If you’ve watched many period dramas, you’ve probably seen a mantua. It was worn over a pair of stays (corset) and an often contrasting petticoat. The draping fabric created a front-opening gown.
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While men wrote about women “deforming” their bodies in corsets, there is very little writing from women themselves about what the experience was like.
Billie Eilish received criticism for wearing an ‘oppressive’ corset on the cover of Vogue. But for centuries, the clothing gave women support in work, and in play.
In the 1910, the ready-made blouse market was booming and Leicester’s knit giants tried their hand at manufacturing easy to launder, practical blouses.
The sale of women’s backpacks is up by more than 20 per cent in the past year: but why can’t we just call it a backpack? Why does it have to be a ‘lady backpack?’
A feminist philosopher and fitness writer challenges a mother who recently asked Notre Dame University to ban leggings on campus. Leggings allow women to move like superheroes, she says.
