History of Women's Fashion in America

I'thou an aspiring costume designer with a passion for creative writing, history, and feminism.

American Fashion, 1780s. L. Suit in French style; LC. Gown in French fashion; RC. and R. suit and gown

American Women's Way History

Clothes make the man, as the old adage goes. A well-tailored accommodate tells a very different story than torn jeans and a sweatshirt, but both stories are vital when trying to sympathise the development of fashion and the touch on it has made. Regardless of whether or not nosotros similar information technology, style has played an intrinsic role in shaping order. It is a style to understand the world and those who came earlier u.s.a..

For instance, different fashion trends are a marker of condition too as a window into attitudes toward gender roles, sexuality, and body image. Clothes may make the man, but they make the woman likewise. In fact, clothes often molded her and constricted her into a course that she may not have wanted for herself. Clothes have empowered her and encouraged her to accomplish her own sense of autonomy. They have objectified her and reduced her into zilch more than than a trinket at which men can stare. They have given her ability and a sense of taste of what she is capable of doing.

Colonial Women's Fashion: Family & Practicality

When discussing the impact of anything on a nation's history, the most logical place to outset is at the beginning. There are, of course, centuries prior to European colonization in which Native American tribes adult methods and modes for dressing themselves that are varied and intriguing on their ain, merely they have fiddling to do with the modernistic modes of fashion as we know them today. The focus will instead turn toward fashion modes of European settlers – specifically those that hailed from England – for whom the New World held promises of freedom from religious persecution and a vivid future potentially full of riches, though despite the prospect of a shining new time to come, colonists carried over a few societal norms from their home that remained firmly in place in their new settlements. Gender relations, for instance, reflected that of the roles established in the motherland: New England women were expected to maintain social club in the household past caring for children and interim as a moral compass by which to follow, preparing meals every bit well as performing other household chores. Despite her numerous responsibilities and power in the domicile, a woman was always expected to be subordinate and obedient to her hubby. Families were ideally footling commonwealths with the male parent taking the part of a monarch while the rest of his family acted every bit his subjects -- the general belief hither beingness that a successfully run home would facilitate a successful society.

New Englanders had an understanding that men and women's characters were divers by a specific gear up of distinct all the same complementary traits. Women were overly sexual, hell-raising, and prone to hysteria and the lures of evil, merely their positive traits included cheerfulness, tenderness, and a capacity to be sympathetic and passionate. Since it was a woman's job to keep her family thriving in this unexplored wilderness, such virtues were nil more expectation rather than reality. Their vesture, like their societal ideals, reflected a simplified version of what was fashionable in England at the time. Their clothing was designed for practicality in a harsh new wilderness rather than style. Fabric was paw woven to ensure immovability and nigh early on New Englanders only endemic a few garments for their unabridged lifetimes, only saving their best for special occasions and church services. They were no strangers to an array of colors despite what the general stereotypical prototype of a New England pilgrim may lead one to believe. On the contrary, the stereotypical, somber appearance of colonists did non appear until the colonies were first to thrive. In a prosperous and environment, people were at present able to plow their attention to such frivolities as style to display their wealth and condolement. Equally a response to such brazen and manifestly immoral displays of refinery, Puritans attempted to enforce laws that brought simplicity to an extreme by eliminating whatsoever sort of decorative feature, leading to a distinctive style to call their own.

Hoop petticoat or pannier, English language, 1750-fourscore. Plain-woven linen and cane. Los Angeles County Museum of Fine art, M.2007.211.198.

Women'southward Style Trends and Styles in the 18th & 19th Centuries

Despite the Puritans' best efforts, fashion continued to play a large role in most colonials' lives the more the colonies grew and prospered. While women wore hoods and mantles to maintain their modesty when in public, such garments were made of fine fabrics that not just acted every bit a testament to their piety, only to their condition. The almost notable garment to come out of the century was the hoop skirt, which would go a staple of women's manner for years. Originally, the hoop brim protruded out from the sides merely gradually became rounder and more bong-shaped, though no affair how large or oddly shaped the garment may have been, it always gave women a grossly unnatural figure that they were expected to obtain. Calculation to the extravagant and outlandish silhouettes were ladies' hairstyles. Initially, hairstyles stayed simple and women typically adorned their heads with a frilled lawn cap, but past the cease of the century, their squeamish coiffures gave way to wigs worn exclusively for evening affairs. These elaborate wigs required women to often sleep while sitting upwardly the night earlier an event to prevent the wig from losing its magnificence. The sheer notion that a adult female had to attempt to slumber in an uncomfortable position with an undoubtedly cumbersome wig sitting atop her head illustrates the great lengths to which people have gone through for the sake of fashion and beauty. However, that focus on status and elegance began to fade with the Revolution. Suddenly a dependency on European trends did non seem patriotic in the to the lowest degree. Women began weaving their own cloth and wore homespun clothes in public, an act that would take been an immediate marker of depression status in the by that was now considered a symbol of pride and dedication to the nation.

