Form of Autonomy Mutates Into A Constraint: Fashion in The Handmaid’s Tale
With the elevating advocacy of one’s quality of living, fashion has infiltrated our lives in
a plethora of forms. Styles and aesthetics visualize one’s well-being, personality, and culture.
Admittedly, fashion has become a crucial element in life. It validates one’s autonomy and
integrity along with freedom of choice. The Republic of Gilead, a fictional country portrayed by
Margaret Atwood, unveils the barbaric lives in an extremely masculine society. Furthermore, the
existence of females is identified as birth machines. What does fashion symbolize in Gilead? The
Handmaid’s Tale written by Margret Atwood depicts how women’s fashion in The Republic of
Gilead contrains females as it symbolizes women's lacking authority, contempt for women as
well as the unified characteristics of females.
First and foremost, Atwood masterly applies a divergence of imagery in describing the
fashion of characters. “The smell of nail polish, the way it wrinkles if you put the second coat on
too soon” (Atwood 35). Flashbacks of Offred’s life occur on occasion, juxtaposing life between
Gilead and Pre-Gilead. Remarkably, throughout the first-person view of Offred, it is cognizant
that females undergo a divergent approach to fashion in two periods. During Pre-Gilead, females
are free-spirited in arranging their looks. Offred’s flashbacks depict having nail polish, mini-
skirts and pants are customary, alluding that freedom of choice once existed. On the contrary,
restrictions on fashion are engendered in a masculine society. Females are stringently coerced to
wear according to the law disregarding their age and social status. Oppositely, males are in the
position of commanding females to alter their looks whenever they want. When the Commander
and Offred sneak out together, he nonchalantly lets Offred wear Serena Joy’s garments in order
to be in disguise. In addition, the scene where Offred meets the Japanese women in mini-skirts
brings forth sonorous evidence of the absence of freedom in Gilead. “Then I think: I used to
With the elevating advocacy of one’s quality of living, fashion has infiltrated our lives in
a plethora of forms. Styles and aesthetics visualize one’s well-being, personality, and culture.
Admittedly, fashion has become a crucial element in life. It validates one’s autonomy and
integrity along with freedom of choice. The Republic of Gilead, a fictional country portrayed by
Margaret Atwood, unveils the barbaric lives in an extremely masculine society. Furthermore, the
existence of females is identified as birth machines. What does fashion symbolize in Gilead? The
Handmaid’s Tale written by Margret Atwood depicts how women’s fashion in The Republic of
Gilead contrains females as it symbolizes women's lacking authority, contempt for women as
well as the unified characteristics of females.
First and foremost, Atwood masterly applies a divergence of imagery in describing the
fashion of characters. “The smell of nail polish, the way it wrinkles if you put the second coat on
too soon” (Atwood 35). Flashbacks of Offred’s life occur on occasion, juxtaposing life between
Gilead and Pre-Gilead. Remarkably, throughout the first-person view of Offred, it is cognizant
that females undergo a divergent approach to fashion in two periods. During Pre-Gilead, females
are free-spirited in arranging their looks. Offred’s flashbacks depict having nail polish, mini-
skirts and pants are customary, alluding that freedom of choice once existed. On the contrary,
restrictions on fashion are engendered in a masculine society. Females are stringently coerced to
wear according to the law disregarding their age and social status. Oppositely, males are in the
position of commanding females to alter their looks whenever they want. When the Commander
and Offred sneak out together, he nonchalantly lets Offred wear Serena Joy’s garments in order
to be in disguise. In addition, the scene where Offred meets the Japanese women in mini-skirts
brings forth sonorous evidence of the absence of freedom in Gilead. “Then I think: I used to
