Visible Self excerpt

THE VISIBLE SELF

THE VISIBLE SELF

FASHION AND DRESS ACROSS CULTURES

SANDRA LEE EVENSON

University of Idaho

JOANNE B. EICHER

University of Minnesota

FAIRCHILD BOOKS

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EXTENDED CONTENTS

Reading Discussion Questions 39

Notes 40

2 The Classification System for Dress 42

Learning Objectives 42

Body Modifications 46

Color 46

Volume and Proportion, Shape and Structure 46

Surface Design 49

Texture 50

Odor, Scent, and Taste 50

Sound and Movement 52

Body Supplements 52

Enclosures 53

Suspended 54

Preshaped 54

Combination-Type 55

Attachments to the Body 55

Inserted 56

Pressure Fastened 56

Adhered 57

Attachments to Body Enclosures 57

Inserted 57

Pressure Fastened 57

Adhered 57

Dress as Extensions of the Body 24 Dress that Extends Motor Force and Spatial Skills 26 Dress as a Total Environment 28

Dress and the Spiritual Environment 30

Summary 31

Key Terms 31

Chapter Discussion Questions 32

Activities 32

The Reading 33

Reading: “Introduction: The Final Frontier of Fashion”

by Barbara Brownie 33

Handheld Objects 58

Properties of Body Supplements 59

Relating Body Modifications and Supplements 60

Application of the Classification System 61

Advantages of the Classification System 63

Summary 66

Key Terms 66

Chapter Discussion Questions 66

Activities 67

The Reading 68

Reading: “Medical Devices as Dress: A Type 1 Diabetes

Case Study” by Sandra Lee Evenson 68

Reading Discussion Questions 73

Notes 74

3 Dress, Culture, and Society 75

Learning Objectives 75

Culture 76

Material and Nonmaterial Culture 76

Subcultures (Microcultures) 78

Society 78

Globalization and Diasporas 79

Sociocultural Systems 79

Relating Dress to Culture and Society: Think, Make, Do 84

Ethnocentrism 85

Ethnic Dress 87

Ethnicity and “Race” 88

Contemporary Culture, Society, and Dress 90

Dress and Cultural Meanings 92

Summary 94

Key Terms 95

Discussion Questions 95

Activities 95

The Reading 96

Reading: “Zoot Suit” by Eduardo Pagán 96

Reading Discussion Questions 97

Notes 98

4 Sociocultural Systems and Dress 99

Learning Objectives 99

Characteristics of Commercial Sociocultural Systems 101

Population, Residence, and Dress 102

Technology, Economy, and Dress 104

Fashion and Profit 106

Social Structure and Dress 107

Polity and Dress 108

Religion, Ideology, and Dress 112

Characteristics of Tribal Sociocultural Systems 115

Population, Residence, and Dress 116

Technology, Economy, and Dress 116

Social Structure and Dress 119

Polity and Dress 122

Religion, Ideology, and Dress 122

Characteristics of Imperial Sociocultural Systems 126

Population, Residence, and Dress 127

Technology, Economy, and Dress 128

Social Structure and Dress 132

Polity and Dress 133

Religion, Ideology, and Dress 139

Summary 143

Key Terms 144

Chapter Discussion Questions 144

Activities 144

The Reading 146

Reading: “Indian Madras Fashion” by Sandra Lee Evenson 146

Reading Discussion Questions 152

Notes 153

5 Fashion, the Body, and Culture 155

Learning Objectives 155

Fashion 159

Fashion Leaders 161

The Apparel Product Development Process 162

Theories of Fashion Change 173

Shifting Erogenous Zones 173

Fashion Flow—Trickle Down, Bubble Up, and Trickle

Across 175

The Fashion Pendulum 176

Summary 177

Key Terms 177

Chapter Discussion Questions 177

Activities 178

The Reading 179

Reading: “McCardell, Claire” by Kohle Yohannan 179

Reading Discussion Questions 181

Notes 182

6 The Art of Creating Dress 183

Learning Objectives 183

The Art of Dress 184

The Aesthetics of Dress 185

The Universality of the Art of Dress 187

Creating Forms of Dress 189

Analyzing the Meaning and Form of Dress 194

Types of Body Supplements Used in Creating Dress 195

Cultural Typologies of Dress 198

Summary 199

Key Terms 199

Chapter Discussion Questions 199

Activities 200

The Reading 201

Reading: “Marilyn Monroe” by Joanne B. Eicher 201

Reading Discussion Questions 202

Notes 203

7 Standards, Ideals, and the Art of Dress 204

Learning Objectives 204

Ideals within Different Societies 206

Ghana 207

Beauty Pageants 208

Achieving (Approaching) Ideals 212

Cultural Standards for the Art of Dress 217

Prescriptive and Proscriptive Literature 220

Change in Cultural Standards 223

Cultural Ideals in Body Form and Self-Esteem 225

Summary 229

Key Terms 229

Chapter Discussion Questions 229

Activities 230

The Reading 231

Reading: “Body Concepts in Korea and North Asia”

by Jaehee Jung 231

Reading Discussion Questions 233

Notes 234

8 Conformity and Individuality in Dress 235

Learning Objectives 235

Individual Choice, Societal Influence, and the Art of Dress 236

Social Status and Role, Conformity, and Dress 240

Dress Codes 242

Conformity and Membership 244

Individuality within Conformity 245

Individuality and the Art of Dress 249

Summary 251

Key Terms 251

Chapter Discussion Questions 251

Activities 252

The Reading 253

Reading: “Billy Tipton: A True Story of Dress and Identity” by Sandra Lee Evenson 253

