Notes on Clothing: A Social History | MCQs & Q&A

QUESTIONS - ANSWERS OF CLOTHING: A SOCIAL HISTORY

CBSE | CLASS 09 | HISTORY | CHAPTER - 08

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS OF CLOTHING: A SOCIAL HISTORY

Q.1. The existing dress codes in Europe were swept away by
(a) American Revolution
(b) French Revolution
(c) Russian Revolution
(d) The First World War

Q.2. Which of these changes came about in dressing styles after the 18th century?
(a) People dressed according to their regional codes
(b) Dressing was limited by the types of clothes and the cost of material available in their region
(c) Clothing styles were strictly regulated by class, gender or status
(d) People could use styles and materials that were drawn from other cultures and locations

Q.3. State the period when people of France were expected to strictly follow the ‘Sumptuary Laws’?
(a) 1294 to 1798
(b) 1300 to 1799
(c) 1308 to 1800
(d) 1350 to 1809

Q.4. Which one of the following is the most appropriate definition of Sumptuary Laws?
(a) Laws on taxes framed by the government
(b) Laws giving privileges to higher sections of society
(c) Laws meant to emphasize the social hierarchy
(d) All the above

Q.5. Which of these sentences is not correct about medieval France?
(a) The items of clothing a person could purchase was regulated not only by income but by social rank
(b) The material to be used for clothing was legally prescribed
(c) Everybody could wear expensive materials
(d) None of the above

Q.6. Simplicity of clothing was the symbol of which of the following in France?
(a) Liberty
(b) Fraternity
(c) Equality
(d) None of these

Q.7. The simplicity of clothing of ‘Sans-Culottes’ was meant to express
(a) The poverty among the common people
(b) The prosperity of textile industries
(c) The idea of equality
(d) None of the above

Q.8. Which of the following were among the things that became a symbol of equality and liberty among the French people?
(a) The colours of France–blue, white and red
(b) The red cap
(c) Revolutionary cockade pinned on to a hat
(d) All the above

Q.9. England passed a law which compelled all persons over 6 years of age, except those of high position, to wear woolen caps made in England on Sundays and all holy days. What does this mean?
(a) All sumptuary laws were meant to emphasis social hierarchy
(b) Some sumptuary laws were passed to protect home production against imports
(c) Some sumptuary laws were made to promote the religion
(d) None of the above

Q.10. In Victorian England why were women from childhood tightly laced up and dressed in stays, because:
(a) They were dutiful and docile
(b) These clothes helped in creating the expected image of girls
(c) Women were trained to bear and suffer
(d) Women looked graceful in these dresses

Q.11. How did clothing play a part in creating the image of frail, submissive women?
(a) From childhood, girls were tightly laced up
(b) When slightly older, girls had to wear tight fitting corsets
(c) Tightly laced, small waisted women were admired as attractive, elegant and graceful
(d) All the above

Q.12. When did women in England start agitating for democratic rights?
(a) 1820s
(b) 1830s
(c) 1840s
(d) 1850s

Q.13. Who said the following, ‘It is evident physiologically that air is the pabulum of life, and that the effect of a tight cord round the neck and of tight lacing differs only in degrees ... for the strangulations are both fatal. To wear tight stays in many cases is to wither, to waste, to die.’
(a) The Registrar General in the Ninth Annual Report of 1857
(b) Martha Somerville
(c) John Keats
(d) Thackeray

Q.14. On what grounds were the traditional feminine clothes criticised in the USA?
(a) Long skirts swept the grounds collecting filth and causing illness
(b) The skirts were voluminous and difficult to handle
(c) They hampered movement and prevented women from working and earning
(d) All the above

Q.15. Which of the following associations in the USA campaigned for dress reform in the 1870s?
(a) National Woman Suffrage Association
(b) American Woman Suffrage Association
(c) Global Woman Suffrage Association
(d) Both (a) and (b)

Q.16. Who was the first American dress reformer to launch loose tunics?
(a) Mrs Amelia Bloomer
(b) Martha Somerville
(c) Queen Victoria
(d) None of the above

Q.17. When and where was ‘Rational Dress Society’ started?
(a) 1880, USA
(b) 1881, England
(c) 1882, France
(d) 1883, Russia

Q.18. Radical changes in women’s clothing came about due to the
(a) Russian Revolution
(b) World War I
(c) World War II
(d) Both (b) and (c)

