Unisex clothing is best described as clothing designed to be suitable for both sexes in order to make men and women look similar. The term unisex was first used in 1968 in Life , an American magazine that ran weekly from 1883 to 1972. [1]
Unisex clothing is best described as clothing designed to be suitable for both sexes in order to make men and women look similar. The term unisex was first used in 1968 in Life , an American magazine that ran weekly from 1883 to 1972. [1]
Although the first use of "unisex" as a term dates from the 1960s, it can be argued that "unisex clothing" its first appearance dates from the late nineteenth century, [2] as part of the "Victorian dress reform". It can be argued that in the nineteenth century fashionable clothing, which originated in France, reflected the dominance of traditional feminine roles. John Berger his famous statement 'men act, women appear' can be useful to further discuss the appearance of "unisex clothing". [3] Berger claims that, in Western European cultures, the role of men is considered active and that of women considered passive or, to put it differently, men observe women and women are observed by men. [4] This asymmetry in the relationship between men and women was visualized in dress in the nineteenth century: women were more and more prescribed to fashionable clothing, clothing that disabled them to be active due to, for example, crinoline dresses that were very heavy, whereas men had the ability to be active due to their sober and simple clothing. [5] An attempt to develop alternative feminine roles by the use of alternative clothing behavior started in England and the United States. [6] For example, members of the women's movement deplored the use of corsets and sets of ponderous garments and centred their proposals of dress reform on the adoption of trousers. [7] However, they were unable to win the support of many women outside of their own group due to the basic premise of nineteenth century ideology concerning women's roles in which "the belief in fixed gender identities and enormous differences – physical, psychological, and intellectual – between men and women" was at centre. [7] One example of this was the organized "Symposium on Dress" in which three designs, that included either a divided skirt or trousers, were presented. [8] These dress reform proposals were, at that time, very controversial and seen as too radical by the middle-class women, therefore, leaning more towards alienation than involvement of this potential group of supporters of the women's rights movement. [9]
A more fruitful account of the recognition of non-conformist costume or dress of that time lies in the history of "alternative dress". The alternative dress style can be described as a "set of signs, borrowed from male clothing, that appeared sometimes singly, sometimes in combination with one another, but always associated with items of female clothing." [10] This alternative dress is a form of non-verbal communication and is different than the "Victorian dress reform" (as mentioned above), being a form of verbal communication. Bicycling, for example, was a late nineteenth century sport that was not identified as a male activity. Women, therefore, were able to wear divided skirts and knee-length bloomers without having difficulties considering gender roles because this "alternative dress" did not intend to undermine patriarchy. After a while, this and many other alternative dress examples, such as uniforms, became more effective in conveying a message than that of dress reformers, because alternative dress had more "followers" in everyday life. The bicycle, therefore, can be seen as 'one of the symbols of emancipation' that has changed the attitude towards women's sports apparel. [11]
In the 1887 novella The Republic of the Future , American writer Anna Bowman Dodd depicted a future New York in which "men and women dress alike". A conservative, Dodd regarded that as a negative development, one of the features making the future she described into a dystopia [12]
Eventually, the 1960s can be considered the decade in which "unisex" and "unisex clothing" became widely spread. The "unisex" trend arose in response to the youth revolution and the hippie movement of the 1960s and the women's liberation movement of the early 1970s. [13] However, this trend can be considered a more recent form of the aforementioned fashionable clothing, because it confirms a traditional feminine role subservient to the masculine role given the fact that "unisex clothing", mostly, represents women wearing (altered) men's clothing.
Today, a common mode of unisex clothing may be an outfit made up of shirt, pants, or both, as these articles are considered appropriate for either gender in western society. Both men and women wear shirt and pants on regular basis in the western world and it has become quite a fashion favourite despite feminine style clothing maintaining a secure place in female fashion.
Unisex clothing made its first entry in haute couture with Canadian designer Rad Hourani. [14] Hourani's collection is the first one that is unisex by design. [15]
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express oneself.
A corset is a support garment commonly worn to hold and train the torso into a desired shape, traditionally a smaller waist or larger bottom, for aesthetic or medical purposes, or support the breasts. Both men and women are known to wear corsets, though this item was for many years an integral part of women's wardrobes.
Victorian fashion consists of the various fashions and trends in British culture that emerged and developed in the United Kingdom and the British Empire throughout the Victorian era, roughly from the 1830s through the 1890s. The period saw many changes in fashion, including changes in styles, fashion technology and the methods of distribution. Various movement in architecture, literature, and the decorative and visual arts as well as a changing perception of gender roles also influenced fashion.
