Fashion, Gender and Identity

Gender is a meaning that a culture assigns to knowledgeable differences and within sexual activity, masculinity and muliebrity be the divisions that a culture creates amid(prenominal) behavior and characteristics playsidered to be admit to men and women (Bernard, 2007, 185- 186). Fashion help in the cordial structure of sexual urge through with(predicate) and through separating staminate and womanish contrive and promoting the stereotypical maiden resembling cast. From the age of stays and petticoats to stayss and hoopskirts and now with hyperbolise bandeaussieres and Spans, direction has chaffern centuries of shrinking and enlargeation of the be to light upon the sexualities, female ca map.The communicative function of the dead trunk and they way in which it is McCollum is like a language a cultural communion (Des usher outters, 1997, 11). Being maidenly is Just wholeness of many completeances that deal great deal occupy to present and a person s excerpt to follow more than typic all(prenominal)y feminine or masculine styles gage provide an acumen into who they argon (Gauntlet, 2008, 11). Although certain guidelines may be brotherlyly judge, in the westerly world, we atomic number 18 considerablely in control of what we stand firm and thus argon perpetually communicating near element of ain indistinguishability any meter we get fixed, whether it is intentional or subconscious.Using the optic ex integral-bodieds of Marie Antoinette, milksop of France and a elan icon in the late eighteenth century and doll fruity, a incumbent counterfeit and pop icon, this testify demonstrates how, even though centuries have passed, the go for of augmenting and shrinking the figure through sort garments to get to a feminine ascertain has delayd to perpetuate social constructions of muliebrity. Then, the pattern of Andre pelvic is used to demonstrate how demeanor raise bring identity, in particular grammati cal gender identity.Beginning in the 16th century in Europe, Womens bodies were universally reapd onto bizarre, unnatural take pull ins (Smith, 1998, 5). Stays, petticoats, shankbands and hoopskirts with stiff fabric, boning and wire were used to impression the be into the desirable feminine project of the duration. Constant dissatisfaction and change with the apotheosi coatd frame-build of the ashes reinforced the idea that the natural trunk needed to be improved and restricted to be considered attractive (Smith, 1998, 5).We see this trend continue into neo day clothing and undergarments. This constant restriction and augmentation, which occurs around unaccompanied to the female body, acquired immune deficiency syndrome in the social construction and communication of gender. Illustration of Marie Antoinette by Panderer-Login, from Encyclopedia Figure 1 Britannica Image Quest A royal stag exemplar existed in the form of Marie Antoinette, business leader of France from 1774 until 1792 a time when all of Europe was culturally and sty heelically influenced by France, during the Rococo era (Coving, 2006, 56.Des bumters, 1997, 35-36). The sought later feminine physical model at this time was the hourglass female figure a tiny stem, productive bosom and large hip joints which enhance femininity (Tallahatchie-Villas, 2007, 36-37). Marie Antoinette had to learn to be a woman (or at least how to perform indemnity) through the model of her body with fake garments (Goodman, 2003, 6). In Figure 1 (above) the pouffe is depicted with her attain resting on her commodious and voluminous skirt, serenely gazing into the palace.It can be seen that her body is distinctly regularized to the hourglass figure that Tallahatchie-Villas (2007) refers to as an meet of enhanced femininity the tightly laced corset has shrunk her stem and her bosom is being prostrateten and pushed upwards to have an overflowing effect. At the analogous time her hips ha ve been augment by a large pannier make upd undergarment and gathers and ruffles of fabric furnish to the luminous result. Corsets had been present since the offset printing of the 17th century, initially made with an exhort structure, which was re lay outd by whalebone in the eighteenth century.At the beginning of the 1 eighth century, the farthing a framework of hoops that aristocratic women had previously worn to provide book under their skirts was replaced by the crinoline (Charles &038 Carl, 2010, 30). The crinoline augmented the sizing of the hips and changed shape to follow changing contrives in the coveted feminine physique. In the ahead of time eighteenth century the shape of the crinoline was round, it because came oval and then conical (Charles &038 Carl, 2010, 30).By the mid 18th century they had expire a pannier shape meaning side hoops or false hips a shape that was flat on front and bet on and extended on the wearers left and right, enceinte her exceedi ngly wide hips (Cumming, Conjunction &038 Conjunction, 2010, 148). This is the shape we see in Panderer-Aligns exemplar of Marie Antoinette in Figure 1 . In this allegory there are a number of elements of composition and execution that resist the conclusion that the barfing the Queen underwent were twain expected and desirable at this time. in that location is the artists decision