CBSE - Clothing A Social History

After the 18th century, the colonisation of most of the world by Europe, the spread of democratic ideals and the growth of an industrial society completely changed the ways in which people thought about dress. People could use styles and materials that were drawn from other cultures and locations. Western dress styles for men were adopted worldwide.

From 1294 to the time of the French Revolution in 1789, the people of France were expected to strictly follow the sumptuary laws. These rules tried to regulate the lifestyles of the lower classes by regulating the amount and type of clothes they bought. The laws tried to control:

→ the behaviour of those considered socially inferior

→ preventing them from wearing certain clothes

→ consuming certain foods and beverages

→ hunting game in certain areas.

Two examples of the ways in which European dress codes were different from Indian dress codes:

→ In Europe, dress codes were enacted on a socio-economic bias, while in India, these norms were along the lines of caste.
→ While the lower classes in Europe were barred from wearing specific materials, the lower castes in India were barred from wearing particular clothes; for example, the Shanar women, who were disallowed from covering their upper bodies like the higher caste women.

Women's cloth of different musters and names
Coarse chintz
Muslins
Silk cloths
Of this list, which kind of cloth would have definitely fallen out of use in the early 1900s and why?

Answer

Muslin would have fallen out of use as machine cloth had flooded the Indian markets and was cheaper. Muslin was expensive and hence was not used. In fact, the Industrial Revolution brought about a complete change in which muslin cloth had no place.

Women in the 19th century India were obliged to continue wearing traditional Indian dress even when men switched over to more convenient western clothes. This clearly shows that women during that time were accorded a lower status than men in society. They were not allowed to be aware of what was going on outside the house and were confined within the four walls of their homes. Modernity and change were not for them.

Mahatma Gandhi went to the Viceroy’s house clad in a dhoti. This provoked such a comment. This signified the symbolic strength of his dress. It showed the pride he had for his nation and its people, especially the peasants. It also signified how he identified with his people and the strength he derived from them

Mahatma Gandhi's dream of clothing the nation in khadi appealed only to some sections of Indians because of different reasons. For the socially deprived, emancipation opened new doors - they wanted to experiment with Western dress styles now that dress restrictions did not hamper with their wishes anymore. This adoption of Western clothing was symbolic of new-found self and public respect for them. Others found khadi expensive to buy, and women in south India complained that they could not afford nine yards of khadi (standard length of the sari in the south).

Q1: In medieval France, the royalty could wear expensive clothes like:

(a) silk
(b) ermine
(c) velvet
(d) all of these

Q2: During French revolution, which colours became popular in French clothing:

(a) Red and Black
(b) Blue, White and Red
(c) Black
(d) Red, Yellow and Blue

Q3: Sumptuary Laws in medieval Europe were meant

(a) to allow hunting game in certain areas
(b) to protect home production against imports
(c) to define what the rich and poor could wear
(d) All of these

Q4: Which of the following brought radical changes in women’s clothing?

(a) French Revolution
(b) Rational Dress Reform in America
(c) First World War
(d) Second World War
Q5: The literal meaning of Sans culottes is

(a) without knee breeches
(b) knee breeches
(c) with red caps
(d) without red caps
Q6: Who headed National Woman Suffrage Association in 1870s?

(a) Lucy Stone
(b) Mrs Stanton
(c) Mrs Amelia Bloomer
(d) Mary Somerville
Q7: The main objective(s) of Rational Dress Reform was/were to

(a) simplify dress
(b) shorten skirts
(c) abandon corsets
(d) all of these
Q8: What was the name of the American who launched loose tunics worn over ankle-length trousers?

(a) Lucy Stone
(b) Mrs Stanton
(c) Mrs Amelia Bloomer
(d) Mary Somerville
Q9: Indian chintzes clothes were made of

(a) silk
(b) cotton
(c) velvet
(d) fur

Q10: during First World War, which dress became part of Western women’s clothing giving them greater freedom of movement:

(a) trouser
(b) skirt
(c) scarf
(d) blouse
Q11: Who were among the first to adapt Western-style clothing in Western India?

(a) Bengali’s
(b) Goans
(c) Parsis
(d) Tamils

Q12: Who painted the sarcastic picture ‘The Modern Patriot’, in early twentieth century?

(a) Rabindranath Tagore
(b) Abanidranath Tagore
(c) Gaganendranath Tagore
(d) Dwarkanath Tagore
Q13: In medieval India, headgears used to signify

(a) a fashion style statement
(b) a sign of respectability
(c) a way to protect from heat.
(d) all of these
Q14: Name the Governor- General who made ‘shoe respect’ stricter?