Tomboy is a term used for girls or young women with masculine traits. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men.
Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they are a shortened version of trousers, which cover the entire leg, but not the foot. Shorts are typically worn in warm weather or in an environment where comfort and airflow are more important than the protection of the legs.
Butch and femme are terms used in the lesbian subculture to ascribe or acknowledge a masculine (butch) or feminine (femme) identity with its associated traits, behaviors, styles, self-perception, and so on. The terms were founded in lesbian communities in the twentieth century. This concept has been called a "way to organize sexual relationships and gender and sexual identity". Butch–femme culture is not the sole form of a lesbian dyadic system, as there are many women in butch–butch and femme–femme relationships.
Femininity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered feminine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors. To what extent femininity is biologically or socially influenced is subject to debate. It is conceptually distinct from both the female biological sex and from womanhood, as all humans can exhibit feminine and masculine traits, regardless of sex and gender.
Fashion in the 1890s in European and European-influenced countries is characterized by long elegant lines, tall collars, and the rise of sportswear. It was an era of great dress reforms led by the invention of the drop-frame safety bicycle, which allowed women the opportunity to ride bicycles more comfortably, and therefore, created the need for appropriate clothing.
A handbag, commonly known as a purse or pocketbook in North American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag used to carry personal items.
Victorian dress reform was an objective of the Victorian dress reform movement of the middle and late Victorian era, led by various reformers who proposed, designed, and wore clothing considered more practical and comfortable than the fashions of the time.
Casual wear is a Western dress code that is relaxed, occasional, spontaneous and suited for everyday use. Casual wear became popular in the Western world following the counterculture of the 1960s. When emphasising casual wear's comfort, it may be referred to as leisurewear or loungewear.
Children's clothing or kids' clothing is clothing for children who have not yet grown to full height. Children's clothing is often more casual than adult clothing, fit for play and rest.
History of fashion design refers specifically to the development of the purpose and intention behind garments, shoes ,accessories, and their design and construction. The modern industry, based around firms or fashion houses run by individual designers, started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth who, beginning in 1858, was the first designer to have his label sewn into the garments he created.
Outside Western cultures, men's clothing commonly includes skirts and skirt-like garments; however, in the Americas and much of Europe, skirts are usually seen as feminine clothing, and are not always considered acceptable for men and boys to wear. While there are exceptions, most notably the cassock and the kilt, these are not really considered 'skirts' in the typical sense of fashion wear; rather they are worn as cultural and vocational garments. People have variously attempted to promote the fashionable wearing of skirts by men in Western culture and to do away with this gender distinction.
Anti-fashion is an umbrella term for various styles of dress which are explicitly contrary to the fashion of the day. Anti-fashion styles may represent an attitude of indifference or may arise from political or practical goals which make fashion a secondary priority. The term is sometimes even used for styles championed by high-profile designers, when they encourage or create trends that do not follow the mainstream fashion of the time.
Haute couture is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became the centre of a growing industry that focused on making outfits from high-quality, expensive, often unusual fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable of sewers—often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. Couture translates literally from French as "dressmaking", sewing, or needlework and is also used as a common abbreviation of haute couture and can often refer to the same thing in spirit. Haute translates literally to "high".
Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression.
Mathilde de Morny was a French aristocrat and artist. Morny was also known by the nickname "Missy" or by the artistic pseudonym "Yssim", or as "Max", "Uncle Max", or "Monsieur le Marquis". Active as a sculptor and painter, Morny studied under Comte Saint-Cène and the sculptor Édouard-Gustave-Louis Millet de Marcilly.
Queer fashion is fashion among queer and nonbinary people that goes beyond common style conventions that usually associate certain colors and shapes with one of the two binary genders. Queer fashion aims to be perceived by consumers as a fashion style that focuses on experimenting garments based on people's different body shapes instead of following the restrictions given by gendered clothing categorization.
Social standards typically restrict people's dress according to gender. Trousers were traditionally a male form of dress, frowned upon for women. However, during the 1800s, female spies were introduced, and Vivandières wore a certain uniform with a dress over trousers. Women activists during that time would also decide to wear trousers; for example, Luisa Capetillo, a women's rights activist and the first woman in Puerto Rico to wear trousers in public.