During the COVID-19 pandemic, masks are having a bit of a moment. They鈥檝e gone from functional to fashionable to controversial, all in the span of about two months. But it鈥檚 not the first time fashion has been tied to an epidemic.
If you believe the memes on social media, hoop skirts in the 1800s were the original 鈥渟ocial distancing,鈥� and the heavy, veiled hats from the early 1900s that completely covered one鈥檚 head were to prevent contracting the Spanish flu.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 actually to protect you when you鈥檙e riding in a car,鈥� clarified Katie Knowles, curator with Colorado State University鈥檚 Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising. She said there are a lot of misconceptions about fashion and the role it played during various epidemics throughout history.
For social distancing reasons I will henceforth be wearing hoop skirts
— Helen Rosner (@hels)
The hoop skirt? That was all about social distancing, but not for health reasons. It was designed to keep men from getting too close to women, who at the time were beginning to go out in the general public more, Knowles said.
鈥淭丑别 purpose of the hoop skirt was not any kind of concern about illness,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t just has that kind of unintended consequence.鈥�
But there are plenty of actual connections between epidemics and the world of fashion and textiles. Some odder than others.
In Europe in the 1500s, men wore hose as the preferred garment on their legs, Knowles said. They also wore a codpiece, a strip of strategically placed fabric that could be laced up to make using the restroom easier.
But as men began returning from the Americas, in addition to bringing back corn and tobacco, they also brought syphilis.
鈥淪ome of the treatments that they were using at the time for syphilis, it could cause staining of the hose,鈥� Knowles said. 鈥淎nd so you start to see padding being used.鈥�
And the padded codpiece was born. As the disease spread, so did the fashion trend, becoming more and more elaborate 鈥� using jeweled embellishments and various materials like metal.
鈥淭丑别 rise of popularity as a correlates with the spread of syphilis as a disease across Europe, and as immunity builds up, it slows down,鈥� Knowles said. 鈥淎nd as it slows down, the padded codpiece falls out of fashion.鈥�
Clothing and textiles have also been instrumental in the spread of disease.
The bubonic plague 鈥� also referred to as the "Black Death: 鈥� occurred in the 14th century, spreading along the Silk Road trading network through Asia, Africa and Europe. It killed an estimated 50 million people.
鈥淭丑别 movement of the people was definitely tied to a global trade system,鈥� Knowles said.
Silk was a relatively new fabric and had become very popular amongst Europeans, she said. The increased demand opened up additional trade routes, introducing the disease to more locations.
But fashion鈥檚 role wasn鈥檛 always accidental.
鈥淭丑别 that most people are referring to was real,鈥� said Elizabeth Fenn, a distinguished professor at the University of Colorado - Boulder. Fenn specializes in Native American history and the history of epidemic disease.
鈥淚t took place in 1763,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n the aftermath of the French and Indian War 鈥� sometimes called the Seven Years War 鈥� at a place called Fort Pitt, which we now know of as Pittsburgh.鈥�
Following negotiations with British soldiers, the Native Americans asked for a gift as a sign of good faith. A trader named William Trent later wrote of the exchange, stating: 鈥淥ut of our regard to them, we gave them two blankets and a handkerchief out of the smallpox hospital. We hope it will have the desired effect.鈥�
Since the disease was already in the area, Fenn says it鈥檚 impossible to ascertain if the blankets were indeed the cause. However, smallpox did ravage the native communities around Fort Pitt at the same time the blankets were given.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 interesting is this is the 18th century, this is pre-germ theory,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is a century before Robert Koch discovers the Anthrax bacillus under his microscope.鈥�
Even then, people had an intuitive concept of contagion.
鈥淚t鈥檚 fair to call it 鈥榞erm warfare,鈥� or 鈥榖iological warfare,鈥� although that phrasing would have been anachronistic,鈥� Fenn said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not what people would have called it at the time. They would have seen smallpox as more like a poison. I would say it鈥檚 the earliest fully documented account in American history.鈥�
Going back even further to the 1600s, the 鈥渦niform鈥� of plague doctors spoke to an intuitive understanding of epidemiology, Knowles said. Traveling from house to house, the doctors could be identified by their heavy waxed leather coats, long canes and wide-brimmed hats. They also wore a birdlike mask with a long beak.
鈥淥ften there was a flower stuck in the beak,鈥� she said. 鈥淭丑别y thought that bad odors that were in the environment around the disease were what was spreading the disease.鈥�
Today, we are once again working to understand different materials, how they may transmit disease, and how they may help prevent it.
鈥淚n general, I think this crisis (will) make people think a lot of things differently,鈥� said Yan Vivian Li. The CSU associate professor is leading the university鈥檚 .
Li, along with grad student Tony Vindell, is conducting tests on a variety of non-woven fabrics, similar to coffee or vacuum-bag filters, from Colorado manufacturers.
The hope is that the materials will be strong and safe enough to be mass-produced in-state to make much-needed PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), like medical gowns. CSU鈥檚 textile lab is the only place in the state capable of doing this level of testing.
While textiles have long been kind of an afterthought, Li said they鈥檝e now become one of the most important things in the fight against the novel coronavirus. That could eventually change what we look for in clothing.
It would no longer be just about keeping you warm and comfortable, but about keeping you safe and healthy, she said.
This moment in history may be a turning point for manufacturers, Li said, causing them to look at clothing and textiles that do more than just look nice. It鈥檚 something she鈥檚 already been researching.
鈥淥ne of the things I鈥檝e been in the past five years developing 鈥� https://youtu.be/WSuVjhbEb-I">fabric that changes color when bacteria is detected,鈥� she said.
Li鈥檚 already added a new element to her work 鈥� looking into creating fabric that changes color when a virus is detected.
