The history of the dress
From Diana's "Revenge Dress" to Lady Gaga's "Meat Dress," dresses have moved a lot throughout history. Find out more in this post. Read now.
Marilyn Monroe, Kate Middleton, Lady Diana and Lady Gaga all have one thing in common: we all envision these women in an iconic dress when we think of them. Yet, they and their dresses couldn't be more different. From Lady Diana's breathtaking "Revenge Dress" which caused quite a stir, to the "meat dress" in which Lady Gaga shocked on the red carpet. Dresses are not just a part of our wardrobe; they have moved and changed, symbolized and reflected a great deal throughout history.
The Oldest Dress in History
One might think that the first dresses in our history were simply (any) cloths that Egyptians and Greeks creatively and artfully wrapped around their bodies. But that's not quite true: The Kalasiris was indeed a dress that Egyptians elegantly tied around themselves, but even then (at least in higher circles) it was richly decorated and finely pleated, and by no means a sack-like garment. The over 5,000-year-old Tarkhan dress is a rare find. It was discovered in an Egyptian tomb in the city of the same name (Tarkhan) and is thus still the oldest woven garment in the world. Folds under the arms and at the elbows suggest that the dress was worn daily and not just for ceremonial purposes.
Men and Dresses
Until the introduction of trousers in the Iron Age (from 800 BC), men also wore dresses. From the short chiton of the Greeks to the tunic of the ancient Romans: dresses on men were nothing special, rather the opposite. Some dresses, like the so-called Dalmatika, were even reserved exclusively for rulers and dignitaries of the Byzantine Middle Ages. It was only in the 18th century that dresses for men almost completely went out of fashion and were then predominantly reserved for women. However, even here, women did not have a free choice.
What Skirt Lengths Say About the Spirit of the Times
Status and social affiliation long played a major role in the choice of dress. However, this increasingly changed in the 20th century. With the First World War, the length of the dress moved further up for the first time in centuries, and in the Roaring Twenties, dresses were already so short that one could catch a glimpse of women's knees. From then on, dresses conveyed a self-confident, liberated, and independent image of women. They were an expression of emancipation, newfound freedom, and reflected economic prosperity. The peak of this expression was reached by women in the 1960s with the introduction of the miniskirt by Mary Quant to the international fashion market. Never before had dresses and skirts been so short, and the nation so divided. What some saw as a decline in decency and custom, others saw as an expression of freedom. From the 1980s onwards, women's movements primarily fought against sexism and for more self-determination. Fashion became increasingly individual, and women now predominantly wore what they wanted. Skirt and dress lengths varied in length and form and increasingly became an expression of the self-determined woman.
Dresses Today
Even today, dresses are not just dresses. Through form and color, we can use them to provoke, draw attention to issues and injustices, bring about change, and hold up a mirror to society. However, they can also simply be an expression of our individuality, our taste, and self-expression. A dress means something different to everyone: we wear some special ones only on certain occasions, we associate a story with others, and in others, we feel extraordinary and self-confident. Today, we have more choice than ever before. No social class, no norms or roles dictate what we can and should wear. We can reinvent ourselves every day and always remain true to ourselves, because, fortunately, how we present ourselves is entirely in our hands today.
Some dresses accompany us in everyday life, others belong to special moments. We remember the dress from a wedding, a special dinner, or an evening that has stayed in our memory. Perhaps that is precisely the special meaning of a dress: it is not just what we wear, but sometimes also a part of what we remember.
Author: Marlina Laß
1 Verlag Europa-Lehrmittel, Fachwissen Bekleidung, 9th edition 2007, pages 256-257
2 https://www.nationalgeographic.de/geschichte-und-kultur/das-aelteste-kleid-der-welt
3 Verlag Europa-Lehrmittel, Fachwissen Bekleidung, 9th edition 2007, pages 262-263
4 Verlag Europa-Lehrmittel, Fachwissen Bekleidung, 9th edition 2007, pages 264-265
5 https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag8550.html
