It may seem a long time ago but the sexually repressed Victorian era was just over a hundred years ago, where dressing like the typical scantily clad eye-candies of today would been warrant for an immediate arrest for indecent exposure.
In 1900, the woman’s body was constricted not only by social constraints but by the clothes that were worn, it could be said the Victorian period is no more than a term for sexual repression. Women were restricted to high necked tops and ankle length skirts; even girls’ skirts were strictly measured depending on their age, descending towards the ankle as a girl got older. Clothes concealed the whole body, masking any bit of sexual emotion, even a glimpse of the ankle, was deemed unacceptable. Flaunting your flesh was not accepted, a true lady was one that covered up, a massive difference from today’s ‘less is more’ approach.
Following on from the restricting times of the reign of Queen Victoria, the late 1920s and early 1930s saw women slowly but surely gain their sexual freedom, changing many elements of fashion. With the shortening of skirt length and lowering of the neck line, public exposure of the female body became more daring and it was slowly became the norm for women to bare more and more flesh.
Flash forward to the 1960s, the age of hippies that was so notorious for its trends of flamboyant and unrestricted apparel leading to the freedom of expression and freedom of choice. Development of liberation meant many diverse fashions were introduced to the limelight and breaking the rules of previous barriers to create a whole new outlook on what it was to be a woman became the norm. Hot pants, baby doll mini dresses and the bikini were storming the catwalk and the even more daring mini skirt (a Mary Quant invention) soared a whole three inches above the knee and became a mainstream piece for every woman to have. PVC became a popular material, sexualising many outfits allowing women to express their femininity and passion. Revealing as much leg as suitably possible was now becoming socially acceptable and new rules regarding exposure turned the 60s into a decade of no return.
Twenty years later witnessed Madonna flaunting her midriff in public causing many to rethink the notion of bodily exposure. However, it was initially super models, such as Christy Turlington who displayed a belly ring at a London fashion show, who really brought belly rings for women into social acceptance.
The 90s saw this body piercing develop into a mainstream commodity and the belly button piercing grew into a popular craze with women and with it grew the tendency to wear clothes which would reveal this jewellery. The Spice Girls influenced many of these cropped styles, with their short spaghetti tops and mini dresses.
Body-hugging lyrca crop tops and black leather miniskirts continued to be popular throughout the early 1990s. Such clothes as midriff style shirts that exposed the navel, crop tops and boob tubes were a major hit and many didn’t regard showing the stomach as anything above the ordinary.
As always, fashions change as so does society’s view on what is right and wrong to wear. Nowadays, a girl with her bare tummy showing on a night out may get a few funny looks as it’s mostly about the cleavage – as much of it as possible, for ultimate attention grabbing. But surely exposing the mid-section is not, if I’m quite honest, half as vulgar? But styles come and go and not everything can retain its stance in the fashion world. I wonder what will be next?
By: Francesca Quigley
Loading ...