Women and Clothing in Western Civilization

8/2/2019 Women and Clothing in Western Civilization

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Angiolina Galluccio

August 20th

, 2011

WOMEN AND CLOTHING IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION

The purpose of this research paper is a study of the origin of clothing in Western

Civilization, process of fabrication, how women got involved in this industry in ancient times,

who managed those women into long hours of labor, how those women had babies and worked

at home and confectioned clothing at the same time. I will also talk about abuse and deprivation

of rights for working women, and advances to the present time.

Writing about the origin of clothing is not an easy task. Nobody knows with precision

when exactly people started wearing clothes. But historians have found certain evidence that may

lead to the time when the first people on earth started making some kind of fabrics and wearing

clothes. In a study written by Ralf Kittler, Manfred Kayser, and Mark Stoneking, from Max

Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, Molecular Evolution ofPediculus

humanus and the Origin of Clothing from the Current Biology encyclopedia, it shows that

people wore clothing since they can prove that lice were living in clothing, after a molecular

clock analysis shows that body lice appeared 72,000 to 42,000 years ago. (Current Biology,

2003 p.1414 -1417)

The first dresses that are known by historians are animal skins. The oldest fiber known

by ancient civilizations is linen (flax), which was also used as burial shrouds for the Egyptian

pharaohs; this fabric was used around 5,000 B.C. Then we have found that cotton, another

natural fiber, was also used between 3,0005,000 B.C. according to scholars research, as well

as wool used by people of the Late Stone Age. Then we have the most precious fiber ever, which

is silk, discovered by a Chinese princess around 2,600 B.C. Some scholars researched about


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Hemp as one of the oldest fibers on earth. The hemp plant is also called cannabis or marijuana,

which historians think was used for thousands of years. Some scholars believe that the first fabric

was woven from dried hemp around 7000 - 8000 BCE.

In a study made by a Professor of Art , Susan C. Wylly, from Georgia College & State

University, The Art and History of weaving, she explains that in despite of all the efforts

historians made, the exact date the first hand-women worked is still a mystery. Prof. Wylly also

points out that there was evidence of cloth being made in Mesopotamia and in Turkey as far back

as 7000 to 8000 BC.

There was not too much evidence from first fabrics in the past, that historians can

determine when they were made for the first time. Prof. Wylly remarks that there was a valued

artifact found in an Egyptian tomb, which is the funerary model of a weaver's workshop.

Elizabeth Wayland Barber, in her book Womens Work, the first 20,000 Years, points out

that after 1500 B.C., the emergence of male weavers began to take shape in Egypt, (Barber,

1994, p.259). Barber also remarks that there is evidence of waved cloth partially colored at that

time, and new patterns were also woven with a technique called weft-faced tapestry. (Barber,

1994, p.237).

We are going to jump into later generations since the first weaving was made, and move

to the Greek civilization.

In a study written in the fashion encyclopedia, it is pointed out that by the seventh

century B.C.E., Greek people were dominated by a wealthy class who wore luxurious clothes

and jewelry. Greeks wore draped woven cloth around their bodies creating different styles. The

chiton, or tunic, is the most common dress worn by Ancient Greeks. There were two different

styles of chiton: the Ionic chiton and the Doric chiton, for men and women. It is possible that by


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the fourth century B.C.E., both women and men began wearing sewn tunics, according to

scholars research. Here, there are some examples of dresses worn by Ancient Greeks, taken

from the web Fashion-era.com.

Andrea Askins wrote an article in March 12, 2011 called Womens Clothing styles in

the 1700s and she mentioned that the 18th century was a time in history known as the Age of

Enlightenment and was marked with revolution throughout the Western world. While in the past,

fashion was modeled after nobility, the Age of Enlightenment introduced a new concept in the

fashion realm: The styles of the middle class were adopted by the upper class.

Ms. Askins divides four types of styles that women were wearing in the 1700s, as

follows:

Mantua: Thiswas a loose dress, draped over the shoulders and open in the front, like a petticoat.

The Hoop Skirt: It was made out of linen and shaped with whalebone or cane; the hoop was

worn over undergarments and under the petticoat.

Robe a l'Anglaise:They were often made out of printed cotton, and became the most popular

dress style.


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Grecian Style: This style was taken from the dresses worn by women in ancient Greece, made of

white cotton, with empire waists.

