I decided to read two texts on this issue, which I found very different both in opinions as in writing style.
The first one I read was “THE GENTLEWOMAN’S COMPANION: OR A GUIDE TO THE FEMALE SEX” of New Fashions. Date 1675.
This text is like a short history of fashion and it’s relation to mankind. I think that it is quite subjective, because the author is constantly giving his/her opinion. It is definitively defending women who liked to dress with the latest fashion. He/She believes that nature and God gave humans beautiful things and materials to use the way they chose to and in consequence nobody can criticize anyone who wears “God’s gifts”, even if they do it all at once.
“…And certainly good clothes are not displeasing to Heaven, had they been so, God would never have commanded the Garments of his High-Priests to be glorious and beautiful…”
The author also affirms that we all judge by first appearances, and so, we should look our best to please others.
I think, that, sadly, the author is not so far from reality when talking about judging. Everything starts with what our eyes see, for example, if you are going to a job interview you definitively have to wear certain clothes to please your interviewer. We have to accept this fact, even if we don’t share it. Our society is completely based on one sense: the sight.
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The other text I read is: “THE LADY’S LOOKING GLASS, TO DRESS HERSELF or The Art of “ by Behn, Aphra
I found this text or poem very interesting. The narrator is presented as a mirror, which talks to a lady called Iris about the different qualities she has, as she (Iris) is so modest she doesn’t want to realize the dimensions of her beauty.
Iris is described in every detail by this mirror, always praising her and highlighting her modesty and her difference from the rest of the women. “… Pray observe how free and easy it is, without constraint, stiffness, or affectation; those mistaken graces of the fantastic, and the formal; who give themselves pain to shew their will to please…but …Iris has nothing in her whole form that is not free, natural, and easy…”
I liked this one because of the values the author has, he constantly defends the inner beauty humans have, but I think it is exaggerating when talking about “other ladies” who choose to dress in fashion. I think everyone should wear what they feel like, and don’t share the need of wearing the latest, but I won’t judge the ones who do it. The author presents Iris as a more intellectual and/or spiritual women and accuses the other from the lack of these qualities.
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