A few weeks ago my mother in law, who, as a consequence of shoulder surgery was limited to the use of only one arm, mentioned to me all those little daily tasks – like getting dressed – that suddenly became well… gigiantic daily events!
Being her incredibly strong independent self (I beleive she may have actually invented the “can-do” attitude), not only did she tackle but of course successfully master all the taskes life threw at her – one handed. That led us to discuss how, talking to friends, she learned that apparently putting on a bra can be quite a challenge for middle aged, large chested women with a bit of “chub” (of which, may I point out, my MIL does not have any…). Even with two hands. I can safely say that I doubt I’ll ever experience that challenge myself as nature has designed me with a rather unimpressive chest that wears a bra not for support but instead to create the look of a need for one (get it?) (on that note: thanks to my children, who sucked even more life out of my already unimpressive chest, the proof sits right – no acutally quite a bit above my belly button!)
So where am I taking you with this you might wonder? Well have you ever thought about the evolution of clothing and fashion? To think that bras as we know them in fact are only just over a hundred years old (and clearly there is still room for improvement to better cater for women of all shapes, sizes and ages). Or that women did not always wear pants – while men in some cultures do wear skirts… It is a little bit fascinating, isn’t it?
From socks made from animal skins to slim fit jeans, fashion has changed many times already and seems to recycle itself every few decades. While some prefer practical clothing others like to dress comfortably (some possibly a bit too comfortable. Adult onsies should be banned*). Some are about fashion, others about style (yes there is a difference!). And there were those a little while ago that even went for life threatingly dangerous (women of the Victorian era lived life on edge wearing hoop skirts which were so big that they could easily catch on fire – remember no light bulbs just cndles -, get caught in carriages, and so on)
From fabric dyes made with a bit of help from urin, others made from insects to very poisunous chemical dyes. From natural to synthetic fibres and the ones inbetween – natural fibres processed chemically. From buttons made of glass to buttons made of shells, plastic, wood, deer antlers,… From eelsking wallets to snakeskin boots – clothing being one of our primary needs humans have surely made use of whatever they could access.
And while primarely covering one of our basic needs, clothing long ago has turned into fashion, symbolising who we are, what we like and for some simply symolising status.
And then most amazing of all there are places like Gloriavale. Yes, it simply amazes me that there are “societies” in the western world that are completely immune to fashion. (And apparnetly also to evolution). Feeling a bit blue just thinking aobut it. (Because all Gloriavale people wear blue, you know.)
Anyway, somehow my mother in law and I went from bras to balance and ended up standing on one foot each with our eyes closed. Get up, try it out.
A bientot Andrea