Fashion for women has evolved greatly, in the past century, to incorporate changing times and gender roles. In the early 20th century, women dorned elaborate corsets, silhouettes amd dresses, even in their mundane day to day lives. The richer women, who belonged to a higher refined society, wore more expensive fabrics like silks and tulle, whereas the working class wore fabrics like cotton. This is because the more expensive fabrics required high maintenance and were not practical, but since the women of upper working class had no jobs to do and had maids to run errands, they could wear dresses of these fabrics all day long.
The working class women however, preferred cotton since it did not require such high maintenance, could be reworn multiple times and was easy to work in. Today fashion has evolved greatly. From leggings for women to easy, and simple summer dresses, a lady is not restricted to choose a particular fabric or style based on their social class.
women’s fashion choices today
Since the second half of the 20th century, women had begun the fight to beat stereotypical gender roles they were confined. While in this era, women did not become as progressive and liberal with their clothing as they are today, this era did see a drastic change in the way women styled themselves though. Conservative items like leggings for women, and strapless tops were still seen as innerwear only, but more bolder patterns like polka dots and more bolder prints started coming into acceptance. It was in the early 90s only that gender norms were truly broken, and women started dressing comfortably, wearing what ever they wanted and however they wanted. Many people also found solace in fashion and started using it as a mechanism to express themselves and their creativity in an easy way.
Even today, people do not view fashion and style as simple clothing to go on about their days. A majority, almost the entire population sees fashion as something that allows them to define who they are without having to speak a word. The clothes they wear, their colors, their patterns, silhouettes etc say a lot about the person. The phrase, “Dress for what you want, now what you have” emphasises on the importance of dressing up to achieve whatever you desire. Dressing shabbily Or without putting thought into what you wear, can leave a terrible first impression on the people you meet and encounter