Q.19. Which of the statements given below is correct?
(a) After 1600, trade with India brought cheap and beautiful ‘chintz’ within the reach of many Europeans
(b) During the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, cotton clothes became more accessible to people in Europe
(c) By the late 1870s, heavy, restrictive underclothes were gradually discarded
(d) All the above

Q.20. Which of the following events had an impact on the dressing style of women?
(a) Women working in industries during the First and Second World Wars.
(b) Gymnastics and games entered school curriculum for women.
(c) The Battle of Waterloo
(d) Both (a) and (b)

Q.21 Why did the clothes get shorter during the First World War?
(a) Shortage of cloth
(b) Out of practical necessity at workplace
(c) New dressing laws were passed
(d) None of the above

Q.22. Which of the following were among other important changes that came about for women?
(a) Trousers became a vital part of western women’s clothing
(b) Women took to cutting their hair short for convenience
(c) As women took to gymnastics and games, they had to wear clothes that did not hamper movement
(d) All the above

Q.23. Who was the first among the Indians to adopt the western-style clothing?
(a) Christians
(b) Parsis
(c) Gujaratis
(d) Maharashtrians

Q.24. To some Indians western clothes were a sign of
(a) Progress
(b) Modernity
(c) Freedom from poverty
(d) Both (a) and (b)

Q.25. Dresses in India were defined by
(a) Sumptuary laws
(b) Caste system
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) None of the above

Q.26. Why were Shanar women attacked by Nairs in May 1922?
(a) For wearing a tailored blouse
(b) For wearing a cloth across their upper bodies
(c) For wearing gold ornaments
(d) For using umbrellas

Q.27. When was slavery abolished in Travancore? What did it result in?
(a) 1855, frustration among upper castes
(b) 1865, shortage of labour force
(c) 1867, end of caste system
(d) 1895, permission to Shanar women to cover the upper part of their body

Q.28. Wearing of which two things created misunderstanding and conflict between the British and the Indians?
(a) The wearing of turban and shoes
(b) The umbrella and gold ornaments
(c) The wearing of saris and dhotis
(d) The wearing of gowns and long skirts

Q.29. Wearing of which two things created misunderstanding between the British and the Indians?
(a) Turbans
(b) Hat
(c) Shirt
(d) Both (a) and (b)

Q.30. Which Governor General asked the Indians to remove their shoes as a mark of respect before him?
(a) Ripon
(b) Hastings
(c) Amherst
(d) Wellesley

Q.31. Who was Manockfee Cowasjee Entee?
(a) A taxpayer
(b) A revenue collector
(c) An assessor
(d) A technocrat

Q.32. Which of these statements are correct about the cultural symbols which Indians began to devise to express unity of the nation?
(a) A debate began over the design of national flag
(b) Poets wrote national songs
(c) The search for a national dress began
(d) All the above

Q.33. What was the idea of national dress as suggested by Rabindranath Tagore?
(a) Combination of Hindu and Muslim dress
(b) Combination of Indian and European dress
(c) Only Hindu dress
(d) Combination Hindu and Parsi dress

Q.34. In the late 1870s, Jnanadanandini Devi, wife of Satyendranath Tagore, adopted
(a) British style of skirt and blouse
(b) Rajasthani style of Ghagra-Choli
(c) Parsi style of wearing sari
(d) None of the above

Q.35. Jnanadanandini Devi’s style of wearing sari was adopted by Brahmo Samaji women and came to be called
(a) Brahmika sari
(b) Brahmo sari
(c) Samaji sari
(d) Bhoomika sari

Q.36. Jnanadanandini Tagore is associated with:
(a) Sans Culottes
(b) Brahmika Saris
(c) Community of toddy tappers
(d) Partition of Bengal

Q.37. In the first decade of the 20th century, which movement in Bengal was linked to the politics of clothing?
(a) Khilafat movement
(b) Swadeshi movement
(c) Bardoli satyagraha
(d) Champaran satyagraha

Q.38. In reaction to which measure of the British did the Swadeshi Movement begin?
(a) Partition of Bengal in 1905
(b) Surat split in 1907
(c) Starting of World War I in 1914
(d) Montague-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919

Q.39. Which of the statements are not correct about the Swadeshi movement?
(a) The use of Khadi was made a patriotic duty
(b) Women were urged to throw away their silks and glass bangles
(c) Rough homespun cloth was glorified in songs and poems to popularise it
(d) Men were allowed to wear the British-made clothes

