Uses of ClothingAbbiyatir(AMM-01)

The uses of clothing

1. Utility2. Modesty3. Immodesty (sexual attraction)4. Adornment 5. Symbolic differentiation 6. Social affiliation

• Fashion is a specialized form of fashion adornment.

• Travellers are the first to comment on the body adornment and dress style that they encountered around the world.

• Some return from there travels with drawing and examples of clothing.

• Eventually the study of clothing came to be an excepted part of an anthropology(scientific study of human being).

Utility• Clothing has many practical and protective

purposes.• The body needs to be kept at a temperature to

ensure blood circulation and comfort.• Dress reformers have put utility above other

aesthetic considerations.• Consumers also choose clothes which are

comfortable and durable.• In these recent years fitness clothing and

sportswear are also utility items.

Modesty

• We need clothing to cover our nakedness.• Most people feel insecurity about revealing

imperfections.• When they grow older, clothing disguises

and conceals our defects.• Modesty is socially defined.

Immodesty

• Clothing can be used to accentuate the sexual attractiveness and availability of the wearer.

• Fashion continuously stimulates sexual interest by focusing the attention on different parts of the body for seductive purposes.

Adornment• Adornment allows us to enrich our physical

attractions , assert our creativity and individuality.• Adornment can go against the needs for comfort

and movement. (the wearing of corsets or piercing and tattooing.

• Cosmetics and body paint, jewellery, hair styling, shaving, false nails, wigs, hair extensions , high heals and plastic surgery are all body adornment.

Symbolic differentiation

• People use clothing to differentiate and recognize profession, religious affiliation , social standing of life style.

• Occupational dress is an expression of authority and helps the wearer and stand out in a crowd.

Social Affiliation

• People dress alike in order to belong to a group eg. punks

• They do not have a uniform but they can be recognized.

• The punk dress code was designed by the British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood in 1970’s.