The vicissitudes of fashion. 10 fashion trends with unusual stories

Oscar Covarrubias, correspondent Listverse, admits he often wondered where in the modern world certain fashion trends. “It turned out that sometimes what we wear today have been affected by war or other large-scale events,” he says.

The selection Listverse ten of the most interesting fashion of the canons, the emergence of which contributed to various historical facts.

Why do women shave their legs

Women didn’t always shave their legs. “Under Queen Elizabeth I, which at the time was known as a trendsetter, the ladies were required to remove their body hair” — like Covarrubias. Instead, fashion the XVI century demanded that women eliminated eyebrows and the hairs from his forehead — thanks to such procedures, their faces were longer.

What changed the situation? The second world war. During the war the United States was experiencing an acute shortage of stockings. Produced nylon, the government directed the production of military parachutes. For women the lack of nylon meant to bare feet in public. Because of this, they began to shave my legs. After the war, skirts became shorter only, and a new trend established.

Why girls wear pink and boys blue

“We’ve all been to cocktail parties in honor of the birth of the child, where the color of everything from the tablecloths to napkins says about the field of the newborn. Blue is for boys, pink for girls,” says the correspondent of Listverse. And then he adds: in fact, it was not always so.

According to us historian Jo Paoletti, for centuries, children under six wore a white dress with a boxy fit. The Professor calls this choice is practical. “White cotton can be bleached,” she explains.

The idea of using colors to indicate the gender appeared in the 1900s. But even then they had another value. For example, in 1918, an article published in the June issue of the popular magazine, convince readers that boys are more suitable pink clothes. “The fact is that pink, being a more determined and stronger colour, is more suitable for boys, and blue more delicate and exquisite, best for girls,” wrote fashion magazine. However, Professor Paoletti argues that these trends were not widespread.

That all changed around 1985, when with the spread of prenatal testing has the opportunity to determine the sex of the baby before birth. Happy parents rushed to shopping, every purchase in a desire to emphasize who they should be here. Retailers noticed this and individuated clothes to increase sales.

And although the color trend is still relevant, Professor Paoletti calls not to go on about him. According to her, such a fashion could lead to a lot of difficulties for those children who like a color that is not attributed to their gender.

Why the male and female buttons are located on opposite sides of the garment

“Let’s see which side the buttons sewn on your shirt. If you are a woman, they probably are right if the man on the left,” — says the correspondent of Listverse.

For this tradition there is an interesting historical fact. Buttons appeared in the XIII century, and at first, like any innovation, it was very expensive. “In those days, rich women didn’t dress themselves, they helped the maids. Since most people are right — handed, buttoning the dress of someone standing in front of you easier if the buttons are on the left,” explains Melanie M. Moore, founder of the women’s brand Elizabeth & Clarke.

Fashion historian Chloe Chapin is sure: at the present location of buttons on men’s shirts was influenced by military service. “Access to weapons have it fizzle out,” says Chapin, noting that a firearm hidden under the shirt, it is easier to get to the covering part.

Men stopped wearing high heels

For generations, a pair of high heels associated with women’s attractiveness. Few people know that this heels quietly dwelt in men’s closets.

According to Elizabeth Semmelhack, an employee of the canadian Bata Shoe Museum, for several centuries in the middle East, heels were worn as a form of footwear for riding. “When the soldier stood in his stirrups, the heel helped him to secure his position, so he could more effectively throw spears and shoot arrows,” explains cultural anthropologist.

Around the XV century, when the Persian-European cultural exchange intensified, European aristocrats adopted the high-heeled shoes as a symbol of their wealth. According to Semmelhack, elites have always used impractical clothes, to demonstrate their privileged status.

In the age of Enlightenment, supposedly returning the value of practical things, people began to abandon the uncomfortable high heels. However, sexism was forbidden to see women as intelligent beings. Semmelhack assumes that the desirability to women at that time directly associated with the irrationality of her style, where there was a high heel.

Why do we paint the nails

“If you thought that the fashion for manicure appeared not so long ago, you were wrong” — frustrating readers of Listverse. The oldest manicure set, made of pure gold, already more than 5 thousand years. Created by the ancient Babylonians were known to Amateurs to take care of their nails.

During the reign of the Ming dynasty, the Chinese elites were ardent fans of painted nails. To achieve a black and crimson hues, mix egg whites, gelatin and rubber.

