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Clothing, Mirror of an
Epoch
By Professor Plinio Corrêa de
Oliveira
This
article was written in 1952 at a time when fashions were changing
to casual workplace styles. Since then, many companies have
reversed their casual dress code perhaps realizing that dress
definitely effects work. Some schools have done likewise.
Clothing, from a material point of view,
serves only as a covering. At most, one can recognize its
function of protecting a certain modesty that sprouts from
the depths of instinct.
But those who know that man is more than
just matter also know that clothing is not just a covering.
According to the natural order of things, it should also
render service to the spirit.
What service? Certain forms, colors, and
material qualities produce definite impressions upon men
that are more or less the same for all men. These are not
just conventional or imaginative impressions; but are deeply
rooted in the very essence of reality. They produce impressions,
and, therefore states of spirit, mental attitudes, and in
certain cases, all the strong inclinations toward forming
a personality. This is one of the foundations of art. Thus
a man can, through dress, express his moral personality
to a certain point. This is easily perceived in feminine
apparel, so apt to mirror the mental makeup of women.
More than the mental attitudes of an individual,
professional dress tends to express those proper to a profession.
It can be sober like a cassock of a priest, grave like an
academic gown of a professor, imposing like a mantle of
a king, etc.
When an epoch is characterized by a desire
to elevate man or satisfy a thirst for dignity, grandeur,
and seriousness, then the apparel, common or professional,
accentuates the impression of these values in each person.
The clothing of all men of this epoch will be, or tend to
be, noble, dignified, and virile, from the sovereign to the
lowest plebeian. This is but one note in the fashions of former
times.
We publish on this page a photograph of
a mere doorman of the Bank of England in his traditional dress.
It would be impossible to express better the modest but real
position of responsibility and authority that this person,
humble but honest, possesses.
The other pictures represent modern men
as they usually are dressed on the beaches and in the countryside.
They are a category of men who prize themselves on being
in step with “progress.” These clothes tend
to invade all life; already they are frankly admitted to
popular use in some cities, such as Paris in the summer.
What mentality do these clothes reveal? That
which one could perhaps tolerate in a child…and nothing
more. Whatever the social class, the attire should mirror
gravity, a sense of responsibility, and an elevation of spirit.
What opportunity do these people give for their souls to mirror
this?
“Tell me how you dress, and I will
tell you what you are.” This maxim, so many times erroneous
if we want to apply it to each person individually, is very
true for the various epochs of history.
Two types of dress, two mentalities, two styles of life. What
a difference! And who will dare say that it was for the better?
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