Q.40. According to Gandhiji, which kind of dress would have a more powerful political effect?
(a) Western style
(b) Indian style
(c) Dressing unsuitably
(d) Dressing suitably for the occasion

Q.41. Where and why did Gandhi first appear in a lungi and kurta with his head shaved, in 1913?
(a) London, to attend the Round Table Conference
(b) Durban, to protest against the shooting of Indian coalminers
(c) Natal, to show Indian style of dressing
(d) None of the above

Q.42. In which year did Gandhiji adopt dhoti?
(a) 1913
(b) 1915
(c) 1921
(d) 1928

Q.43. For Mahatma Gandhi, khadi, white and coarse, was a sign of
(a) Purity
(b) Simplicity
(c) Poverty
(d) All the above

Q.44. Why did Mahatma Gandhi adopt loin cloth and a chaddar as his dress?
(a) It was easy to wear
(b) It was not easy to practise
(c) He believed that poor peasants could not afford more than that
(d) It was a political statement of self-respect

Q.45. Gandhiji’s decision to wear loin cloth only (and chaddar if necessary to protect his body) throughout his life was seen by him as
(a) His duty to the poor
(b) Saving country’s resources
(c) Giving in to the wishes of Britishers
(d) None of the above

Q.46. Which of the following Indians was associated with the case of defiance of the shoe-respect rule?
(a) Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar
(b) Manockjee Cowasjee Entee
(c) Mahatma Gandhi
(d) Sir M. Visveswaraya

Q.47. Many Dalits from the early 1910s began to wear three-piece suits on all public occasions as:
(a) A political statement of self-respect
(b) They were more comfortable in western style suits
(c) They did not like Khadi as it was a coarse material
(d) They wanted to imitate the British

Q.48. Many women reformers in India changed back into traditional clothes as:
(a) Faced by persistent attacks, they decided to conform to conventions
(b) They found the new style of clothing too stylish
(c) New style of clothing did not fit them well
(d) There were no good tailors to stitch the new style of clothing

Q.49. Which one of the following statements about women's fashion in the twentieth century is not true?
(a) Women started wearing trousers and blouses
(b) Women started wearing jewellery
(c) Women started wearing shorter skirts
(d) Women started wearing sober colours

Q.50. A long, buttoned coat is called
(a) Coat
(b) Suit
(c) Maxi
(d) Achkan

Q.51. What was a cockade?
(a) A fashionable dress of France
(b) A cap that usually wore on one side
(c) A skirt worn up to the knee
(d) A type of fur

Q.52. Which among the following is associated with sumptuary laws in France?
(a) Only the members of royalty and aristocracy could wear expensive clothes made of ermine, silk or brocade
(b) Promoted for hunting game in certain areas
(c) Laws were not strict towards social inferiors
(d) Socially inferior were allowed to wear ermine, silk or brocade

Q.53. The women in Victorian England wore tightly fitting corsets when they slightly grew older:
(a) Because the women could not move freely
(b) It was considered fashionable
(c) Because it gave shape and support to the figure
(d) Because women were expected to be serious, independent and aggressive

Q.54. Which of the following sections of society lamented that those women, who had given up traditional norms of dressing up, no longer looked beautiful?
(a) Radicals
(b) Revolutionaries
(c) Liberals
(d) Conservatives

Q.55. Who among the following headed the American woman suffrage association?
(a) Lucy Stone
(b) Amelia Bloomer
(c) Mrs. Stanton
(d) None of these