Reading Discussion Questions 255

Notes 255

9 Dress and the Arts 256

Learning Objectives 256

Dress as an Art Form 257

Dress as an Integral Part of the Arts 260

Similarities Between Stage Costume and Everyday

Dress 261

Special Requirements of Costume 264

Accommodation to Body Action and Demands of Performance 264

Adjustment to Performance Space and Lighting 269

Performer in Relation to Costume 269

Relation of Costume to the Type of Performance 271

Musical Performance 272

Group Performance 273

Fantasy and the Supernatural 274

Dance 274

Visual and Literary Arts 276

Visual Arts 276

Literary Arts 279

Artists in the Field of Design 280

Influence of Artists on Fashion 280

Summary 282

Key Terms 282

Chapter Discussion Questions 282

Activities 282

The Reading 284

Reading: “Theatrical Makeup” by Elizabeth McLafferty 284

Reading Discussion Questions 285

Notes 285

10 Our Worlds of Dress 287

Learning Objectives 287

Dress in the Post-Pandemic World 288

Discovery 291

Sustainability for Fun and Profit 294

Dress as Global Communication 298

Off the Planet 300

Change and Continuity in Our Worlds of Dress 301

Summary 304

Key Terms 304

Chapter Discussion Questions 304

Activities 305

The Reading 306

Reading: “Epilogue: Fashioning the Body Today”

by Susan J. Vincent

306

Reading Discussion Questions 313

Notes 314

Appendix 316

Glossary 327

References 333

Art Credits 341

Index 344

PREFACE

All over the world, people get dressed, mostly for the same reasons. Why, then, do we look so different from each other? The answers lie in the constellations of factors that contribute to the human condition, from climate to conformity, gender expression to race and ethnicity.

Dress and culture are a dynamic duo. Human beings create dress through choices of color, texture, volume, and scent; in essence, designing themselves every day—such choices communicate identity. We recognize that some people have more choices than others. Some people like making decisions about how to dress, and others don’t. Some people like to engage in fashion, and others don’t. We center on the daily act of dress in cultures around the world and use the word “dress” to emphasize the wide variety of behaviors connected to the act of getting dressed. This includes not just putting on clothing and accessories, but also grooming the body and participating in fashion. For some people, being dressed means not wearing any clothing at all.

The Visible Self makes sense of humans as biological, social, and aesthetic creatures based on cross-disciplinary concepts and examples. We offer students and instructors a lively and engaging understanding of how to apply social science concepts to their professional and everyday lives. As students move into their careers in fashion, they will need to explain why their design or marketing choices will work, and display a solid understanding of their markets, whether in the United States or Uganda. The fashion professional can use what they learn in this book to understand their target customer based on the relationship between body and dress, and develop better apparel products as a result. Using the definition of dress as modifications of the body (tattooing, hair dyeing) and supplements to the body (garments, accessories like cell phones, etc.), the book’s Classification System for Dress creates a lens through which we see that all people through space and time are dressed.

NEW TO THIS EDITION

The first edition of The Visible Self: Perspectives on Dress by Mary Ellen Roach and Joanne B. Eicher (1973) provided a new perspective to studying dress, revealing the vast amount of research around dress in other disciplines beyond apparel and textiles programs. It emphasized that “dress” is a larger concept than “clothing,” to be viewed both cross-culturally and objectively. In subsequent editions, we stayed true to the

three-pronged approach to dress as fulfilling biological, social, and aesthetic needs, while staying current with scholarship in many disciplines. For the second edition, our most pressing need was to find a better way to talk about societies than the outdated generalizations “hunter gatherer,” “agrarian,” and “industrial.” While these terms do describe one aspect of a society, they do not convey the complexity of contemporary societies. For example, what term do we use to describe the Amish, who are agrarian within an industrial nation? We landed on the work of anthropologist John Bodley and his concept of the Scale of World Cultures, which sought to avoid labeling and understand societies on their own terms, avoiding conventional labels that slip too easily into stereotypes. As Dr. Bodley’s work unfolded over the past twenty years, we followed along and refined our text accordingly. In this fifth edition, you see that we have streamlined our look at dress and society into Bodley’s smoother understanding of “cultural worlds.”

In many ways, recurring editions of this textbook nurtured our own research. Contained within the first edition are the seeds of the Classification System for Dress and the formal, scientific definition of dress posited by Roach-Higgins and Eicher in 1992 and developed to this day. These theoretical tools, along with the concept of cultural authentication, are the foundation of Sandra Evenson’s research on Indian madras plaid cloth, which appears in this volume as a reading. Because we live our research, this edition is ripe with personal examples of how we (and you) can understand humans by the way we dress.

Naturally, a new edition requires new examples. Images of dressed bodies have been a backbone of all five editions. One early source was Lenore Landry, an Extension Specialist at the University of Wisconsin who traveled the world and graciously shared her photographs of cultural dress in use and being created. If you are an old hand at this textbook, you will notice that often an updated image points to a new way we used the concepts in the book to explain human behavior. For example, images of dress in China now reflect its place in world fashion, not just dragon robes. Images of body modifications are now drawn from everyday life because they are mainstream, not exotic. Other images have staying power, like the predictions of designer John Weitz, featured in all five editions. And where we once endeavored to expose as many “crosscultural” examples as possible to a largely white, middle-class student audience to fulfill a goal of “diversity,” in this edition we hope everyone sees themselves at least once as part of our worlds of dress.