There was clothing that people wore as communication, for protection, identity, fertility

and good wishes, as Mary B. Kelly points out in her bookGoddess Embroideries, Of the Balkan

Lands and the Greek Island. Elizabeth Wayland Barber, also points out the same definition in

her book Womens work the first 20,000 years: Cloth and clothing often invoke magic in their

encoding. Within the magical world, fertility, prosperity and protection are the three of the most

common objectives. (Barber 1994, p. 155)

Kelly describes in clothing for protection that embroidering a powerful goddess on a

ritual cloth, would, they hoped, protect the new-born child wrapped in it from sickness.( Kelly

1994 p. 39). She also mentions that there was a belief in Slavic countries that they needed to be

buried in their marriage shirts so that they would be recognized as a human being in the next

world. (Kelly 1999 p. 39) This is compared with old Peruvians, in the Pre-Inkas and Inkas

civilizations; when they died, they had to be buried with certain ornaments, food, special cloth,

jewelry, to carry them to the other world.

In Cloth as Communication, Kelly mentions that decoration showed the social status of

women, her village, her age, and her marital and maternal status as well. (Kelly 1999 p. 39)


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Here are some pictures taken from Kellys book that illustrate better that kind of clothing:

During the centuries that Christians began spreading their religion all over Europe,

hundreds of women were working making embroideries for the Church, kings, and queens.

Business started growing in textile. In a compilation of embroidered garments made from the 4 th

century until the 19th

century, presented in Rome in 1937, the curator pointed out that: In 1532

the Queen of France ordered to Venice three hundred embroidered silk pieces for her dresses, all

of them handmade. And Henry IV from England ordered an entire supply of wallpaper to

Florence.(Lantico Tessuto DArte Italiano 1937, p. 16) (original book written in Italian).

Embroideries in the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries were specially made by women in

Italy to serve wealthy families, government people, as well as the Church. They used thread

made of gold and silver, pearls and watermarks. Ornaments and embroideries were made with

animal characters, flowers, vegetables and religious images according to the description written

in the compilation made in 1937 by Lantico Tessuto DArte Italiano p. 16.

We can see in the pictures shown below, a few samples of these embroideries made for

the church, even one cape that Napoleon wore, made with embroideries, where women worked

hard and artistically, giving the best of them for the church. It is unknown who designed those

beautiful and detailed embroideries, a magnificent legacy from those women artisans. These


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pictures were taken from the sample shown in the exhibition. The garments that were in

exhibition in 1937 in Rome, Italy belong to a great collection from the 14th century and

following centuries. All those pieces were handmade built and embroidered, where hundreds of

women worked on them, with a magnificence art and passion. We can see how delicate those

designs are, and the dedication those women who embroidered them put on each piece; they are

really a marvel.


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There is a vast theme to talk about within the studies that historians have done throughout

years of investigation, and how clothing has been involved with women, status, behavior, age,

etc. Now, the question is who were involved in the process of the manufacture of weaving and

making dresses in ancient Greece? How did these women manage to work and raise their

children at the same time, why were women involved in this kind of work, and who made them

work under certain conditions? It is important to talk about patriarchy in ancient times, to study

how women managed to work and raise their children.

Gerda Lerner, who is a professor of History and Senior Distinguished Research Professor

at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, has an interesting study about patriarchy. Prof. Lerner

points out that patriarchy appeared as the archaic state and its creation was formed by men and

women in a process which took nearly 2,500 years to complete.

Women have been controlled by men forever, but there was always an exception where a

woman stepped up and made valid her rights as a human being. In ancient Greece, it was not

much different. As Barber points out, Men may work from sun to sun, but womens work is

never done. She alsomentions Clothes make the man but women made the clothes (Barber,

1994 p. 127).

In Greek civilization, women were spinning and weaving while they were doing domestic

work at home and raising their children. Even in these days, Andean women were spinning and

weaving at the same time, raising their children while they were working, since they mostly

worked from home. Here, there is a picture from an Andean woman weaving in the present time,

which does not differ much from ancient times.


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(Picture courtesy of Katherine Johnssen, a woman who cares about Andean women work)

Elizabeth Wayland Barber writes with passion about womens work in the first 20,000

years, the evolution of textiles and how women were involved in this industry from the

beginning of time. She is focused mainly on Greek civilization and Western civilization that

influenced the evolution of clothing. Women were objects of sexual pleasure and reproduction

in Ancient Civilizations; they were sold by the patriarch to increase the family economic power

and enslave women and men, even selling the wife for money. Women had struggled in life

from time to time, but they were always strong to deal with work and raise children at the same

time.

