Clothing Including T-Shirts Reflects History

Wednesday 30th of June 2010 06:29:14 PM

Clothing Including T-Shirts Reflects History

Clothing reflects history as consumer tastes change over the years. Fashions adapt to the times too. The recent Great Recession made that point as fashion designers began to create more subdued clothing that was also less expensive. Fashion’s reflection of what people are thinking and feeling is not unique to any particular country either. You can look at fashion histories from any country and see how clothing reflects societal values .

For example, Pakistan’s fashion history gives a fascinating look at how clothing has been everything from trendy to culturally relevant. For example, in the 1960s the country’s women wore clothes that were styled like clothing in other countries. During this time period the world was just beginning to get smaller as globalization first appeared. Fashion included bell bottoms and tight fitting shirts. But in the 1970s the styles changed to designs that better reflected the uniqueness of Pakistan. The women began to wear colorful cotton Saris with comfortable t-shirts in a variety of colors. Loose clothing was the style as people adopted looser lifestyles at home and work. The 1980s really became a blend of the 1970s and a glitzier more formal style.

Then in the 1990s the Pakistani women began to wear fashions that were once again culturally appealing in a period of renewed interest. Traditional costumes were adapted to everyday fashions and lots of embroidery and gharara was added. The next decade celebrated technology and fashions returned to ultra-modern and sleek designs. Over the last 10 years another fashion phenomenon took place. The Eastern and Western fashion boundaries became less noticeable. People in Europe and North America adopted Pakistan fashion styling in many designs and designers in Pakistan added Western styles and fabrics to their lines.

Globalization has impacted almost everything from work to fashion. In the future there will be less and less definitive boundaries based on country of origin. Instead the next generation of fashions from tees to sweaters will encompass features from around the world.