In this fifth edition of The Visible Self, we have streamlined and reorganized the book. Once upon a time, it was important to write in a scholarly style so that the study of dress would be taken seriously. In this edition, as established experts in the field, we tried to cut out a lot of unnecessary words because we want students to read the book. This means we cut chapters, condensed chapters, and boosted the use of the book’s concepts in everyday and professional life. New features include:

● The body is now the organizing principle in our study of dress. All design and end use decisions begin with the body as it exists in the real world.

● New chapters: Chapter 5 Fashion, the Body, and Culture and Chapter 10 Our Worlds of Dress. Many students are interested in careers in fashion and this textbook supports preparation for that work. In past editions, we attempted to predict the future of dress, but in this edition, we returned to summarizing our experience of dress as a global human behavior with purpose and meaning.

● All new readings at the end of each chapter, with introductions and discussion questions. They are accessible, solid scholarship, and often unexpected topics. If you are new to this text, discussion of the readings makes it easier to connect course concepts to student experience.

● An Appendix outlines sources of information about dress, with their advantages and disadvantages for research.

● A Glossary defines important, bolded terms used in the text for easy reference.

COVERAGE AND ORGANIZATION

In earlier editions of The Visible Self, we wanted students to get excited about the study of dress for its own sake by expanding their ideas about what constitutes dress and by showing all the different ways dress shows up in our lives as sources of information. In this edition, we take our direction from the Zeitgeist, when cultural worlds collide over skin color, gender expression, and body autonomy. The body—dressed and otherwise— is where human interaction begins.

As such, in Chapter 1, we first feature the body as the organizing principle around which to study dress. The body is an armature—the proportion of muscle/fat/ bone, skin color, hair texture, nose shape—for what is designed for it. In so doing, we blended the two chapters on the body and the environment. In Chapter 2 we use the scientific definition of dress as body modifications and body supplements to talk about human behavior objectively. With this scientific definition of dress called the Classification System for Dress, we direct your attention to the consumer. For Chapter 3, we expanded our discussion on “race,” emphasizing that racism and ethnocentrism begin with perceptions of the characteristics of the body. We condensed the chapters on Sociocultural Systems of World Culture into a single Chapter 4 to focus holistically on the global world and on contemporary topics such as diasporas and the use of dress in rebelling against political economies. Chapter 5 is a brand new chapter on fashion and the apparel product development process, introducing how fashion professionals can use the concepts in this text to better define and produce marketable products for the target consumer. We follow in Chapters 6, 7, and 8 with how dress is a universal art form, how dress can achieve standards of appearance and approach social ideals, and how dress relates to individuality/conformity and fashion. Chapter 9 illustrates the many and varied ways dress supports the visual, performing, and literary arts by communicating identity and character. Chapter 10 concludes our study of dress by exploring the global mash-up of dress in the post-pandemic world, circling back to the body as the foundation of the way we look.

LEARNING FEATURES

This fifth edition of The Visible Self differs from earlier editions in its more applied approach to the use of concepts such as Sheldon’s somatotypes, Siple’s clothing zones, and Bodley’s cultural worlds. When students learn to “think with concepts,” they are better problem solvers. The Study Tools, chapter readings, and Appendix were developed to help students make a direct connection between what is discussed in the book and in class with the way things work in the world. Dress is not abstract. It is physical and dynamic.

Following each chapter are Study Tools, including a list of Key Terms, chapter discussion questions, and hands-on activities. The hands-on activities are purposefully designed to aid in applying chapter concepts to design, product development, merchandising, and everyday life as portfolio-builders. These activities offer students the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of how to use ideas in the book to understand people as consumers, colleagues, and compatriots.

Each chapter concludes with a reading. All the readings are new and fresh for this edition and cover everything from designing for outer space to the Zoot Suit to jazz artist Billy Tipton. Each features an introduction for context and discussion questions that help the student make tangible connections to the concepts discussed in the chapter. We are excited about these new readings because most of them are sourced from Bloomsbury Fashion Central, which houses the Berg Fashion Library. If your library subscribes to this database of all things scholarly related to dress, you have a vast storehouse of even more readings and lesson plans at your fingertips to support your teaching and engage your students. A few of the readings were written by the authors and demonstrate how we use the concepts in this textbook to support our own research and lived experience.

In the first four editions of The Visible Self, the authors devoted two chapters to an accounting of all the different records of dress that tell us about our humanity because we were, in part, offering a research strategy. Good research involves investigating as many sources of data as you can lay your hands on, while also recognizing the strengths and limitations of those sources. In this fifth edition, we believe modeling this strategy is sufficient and gives us space to focus on the body as an armature for design. However, sources and how to use them are still essential. The Appendix is a meaty outline summarizing sources of information about dress using examples from the text.

INSTRUCTOR AND STUDENT RESOURCES

The Visible Self New for this edition is an online resource—The Visible Self STUDIO. The online STUDIO is specially developed to complement this book with rich media ancillaries that students can adapt to their visual learning styles to better master concepts and improve grades. Within the STUDIO, students will be able to:

● Study smarter with self-quizzes featuring scored results and personalized study tips.

● Review concepts with flashcards of essential vocabulary.

● Watch videos related to chapter concepts.

