MCQ Questions for Class 9 History: Clothing: A Social History
1. 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
► (a) 1294 to 1798
2. 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 soical rank
(b) The material to be used for clothing was legally prescribed
(c) Everybody could wear expensive materials
(d) None of the above
► (c) Everybody could wear expensive materials
3. 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
► (d) People could use styles and materials that were drawn from other cultures and locations
4. Simplicity of clothing was the symbol of which of the following in France?
(a) Liberty
(b) Fraternity
(c) Equality
(d) None of these
► (c) Equality
5. The existing dress codes in Europe were swept away by
(a) American Revolution
(b) French Revolution
(c) Russian Revolution
(d) The First World War
► (b) French Revolution
6. 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
► (d) women looked graceful in these dresses
7. 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 differ 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
► (a) The Registrar General in the Ninth Annual Report of 1857
8. England passed a law which compelled all persons over 6 years of age, except those of high position, to wear woollen caps made in England on Sundays and all holy days. What does this mean?
(a) All sumptuary laws were meant to emphasise 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
► (b) Some sumptuary laws were passed to protect home production against imports
9. When did women in England start agitating for democratic rights?
(a) 1820s
(b) 1830s
(c) 1840s
(d) 1850s
► (b) 1830s
10. 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
► (a) Mrs Amelia Bloomer
11. 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
► (d) All the above
12. 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)
► (c) The Battle of Waterloo (d) Both (a) and (b)
13. When and where was ‘Rational Dress Society’ started?
(a) 1880, USA
(b) 1881, England
(c) 1882, France
(d) 1883, Russia
► (b) 1881, England
14. 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
► (d) All the above
15. Who were the first among the Indians to adopt the western-style clothing?
(a) Christians
(b) Parsis
(c) Gujaratis
(d) Maharashtrians
► (b) Parsis
16. 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
► (b) Out of practical necessity at workplace
17. 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
► (b) For wearing a cloth across their upper bodies
18. 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
► (a) the wearing of turban and shoes
19. To some Indians western clothes were a sign of
(a) progress
(b) modernity
(c) freedom from poverty
(d) both (a) and (b)
► (d) both (a) and (b)
20. 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
► (a) 1855, frustration among upper castes
21. Dresses in India were defined by
(a) sumptuary laws
(b) caste system
(c) both (a) and (b)
(d) none of the above
► (c) both (a) and (b)
22. Who was Manockfee Cowasjee Entee?
(a) A taxpayer
(b) A revenue collector
(c) An assessor
(d) A technocrat
► (c) An assessor
23. 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
► (a) the wearing of turban and shoes
24. 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
► (d) All the above
25. 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
► (c) Amherst
26. 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
► (a) Brahmika sari
27. 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
► (a) Combination of Hindu and Muslim dress
28. 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
► (a) Partition of Bengal in 1905
29. 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
► (c) Parsi style of wearing sari
30. 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
► (b) Swadeshi movement
31. 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
► (c) Dressing unsuitably
32. For Mahatma Gandhi, khadi, white and coarse, was a sign of
(a) purity
(b) simplicity
(c) poverty
(d) all the above
► (d) all the above
33. 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
► (b) Durban, to protest against the shooting of Indian coalminers
34. In which year did Gandhiji adopt dhoti?
(a) 1913
(b) 1915
(c) 1921
(d) 1928
► (c) 1921
35. 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
► (b) Manockjee Cowasjee Entee
36. 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
► (a) faced by persistent attacks, they decided to conform to conventions
37. 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
► (b) Manockjee Cowasjee Entee
38. 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
► (b) women started wearing jewellery
39. 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
► (a) only the members of royalty and aristocracy could wear expensive clothes made of ermine, silk or brocade
40. A long, buttoned coat is called
(a) coat
(b) suit
(c) maxi
(d) achkan
► (d) achkan
41. 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
► (d) conservatives
42. What was a cockade?
(a) a fashionable dress of France
(b) a cap that usually wore on one side
(c) a skirt worn upto the knee
(d) a type of fur
► (b) a cap that usually wore on one side