Restrictive Clothing Research

When researching restrictive fashion, I first focused mainly on modern day examples and their health effects.

I struggled to think of modern-day examples of restrictive clothing, however as soon as I began researching I found plenty of everyday clothing items that most people would own. It’s a scary thought thinking that some clothing items you wear every day could be contributing to your malfunction now and in the long term.

These are examples of the clothing I found and the health problems related to them:

• Waist trainers/Corsets – difficulty breathing, fainting, internal deformities
• Flats – hip, knee and back problems stem for no arch support
• Ill-fitting Bras – risk of back, shoulder and neck pain. Heartburn and skin rashes/irritations for the nickel
• Halter-neck tops – constant downward force on the neck can cause poor posture and pain (worsened the larger the cup you are)
• ‘One Pieces’ – annoying to take off so you will go to the toilet less which can cause infections
• Handbags – cumulative strain on one side can cause neck, back and shoulder pain
• Ties – too tight and it will restrict blood flow
• High Heels – risk of osteoarthritis. Leads to toe, foot, knee, hip and back problems
• Slimming Underwear – displaces internal organs up and down, hiatial hernia, prolapse of organs and infections
• Skinny Jeans/Tight Skirts – restricts blood flow, causes circulation problems and strains
• Leggings – rubs skin and close contact with skin and sweat could eventually lead to infections if not washed

So what can you wear?
You can still wear most of these things (I don’t advocate wearing corsets and waist trainers), but in moderation. It’s the constant stress on your body that leads to health issues, so wear these items every so often rather than every day, find clothes that suit your body and it’s curves and wear less restrictive clothing in between. That way you’re less likely to find yourself in pain and restriction free.

I wanted to touch on the restrictive clothing that might actually be helpful rather than hurtful. Examples of these are:

• Casts
• Compression garments
• Straitjacket
• Eye Patch/Blindfold

I think that these clothing, whilst they are restrictive or impairing you, they are there for a beneficial reason.

This is similar to what I was talking about skin symptoms. They might be annoying or embarrassing, but they’re there to act as a warning sign so that you can address the malfunction that is causing them.

I think this could be something I use to influence my design process and add further meaning and concept to my final outcome.

I then researched about restrictive and dangerous Victorian fashion was.

While the crinoline wasn’t restrictive, it was certainly very dangerous and flammable. I’m assuming most of the fires resulted in death and maybe a few were left in critical condition with life-changing injuries, so I can’t decide if this causes as much malfunction as they other clothing. Is death a malfunction? I suppose the crinoline itself was the malfunction because it was so flammable, but I don’t think it will influence my designs as much as the others.

The straitjacket is one of those items from the ‘helpful’ restrictive clothing, but is it? The whole aim of it was to prevent people in asylums from hurting themselves or other people, however, misuse has given it a bad rep. It allowed individuals to sit or walk around and speak with other people, rather than being strapped into a chair or isolated in their room. Some people would say it’s quite humane but others will argue that they were used for torture, punishment and a constant resource for inadequately qualified attendants. I can see the issue, it’s fair to say they were misused but if used properly then it would have been very helpful.

Just like skin symptoms, without them, we might not know what is happening before it’s too late. It stops us from hurting ourselves essentially by being a warning sign. The same could be said for a straitjacket, it stops people from hurting themselves until they get the help they need.

This is a selection of artists that I found who have created art based on restriction. I love how Justin Bartels was able to capture not only the imprints of the restrictive clothing but also makes it look as though the person is still wearing them, just the clothing is invisible.

‘Bartels was inspired to create the project, entitled IMPRESSION, based on some rather unexpected observations of the women he dated in college: He found that when many of them took their clothes off, red marks and imprints remained. “It interested me that so many women would wear binding or uncomfortable clothing to either impress or attract others, or for their own self-esteem,” he told Refinery29. It’s a sad truth, and yet one we tend to overlook—which is silly, because there are countless ways to look and feel sexy without compressing and conforming our bodies to restrictive clothing.’

I might use this idea of imprints as inspiration for a design idea that shows what restrive clothing does to your body.

I love Annelie’s work in the way that she portrays defects and the term ‘pain is beauty’. She says that if someone is posing or wearing something that looks beautiful, chances are they are very uncomfortable. She created these garments after being inspired by the orthopedic clothing and wondered why something that was beneficial could be so ugly. I love that she created an item that shows how some restrictive clothing can be beneficial and not to let your malfunctions get you down.