Instructor Resources

● The Instructor’s Guide provides suggestions for planning the course and using the text in the classroom, including sample syllabi, in-class activities, and teaching ideas.

● The Test Bank includes sample test questions for each chapter.

● PowerPoint® presentations include images from the book and provide a framework for lecture and discussion.

Instructor Resources may be accessed through www.bloomsburyonlineresources. com/fairchildbookstudios.

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CHAPTER 1

THE BODY

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter, you will be able to:

● Record physical similarities shared by all humans.

● Distinguish between genetic adaptation and cultural adaptation.

● List reasons for human physical diversity around the world and across the lifespan.

● Define, compare, and contrast habituation, acclimation, and acclimatization.

● Explain how dress as a cultural adaptation intervenes between the body and environment.

● Use the scientific language of Sheldon’s somatotypes and Siple’s clothing zones in professional practice or as part of a research project.

The natural physical make-up of the dark-skinned, dark-eyed blond from Ambrym Island, Melanesia, on the arm of his father, demonstrates that genetic traits are not linked. This challenges the concept of “race.”

Figure 1.0

Dress that Intervenes Between Body and Climate

Another survival solution is creating a compact and portable environment with dress, extending the body’s temperature-controlling mechanisms and habituation to different weather and climate conditions.

TABLE 1.1

HOW DRESS INTERVENES BETWEEN BODY AND ENVIRONMENT

Dress printed or woven with camouflage designs helps the wearer blend into the local environment by mimicking the colors, patterns, and play of light and shadow where the individual wants not to be seen.

Condition

Dress Intervention Examples

Temperature Insulation with trapped air Flannel shirt, down overalls

Humidity Evaporation through moisture transfer

Flowy tops, cotton pants

Air movement Blocking wind with dense fabric Wind breaker, balaclava, body grease

Radiation Limiting skin exposure to UV rays

Wide-brimmed hat, sun block

Altitude Mediating effects of hypoxia Oxygen tanks, lightweight performance textiles

Figure 1.10

For example, for a day on a tropical beach, where the sun is bright and the humidity high, a practical ensemble would include fabrics engineered with moisture transfer fibers that draw perspiration away from the skin to the fabric’s surface where it can dry, keeping you cool. Natural fibers like cotton and linen do something similar, called wicking. Back to our Mount Everest example: it takes a lot of energy to climb, to haul equipment, and to fight the effects of hypoxia. At the same time, hiking at altitude dulls the appetite and the body begins to draw on its reserves of fat and muscle for energy. A successful summiting ensemble will include garments made from the lightest weight textiles with the highest insulative value so the climber will waste fewer calories on the weight of the gear. In addition, because the atmosphere is thinner at elevation, protection from the sun’s heat and light is just as necessary as a day on the beach. Moisture transfer undergarments, absorbent caps, and sun-goggles are also required.

Siple’s Clothing Zones

To better recognize and understand the importance of layering dress around the world, P. A. Siple classified climate into clothing zones based on the number of layers needed for optimum comfort.30 They are:

1. The minimum clothing zone, or the humid tropical and jungle type.

2. The hot, dry clothing zone, or desert type.

3. The one-layer clothing zone, or subtropical or optimum comfort type.

4. The two-layer clothing zone, or the temperate cool winter type.

5. The three-layer clothing zone, or the temperate cold winter type.

6. The four-layer maximum clothing zone, or subarctic winter type.

7. The activity balance zone, or the arctic winter type.

In the minimum clothing zone, clothing is not needed for protection from heat, cold, or the sun. Zones include the jungle, rainforest, woodland, and savannah. Loin cloths or wrapped cloth might be used to protect the genitals, and sandals or moccasins to protect the feet. The Yanomami, who live in the jungles of Northern Brazil and Southern Venezuela, dress in beads, paints, and local plants, as seen in Figure 1.11. They wear few garments because the heat and humidity of the jungle would cause the body to overheat.31

In the hot, dry clothing zone, protection from all three conditions—heat, cold, and UV rays—is required. Desert climates are very hot during the day and very cold at night, threatening survival unprotected. Desert climates are often at latitudes or altitudes where the sun’s rays are most directly beating down on the earth’s surface and human heads. Desert nomads of North Africa have worn long, loose tunics and robes of cotton or wool that cover arms and legs. These tent-like garments allow evaporation of sweat, which is facilitated by the air currents created by walking. Solar heat can be absorbed on the surface of the garments at a distance from the body.

The !Kung of Southern Africa solve their heat/cold/sun protection needs with a set of seasonally changing treatments with various substances, applied to the surface of the skin. A !Kung individual coats the skin “with plant juices and fats and, when obtainable, animal fat or blood, and accumulates a fine layer of Kalahari sand on the surface.”32 This “protective mail” assists adjustment to hot conditions by shielding the skin from solar radiation and the desiccating effects of hot, dry winds. During the winter, an ointment

made from tsama melons is smeared over the body and vigorously rubbed into the skin. “In the very dry atmosphere of the Kalahari in wintertime this treatment has about the same beneficial effect as the application of cold cream to the exposed skin surfaces of the European.”33

With climate change, we are paying more attention to the effects of sun damage on the body (Figure 1.12). Outdoor retailers offer ultraviolet protection factor (UPF)-rated

In Siple’s Clothing Zone 1, dress is characterized by body modifications and supplements from the natural world. They are dressed, if minimally clothed.