Drawing mocking sleeve designs suggesting that new styles could be modeled on cricket bats, hot air balloons, or tennis rackets.

Wikipedia

The Evolution of Women's Fashion in the 19th Century

The nineteenth century brought in a new phase of American life that stressed religious liberty, an elimination of class distinction and a rejection of onetime ideas in many respects. Women were yet jump in corsets, but they were less constricting and they abandoned their heels in favor of "Roman sandals," which were nix more than than slippers tied at the ankle with ribbons. The spencer, or a small jacket with long, tight sleeves typically made of nighttime velvet, made its appearance during this era, too. In 1819, women'southward empire-waist skirts morphed into large, bong shapes that were ofttimes adorned with rows of trimming. Blimp and wired sleeves humorously referred to as the "leg o' mutton sleeve" offered an illusion of broader shoulders and copious amounts of ornament were dorsum in vogue.

Natalie Barney in 1896

Wikipedia

In the nineteenth century, a woman'southward office as the pure and pious leader of her family was especially heightened, and the most conspicuous style a woman could prove her piety was through the way she dressed, but her mode also had to reflect her status and level of wealth. Hoop skirts were still wildly popular, for instance, because they enabled women to parade effectually in as much expensive textile as possible. They had to be careful, then, as they constantly had to teeter along a fine line between excellent self-presentation and the risk of being labeled as a slave to fashion. Though since the exercise of tight-lacing corsets (which was still rampantly popular in the South) reinforced a adult female'due south sense of dependency, as she could hardly clothes or undress herself without assistance, it is difficult to argue that women were annihilation but slaves to their clothes.

Skirts flared out and bustles disappeared and reappeared throughout the century, leading to a slew of unique and peculiar silhouettes. Overall, fashion of the nineteenth century was meant to reflect modesty while all the same maintaining a sense of style, a goal that became especially difficult for women who decided to bid farewell to their New England homes and make the trek out Westward. The move Due west was accompanied past a desperate struggle to maintain a college condition and keep inside traditional roles. But put, most women did not want to be subjected to the difficult tasks that awaited them on the trail. They refused to wear trousers for fear of being labeled too masculine or out of fear of losing their civility. Remaining in their petticoats for as long as possible became a way for these women to signal they were prepared to return to their feminine sphere once their journey was over.

Women who stayed dwelling house, however, began to realize the extent to which their fashion objectified them and put them at risk. The anti-slavery movement inspired women such as Elizabeth Phelps to press for clothes reform. Women such equally Phelps demanded liberation from the limitations thrust upon them past order and mode, urging women to throw off their shackles just as the slaves had theirs.

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward. (MSS 6997-e. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Epitome by Petrina Jackson)

The Bloomer Outfit

Dress reformers began openly condemning fashion for the wellness and moral dangers it posed to women. They pressed for reform for healthy and comfortable clothing, which brought about the bloomer outfit. Such an outfit of course was met with much anxiety since people feared it would destroy society's morals. Though regardless of the fear information technology may have sparked, the bloomer outfit served every bit a preview of what was to come in the following years, particularly regarding the way women viewed themselves and their place.

Read More From Bellatory

Drawing of a adult female wearing the Bloomer Costume, named later Amelia Bloomer.

Library of Congress

20th Century Mode: A New Woman

At the turn of the century, America was experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization. To look at the country every bit a whole unit at this fourth dimension, 1 would see waves of immigrants arriving and endless city dwellers being forced to clump together into crowded slums infamous for high rates of affliction and infant bloodshed. Massive migrations to cities meant that women lost established back up systems, resulting in alienation for some and liberation for others. In an environment where immature women were isolated from their families and very much left to fend for themselves, women needed to arrange. Thus the New Woman emerged: independent, active, mobile, and self-confident, nothing could end her and her fashion had to emulate that.

Women's fashion was birthday more daring and wealthier women were expected to change their clothes iii or iv times a twenty-four hour period. By the beginning of the decade, the perfectly coiffured and slender "Gibson Girl" manner that had previously dominated women'due south fashion was slowly fading, as women were growing increasingly unwilling to submit themselves to the tortures of the corset, which at the fourth dimension were made of heavyweight cotton, twill, and reinforced with steel or whalebone to contour the body into an "S" shape, effectively accentuating the bust. Finding her manner choices limited, a woman by the name of Mary Phelps Jacob created a epitome for the brassiere in 1913, which before long rose in popularity amidst other women looking to become this new, active woman. Ironically, a pop garment that also gained popularity was a tight fitting skirt that profoundly limited the wearer's stride known equally a "hobble skirt." They were popular amid urban women until public dancing became the rage for the population in 1915. Sports attire became popular since it flattered women'due south bodies while allowing them to move freely. An emphasis was certainly placed on this new, mobile adult female, though she was still expected to maintain some air of femininity.

