Fashion survivors or survivors through fashion? How infectious diseases shaped fashion through the ages

Abstract

Throughout history, infectious diseases have influenced fashion trends by altering clothing styles, promoting safety measures, and shaping cultural norms regarding personal protective equipment and hygiene practices. In Venice, ceremonial masks were adapted in response to plague outbreaks. Men's fashion underwent significant changes due to syphilis in European courts during the Renaissance, leading to the introduction of wigs and facial patches for the same reason. In the Victorian era, the concept of “consumptive chic” emerged, romanticising tubercular beauty. Practices such as beard shaving and wearing face veils became common as measures to combat the threat of lice and influenza. Finally, the human immunodeficiency virus influenced the “heroin chic” trend in the late 1990s, before the recent pandemic had a massive impact on fashion. There is a recurring pattern in the history of medicine regarding the influence of infectious diseases on fashion. The imitation of certain responses to pathogens and the adaptation of fashion to mitigate the risk of infection persistently recur.