Iris Publishers_Journal of Textile Science & Fashion Technology (JTSFT)
The Social Interpretation of Knitwear
Abstract
The advancement of technology has been changing the course of human history and also the way we live. For example, the development of knitting technology had changed and shaped people’s social values and world view alongside with many socio-economic and political changes. In order to understand the significance and social impact of knitwear, this paper focuses on how social meaning was created through knitting and knitted artefacts from various perspectives, including the societal status of knitwear, the relationship between knitwear and gender, the impact of physical health and sports on knitting, and the pan-politicization of knitting.
During the first half of twentieth century, knitwear was primarily made at home, and these handmade knitted products conferred on the wearer were often perceived as low-end commodities. However, due to modernization, technological advancement and the disruption of war, the democratization of knitwear was fostered and cultivated, and the knitting industry was shifted from male-dominated industry to female-dominated. Whilst the knitting hobby embodied women’s traditional values and position in a family, the emergence of women’s knitwear during the wars reflected the richness of their social engagement. Following World War II, knitwear has become a socio-political weapon to express social ideologies through the manifestation and emancipation of Women’s Liberation Movement. In addition to feminist movement, health consciousness played a significant part on creating intimated clothing or underwear, leisure activities such as swimming had led to the change of women’s bathing suit, and the popularity of sports drove consumers’ demand for casual attire and functional knitwear.
Keywords: Knitting; Knitwear; Society; Politics; Women’s Liberation
Introduction
The most ancient knitted fabric can be traced back to 256 BC in the Arabian regions. Early knitted fabrics were used for protection and warmth. Since the invention of knitting, most people believe that knitting are often associated with family and women – older women in particular. Knitting activities often perceived as women’s love and devotion towards her family by knitting different items for her family members such as baby socks, gloves, scarves and other inexpensive clothing. However, from in-depth exploration of social significance, this type of perception could be bias and subjective. Once the knitting goes beyond the initial stages of the process and simple basic forms, the complexity of knitwear and technology is extended at all levels of social meaning. Accompanied with a series of historical conflicts, changes and subversion, knitting ups and downs, which not only reflects the development of technology, but also carries the social, historical and cultural significance.
Social Status of Knitting
The first step of conducting a social study of knitting is to clarify the status of knitting and knitted products. The social status of knitting was decided by the superstructure. Before the industrial revolution, knitting has existed as a family craft and handicraft industry. The industrial revolution has changed the social status of the knitting industry and knitwear. The arts and crafts movement had revived hand knitting. However, in the middle and late 19th century, knitting has lost its position in fashion. The first half of the 20th century, the prevalence of knitting reflected the process of democratization.
Knitting status reflects the changes of history and social stratum
Positive modernization process embodied the mechanization in the knitting industry. In 1589 William Lee invented knitting machine, knitting began mechanization. Machine knitting was still considered as a handicraft industry, because production organization system of knitting at that time was the manufacturer’s outsourcing of the garment to the family for knitting. Then the great industrial revolution led to a sharp increase in textile production, product types were rich and varied, which was a serious blow to the traditional textile industry, including knitting industry, knitting transformed from hand-workshop production into factory production.
Mechanization caused the collapse of a large number of organized handicraft industry, resulting in scarcity of handmade products, but the position of manual products jumped. Textile professionals argue that centuries ago, luxury handmade textiles were of high quality, obtained a high-end status in the form of high value of labor-time; mass-produced machine knitting were inevitably inferior in quality, so they were low-grade, the upper class strongly opposed machine products. Actually, this feeling of inferior quality of machine knitting is not a product quality problem. Machine knitting for the nascent middle class rather than the upper class, in fact, reflected the upper class’s concerns and fear for the growing middle class and the middle class’s replication of the upper-class social life.
The family orientation and low-end of knitting status
In the mid-19th century, the invention of sewing machines brought mechanization into the family, in the late 19th century home knitting machine made hand knitting more obsolete, these two social phenomena further reduced the status of knitting. Any item could be made at home, its position in the commodity economy could not be guaranteed. In the fashion area, non-practicality of frivolous luxury embroidery and lace made the practical knitting more low-end. Raw materials that could be used both for household production, but also for scale production were low-level, this feature of raw materials of knitting increased the disadvantage of knitting. Thus, knitting had lost its status both in society and in fashion.
