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As the fall season begins, many women across the United States and the world are getting ready for “tights season,” the moment when the cooler weather means it’s time to pair skirts or dresses with a little extra warmth on the legs. Some may be looking forward to the fall fashion opportunities, and some dreading sagging knees or the necessity of dabbing clear nail polish on runs. But when tights first became a wardrobe staple, they signified something that went far beyond a simple change of season: freedom.

���ӽ紫ý students are taking advantage of a unique opportunity — to do some history detective work. It’s being done as part of ���ӽ紫ý’s Public History program

It was at the beginning of a shift at Harrods that Georgia Brown told her manager where to go. Brown, then aged 22, was working for a temp agency that supplied shop assistants to the department store. She cannot remember the name of the manager. But she does remember why she lost her cool: she had had enough of being forced to wear heels on the job.

“Heel shoes are a symbol of female oppression,” said Professor Mary Beard last week to Manola Blahnika, a renowned luxury shoe manufacturer, whose brand was especially famous for Carrie Bradshaw from Sex in the City. While not everyone may identify with the professor's assertion, the fact remains that if heels do not have to go to work, why it should be women's responsibility, Sirin Kale says in an article mapping this growing displeasure and titled Why should I have to work on stilts ?: the women fighting sexist dress codes . "Women are often the victims of working dresscodes, even if they don't have to wear a uniform," she writes.

In a warehouse on the ���ӽ紫ý campus, graduate student Debbie Fleshman lifted the lid on a tan train case and stared down into silver screen history.

In a warehouse on the ���ӽ紫ý campus, graduate student Debbie Fleshman lifted the lid on a tan train case and stared down into silver screen history.

Professor of Fashion History at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, Deirdre Clemente has studied the growing presence of informal clothing in companies in the United States.

How spandex athletic apparel became a staple of the American wardrobe and a lightning rod for debates about policing women’s bodies.