Answer:
The
emergence of the modern world is marked by dramatic changes in clothing. Before
the age of democratic revolution and the development of capitalist markets in
the 18th century Europe, clothing styles were strictly regulated by class,
gender or status in the social hierarchy.
(i) Before the 17th century, most
ordinary women in Britain possessed very few clothes made of flax, linen or wool
and these were difficult to clean.
(ii) After 1600, trade with India brought cheap, beautiful and easy to
maintain Indian chintzes within the reach of many Europe
(iii) During the Industrial Revolution, in the 19th
century, Britain began the mass manufacture of cotton textiles, thus cotton
clothes became more accessible to a wider section of people in Europe.
(iv) By the early 20th century artificial fibres made
clothes cheaper and easier to wash and maintain.
(v) In the late 1870s heavy restrictive underclothes were gradually
discarded. Liberal women's magazines strongly criticised these.
The agrument of women reformers was simplify dress,
shorten skirts and abandon corsets. At first the views of reformers were strongly
criticised, but by the end of the 19th century ideals of beauty and
styles of clothing were transformed.
(vi) Change in women's clothing took place as a result of
two world wars. By the 20th century, a plain and austere style came to reflect seriousness
and professionalism.
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