Description
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between social change and women's fashion change in mainland China from 1970 to 1979. The data consisted of 3,340 printed photographs of women's clothing which appeared in newspapers, periodicals and magazines published from 1970 to 1979 in mainland China. Steps in analyzing the data entailed: (1) content analysis (women's clothes were divided into three categories--traditional style, uniform style and western style); (2) fashion count (the frequency of the appearance of each style was calculated for each year); and (3) data interpretation (distribution curves were constructed according to the ratio of total observations for each style in every year). Chi-square analysis was used to test the significant difference in types of garments worn between the nine 2-year groupings. The result of this study indicated changes in types of garment worn corresponded to changes in political ideology, economic environment, change in women's social role, technological capacities, and the impact of cultural contact. The change of political ideology from ultra-leftism to realism after 1976 was reflected in the abandonment of uniform style and increased adoption of western styles. Economic growth enabled women to afford clothes. Technological development increased variety of materials, colors and improved the quality of clothing. The emancipation of women lightened women's burden allowing them the opportunity to be concerned with fashion. The increased contact with other cultures provided Chinese women with the inspiration of western fashion styles. Therefore the change of women's clothing during 1970's in mainland China is a function of social factors.