Democratization of knitting status
The time of knitwear entering mainstream of fashion dated back to 1920s. At that time Chanel designed a three-piece knitting garment: cardigan, skirts and pullovers, which did not need servants to help wear, easy to produce and reproduce, became women’s essential clothing. This popularity of casual wear arose from the aristocratic, down to citizen, brought democracy into the field of fashion, and this civilian-oriented and leisure aesthetic concerted with modern trend of healthy and active image. During World War II there was also a democratization of knitting garments, the public and the army wore the same clothes. Modernization and war promoted the process of democratization of knitted garments, the spread and prevalence of knitwear in the society, reflects the collapse of hierarchical concept based on class and elite.
Knitting and Gender Culture
When it comes to knitting, people tend to associate it with women, especially older women. Knitters were treated as a single gender group - feminine, knit and feminine, even have interchangeable textual meanings. Women had regarded as housewife and male vassals for a very long period of time, until the early twentieth century when the new female wind was blowing, the 1960s when female liberation movement rose, and contemporary era when feminism is current, the female role has been gradually changing. And knitting plays an important role in identifying and constructing the female identity in the dual-gender system, which confirms the promotion of women’s social status under the patriarchal system.
The evolution of gender roles in knitting
Both men and women have been involved in hand knitting to earn income or exchange for necessities. Man, invented knitting machines, before 1657 knitting guild only accepted male members, knitting industry was controlled by male, all this means that machine knitting associated with men, women was regarded as hand-knitters. In 19th century arts and crafts movement were not only about the status of handicrafts, but also about gender status. Traditional craftsmen are men, members of the Maurice movement dominated by men, women’s design and skills were often not recognized, women descended to an overlooked and negative Muse role. But skilled women undertook clothing knitting, opened clothing stores mainly selling wool and headwear. Obtaining the economic benefits and value through knitting, women increased their income, and even made a successful career. Therefore, the male-dominated knitting industry had nurtured the success of women, made knitting as a synonym for women, promoted the status of women in modern capitalist society recognized and even respected, the dissolution of male’s gender superiority in the industrial society.
Knitting and women’s hobbies
The nineteenth-century professional hand-knitters knitted expensive high-grade knitwear, and soon family knitting was marginalized and relegated from handicrafts to hobbies. Hobbies, this recreational culture originated from family division of labor in the 19th century, when the middle-class men went out to work, and women, known as the “angels in the house” were at home, parenting, making home decorations and upper-class handicrafts. Knitting skills were the hallmarks of decent women, which were admirable but did not create economic value and had no place in the economic world. This can be interpreted as knitting becoming a female party or housework. With the continuous development of knitting as a hobby for women, knitting was more closely related to humble women’s cultural and economic status, which deepened the stereotype of knitting in gender and class. Knitting hobby became a manifestation of women’s passive social status.
“New women” era and the mainstream of knitted garments
In the early 20th century, knitted garments entered into the mainstream of fashion, knitted fashion and modern women finally linked together. Between the two world wars was the important period of female social, political and economic liberation, this was the “new women” era. Women had a more freedom, more active lifestyle than before, and needed clothing suitable for a new era. Chanel’s knitted three-piece design can be worn from early to late, became a new women’s professional fashion. The versatility of the knitwear in terms of time and space reflected the colorful life of young women at that time. Knit got rid of the old-fashioned image, occupied the fashion world with a wealth of creative. The characteristics of knitted fabrics not only made clothing modeling, but also the body not restricted, which implied that women liberation from the shackles of the hierarchical system. High fashion smiling to and embracing knitwear was not just a direct result of the war, but also the results of removing male dictatorship. The prewar popular knitted swimsuit was also a material presentation of female and their body’s socialization, revealing the body’s sexual attraction was a milestone breakthrough for the status of women. But in 1930, J. C. Flugel, a fashion psychologist, argued that fashion changes were largely due to sexual competition, and that the attraction of the knitted swimsuit, in addition to the pleasure of women herself, still largely depended on men’s approval.
Postwar gender equality and rebel knitted garments
In the 1960s and 1970s, women’s political rise, in the streets of Europe women actively fought for the rights and body, the younger generation and sub-cultural groups challenged the traditional gender roles. In 1968 Knitwear designer Sonia Rykiel subverted women’s traditional image of the high fashion Salon, created fashion female image discussing politics in Paris café [1]. Designer’s interpretation of this struggle for freedom and equality: wearing a sweater without bra inside, the body’s comfort was equivalent to gender comfort. Knitwear once again became the symbolic language of freedom of the second sexual.
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