| Introduction |
| It is quite obvious what the main purpose of clothing is (that the men don't get aroused every time they get out on the street? Nooo... I actually meant the protection from injuries and
elementals). For some time the practical was also its only purpose but as the society advanced, clothes became one of the means to express either the wealth, reputation or profession. Although the artistic ability to make clothes that would
distinguish people into classes goes along with this secondary purpose, art and clothes come together even before the social differences. |
| There are evidences of leather skirts decorated with patterns made of pigments or perforations dating back to the Stone Age. The reason why people started decorating their, by that time
strictly practically worn clothes, could be found in the same reason why they started filling the walls of their caves with drawings. Many art historians believe that the original motivation for such activities is an emotion called horror
vacui. |
| Literally, this term means "a dread (horror) of space". Not a space in cosmical meaning, though, but the blank straight surface. It is hard to explain this phenomenon that occupied people
throughout the history and that obviously motivated the creation of Art. And the actual emotion that forces even you to leave some scratches and meaningless drawings on a school blackboard or a piece of paper in your office would be a kind of
anxiety rather than fear. But the fact is that hardly any blank space stays such for a long time in a presence of Homo Sapiens. |
| So a plain leather dress makes you anxious? Maybe not, but for a Stone Age man (or woman) it was a great medium of realizing the abstract, artistic aspirations in his or her mind.
Thankfully, at that time people still had no clue about money and merchandize - everything still belonged to everybody - and whoever was imaginative enough to adorn his/hers clothes could have them such. Only later on did clothing become a status
simbol and the more complicated or decorated the clothes were, they were affordable to wealthier individuals. |
| But the one thing is important after all - at least for me and this site: since the earliest history the clothing and art go unseparably together. |
| The Fashion |
| For that reason the history of clothing embraces several different disciplines, from Art, over Sociology to History. Without historical researches we would hardly be aware of the fashion
the way it looked like in some very early periods. Sometimes not even pictures can tell much if there are no remaining artefacts on the way some clothes was cut, sewn or fastened together. |
| Also, somewhere until 16th century the fashion can hardly be limited by time, but rather by national borders. The Renaissance in England is something completely different from Renaissance
in Italy, for instance. |
| At this point I should maybe emphasize that I intend to deal strictly with the Western fashion, since I am not that well introduced with other fashions and national costuming. For these I
will provide you with links to very informative sites on my linkpage. |
| I also won't miss to introduce you to certain events in history and social changes in some periods because they, as you will see, usually have a strong impact on clothing. |
| You are now welcome to browse any desired (and offered) period! |
