– Tefik Çaushi –
Within social production, the manufacture of clothing used by people also occupies a significant place. It encompasses several sectors of the economy, including agriculture and livestock farming, where a substantial proportion of the raw materials is produced, industry, which processes these materials and manufactures clothing, and trade, which delivers the products to consumers, whose needs constitute the ultimate purpose of production. Yet another element must also be added to these — culture — because clothing, perhaps more than other objects used by human beings, must also satisfy aesthetic requirements.
The Historical Development of Clothing
From its very beginnings, clothing arose from the human need for protection against harmful climatic and atmospheric influences. This remains the principal purpose of clothing even today. The human body normally has a temperature higher than that of its surrounding environment. In order to maintain this temperature in a more or less constant state, which is essential for the normal functioning of the organism, people use different forms of clothing adapted to the climate of the place in which they live, to the seasons and to the environmental conditions in which they work.
Clothing occupies an important place in human life. In this connection, K. Marx observed that, before engaging in philosophy, science, culture or art, people must secure food, clothing and shelter, which constitute the principal and most indispensable conditions of life.
The history of clothing is both ancient and rich. It is closely connected with the development of the productive forces and with the cultures of different countries and peoples. The earliest forms of clothing consisted of single-piece coverings made from animal skins, leaves and tree bark. During the Late Palaeolithic period, the sewing together of skins also began to be practised. Later, during the Neolithic period, human beings mastered the art of weaving and interlacing fibres obtained from wild plants. The transition to agriculture made it possible to weave fabrics from cultivated plants (flax, hemp and cotton) and from the wool of domesticated animals.
As society developed, social and familial distinctions came to influence the character of clothing. In place of the uniform garments formerly worn, distinct forms of clothing began to be used for men, women, girls, married women and others. With the social division of labour, specialised clothing began to be used for different trades and occupations (fishermen, hunters and warriors). Above all, however, the differentiation of society into antagonistic classes left a pronounced mark on distinctions in clothing. The differing socio-economic conditions that emerged were also reflected in clothing and clearly expressed the prevailing inequalities. Under feudalism, for example, the class hierarchy found conspicuous expression in dress: the clothing of the aristocracy and the clerical hierarchy differed markedly from that of peasants and artisans.
It should be emphasised that the wealthy classes of all exploitative social orders, in accordance with their ideology and outlook, have associated clothing with numerous negative phenomena. They have expressed their sense of “superiority,” power, arrogance and so forth through all manner of whims and extravagances, but above all through luxury. Excessive, unnecessary and extraordinarily costly embellishments have been, and continue to be, a distinguishing feature of their clothing.
Clothing and Aesthetics
The aesthetics of clothing is a question of worldview and not merely a technical matter. It is connected with the ideology of the class in power and, in a certain sense, expresses an individual’s class affiliation. The bourgeois does not dress like the proletarian, nor does the proletarian dress like the bourgeois. Throughout the history of clothing, numerous aesthetic elements (colour, form and volume) have been used to express the differing political and ideological outlooks of one class or another. Moreover, various aesthetic elements are also employed to express particular emotional states, such as joy, optimism, sorrow, despair and so forth. We may therefore say that the aesthetics of clothing possesses a definite content and is not merely an element of clothing’s outward form.
Today, the class struggle between our Marxist-Leninist ideology and bourgeois-revisionist ideology also finds expression in the aesthetic appearance of clothing. The Fourth Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party sharply criticised the unsightly manifestations that had been observed among certain individuals, particularly some young people, characterising them as evidence of a weakening of the ideological struggle against bourgeois-revisionist pressure. Our working masses have vigorously opposed, and continue to oppose, alien manifestations in the sphere of clothing as well. The situation is now entirely different, but from time to time some young people still imitate foreign fashions in dress, demonstrating that the struggle against such tendencies remains permanently relevant and does not, and cannot, ever assume the character of a temporary campaign. Imitation is itself an element of an alien psychology. A person inclined to imitate foreign fashions demonstrates a lack of sound culture, an absence of personal individuality and dignity and, moreover, superficial ideological and political formation. To imitate means to abase oneself and submit to the tastes and views of others, particularly when these conflict with our ideology and aesthetics. This path leads to moral degeneration, which is only one step removed from political degeneration. For unrestrained bourgeois and revisionist propaganda has incorporated even such phenomena as clothing — which, at first sight, may appear entirely insignificant and harmless to some naïve people — into its comprehensive ideological aggression.