Maria Mies, in her book Patriarchy & Accumulation on a World Scale, in

Womens/Mens Appropriation of their Own Bodies, mentions the following regarding human

rights and mainly womens rights: The labor process, in its elementary form, is, according to

Marx, a conscious action with a view to producing use-values. In a wider sense, it is the


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appropriation of natural substances for human requirements. This exchange of matter

(Stoffwechsel) between human beings and nature is the everlasting nature-imposed condition of

human existence, or rather is common to every historical phase (Capital, Vol I:179) In this

exchange of matter between human beings and nature, human beings, women and men, not only

develop and change the external nature with which they find themselves confronted, but also

their own bodily nature.( Mies, 1986 p. 52)

Women have passed through all kinds of abuse at home and at work, from their fathers to

their husbands; but they stepped out and made their voices be heard by protesting against men s

rules. Hundreds of women had died because of inhuman working conditions; one of the

examples is the fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in 1911, where among children, women

and a few men, 146 workers died.

These days, everything in clothing is about wearing certain famous brands; we feel good

wearing a labeled brand garment, made of fine fabrics and sewn perfectly. But we do not know,

most of the time, who is behind that piece of clothing, creating it, developing it, sewing it and

making it possible for you to wear it. Women have passed so many stages fighting for their

rights, from Ancient Times to the present.

Barber also remarks that: On the conscious level we worry about fashion and

momentary social messages, but we take for granted and scarcely, if ever, think about the basic

notions of what constitutes dress within our culture, including (depending on the culture) what is

appropriate for certain social classes, sexes, etc. These automatic aspects of clothing yield to

comparative reconstruction back into prehistory. (Barber 1994, p. 291). It is true that before

society, the way a person dresses is the respect he/she will receive. Clothing is linked to culture;

each country has different styles of dress that are mainly related to their culture.


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Layering clothing, wearing similar garments one over the other, necking sleeves longer

than the arms and reaching beyond the hemline have long been considered expressions of rank

or wealth. Practical needs, such as being able to walk without hindrance, prompted the 18th

century women to tighten the excessive volume of their skirts and petticoats with a system of

cords and ties similar to those used for draperies. Overlapping, shining and puffing out shapes

always were and still are inexhaustible sources of inspiration for new fashion. Here are some

pictures from the exhibition at Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy, (Medicis family palace), where

this collection shows dresses from the eighteen centuries to current time. We can appreciate the

labor that women put forth to have those dresses done, with embroideries, all them handmade.


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Barber, in her intensive study regarding Womens Work: The first 20,000 years,

mentions something very important: We women do not need to conjure a history for ourselves.

Facts about women, their work, and their place in society in early times have survived in

considerable quantity, if we know how to look for them. Far from being dull and in need of

fanciful paint to make it more interesting, this truth is sometimes (as the saying goes) stranger

than fiction, as fascinating tale in itself.( Barber 1994 p. 299, 300)

The legacy from our women ancestors, who put all their art and creativity to work in such

wonderful garments, leading all time designers to transform each piece of fabric into beautiful

and endless creations, made these days the most profitable industry in the world. The process in

which women have passed throughout centuries to work in this industry is remarkable, and I am

proud to be a woman who appreciates womens work and be part of this history.


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Work cited

Askins, Andrea ehow contributor,Womens Clothing styles in the 1700s March 12, 2011

http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8052914_womens-clothing-styles-1700s.html

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland, Womens Work, the First 20,000 years, 1994, W.W. Norton &

company, New York.

Current Biology, Molecular Evolution ofPediculus humanus and the Origin of Clothing Vol. 13,

14141417, August 19, 2003, Elsevier Science Ltd. DOI 10.1016/S0960-9822(03)00507-4

Kittler, Ralf, Manfred Kayser, and Mark Stoneking.

Fashion Encyclopedia,www.fashionencyclopedia.com

Fashion era.com, www.fashionera.com

Johnssen Katherine, Andean woman picture

Kelly Mary B., Goddess Embroideries, Of the Balkan Lands and the Greek Island, 1999

StudioBooks, Mc Lean, New York

LAntico Tessuto DArte Italiano, Nella Mostra Del Tessile Nazionale (Roma 1937-38 XVI), La

Libreria Dello Stato, Anno XVI, E. F. Rome (Museo civico Di Padova) Italy.

Lerner Gerda, 1986 The Creation of Patriarchy, Oxford University Press, New York ISBN -0-19-

503996-3 (v1)

Mies Maria, Patriarchy & accumulation on a World Scale, Zed books Ltd. London & New York

1986, 1998

The Collections, Fashion a World of Similarities and Differences, Galleria del Costume di

Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy . Edited by Caterina Chiarelli ISBN 978-88-8347-531-3 Published

by Sillabe s.r.l. Livorno, Italy. English translation by Julia Hanna Weiss.
http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/


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Wylly, Susan C. Professor of Art. The Art and History of Weaving, Georgia College & State University

www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/fap/weav.html
http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/fap/weav.htmlhttp://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/fap/weav.htmlhttp://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/fap/weav.html

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