Figure 1.11

clothing, and medical websites for consumers describe clothing characteristics that offer the best UPF protection:

● Dense fabric, tightly knitted or woven.

● Dark or bright colors, the opposite of what we might expect.

● Synthetic fabrics like polyester or nylon.

● Less stretchy fabric.

● More coverage using hats, long sleeves, and pants.34

For Siple, the one-layer clothing zone offers the optimum climate for fashion and fashion change. Mid-latitude climates place no great demand or restriction on dress, so there is more leeway for style and detailing. One layer—a tunic and leggings, a dress, jeans, and a sweater—is enough to keep a breeze or the noon-day sun at bay. The onelayer zone also accounts for seasonal change, such as Great Britain in the summertime and Australia in winter.

The two-layer clothing zone is the opposite of the hot, dry zone. The two-layer clothing zone includes temperate regions with mild winters, high humidity, and occasional wet snowfalls, such as the northern Pacific Rim and southern coastal South America. Clothing must keep off rain as well as insulate against heat loss. Indigenous people of the coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest designed basketry hats, worn for rain and sun, were waterproof and protected them from the glare of sunlit water while canoeing or fishing. Flared rain capes of shredded red-cedar bark, made to hang to just below the elbow, repelled water and allowed arm movement for paddling canoes or engaging in other activities. Fur neckbands prevented the harsh bark fiber from irritating the skin around the neck.35

People all over the world solve the same problems in culturally different and equally effective ways. Both styles of brimmed hats shade the eyes in bright sunlight, deflect the sun’s heat from the head and shoulders, and protect facial skin from UV rays that can produce wrinkling and skin cancer.

(b)

(a)

Figure 1.12

In the winter, much of Europe, Asia, and North America fall into the three- and four-layer clothing zones described as cold-temperate and sub-Arctic, along with Arctic and Antarctic regions in the summer. Except for some very high-altitude regions, these zones are virtually absent in South America, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Because the labor requirements to produce layers of thick, insulative fabric are considerable, dress must last a long time and there is less fashion influence.

Effective clothing for protection against cold in a sub-Arctic area must have a high insulating value when people are inactive, but be of a design that will allow dissipation of body heat when they are active. Otherwise, the body will become heated, sweating will occur, and an accumulation of unevaporated sweat will cause chilling. Siple elaborates on problems involved in learning to use one’s clothing in extreme cold, as follows:

Individuals who are exposed to low temperatures at a degree of activity insufficient to produce comfortable thermo-balance must learn a multitude of techniques which may increase the potential value of their protective clothing many times. In the first place, the body must become acclimatized so that it conserves heat to the maximum extent. Next, it is necessary that the garments are so fitted that there is the art of ventilating to avoid sweating, and in tightening closures to control too rapid loss of body heat. Each individual has to learn through experience how to perform these tasks …. The greenhorn in regions of extreme cold is apt to suffer unmercifully, whereas the experienced person has not only learned to tolerate the cold but efficiently making adjustments after he has started to sweat. The sourdough never reaches the point of sweating if he can avoid it. The tenderfoot who has opened his clothing or taken off a garment rarely buttons up again until he is beginning to shiver. He seems to want to impress himself or others with the appearance of being “tough enough to take it.” The sourdough puts his clothing on and closes up before he begins to get chilled, and he stays warmer much longer.36

The general solution for what to wear in a very cold climate is, therefore, to find a lightweight material that will not load the wearer down, a way of trapping insulating dead air spaces between loose-fitting layers of clothing, and a design that can be opened easily for releasing warm, moist air that may accumulate around the body during activity.37 Materials that breathe to allow perspiration to evaporate through the garment while protecting the body from wind and water and retaining heat are even better (Figure 1.13a). For example, Land’s End offers a squall jacket featuring:

● A quilted inner layer to trap air and insulate.

● A waterproof outer layer.

● Sealed seams to keep the wind out.

● Hook-and-loop wrist closures to keep the wind and snow out and keep the warm air in or let it out.

● An interior draw cord to make fit the jacket, reducing bulk.

In recent years, textile scientists have developed thermal-transfer products that hold excess body heat in reserve, then release it when the body needs warmth.

People in different circumstances have discovered independently the key features of dress necessary to survival in harsh conditions. These climbers (a) and this Inuit family (b) are both wearing layers that can be loosened to release heat, preventing deadly perspiration from chilling the body, and tightened to keep heat in, using the most technically successful materials.

The Inuit solution to cold has been to wear loosely fitting pre-shaped garments of animal skins, most commonly caribou, seal, fox, and polar bear (Figure 1.13b).38 Some Inuit groups also make tailored body supplements out of bird skins with the thick down and feathers intact.39 A belt, worn over shirt and undershirt, which hang outside trousers, may be used to control temperature. By loosening this belt, throwing back the parka hood, and taking off mittens or a layer of garments, an Inuit can cool off. To keep warm when not moving, arms are taken out of their sleeves and put close to the body. Sweat control is very important because wet garments lose their insulating value. Therefore, garments are taken off inside and must be carefully dried if they become wet. In North America, the development of Gore-Tex® offers a similar solution through textile technology. Molecules of moisture can pass from the body through the membrane outwards, but rainwater molecules from the outside cannot pass through to the inside and saturate the body.

