Fashion over history has changed drastically from the victorian era where modesty was the highlight of sexuality to our modern day fashion sense which seems to leave nothing to the imagination. The word modesty was used more of a characteristic when purchasing clothes previously in history. What was considered sexy for women in the 1800s is not what we would consider in the present, it would require less fabric.
I want to share an experience with the fashion of women in their 20s. One of my favorite stores is Charlotte Russe and I was on a mission to find a royal blue shirt. I searched for a “full” shirt for about two months and every time I went to Charlotte Russe the shirts were a maze to get into. Ever have a swim suit with various of strips of fabrics and you couldn’t figure out where the front or back was? That was pretty much every royal blue shirt I found and I couldn’t believe how much these “shirts” cost. I would’ve paid $25 dollars for less shirt if I were desperate for this shirt but I found one in the dark depths of The Burlington Coat Factory.
Now-a-days the fashion has developed in ways I’m sure no one from these times periods would’ve predicted. There are women wearing clothing from the men section of stores like H&M and vice versa for the men. I definitely shop in the men’s section in H&M and I feel comfortable and fully clothed. And I wouldn’t spend an hour looking in a store looking through all the millions of choices when I could just go to the men’s section and be in and out. But dressing in the opposite clothing of the gender you identify with can cause so discord by confusing people around you as West and Zimmerman would agree.
However, there is a light for our demographic with shopping in other stores known for selling products more for older women for example New York & Company has a demographic of women from 25 to 45. But I feel like this is kind of sad that in order for women from about 16 to 23 to have some modesty in their style they have to either go to the men’s sections or other stores for older women. What do you guys think would you want your daughter who is even from the age of 13 to 21 to be in these kinds of clothes?
I really just want to be able to go to a store and not look “weird” because the workers there are wondering why I’m shopping in their store. I have also been trying to find dresses that are not body con or just very short and I have to go on Amazon to find dresses from the 1950s for my performances through the semester. I would love to go to a store and not think, Seriously?!, Who would wear this?!, or My mom would kill me if she saw me in this!, once I walk into the store that targets our demographic. Thank you for letting me rant, hope you enjoyed.
GWST 100 02 Spring 2017 Blog 
A nineteenth century bustle might work quite well for some modern styles, except that surgical means are currently more popular to achieve the same effect.
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I definitely support encouraging women to wear what they feel comfortable in, but it’s definitely an issue for many women to find clothes that are personally more comfortable and less revealing. This becomes a problem when it feels like only certain types of clothing are being advertised for women, making it difficult to explore different styles based on an individual’s comfort.
Another topic that’s worth exploring is plus size clothing for women. It can be very alienating and sad to only see clothes for skinny women being advertised in magazines and stores, which can heavily damage a plus size woman’s self esteem. There’s definitely a lot that can be discussed about women’s fashion today.
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I hate that also though on the flip side that women are then shamed for wearing things that are revealing. I am someone who has a large chest, can’t help that and thats just how it was. Recently, I went to a banquet, found a dress that I loved but immediately one of my more reserved friends were like “its a little much” when I asked if it was “too much boob” I think that people also need to understand that people are working with what they have and when people do not have super modest choices, that is not exactly a reason then to say something. People should wear what theyre comfortable in and it should be left at that.
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I agree, everyone should be able to wear whatever they please, no matter if it’s a pantsuit, ball gown or two pieces of string. I agree with the author that there should probably be a wider selection of options while shopping, but clothing stores do not force these clothes on people – they just provide what their audience wants. Just like victorian style gowns were everywhere in the victorian era because people wanted to wear them, there are crop tops and boyfriend jeans everywhere in stores aimed at the younger generations of today.
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This was a very thought-provoking post and it actually made me think of my sister a lot. She’s 15 now and is going through the awkward pre-teen phase where she only wears full length pants and t-shirts. She’s also much more of a tomboy than me, and it’s difficult for her because she’s doesn’t like shopping in the girl’s section and my mom doesn’t like her shopping in the boy’s section. So I really do agree that there should be more comfortable clothing available in the women’s section without having to hunt it down.
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Women should be able to wear crop-tops and short shorts without getting shamed for wearing so. There are many stores that do sell more modest clothes but stores will sell what is trending and popular, and that is crop-tops/shorts, especially since its almost summer. Women definitely should not have to shop in mens clothing’s in order to feel comfortable in clothing so I agree that more popular stores should sell more modest clothes, but there are different stores that focus on certain ‘types’ of clothes.