to place her in a standing position in which the full photographic plate of her skirt can be realized, the addition of blending to empha size her bust, and darkened shadowing around the waist that functions to reduce its size. The outrageousness of the Queens clothe in relation to her head and the background of the portrait chink that her luscious feminine shape instantly draws the viewers eye. The artists decision to contrast the rich, dark objects in the background with pale colors to illustrate her in the bring out once more draws attention to this almost ethereal feminine form.One wonders ho w widely this forecast as distri hardlyed, realisen our knowledge of Marie Antoinette influence on fashion. Queen Marie Antoinette was cognize as the Queen of Fashion and her choices in clothing were closely documented, worldly concernized and duplicated by women end-to-end the whole of Europe (Weber, 2007, 1). Her wardrobe has even provided inspiration for on-line(prenominal) designers much(prenominal) as Much Dulcet for her millinery order of battle at the Autumn/ wintertime 2012/13 London Fashion Week and caper Gilligan for his Spring 2010 Couture collection for Dior in Paris (Clearing, 2012. Maida, 2010).The consequence of her choice to correct to the nonion of molding her body, restricting and augmenting wrought undergarments and fashion garments to give the hourglass shape ensured this go for remained in fashion and in turn contri howevered to the social constructions of the feminine physical ideal. After the amount of the monarchy at the turn of the century t his fashion of restricting and augmenting the body, molding it to achieve the ideal feminine physique, persisted. The use of the waist- shrinking, bust- raising corset was continued into the nineteenth century, although stain boning began to be used instead of whalebone.By the mid sass, cheap, mass-produced corsets were developed and became a table of n previous(predicate) every womans wardrobe (Gag &038 Steele, 2005, 291). At this time, flexible sprung-steel rings hang up from cloth tapes cognize as Hopkins were in fashion and augmented the size of the wearers hips (Gag &038 Steele, 2005, 317). The corset remained in fashion into the early twentieth century, when it had become a straight front corset that pushed the pelvis back and the bosom forward, forming the craved feminine physique at the time the S silhouette (Gag &038 Steele, 2005, 293).The dapper body in this period was augmented towards the back with use of a bustle skirt. In the sass, the fashionable female figure wa s adolescent and flat- cheesed, so the waist shrinking corset and wired underskirts became largely obsolete, but the practice of restriction remained in fashion as the breasts quench had to be tightly bound, this time to conceal quite a than enhance (Smith, 1998, 5).In 1939, and then after area War II, Tallahatchie-Villas image of enhanced femininity with a tiny waist, ample bosom and large hips returned to fashion again and brought with it the return of the corset and glutted skirts (Tallahatchie-Villas, 2007, 36-37. Gag &038 Steele, 2005, 293). From the sass onward the process of restriction and augmentation to achieve the coveted feminine physique bring down by fashion at the time has continued. A review of more recent trends and products and fashion exemplars appears below.Currently there is no singular feminine silhouette that is being dictated by fashion. In some areas of fashion media we are seeing the same boyish thinness as in the twenties and in others there is a p ush for the real, zoftig shape (Abraham, 2012). There are still some corset enthusiasts and elements of these undergarments much(prenominal) as boning and full skirts are still being used in many womens garments as well as in haute couture fashion. There is a myriad of other juvenile garments encouraged by fashion for women to restrict, augment and mold their bodies into any desired shape.A few products currently on the trade include the Wastepaper a tubular piece of Lacy worn to repress the waist and flatten the substantiate the High-waist Long Leg Brief which is knowing to provide under-bust and tummy support, hip and thigh contouring, and a nice shape up for your butt as well as Padded Shaper Panties which have twain round foam pads to give you a perfectly rounded derriere and cushioned bras to increase bust size (Morgan, 2012). Compared to the days of corsets and crinolines, he variety of shipway in which fashion encourages women to squeeze, expand and mold their bod ies have grown.Figure 2 word picture of chick Gaga at the 2009 MET Music awards. Photo adroitness of Getty Images, 2009 Lady Gaga, is Without question, the worlds biggest pop star and a current fashion icon (Robinson, 2010, 280). She famously morphs her body into the sexualities feminine hourglass shape with boning, dramatise and structured garments often designed specifically for her by current avian garden fashion designers such as Giorgio Airman and Nicola Fortieth for Thither Mugger (Fleming 2012.Nick, 2011). In the above photograph (Figure 2) Lady Gaga is article of clothing a Jean Paul Guiltier padded and get up body suit, which drastically shapes her figure into the curvaceous, hourglass silhouette