According to Prehistorian Ian Gilligan, clothing—not food—was the impetus for humans to develop agriculture. He refers to clothing as “our most intimate technology”40 that was essential to our evolutionary success at the end of the Pleistocene ice ages, 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago. With complex, fitted multi-layered garments, including an inner layer of underwear, this portable insulation meant early humans could survive and reproduce during extreme climate change. When the Pleistocene ended and the environment became wetter and more humid, humans used local domesticated plants and animals as a source of fiber for creating dress that wicked moisture away from the body. In other words, dress “directly or indirectly … tipped the balance in favor of agriculture.”41

While the protective dress described for the Inuit was worn daily for centuries, climate-controlled architecture provides the protection we need for most of our activities, and protective garments are reserved for sports and certain work activities. Technological advances in protective dress, however, often affect fashion in very large,

(b) (a)

Figure 1.13

complex societies. Dress for sports activities, for instance, has been incorporated into streetwear, as sports garments have gained a popularity that extends beyond their limited use during sports activities. Synthetic fleece garments were originally developed to provide light-weight thermal protection for the outdoors. Then, they were worn as part of casual, everyday ensembles. Eventually polar fleece was used as the fashion fabric for tailored jackets and coats for professional settings.

In the activity balance zone, no increase beyond four layers is effective for thermal survival; extra garments beyond this become too bulky. Activity that keeps the body’s metabolic rate high enough to keep the body warm is required for survival outdoors.

Figure 1.14 gives an idea of the relative size of the covering needed to protect the hands in various degrees of activity and inactivity. When thick covering hampers the ability to move, a person requires activity and nutrition to keep warm or an auxiliary heating system like hand and boot warmers and electric socks. Otherwise, survival depends on shelter.

Sometimes dress hinders. In the late nineteenth century, in the United States, dress was strictly prescribed, like the donning of long underwear in autumn, even in Hawaii, as James Michener described in his historical novel, Hawaii. Laura Ingalls Wilder related a similar example in On the Banks of Plum Creek, which takes place in Minnesota. Even during a hot autumn drought, the Ingalls sisters were required to wear wool underwear. Understanding the physical requirements of the body and

The relative size of mittens needed for different exposure times at −20°F in the activity balance zone reveals the degree to which physical activity raises body temperature. It also shows that activity, nutrition, and shelter are necessary to survive in very cold regions.

Figure 1.14

environment was less important than following social norms. As Fort and Hollies emphasize:

It is important to realize that the clothing is not just a passive cover for the skin, but that it interacts with and modifies the heat regulating function of the skin and has effects which are modified by body movement. Some of this interaction is automatic, derived from the physical properties of the clothing materials and their spacing around the body; the larger scale interactions, however, arise from conscious choice of amount and kind of clothing, and mode of wearing, especially how the clothing is closed up or left open and loose.42

Activewear manufacturers like L. L. Bean offer “all-season 3-in-1” jackets with an insulation jacket, worn alone to stay warm in cold, dry weather; and a waterproof shell, which can be worn alone to block the wind and rain on mild days. Zipped together, the jacket meets most weather needs. A zip-on hood can be flipped back or removed to release body heat.

The physical environment can be a dangerous place, including pointed sticks, chemical agents, and biological microorganisms. Body armor reduces the skinpenetrating effects of spears and bullets. Butchers wear chain mail gloves to protect their hands from knives. Loggers wear chaps against chain-saw accidents. Chemical agents, such as cleaning products and pesticides, can irritate the eyes, skin, and lungs, requiring the donning of goggles, gloves, masks, and coveralls. These same articles of dress, along with bio-hazard suits, protect against bacteria, viruses, and spores. During the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, everyone was encouraged to wear face masks to help decrease the spread of the disease by sneezing or coughing. Images of medical professionals in full Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) communicated the virulence and gravity of the virus.

As we discussed earlier in this section, dress requirements for survival and protection depend on factors such as food intake, available shelter, and heating or cooling systems. We humans have figured out how to balance these factors for health and comfort. As central heating replaced fireplaces to warm the home, fashion responded with fewer layers and lighter-weight fabrics. Sometimes air-conditioning feels too chill, requiring an added layer for warmth. Trains, planes, and automobiles have their own controlled environments with jetways and tunnels to connect them. A person may travel from their home in Chennai to a conference hotel in London with little habituation required, and a cumbersome overcoat packed instead of carried.

Dress as Extensions of the Body

We can see that when dress protects us from the weather, humans can move into different climates, making it possible to travel to new places and do more things. In this way, dress is an extension of the body (Figure 1.15). Because our hands are so high functioning, one of the first tasks we mastered was how to free up hands from carrying objects to do other necessary tasks. Elizabeth Wayland Barber describes “The String Revolution” as more important to human development than the Industrial Revolution.43 About 50,000 years ago, some clever person was fooling with a bit of animal fur and discovered twisting it created a string. With string, humans made ropes, nets, and bags. Later, people carried objects in the folds of their draped robes, their sleeves, their hats, their codpieces, and in pockets (Figures 1.16 and 1.17). Once human hands were unencumbered, they could make tools, and tools that made other tools.

Contemporary kayakers become one with their kayaks with the use of jacket extensions that snap over the opening to attach the kayak to the body and keep water out. In this way, dress may function as both an extension of and a supplement to the body. This supplement modifies the body’s ability to travel through water.

Figure 1.15

Figure 1.16

Pockets formed by the points of the Sami Four Winds Hat. Sami, Scandinavia.

Figure 1.17

The belt with pockets and slots for a variety of tools frees this lumberjack’s hands to work on felling the tree.