In England, all admired the beautiful hands and manicured nails of Elizabeth I, Queen and fashion icon of his era.

Suzanne Shapiro, an employee of the new York Metropolitan Museum, is convinced that long nails for a long time served as a social marker. They are not suitable to perform physical works, therefore, afford them could only the higher strata of society. The scholar notes that the nail trend is not constant. If in the 1920s and 1930s at the peak of popularity was a French manicure, then in the 1960s, women preferred to look more natural, so less likely to have painted nails.

Why is important for women to grow hair

“Whatever the changing trends, one thing remained constant among cultures and generations: the requirement for the length of women’s hair,” — says the correspondent of Listverse. He cites the example of the description of long-haired Aphrodite of the letters of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, in which he wrote: “If a woman have long hair, it is a honor.”

Kurt Stenn, writer and former Professor of dermatology at Yale, is convinced that our hair is incredibly communicative. They convey messages about sexuality, religious beliefs and power. In his opinion, long hair say about health and wealth.

“To have long hair, you need to be healthy, eat well, be healthy, sleep and exercise,” he explains. Long hair suggests that you find not only wisdom, but money for the care of their bodies.

Why do some people lower a little pants

In 2014, the authorities of Florida city of Ocala adopted a resolution to ban the wearing of “lowered” clothes on a city-owned site. Whoever violates the prohibition (and will be wearing pants below the waist or in some cases, below the buttocks) will receive a fine of $500 or six months in prison.

Similar decrees were adopted in many American States. The justification for the ban goes something like this: half-mast pants — a dangerous lack of self-esteem and the support of the gangster culture. “It is a symbol of moral decline,” — says the correspondent of Listverse.

Where did the fashion for half-mast trousers? Tanishi K. Ford, historian at the University of Massachusetts, there are two theories. According to one of them, the prisoners not allowed to wear belts often wear a prison uniform at half-mast. After returning home, they continue to maintain the same style. The second theory is that Zeke lowered his pants as low as possible to give other prisoners a sign of sexual availability.

Why we wear wedding rings on the ring finger

The correspondent Listverse reminds the tradition of exchanging rings dates back to Roman times. The Romans believed that the ring finger connects the heart a kind of video Vienna. They even invented a name for it — vena amoris (“vein of love”). Of course, the wedding decoration began to be placed on this finger.

By the way, modern science has proven that an indirect connection to the heart have all of our fingers.

Why men wear ties

“Ties us warm, they have no practical value, and often they are very uncomfortable. So why do we continue to tie them?” intriguing Listverse.

Most fashion historians agree that the tie became popular in the period of the Thirty years war in the 1600s. to defeat, king Louis XIII hired into its ranks the Croatian military, who wore a piece of cloth around the neck.

Baptist ties was very functional — they were used for fastening the upper part of the jacket. However, king Louis XIII saw in them an elegant accessory. Moreover, he made early ties mandatory for official meetings and named them in honour of the Croatian mercenaries “cravate”. To this day the French use this word to refer to ties.

Interestingly, in 2003, the Day the poacher your favorite national holiday, the Croats said tying 808-metre tie around the historic Roman amphitheatre in Pula.

Why do women shave their armpits

Thousands of years men and women safely treated hair in the underarms. So why today almost 95% of women are not willing to endure the hair coat in this area? Who woke up and decided that unshaven armpits should cause disgust?

Maybe you owe the ads published on the pages of Harper’s Bazaar in 1915. “previously, women with bushy hollows were the norm. However, the new advertising promised readers that the next fashionable trend will be the modern cocktail dresses sleeveless, and that “unwanted hair” under him,” writes Listverse. This advertising photographer has captured a young girl in a sleeveless dress. She arched her arms above her head, demonstrating perfectly smooth armpits.

In just a few years thanks to the onslaught of ads is actively promoting this trend, hairless armpits came into Vogue. Natural hair in the underarms become something awkward. In 2013, the Arizona state University conducted a survey on the attitude of students towards this issue. According to the results, the majority of respondents unshaven female armpits disgust. “Women with unshaven armpits vulgar,” said respondents.

Despite this, the reporter Listverse sure that “bushy hollows” can return. One recent study showed that every fourth modern woman doesn’t shave her armpits and not apillary.

The source: Listverse
The Translation Of Anna Sinamic