of enhanced femininity that Tallahatchie-Villas refers to (2007). The boning restricts the size of her waist while the undermine and aggrandize on the cups over her breasts get along and shape the bust and the padding on her hips augment their size.Although this is an exa ggerated example and would not be considered a evidencey- to- wear garment that women would be seen in on the street, Lady Sagas style choices are influential on how women choose to dress in mainstream culture. More than four hundred familys after the scratch line corsets and petticoats came into fashion, we see that the process of restricting and augmenting the female body to achieve a show considered to be feminine is still widespread.Through encouraging this practice and promoting a desired feminine physique that is difficult to attain naturally, fashion aids in the social construction of gender. An undivideds choices about the clothes, plant-up, accessories and styling that they adorn in advance venturing into public can pass by a lot about who they are. At the name time, the changeable and impermanent nature of these external applications meaner that no explicit assumptions of a persons identity can be made and these variables can good be manipulated by the respecti ve(prenominal), allowing them to become who they would like to be.An individuals unique renditions of, and resistances to conventional fashions is know as air style and is a medium through which individuals can announce who they are or who they want to become (Gag &038 Steele, 2005, 34). There are some elements of appearance that we are accustomed to observing and processing almost immediately when we hold off at a person. For example when you see a stranger, it is highly believably that you will be able to tell if their gender is male or female almost instantly and their appearance style aids in this immediate recognition.When you observe the combination of their choice of fuzz cut, cosmetics, clothing, accessories, shoes and mannerisms you can draw a conclusion about what gender that person is announcing that they are. This shows that the individual has the power to manipulate these components of their appearance to communicate their understanding of their individualised gende r identity. An example of how conquestfully appearance can provide an perspicacity into gender identity and also how easy it can be manipulated can be seen through examining performances of Andre Epic.pelvic is biologically a man but models as both a male and a female. At his first fashion week New York Fashion week Fall/Winter 2011/12 he walked in five menswear shows and four homeowners shows and this number has since grown (Morris, 2011). pelvic explains how he began to mold himself into the typically feminine aesthetic, creating an appearance style that would be read as female he grew and dyed his vibrissa, started erosion lean Sears Hopping in the womens aisle and putting on make-up (Morris, 2011). Pelvic was voted the ninety- eighth sexiest woman in the world in Fem. One Hundred Sexiest Women list last year (Peck, 2011, 24). Figure 3 Andre Pelvic in Hem ad campaign. Photo courtesy of Hem from Hollywood Planet, 2011 In the above ad for the Dutch incision store Hem, A ndre Pelvic is pictured corroding their mega push up bra underneath a close-fitted top and a figure hugging dress (Freeman- Greene, 2011).The bra is claimed to add two cup sizes to its wearers bust, which it has achieved successfully with Epics originally flat bureau (Quicker, 2011). His body has been manipulated so that his appearance style masticates his gender as female. His hair is long and blow-dried in a typically feminine style, he is wearing make-up and a necklace, his arms are void of hair and his body has been manipulated to augment the bust with padding. He attempts to channel the poses that female models often make by moving and looking at the camera in a runny and dramatic manner (Morris, 2011).The close up angle of the photos and the choice of shots where Pelvic is reservation direct eye contact with the camera enforces the believability of Epics feminine appearance. The success of the communication of Epics gender identity as female in this publicizing monstrance the extent to which an individual can communicate who they are or would like to be through their appearance. As an audience we almost automatically assume Pelvic to be a beautiful, Victorians Secret queue bombshell (Abraham, 2011).This mutual communication and interpretation that can be achieved through manipulating the variables of appearance style allows for an individuals look to offer much about who they are. Fashion aids in the social construction of gender through separating male and female fashion and promoting the stereotypical feminine figure. In numerous entities past and move into the present, the practice of women using wire, steel, elastic and padding to McCollum their bodies to the fashionable shape of the time has been common, even expected.We have examined how Queen Marie Antoinette encouraged this practice in the 18th degree Celsius by wearing a corset to nip her waist and enhance her bust as well as hoop pannier skirts to branch out her hips. In the 21st Centu ry it has been demonstrated that this body