Dressing for the Modern Man
How The Modern Man Dresses Up
The articles describes the dressing of a modern man and how fashion plays an important part. Fashion differs among men, women and religion.
Shakespeare says," Apparel proclaims the man." You can know a man from what he wears. Primitive man went about without clothes . There are still many tribes in the world who don't feel the need of clothing. But as civilization has advanced, clothes also have become a symbol of a life style.
Essentially, man needs to wear clothes to protect himself from the vagaries of weather. There is primarily this utilitarian basis of wearing clothes. But man doesn't confine himself to utilities only.
He has other needs also. Man has aesthetic sense. He dresses in order to look smart. Ideas of smartness have varied in different historical periods. In medieval times, the knight in his armour was considered to be an image of smartness. But in modern times, to look manly without any suggestion of macho attitude is considered smart.
Fashions in dress vary from region to region. There are ethnic and religious dresses. Indian women still love to wear sari. Women in Muslim countries wear hijab which also can be a statement of their social status depending upon the quality of fabric and the designs. In Arabian countries men wear tunics and turbans.
There are dresses specific to certain professions and religious communities. A lawyer , a chef, a university don at a convocation, a Catholic priest, a Sikh etc wear the dress prescribed by the profession or the community. But if we compare what they wear today to what was worn by them a hundred years ago, we see a lot of change. Today's dresses tend to be better designed and more individualistic.
We live in a world today where the impact of the West is very powerful and all pervasive. Therefore dress is also becoming uniform all over the world. People from India to China to Europe to America like to wear clothes of well known brands. As clothes are a symbol of social status also, there is a craze for wearing clothes of costly brands. Because of this trend, diversity in costume is becoming less visible.
Another trend that we notice is that men and women's dress is becoming similar. Men are no longer interested in flaunting a manly look and women an effeminate coyness in dress.