of the women during a particular age.

Throughout history it had been man that imposed some form of restriction on the attire of a female. For the reason that sense fashion was restricted. But the real revolution popular happened at the turn of the last century.

This was we are able to say the start of the time of liberation for a woman. Specifically European woman shed their voluminous Victorian gowns. The age saw the women display their ankles and feet which were earlier always covered with voluminous long skirts. It had been followed with skirts of calf length and suddenly a woman's legs came into focus.

Women also started wearing blouses that uncovered their arms and one was witness to incandescent flesh of a female after almost a century of restrictions. This is the period when a boyish look was 'in vogue' and busty women bandaged their breasts to seem slim and boyish. The covered body and arms was replaced with bare arms and legs. More important the style spread to the masses and was no more an elite preserve.

World War I and its own aftermath led to the real liberation of the woman so far as fashion was concerned. Women with long cigars and bare legs and dresses with big buckles came into prominence. The swimming costume also made its appearance and women were a whole lot freer.

The end of the Second World War resulted in increasing knowing of fashion. Sports rigs also came on the scene and women took to sports like tennis, golf and basketball with gusto. The dresses also changed and more skin was the norm. The bikini became a rage and women chosen the 'slim' look. Thus plump women with long dresses went out of fashion. This was also the age once the unisex look became of some importance with jeans and shorts doing the rounds- exactly like men.

But unfortunately the emancipation of women as mirrored by fashion is confined to only the west and parts of the east like India and China. But a large section of the world consisting of Moslem areas is still in a period warp. Here the style is denigrated as an evil and women are instructed to be covered from head to toe in the Hijab or burkha. It will take a long time to improve this.