(a) Dalhousie
(b) Hastings
(c) Amherst
(d) Curzon
Q15: Who said these words ‘the King had enough on for both of us’ ?

(a) Mahatma Gandhi
(b) Jawahar Lal Nehru
(c) Motilal Nehru
(d) Babasaheb Ambedkar
Q16: Who among the following started wearing three piece suits, and shoes and socks as a political statement of self-respect?

(a) Mahatma Gandhi
(b) Jawahar Lal Nehru
(c) Motilal Nehru
(d) Babasaheb Ambedkar
Available as Online Quiz

Answers :
1: (d) all of these
2: (b) Blue, White and Red
3: (d) All of these
4: (c) First World War
5: (a) without knee breeches
6: (b) Mrs Stanton
7: (d) all of these
8: (c) Mrs Amelia Bloomer
9: (b) cotton
10: (a) trouser
11: (c) Parsis
12: (c) Gaganendranath Tagore
13: (b) a sign of respectability
14: (a) Dalhousie
15: (a) Mahatma Gandhi
16: (d) Babasaheb Ambedkar

1. Modifications in clothing reflect

(a) grace and beauty

(b) ideas of modesty

(c) ideas of shame

(d) change in societies

2. Before 18th century dresses were not regulated by

(a) social hierarchy

(b) regional codes

(c) democratic values

(d) gender

3. Factor in change in clothes after 18th century was

(a) decolonisation

(b) notions of identity

(c) fashions

(d) industrialisation

4. Laws related to dress codes

(a) Caste laws

(b) Feudal privileges

(c) Livres

(d) Sumptuary

5. Among the materials prescribed for royalty:

(a) Ermine and brocade

(b) Flax and linen

(c) Chintzes

(d) Muslin

6. San culottes meant

(a) loose clothes

(b) without knee breeches

(c) comfortable clothes

(d) tunics

7. Ideas of simplicity in clothing reflected

(a) equality

(b) liberty

(c) fraternity

(d) social inferiors

8. Colour of the cap of Liberty worn by French revolutionaries was

(a) red

(b) green

(c) white

(d) yellow

9. Victorian image of a frail woman was created by

(a) corsets

(b) stays

(c) short hair

(d) short skirts

10. Stays did not

(a) restrict body growth

(b) hamper blood circulation

(c) weaken spine

(d) help girls body to grow

11. Traditional feminine clothes were

(a) long and voluminous

(b) short and elegant

(c) long and graceful

(d) dull and languid

12. Conservatives opposed dress reforms on the ground

(a) women looked more beautiful

(b) vulgarity

(c) grace

(d) lost their femininity

13. The Rational Dress Society was started in

(a) France (1881)

(b) USA (1881)

(c) Britain (1881)

(d) India (1881)