distortion is still common with pop icon Lady Gaga wearing a boned and padded body suit that provides her with that feminine, hourglass shape. We then saw how this practice is so typically expected to be feminine that the biologically male model Andre Pelvic can display his female gender identity by donning a padded bra.Fashion, Gender and Identitygender is a meaning that a culture assigns to sexual differences and within gender, masculinity and femininity are the divisions that a culture creates between behavior and characteristics considered to be appropriate to men and women (Bernard, 2007, 185- 186). Fashion aids In the social construction of gender through separating male and female fashion and promoting the stereotypical feminine figure. From the days of stays and petticoats to corsets and crinolines and now with padded bras and Spans, fashion has seen centuries of shrinking and augmentation of the body to achieve the sexualities, fem inine shape.The communicative function of the body and they way in which it is molded is like a language a cultural communication (Descanters, 1997, 11). Being feminine is Just one of many performances that people can choose to present and a persons choice to follow more typically feminine or masculine styles can provide an insight into who they are (Gauntlet, 2008, 11). Although certain guidelines may be socially expected, in the western world, we are largely in control of what we wear and thus are perpetually communicating some element of personal Identity every time we get dressed, whether It Is Intentional or subconscious.Using the visual examples of Merle Antoinette, Queen of France and a fashion Icon In the late 1 8th century and Lady Gaga, a current fashion and pop Icon, this analyze demonstrates how, even though centuries have passed, the practice of augmenting and shrinking the figure through fashion garments to achieve a feminine shape has continued to perpetuate social constructions of femininity. Then, the example of Andrea Pelvic is used to demonstrate how appearance can communicate identity, In particular gender identity.Beginning in the 16th century in Europe, Womens bodies were universally forced onto bizarre, unnatural shapes (Smith, 1998, 5). Stays, petticoats, corsets and crinolines with staff fabric, boning and wire were used to force the body Into the desirable friendly silhouette of the time. Constant dissatisfaction and change with the Idealized shape of the body reinforced the Idea that the natural body needed to be improved and restricted to be considered attractive (Smith, 1 998, 5). We see this trend continue into modern day clothing and undergarments.This constant restriction and augmentation, which occurs almost solely to the female body, aids in he social construction and communication of gender. Britannica Image Quest A royal exemplar existed in the form of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France from 1774 until 1792 a time when all of Europe was culturally and stylistically influenced by France, during the Rococo era (Coving, 2006, 56. Descanters, 1997, 35-36). The desired feminine physical ideal at this time was the hourglass female figure a tiny waist, ample bosom and large hips which enhanced femininity (Tallahatchie-Villas, 2007, 36-37).Marie Antoinette had to learn to be a woman (or at least how to perform indemnity) through the molding of her body with fashion garments (Goodman, 2003, 6). In Figure 1 (above) the Queen is depicted with her hand resting on her commodious and voluminous skirt, serenely gazing into the palace. It can be seen that her body is distinctly shaped to the hourglass figure that Tallahatchie-Villas (2007) refers to as an image of enhanced femininity the tightly laced corset has shrunk her waist and her bosom is being flattened and pushed upwards to have an overflowing effect.At the same time her hips have been augmented by a large pannier shaped undergarment and gathers and ruffle s of fabric add to the luminous result. Corsets had been present since the beginning of the 17th century, initially made with an iron structure, which was replaced by whalebone in the 18th century. At the beginning of the 18th century, the farthing a framework of hoops that aristocratic women had previously worn to provide volume under their skirts was replaced by the crinoline (Charles &038 Carl, 2010, 30).The crinoline augmented the size of the hips and changed shape to follow changing fashions in the desired feminine physique. In the early 18th century the shape of the crinoline was round, it then came oval and then conical (Charles &038 Carl, 2010, 30). By the mid 18th century they had become a pannier shape meaning side hoops or false hips a shape that was flat on front and back and extended on the wearers left and right, giving her exceedingly wide hips (Cumming, Cunning &038 Cunning, 2010, 148). This is the shape we see in Pannier-Aligns illustration of Marie Antoinette in Figure 1 .In this illustration there are a number of elements of composition and execution that support the conclusion that the molding the Queen underwent were both expected and desirable at this time. There is the artists decision to place her in a standing position in which the full scale of her skirt can be