Signs from the closet : garments as signs, garments as signifiers of gender inequality from the French Revolution (1789) to the Sexual Revolution in the 20th century

Abstract

Garments do more than hide those body parts we want covered for modesty or protection. This study aims to find signs of gender inequality in garments as altered and influenced by social upheavals covering the period between the French Revolution and the late 20th century. This dissertation covers a period of great change. It departs with the male renunciation and withdrawal from anything beautiful and follows how these were slowly altered in the late 20th century. It follows the sexual revolution of the 1920s and the 1970s as it helped alter concepts of homosexuality, brought style pride among men, redefined masculine and feminine identities and increased promiscuity. As the century progressed unisex fashions increased. But what happened to gender inequalities in garments? What signs do our closets hide? The study of semiotics analyses these signs in the garment The adopted qualitative approach shows that garments are not to be discounted for their literal meanings, but are to he excavated for their figurative elements. In this study the garment as such is taken for its communicative aspects rather than the photographed or the written one. These add other layers of meaning to those already existing in each of the garment's cut, fasten, stitch, trim and thread. This semiotic analysis of the garments is one of many potential multiple readings. What is your analysis?