In the bourgeois and revisionist countries, the exploiting classes use clothing, among other things, as an instrument for the degeneration of the masses. Their clothing “fashions” are dominated by concepts derived from the most reactionary and decadent philosophies and currents, such as Freudianism, anarchism, primitivism, cosmopolitanism and others. Thus, “cowboy-style” clothing expresses an attempt to “export” the dress of American cattle herders and, through it, the concepts and modes of behaviour that accompany and characterise this form of clothing. “Hippie” dress is likewise encouraged and supported by the wealthy classes themselves, by bourgeois propaganda and by bourgeois industry, although the “hippies,” through their clothing and behaviour, supposedly express a certain opposition to the bourgeois order. Such opposition, however, poses no danger whatsoever to the bourgeois order, which certainly cannot be overthrown merely because some people dress and live like “primitive man.” On the contrary, the bourgeoisie encourages these supposed “enemies” of its own in order to paralyse and blunt the energies and indignation of the oppressed masses and divert them from the true revolutionary path. Meanwhile, forms of clothing such as “miniskirts” — to say nothing of other forms of nudity — constitute an unrestrained hysteria intended to drive young people towards complete degeneration, to extinguish every beautiful and humane sentiment and to replace their ideals with the base and empty existence of the “animal man.”
Behind all bourgeois “fashions,” which have long since been embraced with simian zeal by revisionist snobs as well, lie the dangerous political and ideological objectives of the ruling classes. Aesthetic conceptions and the very manner of dressing have deliberately been incorporated by the bourgeoisie and modern revisionism into their ideological and cultural aggression, with the aim of influencing particularly those whose formation is inadequate and who regard such matters as something “individual,” as something that “has nothing to do” directly with political questions. Their propaganda is particularly extensive among young people, because they seek to exploit the still insufficient maturity of some of them and their attraction to the outward “glitter” of extravagant clothing. The objective here is more profound: to poison the masses from an early age, to introduce decay into the foundations of the future.
In our country, in accordance with communist life and ideals, the place of clothing and the aesthetic principles governing it have likewise been defined.
Function and Aesthetics
Clothing must fulfil two principal functions: first, it must adequately serve the purpose for which it was produced and, second, it must possess an attractive appearance and be aesthetically pleasing. The more successfully its useful, practical and utilitarian aspect is combined with its aesthetic dimension, the better the garment and the higher its quality. In fulfilling these two functions, priority belongs to the practical, utilitarian aspect. However attractive a garment may appear at first sight, if it fails to meet practical needs, it is of no value whatsoever.
What are the principal requirements for clothing to be functional? First and foremost, it must be well suited to climatic and working conditions and, in addition, be practical in use, permit the greatest possible freedom of movement, be easy to put on and take off, impede neither breathing nor blood circulation in any part of the body and cause no deformities. Another requirement is that clothing should also be hygienic, which depends more upon the type and properties of the material used than upon its design. Clothing is hygienic when it provides the body with an appropriate microclimate. At the same time, the air beneath it must not be completely isolated from the external environment and clothing must therefore provide adequate air permeability. Furthermore, clothing should, on the one hand, absorb the perspiration produced by the body and, on the other, resist absorbing moisture from the surrounding environment.
For clothing to be beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, it must first and foremost be simple and uncluttered, without superfluous elements. Our people have always despised luxury and, in clothing as in everything else, have sought simplicity. The notion that simple designs cannot be beautiful is mistaken. On the contrary, everything beautiful is also simple. Yet not everything simple is automatically beautiful. Simplicity is beautiful when it is achieved with elegance and in accordance with sound aesthetic tastes that correspond to the tastes of the working masses and to our socialist way of life. Producers must therefore exercise imagination in creating designs so that they are varied, beautiful and, necessarily, simple.
The beauty of clothing cannot be absolute for all ages, body types and both sexes. A garment that is beautiful for a young woman cannot be equally beautiful for an elderly woman, while a design that is attractive on a tall figure may not be so on a shorter one. We therefore say that the beauty of clothing is relative. Consumers and those employed in production and trade must select the design, colour and fabric pattern that are most suitable. It is well known that lines in fabric patterns produce particular visual effects. Vertical lines make the body appear taller, while horizontal lines make it appear shorter. Colours similarly create certain illusions: black makes forms appear “smaller,” whereas white makes them appear “larger,” and so forth.
The colours of fabrics and their combination are of great importance to attractive clothing. Our textile industry produces fabrics in beautiful, cheerful colours, like the colours of Albanian nature itself. It is important, however, that the most appropriate colour be selected for each particular occasion in accordance with the intended purpose and function of the garment. In addition to their aesthetic properties, colours also possess psychological qualities — some are subdued, others more vivid, some more cheerful and so forth — as well as differing capacities to reflect solar radiation. It is therefore natural that they should be selected according to such requirements, so that clothing serves the needs it is intended to fulfil.
In the great variety of national costumes possessed by our people, we can find a rich source of inspiration not only for colours but also, more generally, for the conception that our people have historically held, and continue to hold, of beautiful clothing. Indeed, many elements of traditional national costumes can be adapted, stylised and incorporated into ordinary clothing, particularly women’s clothing.
The aesthetics of clothing is not something for which a prescription can be given once and for all. On the contrary, it offers a broad field for creativity and further development, always grounded in our own ideas and conceptions of beauty. To achieve this, continuous consultation with consumers, with the broad masses of the people themselves, is indispensable.
(Translated by The Voice of Albania from the Albanian original: Shkenca dhe Jeta: Revistë tekniko-shkencore, No. 1, 1978, pp. 13-15.)
Published in:
