Clothing protects the human body from extreme weather and other features of the

environment. It is worn for safety, comfort, and modesty and to reflect religiou
s, cultural and social meaning.
The practical function of clothing is to protect the human body from dangers in
the environment: weather (strong sunlight, extreme heat or cold, and precipitati
on, for example), insects, noxious chemicals, weapons, and contact with abrasive
substances, and other hazards. Clothing can protect against many things that mi
ght injure the naked human body. In some cases clothing protects the environment
from the clothing wearer as well (example: medical scrubs]]).
Humans have shown extreme inventiveness in devising clothing solutions to practi
cal problems and the distinction between clothing and other protective equipment
is not always clear-cut; examples include space suit, armor, diving suit, swims
uit, bee-keeper's costume, motorcycle leathers, high-visibility clothing, and pr
otective clothing.
People also decorate their bodies with makeup or cosmetics, scented perfume, and
other ornamentation; they also cut, dye, and arrange the hair on their heads, f
aces, and bodies (see hairstyle), and sometimes also mark their skin (by tattoos
, scarifications, and piercings). All these decorations contribute to the overal
l effect and message of clothing, but do not constitute clothing.
Articles carried rather than worn (such as purses, canes, and umbrellas) are nor
mally counted as fashion accessories rather than as clothing, but hats and small
dress sweaters can be called clothing or accessories. Jewellery and eyeglasses
are usually counted as accessories as well, even though in common speech these i
tems are described as being worn rather than carried.
Social status
In many societies, people of high rank reserve special items of clothing or deco
ration for themselves as symbols of their social status. In ancient times, only
Roman senators could wear garments dyed with Tyrian purple; only high-ranking Ha
waiian chiefs could wear feather cloaks and palaoa or carved whale teeth. Under
the Travancore kingdom of Kerala (India), lower caste women had to pay a tax for
the right to cover their upper body. In China before the establishment of the r
epublic, only the emperor could wear yellow. In many cases throughout history, t
here have been elaborate systems of sumptuary laws regulating who could wear wha
t. In other societies (including most modern societies), no laws prohibit lower-
status people wearing high status garments, but the high cost of status garments
effectively limits their purchase and display. In current Western society, only
the rich can afford haute couture. The threat of social ostracism may also limi
t garment choice. If one is not wearing a specific brand or style of clothing on
e might be dropped in social
Marital status
Traditionally Hindu women, once married, would wear sindoor, a red powder, in th
e parting of their hair. If widowed, they would abandon sindoor and jewellry and
wear simple white clothing. Men and women of the Western world may wear wedding
rings to indicate their marital status. Also women in the United States, depend
ing on their heritage and/or religion, will usually wear a simple or extravagant
white gown, although some movie stars have been known to wear a black party dre
ss for their wedding.
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Religious habits and special religious clothing
Religious clothing might be considered a special case of occupational clothing.
Sometimes it is worn only during the performance of religious ceremonies. Howeve
r, it may also be worn everyday as a marker for special religious status.
For example, Jains wear unstiched cloth pieces when performing religious ceremon
ies. The unstitched cloth signifies unified and complete devotion to the task at
hand, with no digression.
The cleanliness of religious dresses in Eastern Religions like Hinduism, Buddhis
m and Jainism is of paramount importance, which indicates purity.
Sport and activity
Most sports and physical activities are practiced wearing special clothing, for
practical, comfort or safety reasons. Common sportswear garments include shorts,
T-shirts, tennis shirts, tracksuits, and trainers. Specialised garments include
wet suits (for swimming, diving or surfing), salopettes (for skiing and leotard
s for gymnastics). Also, spandex materials are often used as base layers to soak
up sweat. Spandex is also preferable for active sports that require form fittin
g garments, such as wrestling, track & field, dance and gymnastics.
Clothing materials
Common clothing materials include:
Cloth, typically made of viscose cotton, flax, wool, hemp, ramie, silk, lyocell,
or synthetic fibers such as Polyester and Nylon among many others.
Down for down-filled parkas
Fur
Leather
Denim
spandex
Less-common clothing materials include:
Recycled paper
Jute
Rubber
PVC
Recycled PET
Tyvek
Rayon
Hemp
Bamboo
Recycled or Recovered Cotton
Soy
Other Natural Fibers
Reinforcing materials such as wood, bone, plastic and metal may be used in faste
ner]]s or to stiffen garments.