Cruelest Women's Fashion Trends of All Time

By Gabriella Orta on November 3, 2017

Image via Pexels

Fashion has always been a controversial topic in society. Some people like certain trends and others like other styles. There’s always going to be a discussion about it even if we think it won’t be a big deal.

Just like nowadays, fashion was a theme of interest for women centuries ago. The only difference is that nowadays women have a choice; they are either interested in fashion or they are not.

Back in the day, women were not allowed to do many things. They were supposed to dedicate their lives to serve their parents and — once their time was right — they would find a husband and nurture a family that carried his last name.

Women, with all the logical sense in the world, had to find something to put their minds on. They had to find a way to stand out in society even if they still lived in a patriarchal social system.

And what was more appreciated than a beautiful and well-dressed lady in a patriarchal society? Well, nothing … haven’t you heard of the Trojan War? Thousands of men died on the battlefield only because Paris of Troy fell in love with the most beautiful of all women, Helen, and took her away from her husband, the King of Sparta.

Since women were not taken seriously in society — their wisdom and worthiness thrown into oblivion — they were only appreciated and rated by their beauty. Therefore, women fell under the pressure of always looking good no matter the circumstance, no matter the cost.

Today, I bring you the cruelest women’s fashion trends of all time.

1. Lotus Shoes

A Chinese custom that began over 1,000 years ago, it consisted of binding and/or breaking little girls’ feet to fit them into 5 inches or smaller shoes. For many years, this custom was only practiced by upper-class females, but during the 19th century, it became popular in other areas of China.

Image via Flickr

The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University have Lotus Shoes on display and according to its information, the ideal lotus shoe was 3 inches long. But the length of the shoe does not portray the real length of the foot.

“The lotus shoe, combined with leg wrappings, was designed to create an illusion of smallness. To be sure, foot-binding reduced the length of the foot by rearranging its bones and tissue, but it could not remove the mass or volume of the foot.”

You can imagine all the foot malformations occasioned by lotus shoes. As we all know, when we are kids, it is impossible for us to tell our own body to stop growing up. Girls would suffer heavy deformities on their feet, from having their toes pulled down to their ankles to having triangles for feet, literally.

2. Corsets

Image via Flickr

Dresses were supposed to enhance the figure of a woman, to the point where the dresses were so ridiculously tight that women could not breathe and their posture was unnaturally tilted.

To make women look elegant and slender, a very important article of clothing was required: the corset.

Even though the origins of the corset are unknown, it is certain that it became popular in the 16th century. However, its highest demand occurred during the Victorian era.

According to an article called “Corsets & Crinolines in Victorian Fashionby the Victoria & Albert Museum, the description of an ideal corset in the 1840s is as follows:

“Corsets were cut from separate pieces stitched together to give roundness to the bust and shaping over the hips. (…) a flat length of wood or steel was inserted up the centre front of the corset to give a smooth line to the bodice of the dress. Strips of whalebone were also inserted up the back and sometimes down the side and front, to give more structure. Corsets also had to be rigid to conceal the layers of underwear, including chemise, drawers, and petticoat, which were worn underneath.”

The purpose of this item of clothing was to change a woman’s body shape to a more hourglass figure by tightening her waist until the desired shape was seen.

Without a doubt, the use of corsets rapidly became dangerous. Women would faint because they were not able to breathe and many would suffer deformities in their ribs and spinal misalignments.

Based on an article called “Here’s How Corsets Deformed the Skeletons of Victorian Women,” a study was performed on seven skeletal remains, dating to 1700-1900 AD, from the Musée de l’Homme. And it was found that all of them had “deformed ribs pushed into an ‘S’ shape and vertebral spines misaligned from vertical.”

Also let’s take into consideration that given the fact that their ribs were basically squeezed, their organs were closer together, sometimes resulting in organ malfunctions only because they did not have the sufficient space to operate correctly.

3. Crinoline

Image via Flickr

This fashion trend became known during the Victorian era, precisely in the 1840s. The crinoline started as a petticoat made of horsehair and linen (“crin” meaning horsehair and “lin” meaning linen in French). It was supposed to be worn under the dress to make the skirt of the dress look wider from waist to toes.

The problem with this type of crinoline is that the material it was made of was too thick and women constantly complained about being hot. It became unbearable to wear during the summer.

In the 1850s, the development of the sewing machine brought mass production of clothes — underwear included. As the production of corsets kept increasing, the size of the skirts kept growing larger and wider.

Normal crinolines were impossible to use with these skirts. Not even layers of petticoats could support and show the skirt as it was meant to be shown. Another fashion invention was required.

The cage crinoline was invented in 1856. It consisted of spring steel hoops; the diameter of the hoops increased towards the bottom. This way there was enough support to hold the skirt and the so wanted bell-shaped effect was accomplished.

On the other hand, this structured creation to show the beauty of women’s skirts brought danger and disadvantages.

Since the crinolines were wide, many women faced difficulties walking through doors, going out from their carriages, knocking things down unintentionally, etc.

And unfortunately, sometimes those unexpected and silly inconveniences carried danger within.

For example, if a ship was sinking and a woman was on board, it would be expected for her to die if not taken out of the ship safely without being in contact with water. Why? Well, because she would drown. The steel of her crinoline and the massive amount of cloth from her skirt would put too much weight on her and it would pull her down to her breathless death.

4. Chopines

These are platform shoes that were worn by women from the 15th century to the 17th century. They were quite popular in Venice because they were commonly used by women as overshoes to protect their shoes and their dress from mud and wet streets.

Image via Flickr

As the trend continued, a more symbolic reference came to light. The higher the chopines, the higher a woman’s social status. In other words, these shoes became a matter of measuring the level of nobility of women in the Venetian society.

According to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (US), a pair of 20-inch chopines is nowadays displayed at the Museo Correr in Venice.

Chopines were mainly depicted on paintings. Artists like Vittore Carpaccio gave chopines an unusual attention. He forced the audience to create a more sexual approach, presenting chopines as erotic elements that made women look like courtesans.

The struggle with the shoes was easily noticed when women walked. Since the shoes were large and tall, it was hard to walk alone with them on. Women who used to wear chopines were usually accompanied by another person to help her keep her balance as she walked around.

Conclusion

Despite all the disadvantages of uncomfortable fashion trends, women continue to suffer for beauty. They are willing to risk their lives to look good.

Our society keeps asking women to be beautiful; to have perfect bodies; to fit an ideal role; to behave and speak properly. We, as women, keep asking ourselves to be somebody else. We pay too much attention to criticism and judgment and we are the first ones to put them in practice when it comes to the matter of beauty.

Beauty comes within the person, no matter the size, the color, or the shape.

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