Dress that Extends Motor Force and Spatial Skills

Using gloves is one of the simplest ways to extend the body’s mechanical capabilities. As discussed earlier, our hands are excellent tools in themselves, but gloves give us protection against heat, cold, abrasion, chemicals, and sharp objects. We can function under adverse environmental conditions, such as firefighting and handling subzero vaccines. Leather gloves, called gauntlets, help in training police dogs and hawks, and handling feral cats.

Footwear is one of the earliest cultural improvements in self-propelled transportation; some types are especially useful in adapting to the environment, such as two different kinds of soft-soled footwear used by North American Indians, depicted in Figures 1.18a and b. The moccasin of the American Indian provided protection against both cold and uneven terrain. When members of the Lewis and Clark expedition (1803–1806) wore out their boots, they adapted moccasins to their own use. It was hard work paddling the boats, sometimes dragging them along the rough shore, and hunting for food. A typical pair of moccasins lasted two days. Every evening, the Corps of Discovery was either making or mending moccasins.44

Figure 1.18

Examples from footwear history that have been especially useful in adapting to different climates. (a) The White Mountain Apache leather boots with beaded decoration are suited to hot and dry regions. (b) The Alaskan/Eskimo/Inuit boots with cloth and bead decoration are waterproof, appropriate for wet and cold regions.

(b) (a)

Bock cites the snowshoe as one of the most outstanding examples of adaptive footgear,45 as shown in Figure 1.19. Laced easily to moccasins and soft-soled boots, snowshoes freed humans from winter isolation that severely limited social contact and hunting: on snowshoes, a person could walk on soft snow without sinking in because the focused pressure of body weight over the foot was distributed over the broad surface of the snowshoe. Snowshoes reached their highest development in North America. In Asian and European societies, more attention was given to the development of skis, which provided greater speed with less effort.46

Uniforms for sports, such as roller derby and hockey, protect the body from voluntary injury with helmets, elbow and knee pads, and genital and breast shields (Figure 1.20). Other equipment enables us to swim the English Channel, free-style climb Yosemite Park’s El Capitan, and parachute from airplanes.

The snowshoe is an outstanding example of adaptive footwear. On snowshoes, a person can walk over soft snow without sinking down because the snowshoes distribute weight across a wider area than just the foot. The snowshoe has taken different cultural forms in different societies.

Figure 1.19

Figure 1.20

Contact sports, such as roller derby, require protective dress for parts of the body vulnerable to injury, including helmets, knee pads, and elbow pads. For many roller derby competitors, a large purple bruise is a badge of honor.

Dress as a Total Environment

With our big brains, opposable thumbs, and vast curiosity, humans explored and prospered on most of the earth’s land mass. Now we are curious about other environments, such as the deep oceans and outer space, where dress as total environment is required to “boldly go where no one has gone before.”47 Beyond curiosity, humans continue to want to exert more and more control over our environments, and dress continues to be one important tool.

Diving suits are the first example of dress as a total environment. Early prototypes looked like metal spacesuits, strong enough to withstand water pressure and with a cable connected to the ship for oxygen and communication. Movement was limited by the weight of the suit and the length of the cable. Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan invented an on-demand regulator for air, paving the way for the self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA).48 Air tanks are strapped to the diver’s back, delivering oxygen to a face mask, freeing the diver to explore hands-free. As humans have moved ever deeper to the ocean floor, the diving suit functions like a space suit.

The space suit is the most complicated dress invented as a total environment (Figure 1.21). It supports life with systems for removing metabolic heat, carbon dioxide, water vapor, urine, and fecal matter and for providing oxygen and external pressure. Helmet visors allow wide peripheral vision and keep out harmful radiation and include microphones and headsets for interspace communication. The layers of the suit, including flameproof woven fabrics and aluminized plastic films, protect from meteoroids, extreme heat from the sun and the cold of space. Bioinstrumentation systems feed blood pressure, heart action, body temperature, and respiratory rate to Mission Control. The 1995 film Apollo 13 dramatizes how the astronauts and Mission Control

managed to bring the crew home alive after an explosion. In the “Medical Mutiny” scene, toward the end of the film, the astronauts are cold, exhausted, and frustrated by the lack of a reentry procedure. The situation is dire, and emotions are running high—clearly communicated to Ground Control by the astronauts’ bioinstrumentation systems. As an act of defiance, the astronauts rip off their sensors, Captain Lovell stating, “I’m tired of the entire Western world knowing the state of my kidneys.”

Working in space offers so many opportunities for technological development, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) continues to test garments. For example, to work outside the International Space Station, gloves must protect and be flexible enough to work with tools and hardware. Dress for outer space creates a complete environment, and is dependent on supporting architectural and vehicular environments, such as the International Space Station and the ships that ferry to and from. Designers of dress for the vacuum of space also account for practicalities— like that we use feet to plant ourselves in place with gravity. In the absence of gravity, interface between space shoes and hull of the cabin is Velcro®. The reading at the end of this chapter invites you as an apparel professional to consider space tourism and dressing for space for everyone.

Another example of dress that provides an almost total environment is the biohazard suit. Its design is based on NASA’s space suit and protects the individual from harmful biological agents, such as coronaviruses, Ebola, and Anthrax. The suit includes a helmet, oxygen supply, fabric layers specially designed to prevent airborne

The space suit is the ultimate example of dress as a complete environment. Buzz Aldrin, on the surface of the moon, in 1969, looks at a list of procedures for the moon walk that has been hand-written and hand-sewn onto his sleeve.

