Author: Xiaoyu Guan

Program of Study: Master in Social Work, Social Policy, and Social Administration; Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice (CRN)

(Photo taken by author)

Description: When you walk along the streets in Chicago, have you ever noticed women wearing various outfits? Or aren’t you surprised at how different the body shapes can be among Chicago women? If you have the same feeling as I do, then don’t hesitate to click in!

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Transcript (provided by author):

Welcome to the ELI’s Finding Chicago Global Perspectives Podcast Series for AEPP 2023. I’m your host, Lily, and I’m currently enrolled in the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice.

Today what I’d like to present to you is one of the most fascinating topics – Chicago Women’s daily dressing style in summer.

When you walk along the streets in Chicago, have you ever noticed women wearing various outfits? Or aren’t you surprised at how different the body shapes can be among Chicago women?

As I was walking down the street in Chicago, I would always pay attention to women’s daily outfits, and I was amazed how diverse they are. I noticed that some are casual, some are elegant. Some women wear long sleeves and trousers in summer, while others wear only shorts and crop tops. They also have different hair styling: well like… curly hair, straight hair, brown hair, red hair, grey hair, blonde hair, pink hair or whatever color that you can imagine.

Besides, the summer dressing style here seems to be more open. I noticed women don’t need to be ashamed of showing their bodies. They can wear tops without bras or suspender trousers with only underwear tops in public places, which would be regarded as misbehavior in many other countries.

What’s more, Chicago appears to be tolerant of women of all figures. Women seem to have the freedom to wear shorts or skirts no matter how strong their legs are. And women can also wear crop tops even if they have a large mid-section.

Due to my own experience here in Chicago, I felt the freedom to dress the way I like and not worry about being laughed at or judged because I wear too little or too much or my clothes are too distinctive.

My experience made me think why women’s summer dressing style here is so diverse, open and tolerated. As far as I know, this phenomenon may not be unique to Chicago, but is common throughout the United States.

One reason, I think, is maybe because the United States has a racially and ethnically diverse population including Whites, Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, and Native Hawaiians. People in each race or ethnicity have different dressing habits and standards and they contribute their own ethnical dressing style to society in their daily life.

Another reason could be related to American culture, which places great importance on freedom of expression. As is well known, people in America have the freedom of speech. People are free to express their unique views. However, dressing is also a way of expressing ourselves without verbal language. So, the freedom people have in their style of dressing might be also a reflection of the culture of freedom.

I would also attribute the tolerance for all kinds of figures to the American food culture, which, in my view, has been responsible for an increase in the number of overweight Americans. Gradually being thin is less and less the norm for beauty, and being overweight is not a rare and shameful thing.

here I would like to make a comparison between American women’s daily dressing styles and their Chinese counterparts. As most Chinese citizens share the same ethnic identity, the daily dressing style among Chinese is more unified. You don’t often see African American, Latino dressing styles, which are really common here in the United States. By contrast, Chinese women are more influenced by Japanese and Korean cultures because of geographical closeness among these three countries. There are far more people dressing in Korean style or Japanese outfits than in America.

I would also say Chinese society is more conservative to clothing as Chinese ancient culture like Confucianism is deeply rooted in people’s minds. Even A retro trend has appeared in recent years when girls like to wear traditional Chinese costumes on the street.

In a word, I’m very pleased to see women in the United States enjoy a diverse, tolerant and open dressing environment.

Thank you for listening to this episode from start to finish! If you have any questions about the things we covered in the show today, please find me on Instagram. I reply to all messages, so don’t hesitate to reach out. This is your host Lily from University of Chicago Crown Family School. We’ll see you next time!