Question 1
Explain the reason for changes in the clothing patterns and materials in the 18th century?
Solution
Before the age of revolutions and the development of trade and markets in the eighteenth century Europe, the people generally dressed according to their regional codes. They were limited by the types of clothes and the cost of materials that were locally available. Clothing styles were also strictly regulated by class, gender or status in the social hierarchy.
After the eighteenth century, the colonisation of most of the world by Europe, the spread of democratic ideals and the growth of an industrial society, drastically changed the ways in which people thought about clothings.
People could use styles and materials that were drawn from other cultures and locations and western dress styles for men were adopted worldwide.