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Just a side note, guys:
As for the problem when it comes to finding less revealing clothing (i personally prefer being covered too, lol) it’s easier to find more feminine stuff at “grandma shops,” like TJ Maxx, Marshalls (Marshalls is the best thing to happen to this planet,) & for plus sized people, ashley stewart & fashion to figure.
The more conservative clothes are pretty easy to find at the right places.
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I think clothing in general should be optional and that no societal pressures of wearing clothes based on modesty should exist. There is no point to having these puritanical ideas.
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Stores sell clothing to appeal to the demographic they are targeting. I would say the idea of modesty has been redefined within today’s culture, and there is a great push for body positive ideals. With this newfound campaign to love one’s body, there are more revealing articles of clothing being sold because people are unapologetic about flaunting what they have. I believe the outlet to rebel against mainstream clothing is the great infatuation with thrift stores. Thrift stores allow people to pull from whatever time period, or style of clothing they think best suits them. I do believe there could and should be greater diversity in mainstream shopping because everything is beginning to look the same.
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I totally agree with what Gia said. In general, it seems that fashion today for women is a healthy mix of 00’s cropped/skintight ideas with 80’s patterns and designs. Coupled with body positivity (which comes across as “less modesty” = “more confidence”) and you get what you see today. And no, it isn’t perfect. I don’t even bother shopping at stores that sell these sorts of clothing because I know it’s not my style and I’m not comfortable with this branded sort of body positivity. Personally, my version of body positivity comes out in a different, inward manner rather than revealing more parts of my body than I normally would.
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Fashion is an outward expression of personality and freedom of choice and I agree that providing more diversity in mainstream clothing stores will offer a more inclusive shopping experience. Appealing to a specific group of shoppers guarantees that specific clientele, but we are in the era of mixing trends and styles that have emerged over the years. This change in the mindset of fashion should definitely be reflected in mainstream stores.
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I’m of the mindset that people should be able to wear whatever they want, whenever they want. In that same vein, I do however believe that there are certain events or occasions where certain types of dress are more appropriate than others. For example, I wouldn’t wear shorts and a T-shirt to a job interview, I would wear a suit or a dress of some sorts. I’m more inclined to wear a suit, but I digress. When it comes to just wearing clothes to wear clothes like in your post however, I would certainly agree it becomes difficult to really wear what you want when no one is making clothes that you want to wear or feel comfortable in.
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I definitely agree that it can be sometimes hard to find clothing in the women’s section of clothing stores that arent revealing or have weird strips or patches making it hard to put on or understand which way it is designed to face (def relating to your experience). Although, I definitely think if people want to rock the outfit you put a picture up of with revealing clothing, then that’s okay! You may just have to change the location of where you are looking to find the specific clothing you are interested in. It’s super important that you mentioned the demographic thought because if the only representation for teenage girls is supposed to be unprofessional and revealing.
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I would have to agree with what you and others have commented about on finding basic tops or any cute top without it being too revealing or too much going on. If you want to find any decent top that isn’t revealing you would have to hunt for it in stores or sections of the store you wouldn’t think of.
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I completely agree with this post! I find a cute shirt in an age appropriate store and go to pull it off the rack and its a half shirt that I don’t always want to wear. Fashion has progressed from all covering to less and less over the years. Another point to mention is that these revealing clothes are peddled out to children and young teens in school who are harassed daily because there shoulders/mid drifts are exposed or their shorts/skirts aren’t the appropriate length. Meanwhile these men and women harassing them don’t understand how hard it is to dig through the racks looking for shorts that go to your finger tips.
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Unfortunately, your opinion seems to be in a small minority of the people who actually look to buy women’s clothing due to the economics of the clothing market. This is because the clothing market simply operates off of supply and demand, and for some reason there is a large amount of demand for the revealing clothing that you seem to hate since there does not seem to be that many options in your demographic that are not revealing ie low demand so low supply. I personally would like to see the options available for individuals in your demographic to dress any way they want, but it seems like these options are unfortunately not readily available and either some change has to be made to people’s desires in clothing or in the fashion industry in order to fix these problems.
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