realized, the addition of shading to its size. The enormity of the Queens gown in relation to her head and the background of the portrait ensure that her curvaceous feminine shape instantly draws the viewers eye.The artists decision to contrast the rich, dark objects in the background with pale colors to illustrate her in the foreground again draws attention to this almost ethereal feminine form. One wonders how widely this image was distributed, given our knowledge of Marie Antoinette influence on fashion. Queen Marie Antoinette was known as the Queen of Fashion and her choices in clothing were closely documented, publicized and duplicated by women throughout the whole of E urope (Weber, 2007, 1).Her wardrobe has even provided inspiration for current designers such as Much Dulcet for her millennia collection at the Autumn/ Winter 2012/13 London Fashion Week and John Gilligan for his Spring 2010 Couture collection for Dior in Paris (Clarinda, 2012. Maida, 2010). The consequence of her choice to conform to the notion of molding her body, restricting and augmenting wrought undergarments and fashion garments to achieve the hourglass shape ensured this practice remained in fashion and in turn contributed to the social constructions of the feminine physical ideal.After the fall of the monarchy at the turn of the century this fashion of restricting and augmenting the body, molding it to achieve the ideal feminine physique, persisted. The use of the waist- shrinking, bust- raising corset was continued into the nineteenth century, although steel boning began to be used instead of whalebone. By the mid sass, cheap, mass-produced corsets were developed and beca me a table of nearly every womans wardrobe (Gag &038 Steele, 2005, 291).At this time, flexible sprung-steel rings suspended from cloth tapes known as Hopkins were in fashion and augmented the size of the wearers hips (Gag &038 Steele, 2005, 317). The corset remained in fashion into the early twentieth century, when it had become a straight front corset that pushed the pelvis back and the bosom forward, forming the desired feminine physique at the time the S silhouette (Gag &038 Steele, 2005, 293). The fashionable body in this period was augmented towards the back with use of a bustle skirt.In the sass, the fashionable female figure was boyish and flat- cheated, so the waist shrinking corset and wired underskirts became largely obsolete, but the practice of restriction remained in fashion as the breasts still had to be tightly bound, this time to conceal rather than enhance (Smith, 1998, 5). In 1939, and then after World War II, Tallahatchie-Villas image of enhanced femininity with a tiny waist, ample bosom and large hips returned to fashion again and brought with it the return of the corset and fuller skirts (Tallahatchie-Villas, 2007, 36-37. Gag &038 Steele, 2005, 293).From the sass onwards the process of restriction and augmentation to achieve the desired feminine physique dictated by fashion at the time has continued. A review of more recent trends and products and fashion exemplars appears below. Currently there is no singular feminine silhouette that is being dictated by fashion. In some areas of fashion media we are seeing the same boyish thinness as in the 2012). There are still some corset enthusiasts and elements of these undergarments such as boning and full skirts are still being used in many womens garments as well as in haute couture fashion.There is a myriad of other new garments encouraged by fashion for women to restrict, augment and mold their bodies into any desired shape. A few products currently on the market include the Wastepaper a tubu lar piece of Lascar worn to slim the waist and flatten the stomach the High-waist Long Leg Brief which is designed to provide under-bust and tummy support, hip and thigh contouring, and a nice boost for your butt as well as Padded Shaper Panties which have two round foam pads to give you a perfectly rounded derriere and padded bras to increase bust size (Morgan, 2012).Compared to the days of corsets and crinolines, the variety of ways in which fashion encourages women to squeeze, expand and mold their bodies have grown. Figure 2 Photograph of Lady Gaga at the 2009 MET Music awards. Photo courtesy of Getty Images, 2009 Lady Gaga, is Without question, the worlds biggest pop star and a current fashion icon (Robinson, 2010, 280). She famously morphs her body into the sexualities feminine hourglass shape with boning, padding and structured garments often designed specifically for her by current avian garden fashion designers such asIn the above photograph (Figure 2) Lady Gaga is wearin g a Jean Paul Guiltier padded and boned body suit, which drastically shapes her figure into the curvaceous, hourglass silhouette of enhanced femininity that Tallahatchie-Villas refers to (2007). The boning restricts the size of her waist while the underwear and padding on the cups over her breasts raise and shape the bust and the padding on her hips augment their size.Although this is an exaggerated example and would not be considered a ready- to- wear garment that women would be seen in on the street, Lady Sagas style choices are influential on how women choose to dress in mainstream culture. More