Clothing, Shoes and Armour

Clothing covers the body and changes how it meets its surroundings. Shoes form an interface between feet and the ground. Armour provides protection through materials and construction intended to resist particular forms of impact or attack.

These objects can be described in terms of fit, coverage, weight, flexibility and appearance. The same garment may be suitable for one activity and awkward for another. Wearing something, carrying it and being enclosed within it also create different relationships between the body and the object.

Types and Characteristics

• Everyday clothing: Garments selected for comfort, climate, custom or appearance.
• Uniforms: Clothing that identifies membership, occupation or a role within an organisation.
• Costumes: Garments used to represent a character, period or assumed identity.
• Shoes and boots: Footwear whose soles, fastenings and shape affect contact with the ground.
• Protective clothing: Garments designed for particular hazards or working conditions.
• Armour: Protective equipment made from materials such as textile, linked metal rings or fitted plates.

A good fit concerns the relationship between an object and its wearer. Size alone does not describe whether a shoe grips, rubs, supports or restricts, and coverage alone does not describe whether a garment permits the movement needed for an activity.

Historical Background

The Metropolitan Museum of Art challenges the common image of a person in plate armour being unable to move effectively. Its account explains that fitted armour distributed its weight over the body and used connected plates, straps and movable joints to permit movement. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Arms and Armor, Common Misconceptions

This gives a useful historical qualification to the image of armour as an inflexible shell. The design and fit of the equipment affect what its wearer can do. Protection and mobility depend on the particular arrangement.

Literary Examples

In Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes, two swindlers claim to make cloth that is invisible to people who are foolish or unfit for their positions. The emperor and his officials claim to see the garments rather than acknowledge what is in front of them. A child eventually states that the emperor is wearing nothing. Hans Christian Andersen: The Emperor's New Clothes

The garments acquire significance through the claims made about them and the social consequences of admitting that they cannot be seen. The story can be read as an examination of appearance, status and participation in a shared pretence.

In the English version titled “The Emperor’s New Suit”, the minister privately decides what he can admit:

No, no, I cannot say that I was unable to see the cloth.

The old minister’s unspoken thought, Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Suit”.

He has already observed that he sees nothing, and the narrator confirms that the looms are empty. The problem is therefore not a failure to look carefully enough. The supposed cloth is linked to fitness for office, making an honest report appear to threaten the observer’s status. He subsequently repeats the swindlers’ description to the emperor. The quotation locates one step by which private doubt becomes public confirmation: knowledge of what is visible and willingness to report it separate. Clothing here functions as a proposed test of people before any garment is worn.

Compare Puss in Boots, where footwear equips the helper but also hinders him on roof tiles, and The Twelve Dancing Princesses, where worn shoes provide evidence of an unseen journey. In Cinderella, a shoe participates in recognition; in The Red Shoes, footwear overrides the wearer's ability to stop. These source-based comparisons distinguish equipment, evidence, identity and control.

Further comparisons extend clothing's narrative roles. In The Elves and the Shoemaker, garments acknowledge the needs of previously unseen workers. In The Wild Swans, making garments is painful rescue work, and an unfinished sleeve leaves a visible consequence. In The Brave Little Tailor, an embroidered claim creates a reputation. In The Little Match Girl, borrowed slippers fail to fit securely. The linked articles identify their sources and distinguish reciprocity, transformation, assertion and practical protection.

In Religion

Ephesians 6:13-17 associates protective equipment with qualities including truth, righteousness and faith. The passage connects being equipped with the capacity to stand firm. Its clothing and armour images have specific meanings within that religious teaching. Ephesians 6:13-17

Idioms

• Put yourself in someone's shoes: Consider another person's circumstances or perspective.
• Big shoes to fill: A role made demanding by the achievements of a predecessor.
• The shoe is on the other foot: Positions or circumstances have been reversed.
• Wear many hats: Perform several different roles.
• Roll up your sleeves: Prepare to work actively on a task.
• A wolf in sheep's clothing: A dangerous or hostile person presenting an innocent appearance.
• A chink in the armour: A weakness in an otherwise protected position.
• Dressed for the part: Wearing clothing appropriate to an expected role or appearance.
• Too big for your boots: Acting with an exaggerated sense of one's importance.
• Wear your heart on your sleeve: Make your feelings readily apparent.

Homophones

Sole / soul: Sole can name the underside of a foot or shoe. Soul can refer to a person's spiritual or inner life.

Wear / where: Wear describes having clothing on the body or gradual deterioration. Where concerns location.

Seam / seem: A seam joins pieces of fabric. Seem concerns how something appears.

Related Pages

Feet and Ankles, Chest, Shoulders, Heart, Burdens.

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