{"id":15987,"date":"2024-01-05T11:12:15","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T10:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tatachristiane.com\/univers\/?p=15987"},"modified":"2024-03-13T20:44:58","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T19:44:58","slug":"layering-in-fashion-unveiling-the-evolution-from-necessity-to-trend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tatachristiane.com\/univers\/news\/layering-in-fashion-unveiling-the-evolution-from-necessity-to-trend\/","title":{"rendered":"Layering in Fashion, Unveiling the Evolution from Necessity to Trend"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Layering in Fashion, Unveiling the Evolution from Necessity to Trend, by Emma P\u00e9durand
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Layers of ethics<\/h3>\n

Last September, I took part in a remake of Yoko Ono\u2019s 1964 \u2018Cut piece\u2019 performance at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. A middle-aged woman dressed in a black dress was sitting on the ground without moving or speaking while people from the audience stood up one after the other to cut off a piece of her garment. Interestingly, the principle of taking soon gave way to that of giving, with people stripping themselves of a piece of their own garments \u2013 a shirt\u2019s label, hair strands, even a whole scarf \u2013 to lay them artistically upon the woman\u2019s body. The very intention of covering up felt like a religious tribute to the dignity of the woman made vulnerable under the scissors.<\/p>\n

\"Yoko<\/p>\n

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Fashion from moral to individual claims<\/h3>\n

Layering up initially stems from the necessity to dress warm for winter. Yet layers of clothes also speak for moral and traditional heritage. In the Genesis, it was told that the Lord made \u201cgarments of skin\u201d to Adam and Eve before they were sent to Earth. Clothing was considered as \u201cinherently deceptive and was invented for its properties of concealment\u201d1. This fundamental myth presents dressing \u2013 and by extension, layering up garments \u2013 as a curse casting the shame of nudity and sin over humanity.<\/p>\n

\"October<\/em><\/p>\n

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October 2023 exhibition at the Lichtenberg townhall in Berlin. Clothes designed by Fade Out Label. Photo \u00a9Emma Pedurand<\/em><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Over the centuries however, representations of clothing evolved from a place for vanity, pride and superficiality to a place for freedom, revelation and truth. In the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, each new clothing invention was condemned by the religious authorities as a way to \u201cexcite lust alike in men as in women\u201d, a sign of \u201cpride\u201d and \u201cvain-glory and wordly pomp\u201d (according to a Benedictine preacher from the 15th century), which means the very \u201cfact of clothing caused moral tension in medieval culture\u201d(1).<\/p>\n

(1) Sarah-Grace Heller. A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in the Medieval Age<\/a>, Bloomsbury.; London, 2017.<\/h6>\n

\"Layering<\/em><\/p>\n

Tata Christiane Fashion Show Backstage – Berlin Alternative Fashion Week<\/em><\/h6>\n

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On the opposite, modern liberal cultures have loaded dressing up with psychological meanings, making fashion consumption a matter of existence in the social world.<\/p>\n

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Layering or freeing up women\u2019s body<\/h3>\n

Since the 1970s and the Women\u2019s Liberation movement fashion has eventually begun to allow women more freedom of movement, starting with jeans and ovsersized clothing. In Agnes Varda\u2019s 1977 film \u201cOne sings, the other doesn\u2019t\u201d, the female characters dress in a colorful beatnik style with patchwork wool sweaters and printed cotton dresses over loose jeans.<\/p>\n

\"Agnes<\/p>\n

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Screenshot from Agnes Varda\u2019s 1977 film \u201cOne sings, the other doesn\u2019t\u201d<\/em><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For the first time, women no longer needed to dress to please the male gaze \u2013 they were allowed put the focus on comfort and what they liked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Layering in traditional societies<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Layering is at the basis of many styles: minimalist combinations of black and white urban clothes, traditional styles worn by people from an immigration background, eccentric subcultural clothing… Among Asian communities, garments are seen as a place for sacredness that the poorer and the richer are widely encouraged to invest.<\/p>\n

\"White<\/p>\n

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White Hmong female dress. Photograph from Cubbs (1986).(2)<\/em><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Laotian Hmong society has known a wave of immigration to the United States in the late 1970s that led to a progressive transformation of Hmong women\u2019s traditional style.<\/p>\n

The American norms of appearance were partially integrated, thus decreasing the scope of the symbolic meaning granted to layering: \u201cThe importance placed upon child bearing and physical strength, key elements of the traditional definition of female role and success, are minimized in favor of an ideal stressing conformity to American notions of beauty and success.\u201d(2 )(p.65)<\/p>\n

(2) Annette Lynch. Dress, Gender and Cultural Change. Asian American and African American Rites of Passage<\/a>, Berg.; Dress, Body, Culture; Oxford, 1999.<\/h6>\n

\"Layering<\/p>\n

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Layering of 2 women\u2019s dresses (\u2018kulak\u2019 and \u2018ichuylak\u2019) and \u2018lozim ezor\u2019 pants in cotton and silk with embroideries, from Boukhara, end of 19th century. Sarmacande state museum-reserve. Photograph taken at the Insititute of Arabic World in Paris in February 2023 \u00a9Emma Pedurand.<\/em><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In Sarmacande, luxurious woven clothing for women referred to their ability to transmit life \u2013weaving would hold a significant role in their life and integrated symbolic patterns.<\/p>\n

Layering traditions from Eastern countries might have influenced designers and individuals in the late 20th century, when waves of immigration due to wars in Asia made other clothing paradigms visible to Western peoples.<\/p>\n

\"Vintage<\/p>\n

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Vintage Chinese Fabrics Upcycled by Tata Christiane<\/em><\/h6>\n

Layering: Normalization or individualization of style?<\/h3>\n

In recent years, this fashion liberation took two apparently opposed directions: on the one hand, the genderblind search for functionality in fashion gave birth to the \u2018normcore\u2019 style (mix of normal and hardcore), as seen during the past fashion weeks – see this article in French Vogue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the collapse of dressing norms comes with an urge for individuals to look different, style being nowadays widely acknowledged as a statement of personal identity.<\/p>\n