14. The National Women’s Suffrage Association was headed by

(a) Mrs Stanton

(b) Lucy Stone

(c) Amelia Bloomer

(d) Elizabeth II

15. Bloomers were

(a) knickers

(b) trousers

(c) tunics

(d) short skirts

16. Radical changes in women’s clothing were enabled by

(a) New times

(b) Women’s movements

(c) World Wars

(d) Industrial Revolution

17. Which of the following was not a pressure for change?

(a) New materials

(b) World Wars

(c) New values

(d) Decolonisation

18. Which of the following was not a change brought about in women’s dress as a result of the World Wars?

(a) Skirts and hair became shorter

(b) Women stopped wearing jewellery

(c) Bright colours came into vogue

(d) Clothes became plainer and simpler

19. Plain and austere style in clothes reflected

(a) simplicity

(b) practicability

(c) mobility

(d) professionalism

20. In India factor in change in male and female clothing was

(a) western ideas of equality

(b) western dress form

(c) indigenous traditions

(d) national culture

21. The first community to incorporate western styles in dress form in India were

(a) Muslims

(b) Dalits

(c) Parsis

(d) Hindus

22. Which among the following Indian population were the first to adopt western styles?

(a) Men

(b) Women

(c) Children

(d) Bengalis

23. In India dress codes were regulated by

(a) economic status

(b) wearing shoes

(c) education

(d) wearing gold ornaments

24. The Shanars were attacked by Nairs for

(a) using umbrellas

(b) caste rules

(c) wearing upper cloth

(d) occupation

25. Which of the following two items created misunderstanding among the British and Indians?

(a) Turban and hat

(b) Turban and shoes

(c) Khadi and mill made cloth

(d) Wearing and taking off of shoes

26. Who among the following defied ‘shoe respect’ rule?

(a) Lord Dalhousie

(b) Governor General Amherst

(c) Manockjee Cowasjee Entee

(d) Mahatma Gandhi

27. Which Indian dress symbolises the synthesis of Hindu-Muslim dress form?

(a) Brahmika sari

(b) Chapkan

(c) Nehru jacket

(d) Gandhi’s cap

28. The Chapkan combines the best elements of

(a) Hindu-Muslim dress form

(b) Nehru-Gandhi dress form

(c) Indian and European dress form

(d) Hindu and European form

29. Mark the family which played a significant role in the search for a national dress

(a) Tagores

(b) Nehru’s

(c) Gandhi family

(d) Patel family

30. The sari designed by Jnanadanandini Devi came to be popularly known as

(a) Brahmika

(b) Kota

(c) Chanderi

(d) Kanjeevaram

31. Among which of the following did the pan-Indian style of sari not succeed?

(a) Women of Assam

(b) Women of Maharashtra

(c) Women of Uttar Pradesh

(d) Non-Brahmos

32. Movement linked to the politics of clothing

(a) Non-cooperation

(b) Civil Disobedience

(c) Quit India

(d) Swadeshi

33. Who among the following used cloth as a symbolic weapon against the British rule?

(a) M.K. Gandhi

(b) Gopal Gandhi

(c) Indira Gandhi

(d) Lord Curzon

34. As lawyer in Johannesburg Mahatma Gandhi dressed in

(a) Gujarati dhoti and kurta

(b) Khadi shirt and pyjama

(c) Western suits topped with turban

(d) Three piece suit

35. Khadi to Mahatma Gandhi was a symbol of

(a) poverty

(b) Indian ascetic

(c) Indian culture and traditions

(d) purity, simplicity and of poverty

36. Who among the following did not adopt khadi?

(a) Sarojini Naidu

(b) Jawaharlal Nehru

(c) Sardar Patel

(d) Atal Behari Vajpayee

Answers:

1. (d) 2. (c) 3. (d) 4. (d) 5. (a)

6. (b) 7. (a) 8. (a) 9. (a) 10. (d)

11. (a) 12. (d) 13. (c) 14. (a) 15. (b)

16. (c) 17. (d) 18. (c) 19. (d) 20. (b)

21. (c) 22. (a) 23. (b) 24. (c) 25. (b)

26. (c) 27. (b) 28. (a) 29. (a) 30. (a)

31. (a) 32. (d) 33. (a) 34. (c) 35. (d)

36. (a).

1855 

M. Visveswaraya 

Amherst 

Manockjee Cowasjee Entee 

1. The French revolution ended to all the distinctions. Members of Jacobin Club even called themselves the ‘sans culottes’ to distinguish themselves from the aristocracy who wore the fashionable knee breeches.

2. From now on both men and women began wearing clothing that was loose and comfortable.

3. The colours of France-blue, white and red-became popular as they were a sign of the patriotic citizen.

4. Other political symbols too become a part of dress: the red cap of liberty, long trousers and the revolutionary cockade pinned on a hat. 6

1. In 1915 Gandhiji returned back to India. Gandhiji initially dressed like a Kathiawadi farmer.

2. Later he used the short dhoti, topi, vest and chaddar.

3. Earlier it was a experiment but soon he made it his dress to represent poor people.

4. In 1931 he wore dhoti to attend the Round Table Conference in London. 

1. After completing his education Gandhiji went to South Africa as a Lawyer.

2. There he continued to wear western dress.

3.  But he realized that clothing was a powerful symbol for struggle against colonial power.

4. In 1913 in Durban Gandhiji adopted Lungi and Kurta with his head shaved. 

1. Turban is very important part of Indian dress code. Mysore Turban is popularly called Peta.

2. It was edged with gold lace. The king of Mysore made it a part of dress.

3. In the 19th century elite class officials teachers etc began to use it as a part of their dress.

4. Nowadays it is widely used in ceremonies and to honour eminent personalities. 
 
 

1. Gandhiji made spinning on charkha and the use of Khadi the symbol of struggle against the colonial rule.

2. He wanted to make khadi a national dress.

3. He believed that it would eradicate the feeling of casteism.

4.  The use of homespun Khadi was made the symbol of self reliance and a tool against the British textile mill clothes. 

1. Indian women had not any freedom in Society. Most of the time they were confined to their houses.  

2. They were not aware of the changes in the outside world.  

3. Upper caste people never allow the lower caste women to wear as the upper caste women. There were strict social dress codes prevalent in the society.

