Cross-dressing is the act of wearing items of clothing not commonly associated with one's sex. Cross-dressing has been used for purposes of disguise, comfort, and self-expression in modern times and throughout history.
Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons.
Susannah Caroline Constantine is an English fashion guru, journalist, artist, advisor, television presenter, author, and designer and actress. Her second book, What Not to Wear, co-written with her fashion partner Trinny Woodall, won her a British Book Award and sold 670,000 copies.
A dress code is a set of rules, often written, with regards to clothing. Dress codes are created out of social perceptions and norms, and vary based on purpose, circumstances, and occasions. Different societies and cultures are likely to have different dress codes, Western dress codes being a prominent example.
Islamic clothing is clothing that is interpreted as being in accordance with the teachings of Islam. Muslims wear a wide variety of clothing, which is influenced not only by religious considerations, but also practical, cultural, social, and political factors. In modern times, some Muslims have adopted clothing based on Western traditions, while others wear modern forms of traditional Muslim dress, which over the centuries has typically included long, flowing garments. Besides its practical advantages in the climate of the Middle East, loose-fitting clothing is also generally regarded as conforming to Islamic teachings, which stipulate that body areas which are sexual in nature must be hidden from public view. Traditional dress for Muslim men has typically covered at least the head and the area between the waist and the knees, while traditional women's dress conceals the hair and the body from the ankles to the neck. Some Muslim women also cover their face. Islamic dress is influenced by two scriptural sources, the Quran and hadith. The Quran provides guiding principles believed to have come from God, while the body of hadith describes a human role model through the traditions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The branch of fashion industry influenced by Islamic principles is known as Islamic fashion.
Smart casual is an ambiguously defined Western dress code that is generally considered casual wear but with smart components of a proper lounge suit from traditional informal wear. This interpretation typically includes dress shirt, necktie, trousers and dress shoes, but worn with an odd-coloured blazer or a sports coat instead.
Cross-dressing in film has followed a long history of female impersonation on English stage, and made its appearance in the early days of the silent films. Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel brought the tradition from the English music halls when they came to America with Fred Karno's comedy troupe in 1910. Both Chaplin and Laurel occasionally dressed as women in their films. Even the beefy American actor Wallace Beery appeared in a series of silent films as a Swedish woman. The Three Stooges, especially Curly, sometimes appeared in drag in their short films. The tradition has continued for many years, usually played for laughs. Only in recent decades have there been dramatic films which included cross-dressing, possibly because of strict censorship of American films until the mid-1960s. One early exception was Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Murder!, where the murderer is a transvestite who wears particularly frilly dresses and petticoats. Cross-gender acting, on the other hand, refers to actors or actresses portraying a character of the opposite gender.
Clothing laws vary considerably around the world. In most countries, there are no laws which prescribe what clothing is required to be worn. However, the community standards of clothing are set indirectly by way of prosecution of those who wear something that is not socially approved. Those people who wear insufficient clothing can be prosecuted in many countries under various offences termed indecent exposure, public indecency or other descriptions. Generally, these offences do not themselves define what is and what is not acceptable clothing to constitute the offence, and leave it to a judge to determine in each case.
Mufti refers to plain or ordinary clothes, especially when worn by one who normally wears, or has long worn, a military or other uniform. It is also called civies/civvies.
Fashion in the 1970s was about individuality. In the early 1970s, Vogue proclaimed "There are no rules in the fashion game now" due to overproduction flooding the market with cheap synthetic clothing. Common items included mini skirts, bell-bottoms popularized by hippies, vintage clothing from the 1950s and earlier, and the androgynous glam rock and disco styles that introduced platform shoes, bright colors, glitter, and satin.
Informal wear, also called business wear, corporate/office wear, tenue de ville and (colloquially) dress clothes, is a Western dress code for clothing defined by a dress shirt with necktie, sometimes with a business suit for men, and cocktail dress or pant suit for women. On the scale of formality, it is considered less formal than semi-formal wear but more formal than casual wear, yet retaining availability for more personal expression than semi-formal wear. Thus, informal should not be confused with casual wear such as business casual or smart casual despite that some people may refer loosely to informal dress as "formal" in contrast with merely casual.
Clothing size refers to the label sizes used for garments sold off-the-shelf. There are a large number of standard sizing systems around the world for various garments, such as dresses, tops, skirts, and trousers. Made-to-order garments require measurements to be taken, but these do not need to be converted into national standard form.
Born in the second half of the 1970s and developed in the 1980s, power dressing is a fashion style that enables women to establish their authority in a professional and political environment traditionally dominated by men.
Trousers or pants first appear in recorded history among nomadic steppe-people in Western Europe. Archaeological evidence suggests that men and women alike wore trousers in that cultural context. However, for much of modern history, the use of trousers has been restricted to men. In many regions, this norm was enforced not only by social custom but also by law. There are, however, many historical cases of women wearing trousers in defiance of these norms, for a variety of reasons, including comfort, freedom of movement, fashion, disguise, attempts to evade the gender pay gap, and attempts to establish an empowered public identity for women. Especially in the 20th and 21st centuries, the customs and laws restricting this manner of dress have relaxed dramatically, reflecting a growing acceptance and normalisation of the practice.
Plain dress is a practice among some religious groups, primarily some Christian churches in which people dress in clothes of traditional modest design, sturdy fabric, and conservative cut. It is intended to show acceptance of traditional gender roles, modesty, and readiness to work and serve, and to preserve communal identity and separation from the immodest, ever-changing fashions of the world.
Costume coordination is a method of dressing actors, employees or a person or group for theatrical productions and any venue requiring a fully realized character. It consists of pulling or renting existing stock clothing and costumes, altering them as needed to be used as stage clothes in a theatrical production, oversee their use, cleaning and eventual return to storage or rental company. Just as with costume design, the costume coordinator creates the overall appearance of the characters, but with the use of on hand items, including accessories. Sometimes coordinators may have a small budget to augment the existing stock or alter it for production needs.
This article details the history of cross-dressing, the act of wearing the clothes of the sex or gender one does not identify with.
Normcore is a unisex fashion trend characterized by normal-looking clothing. Normcore fashion includes jeans, t-shirts, sweats, button-downs, and sneakers. Clothing is considered to be normcore when it is both attractive and comfortable, and is viewed as 'normal' by all people.
In American workplaces, "skintern" is an informal term for a summer intern, usually female, who dresses in clothing more revealing than that which is common for the field in question.
Image consulting is a professional field that aims to improve the image of the client personally or professionally through appearance, behavior, and communication. It is the process of evaluating the effect of a person's appearance on their professional image.
