Please take a look at this video made in Ireland in the 1920s:
When I first watched it on my phone I didn't check the title and thought it was filmed in winter considering that many women are wearing what could be only described as blankets over their heads (yes, I know it's just really big shawls). But no, it appears to be May!
Now compare the way women looked then with what they are wearing in summer now. Enough said...
P.S. For the Red Pills watching: please pay attention to the old lady featured in the beginning and in the 2nd part of the video. That's the way your wife would have looked after birthing 6+ babies which you all had to support and raising them without modern conveniences. Not exactly a MILF, is she? But yeah, there aren't any overweight/obese persons in sight (that includes men).
I think the women are wearing those shawls because it's cold, even though it's May. The sky is overcast and it appears the wind is blowing.
ReplyDeleteThere were also those who went bareheaded and in general people weren't wearing really warm clothes. Women in the whole of Europe generally used to cover their hair when they went out at east till the 1950s. Just not with blankets:)But here they used to wear shawls, too, to conceal their figure. We often have women wearing historical type clothes during various events and holidays and that's just how working class women and farmers' wives used to look. Ladies with tight corsets and dresses falling off their shoulders were restricted to high society only:)
ReplyDeleteYes there were some without shawls. I would like to know how they tucked the shawls in the front with a special fold or knot so that they would not flap around or constantly have to be adjusted lest they fall off. I've seen it in period movies and always wanted to figure it out.
ReplyDeleteYou could see society was changing with some women wearing more modern clothes and shorter skirts while others were more traditional. I wonder if these shawls were a specifically Catholic thing. Here women wore caps but I recall watching a Mexican movie long ago which featured peasant women with similar headcoverings.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, and given that I live in a VERY warm and humid climate (9 months out of the year in fact), the contrast is certainly striking.
ReplyDeleteFor better or worse, we do have our modern conveniences and more comfortable, cushy Western way of life. Should the tide turn where it is much more important for the family to survive than for wives and mothers to maintain their appearances, I expect standards will adapt to reflect that.
I think you are right and yet, there is probably more reasons for this than only higher standards of living, it has to do with the modern mindset. In those times women above all strove to look decent. Her reputation and place in community depended on it.
ReplyDeleteNow it's all about looking sexy and a woman's place in society is partly dependent on how well she maintains her appearance (obese = lower class etc). Our values have changed and it influences the behaviour.
If the society was to collapse, women would start dressing decently again. To protect themselves. We would go very quickly back to the old ways: it would be crucial to women to show a) they are decent and b) they have a man to protect themselves. Because we all know what happenede to women who did not have men to protect themselves -there was very little changes to stay decent, if they were to begin with.
ReplyDeleteHere in Finland women used to cover their heads when they went outside: lower class with scarfs/kerchiefs, upper with hats. And of course headcovering was a must when baking or cooking or milking the cows. And their life was certainly not easy or comfy, quite the opposite.
And women also had gloves when they went to church or shopping. My mother was born at the late 40's and she has told me that wearing gloves was a must even in the early 60's.
When you compare to modern summer clothes... Well, I try to keep some clothes on, no matter how hot it is. So thi summer my niece, 10 years old, asked me: "How come you always have so much clothes on in the summer?" I was wearing a skirt and lightweight blouse with short sleeves, and that was a lot to her! I said I am cooler that way, which is also true.
I wonder if these shawls had to do with the woman's marital status or if they designated a female of a childbearing age (those who went bare-headed in the vid were a young girl and old women, possibly widows)? I know that Germanic tribes had a custom when headcoverings were reserved for married women only. English common law designated married women as femme couvert as her husband was her covering.
ReplyDeleteAs for summer clothes, you won't believe it but the worst offenders are so-called "conservative" Eastern European immigrants. They barely manage to keep any clothes on in summer, while local ladies often went for floor length dresses. And oh yes, boomers. It's always Woodstock for them it seems...
ReplyDeleteThose shawls also helped to cover your belly, if you were pregnant? Women used to be rather shy about that. So maybe married women started wearing a shawl.
ReplyDeleteAbout summer clothes: people are getting fatter and fatter and more and more eager to show their fat with very minimalist clothing. It is a wonder how men still manage to find women attractive at all! I am slightly overweight myself but I must say I find the amount of fat flaunted quite repulsive.
Many men are overweight, too, so they probably don't mind.I like boys in the video, they have something very boyish about them, if you know what I mean. This look of mischief in their eyes:) Now if we compared them to the modern boys...
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