ANSWER of the MCQs of Clothing: A Social History

1. (b) French Revolution
2. (b) French Revolution
3. (a) 1294 to 1798
4. (c) Laws meant to emphasize the social hierarchy
5. (c) Everybody could wear expensive materials
6. (c) Equality
7. (c) the idea of equality
8. (d) All the above
9. (b) Some sumptuary laws were passed to protect home production against imports
10. (d) women looked graceful in these dresses
11. (d) All the above
12. (b) 1830s
13. (a) The Registrar General in the Ninth Annual Report of 1857
14. (d) All the above
15. d) Both (a) and (b)
16. (a) Mrs Amelia Bloomer
17. (b) 1881, England
18. (d) Both (b) and (c)
19. (d) All the above
20. (d) Both (a) and (b)
21. (b) Out of practical necessity at workplace
22. (d) All the above
23. (b) Parsis
24. (d) both (a) and (b)
25. (c) both (a) and (b)
26. (d) For using umbrellas
27. (a) 1855, frustration among upper castes
28. (a) The wearing of turban and shoes
29. (d) Both (a) and (b)
30. (c) Amherst
31. (c) An assessor
32. (d) All the above
33. (a) Combination of Hindu and Muslim dress
34. (c) Parsi style of wearing sari
35. (a) Brahmika sari
36. (b) Brahmika Saris
37. (b) Swadeshi movement
38. (a) Partition of Bengal in 1905
39. (d) Men were allowed to wear the British-made clothes
40. (c) Dressing unsuitably
41. (b) Durban, to protest against the shooting of Indian coalminers
42. (c) 1921
43. (d) all the above
44. (c) He believed that poor peasants could not afford more than that
45. (a) His duty to the poor
46. (b) Manockjee Cowasjee Entee
47. (a) A political statement of self-respect
48. (a) Faced by persistent attacks, they decided to conform to conventions
49. (b) Women started wearing jewellery
50. (d) Achkan
51. (b) A cap that usually wore on one side
52. (a) Only the members of royalty and aristocracy could wear expensive clothes made of ermine, silk or brocade
53. (c) Because it gave shape and support to the figure
54. (d) Conservatives
55. (c) Mrs. Stanton

NCERT TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS OF CLOTHING:

A SOCIAL HISTORY

QUESTIONS OF THE BOOK

Q.1. Explain the reasons for the changes in clothing patterns and materials in the eighteenth century.
Ans: After the 18th century, the colonization of most of the world by Europe, the spread of democratic ideals and the growth of an industrial society completely changed the ways in which people thought about dress. People could use styles and materials that were drawn from other cultures and locations. Western dress styles for men were adopted worldwide.

Q.2. What were the sumptuary laws in France?
Ans: From 1294 to the time of the French Revolution in 1789, the people of France were expected
to strictly follow the sumptuary laws. The laws tried to control the behaviour of those considered socially inferior, preventing them from wearing certain clothes, consuming certain foods and beverages, and hunting game in certain areas.

Q.3. Give an example of any two examples of the ways in which European dress codes were different from Indian dress codes.
Ans: European dress codes were different from Indian dress codes. Let us take the example of the turban and the hat. The two headgears not only looked different but also signified different things. The turban in India was not just for protection from the heat but was a sign of respectability and could not be removed at will. In the western tradition, the hat had to be removed before social superiors as a sign of respect.
The shoe is another example. The Indians took off their shoes when they entered a sacred place. The British did not do so.

Q.4. In 1805, a British official, Benjamin Heyne, listed the manufactures of Bangalore which included the following:
(i) Women’s cloth of different musters and names
(ii) Coarse chintz
(iii) Muslins
(iv) Silk cloths.
Of the list, which kind of cloth would have definitely fallen out of use in the early 1800s and why?
Ans: Muslin would have fallen out of use as machine cloth had flooded the Indian markets and was cheaper. Muslin was expensive and hence was not used. In fact, the Industrial Revolution brought about a complete change in which muslin cloth had no place.

Q.5. Suggest reasons why women in nineteenth century India were obliged to continue wearing traditional Indian dress even when men switched over to the more convenient western clothing. What does this show about the position of women in society?
Ans: Women in the 19th century India were obliged to continue wearing traditional Indian dress even when men switched over to more convenient western clothes. This clearly shows that women during that time were accorded a lower status than men in society. They were not allowed to be aware of what was going on outside the house and were confined within the four walls of their homes. Modernity and change were not for them.

Q.6. Winston Churchill described Mahatma Gandhi as a ‘seditious Middle Temple lawyer’ now ‘posing as a half naked fakir.’ What provoked such a comment and what does it tell you about the symbolic strength of Mahatma Gandhi’s dress?

Ans: Mahatma Gandhi went to the Viceroy’s house clad in a dhoti. This signified the symbolic strength of his dress. It showed the pride he had for his nation and its people, especially the peasants. It also signified how he identified with his people and the strength he derived from them.

Q.7. Why did Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of clothing the nation in khadi appeal only to some sections of Indians?
Ans: Mahatma Gandhi’s dream was to clothe the whole nation in khadi. But it was not easy for everyone to follow in his footsteps. Not many could take to a single peasant loincloth as he had. Some could not afford khadi which was expensive and some preferred to be dressed in finer cloth of various colours and designs.