Women have often been confined to rules- rules of how to dress, what to do and most importantly, how to be. While the last few decades have given women the courage and opportunity to be more authentic to themselves, a huge part of this has also been in the form of the freedom to dress as we like. Here are five iconic garments in the history of fashion that have paved the way to freedom for women across the spectrum.
1. Minis
The revolutionary ‘60s, better known as the ‘swinging ‘60s’ marked a movement for fashion freedom with miniskirts leading the way. Women held protests and saw the short silhouette as a way to express and be themselves.
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2. The LBD
Kickstarted by Coco Chanel in the 1920s, the little black dress was responsible for associating black as a colour of classic elegance as opposed to a colour of mourning. This gave women the opportunity to sport the colour and the short hemline of the LBD with empowered confidence and freedom.
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3. The Suit
It’s no secret that the suit was conventionally considered a masculine silhouette, but fashion moments, like the introduction of the tweed suit by Chanel and the Le Smoking suit by Yves Saint Laurent, helped add this powerful silhouette to women’s wardrobes. The suit went on to become a uniform of sorts from the ‘60s as women took steps to become a part of the global workforce.
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4. New Look by Dior
The highlights of the ‘New Look’ by Dior, launched in 1947, included the cinched waist and a very full skirt, helping highlight a woman’s body. Before the launch of this silhouette, women’s clothing included straighter silhouettes coupled with sartorial restrictions and shortages. The new look was responsible for freeing the use of different silhouettes for women.
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5. The Wrap Dress
Designer Diane Von Fürstenberg debuted the feminine yet functional wrap dress in 1974. The dress, which featured a fitted top and a wrap-style skirt, was designed to be a symbol of liberation for women at the time. In an interview with Vogue, the designer once said, “The wrap dress made women feel what they wanted to feel like... Free and sexy. It also fitted in with the sexual revolution: a woman who chose to could be out of it in less than a minute!" As freeing and empowering the wrap dress was, it was also highly functional, a rare find at the time of its debut.
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