Figure 1.21

pathogens from passing into the suit, and a system to create negative air pressure—the suit has an air pressure higher than the outside environment, which prevents airborne pathogens from entering the suit through its seams and joints. Laboratories like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) use biohazard suits while studying lethal microbes. Doctors Without Borders use suits to battle Ebola outbreaks in parts of Africa. A version of the biohazard suit is used by medical professionals caring for COVID-19 coronavirus patients in hospitals.

Dress and the Spiritual Environment

Dress is often used to intervene between the individual and the spiritual environment Charms like rabbits’ feet, found pennies, and jade medallions are believed to bring luck and hold protective energy, as portrayed in Figure 1.22. In India, the eyes of babies are rimmed with kohl, or Indian kajal, to protect them against danger from the Evil Eye. The ingredients of kajal (sandalwood, castor oil, and ghee) are also believed to have medicinal properties. In the United States, we might wear “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue” to invoke life affirming forces at a wedding. One advantage of veiling, whether with the Islamic Hijab or the Hindu dupatta, is to be viewed as respectable and protected from harassment.49 Spiritual interventions can have their limits. One of Sandra Evenson’s favorite cartoons is Calvin and Hobbes, featuring a precocious little boy and his deadpan stuffed tiger. One day,

Figure 1.22

The eyes of the baby in this image are rimmed with Indian kajal to protect it from danger.

even though Calvin wears his lucky rocketship underpants, everything goes wrong at school, from sitting in gum and getting squirted by the water fountain to losing his show-and-tell creature and finding a hair in his school lunch. He returns home drenched by a downpour after missing the school bus home and grumbles to Hobbes, “You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don’t help.” To which Hobbes replies, “Well, you’ve done all you can do.”

Summary

● The human body is an armature upon which articles of dress are designed.

● Dress is defined as supplements to the body and modifications of the body.

● Humans are a single species, Homo sapiens, sharing most of the human genome.

● Differences in physical appearance originate in genetic adaptations to the environment, sex differentiation, and cultural adaptations to the environment.

¡ Sheldon’s somatotypes describe body form in scientific terms.

● Diversity in the way we look is related to nutrition, disease or medical conditions, and lifespan developments like pregnancy and aging.

Key Terms

armature

Homo sapiens genes

gene pool

population species

speciation

genetic adaptation

cultural adaptation

sex differentiation

transgender

sexual dimorphism

hirsute endomorphic mesomorphic ectomorphic phenotype

heredity

epicanthic fold

cline

physiological adaptation habituation

● Because of our big brains and complex nervous system, humans use dress as a tool to adapt to changing environments:

¡ Siple’s clothing zones describe climate conditions that affect the fit and layering of dress for survival.

● Dress is used to protect from hazardous environments or situations.

● Dress can extend our abilities and strength to perform tasks beyond our physical limits.

● Dress can be a complete environment, taking us to places hostile to human life, such as space.

● Dress can intervene between us and the spiritual environment.

acclimation

hypoxia acclimatization

vasodilation

vasoconstriction

cultural adaptations

moisture transfer

wicking clothing zones

minimum clothing zone hot, dry clothing zone

one-layer clothing zone two-layer clothing zone three-layer clothing zone four-layer maximum clothing zone activity balance zone dress as total environment dress and the spiritual environment

Chapter Discussion Questions

1. List physical characteristics all humans have in common.

2. List sources of human variation through heredity and across the lifespan, and give examples of each.

3. Define, and give an example of, cultural variation.

4. Define, compare, and contrast habituation, acclimation, and acclimatization.

Activities

1. Create a spectrum of human images of melanin density in the skin. Discuss how each human is the same and how each is different from the others. Explain one reason for diversity in skin color. How does this understanding help you as a designer, merchandiser, or other professional?

2. Using Figure 1.2, find pictures of people that represent as many “dots” as possible on Sheldon’s somatotypes. Include males, females, and people of all ages. Be able to explain why you placed an image on or near a specific dot using your understanding of proportions of body fat to muscle to bone. How does this help you talk about human body form variation?

3. Your target consumer is a 29-year-old married, pregnant female. She is an attorney earning low sixfigures. She lives in a medium-sized city with a vibrant arts and music culture. She drives a Mini-Cooper, but not for much longer. She loves to dance and needs something fun and sophisticated for after-5 socializing.

5. Explain how dress as a cultural adaptation intervenes between the body and environment.

6. Explain why using the language of Sheldon’s somatotypes produces a clearer definition of the target customer than everyday language.

7. Explain how dress is an example of human ingenuity and creative problem solving.

Create a story board with examples meeting this consumer’s needs. You can use images of maternity wear already on the market, garments that could be adapted for this consumer, or develop your own.

4. Study the offerings of an outdoor retailer like Columbia, NRS, or REI. Create a story board of products that offer sun protection. Find as many as you can. Try to create an ensemble that checks as many boxes on Table 1.1 as possible.

5. Look at a map of the earth and note countries that lie along the equator. Select a country different from your own in the hot/dry clothing zone or the one-layer clothing zone. Find images of dress that provide sun protection. Find parallel images from your own society. What similarities and differences do you notice?

6. In the text, we offer examples of dress that extend motor force and spatial skills. Brainstorm examples of your own and create a story board with as many as possible.