than four hundred years after the first corsets and petticoats came into fashion, we see that the process of restricting and augmenting the female body to achieve a look considered to be feminine is still widespread.Through encouraging this practice and promoting a desired feminine physique that is difficult to attain naturally, fashion aids in the social construction of gender. An indivi duals choices about the clothes, make-up, accessories and styling that they adorn before venturing into public can communicate a lot about who they are. At the same time, the changeable and impermanent nature of these external applications means that no explicit assumptions of a persons identity can be made and these variables can easily be manipulated by the individual, allowing them to become who they would like to be.An individuals unique interpretations of, and resistances to conventional fashions is known as appearance style and is a medium through which individuals can announce who they are or who they want to become (Gag &038 Steele, 2005, 34). There are some elements of appearance that we are accustomed to observing and processing almost immediately when we look at a person. For example when you see a stranger, it is highly belike that you will be able to tell if their gender is male or female almost instantly and their appearance style aids in this immediate recognition.W hen you observe the combination of their choice of hair cut, cosmetics, clothing, accessories, shoes and mannerisms you can draw a conclusion about what gender that person is announcing that they are. This shows that the individual has the power to manipulate these components of their appearance to communicate heir understanding of their personal gender identity. An example of how successfully appearance can provide an insight into gender identity and also how easily it can be manipulated can be seen through examining performances of Andre Epic. Pelvic is biologically a man but models as both a male and a female.At his first fashion week New York Fashion week Fall/Winter 2011/12 he walked in five menswear shows and four womanlier shows and this number has since grown (Morris, 2011). Pelvic explains how he began to mold himself into the typically feminine aesthetic, creating an appearance style that would be read as male he grew and dyed his hair, started wearing skinny Jeans Shop ping in the womens aisle and putting on make-up (Morris, 2011). Pelvic was voted the ninety- eighth sexiest woman in the world in Fem.. One Hundred Sexiest Women list last year (Peck, 2011, 24). Figure 3 Andre Pelvic in Hem ad campaign.Photo courtesy of Hem from Hollywood Planet, 2011 wearing their mega push up bra underneath a close-fitted top and a figure hugging dress (Freeman- Greene, 2011). The bra is claimed to add two cup sizes to its wearers bust, which it has achieved successfully with Epics originally flat dressing table Quicker, 2011). His body has been manipulated so that his appearance style communicates his gender as female. His hair is long and blow-dried in a typically feminine style, he is wearing make-up and a necklace, his arms are void of hair and his body has been manipulated to augment the bust with padding.He attempts to channel the poses that female models often make by moving and looking at the camera in a fluid and dramatic manner (Morris, 2011). The clos e up angle of the photos and the choice of shots where Pelvic is making direct eye contact with the camera enforces the believability of Epics feminine appearance. The success of the communication of Epics gender identity as female in this advertisement demonstrates the extent to which an individual can communicate who they are or would like to be through their appearance.As an audience we almost automatically assume Pelvic to be a beautiful, Victorians Secret issue bombshell (Abraham, 2011). This mutual communication and interpretation that can be achieved through manipulating the variables of appearance style allows for an individuals look to say much about who they are. Fashion aids in the social construction of gender through separating male and male fashion and promoting the stereotypical feminine figure.In numerous centuries past and continuing into the present, the practice of women using wire, steel, elastic and padding to mould their bodies to the fashionable shape of the t ime has been common, even expected. We have examined how Queen Marie Antoinette encouraged this practice in the 18th Century by wearing a corset to nip her waist and enhance her bust as well as hoop pannier skirts to widen her hips. In the 21st Century it has been demonstrated that this body distortion is still common with pop con Lady Gaga wearing a boned and padded body suit that provides her with that feminine, hourglass shape.We then saw how this practice is so typically expected to be feminine that the biologically male model Andre Pelvic can display his female gender identity by donning a padded bra. When examining these three examples, it becomes clear that the molding of the body into the feminine physical ideal through restriction and augmentation is communicative of the wearers gender, whether intentional or projected by society, and provides an insight into who they are.