4. If any one dared to change the code like Shanar Women they were assaulted. 

1. Before the 17th century, most ordinary women in Britain possessed very few cloths made of flax, linen or wool which were difficult to wear and clean

2. After 1600, trade with India brought cheap, beautiful and easy to maintain Indian chintzes within the reach of many Europeans.

3. During the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century, Britain began the mass manufacturing of cotton textiles which becomes more accessible to a wider section of the people.

4. By early twentieth century, artificial fibers made clothes further cheap and easy to wash.

5.  In the late 1870s, heavy restrictive under-clothes were gradually discarded. Clothes got lighter and simpler 
 

1. The laws tried to control the behavior of those considered social inferiors, preventing them from wearing certain clothes.

2. In medieval France, the items of clothing a person could purchase per year were regulated, not only by income but by social rank.

3. The material to be used for clothing was also legally prescribed.

4. Only royalty could wear expensive material like ermine and fur, or silk, velvet and brocade.

5. Other classes were barred from clothing themselves with materials that were associated with the aristocracy. 
 

Satyendranath 

Jeevita Samram 

1888 

1915 

1. The Corsets was a sleeveless tightly fitting undergarment extending from the chest to the hips, worn by aristocratic ladies young girls’ medieval Europe till late 18th century.

2. Often laced in the fronts, corsets were quite uncomfortable and used to restrict the growth of young girls as it was mainly worn to remain small waist and gives shape to the figure.

3. French women argued the Corsets cause deformity, illness among young girls, restrict body growth and hamper blood circulation. 

1. Winston Churchill looked upon Gandhi as the major threat to the British Empire.

2. He therefore described Gandhiji as being seditious.  

3. He commented adversely on his dress which had major influence on the Indian people. 

1. During Governor- Generalship of Lord Dalhousie, Indians were made to take off their shoes when entering any government institution.  

2. But Europeans were exempted from following this rule. This was shoe respect case.

3. Indians were not happy with this. In 1862 M. C. Entee refused to take off the shoes in the court.  

4. Indians urged that they take off their shoes while entering temples and home because there was the possibility of dirt and filth

1. Jnanadanandini Devi, wife of Satyendranath Tagore, the first Indian member of the ICS, returned from Bombay to Calcutta.

2. Brahimika sari came into being when Jnanadanandini Devi’s Parsi style of wearing the sari pinned to the left shoulder with brooch and worn with a blouse.

3. Shoes ware quickly adapted by the Brahmo samaj.

4. This style of sari worn by Brahmo Samaji Women came to be known as the Brahamika Sari. 

1. The reformers did not immediately succeed in changing social values.

2. They had to face ridicule and hostility. Conservatives everywhere opposed change.

3. They lamented that women who gave up traditional norms of dressing no longer looked beautiful, and lost their femininity and grace.  

4. Faced with persistence attacks, many women reformers changed back into  traditional clothes to conform to conservatives 

When Europeans traders first began frequenting India, they were distinguished   from the Indian Turban bearers as the hat wearers. These two head gears not only looked different, they also signified different things. The turban in India was not just for the protection from the heat but was a sign of respectability and could not be removed before social superior as a sign of respect. This culture differences created misunderstanding. The British are often offended if Indians did not take off their turban when they met colonial officials. Many Indians on the other hand wore the turban consciously assert their regional or national identity.   

1. The French revolution ended to all the distinctions. Members of Jacobin Club even called themselves the ‘sans culottes’ to distinguish themselves from the aristocracy who wore the fashionable knee breeches.

2. From now on both men and women began wearing clothing that was loose and comfortable.

3. The colours of France-blue, white and red-became popular as they were a sign of the patriotic citizen.

4. Other political symbols too become a part of dress: the red cap of liberty, long trousers and the revolutionary cockade pinned on a hat. 

1. As a boy from a Gujarati family, he usually wore a shirt with a dhiti or pyjama and sometimes a coat.

2. When he went to London to study law at the age of 19, he dressed himself in the western dress.

3. When he returns from London, he continued to wear western suits, topped with a turban.

4. As a lawyer in South Africa, he still wore the western dress. In Durban in 1913, Gandhi first appeared in a Lungi and Kurta with his head shaved.

5. On his return to India in 1915, he decided to dress like a Kathiawadi peasants. In 1921, he adopted short dhoti, the form of dress which he wore till his death.