People who were able to flaunt their wealth did so through improvident and costly accessories that were necessary for anyone who viewed herself as stylish. Hats, usually adorned with a large diverseness of ornamentation, were a staple for every woman regardless of economic status. The spread of automobile travel furthered the alter in manner since there was now a need for women to easily enter, sit in and exit vehicles. This led to entirely new outfits comprising of gloves, caps, and goggles for both women and men.

The elegance and demand to flaunt one'due south condition and wealth was brusk lived one time the Showtime Earth War began in 1914. In a manner, the war helped to advance the ideal image of the New Woman too equally the changes women were trying to make in society, equally a number of women had to have up men's responsibilities in the workforce. As a event, working women needed practical wearable. Style was simplified while skirts were shortened, resulting in a tailored conform that became essential for women at the time.

Women's Fashion Trends in the 1920s

Although women lost their jobs when men returned from war, nothing could stop them from careening into the public sphere now that they had a gustation of life exterior their homes. Jazz bombarded the public'due south ears and the Charleston invaded every trip the light fantastic toe hall. The 1920s was a zooming decade filled with fast cars, flowing bootlegged alcohol, and an unabridged generation of women that refused to render home. Regardless of women's wishes to keep working, a new sort of feminism that supported old, patriarchal expectations of a woman's identify emerged that supported an epitome of a adult female who was well-dressed, openly liked men, avoided women in groups, and instinctively knew that "a full life calls for spousal relationship and children as well as a career."

The youth of the 1920s were more educated than their mothers and enjoyed a freer life filled with romance and sexual practice, and to split themselves from their mothers, young women needed a new mode to call their own. Sexually free young women who would come to exist known as flappers acted equally both competition and companions to men and presently adopted a style of clothes that gave them a lanky, boyish silhouette. The flapper's skirt was curt and streamline, which gave women an excuse to part with layers of undergarments. To ensure every curve disappeared, women would bind their chests, harkening back to the days of corsets and demonstrating the farthermost and unhealthy lengths to which women will go to achieve the ideal body image thrust upon them. Information technology is pausing to reflect on the practice and to recall that women had to literally repress their femininity in gild to be accepted. Though for women of the 1920s, a few suppressing undergarments were nigh probable a small price to pay in exchange for the power these women could dangle over men'southward heads. Unfortunately for them, their brusk time in the limelight would quickly article of clothing out.

J. Howard Miller's "We Can Do It!" affiche from 1943.

How Women's Fashion Inverse With the Low

The crash of 1929 brought everyone'south highballing life to a skidding halt. The flappers had hopefully enjoyed their youthful gaiety while it lasted, for now it was fourth dimension to abound upwards. Since the 1930s brought about a notion that thinness indicated farthermost poverty, direct boyish silhouettes were retired seemingly overnight in favor of much more than natural forms. Waistlines and prominent bosoms returned due in part to the ideal body type set in place past silver-screen starlet Mae West, about likely to the delight of many. Skirts got progressively longer, though backs were left bare for evening affairs. The ideal woman was to be simultaneously curvaceous and slender and in an endeavour to emulate such a realistic and achievable ideal, women's clothing was expected to be streamline and grade fitting without a single thread out of identify. Despite a return to a plumper figure every bit an ideal sign of prosperity, loftier style took a back seat to the desperate economic crisis. While displaying fine apparel was surely a goal for many to flaunt their wealth and attempt to relive the skillful onetime days of decades prior, to fuss over one's wardrobe merely was not practical for nigh American women, a sentiment that would bleed into the adjacent decade.

The 1940s were a fourth dimension defined by war, where men left home and women were required to take over their duties whether they wanted to or not. The war affected everything, including style since the need to ration goods and materials impeded on the power to create specific or unique styles. In an effort to conserve cloth, dress were simplified in every fashion possible: fewer pockets and buttons fabricated information technology onto garments, ruffles or whatsoever ornament were abased, and sleeves and hemlines grew shorter. Many women turned to Mexico to buy dresses since they were cheaper, which inspired designers to incorporate colorful patterns into their dress. Rationing likewise inspired many to brand their own clothing, harkening dorsum to a simpler fourth dimension when clothing only served as necessity rather than a luxury. Women got creative, too, as the shortage of wool led them to repurpose men'due south suits into women'due south attire. The refashioned suits still possessed a masculine silhouette, giving them a boxy advent with wide shoulders and skirts that did away with the narrow waists of yesteryear. Women began wearing pants as well since they offered even greater functionality and mobility than their skirts could offering. Pants especially rose in popularity since working in factories effectually heavy mechanism while wearing a brim only was not practical. Their fashion needed to adapt to their new lifestyle, which meant information technology was time to bid those dresses farewell and say hello to a nice pair of functional slacks.

1942 photo of Geraldine Hoff.

Dior's "New Look" in 1947

Feminine wearing apparel did not completely disappear during wartime for those who could afford to enjoy evenings out, all the same. Long dresses all the same ruled the nighttime and were oft adorned with sequins to add together some sparkle. Homemade wearable may accept paved the way to a style that was quintessentially American, only France was set up to return to its traditional pedestal when they finally recovered from the state of war, at which point Christian Dior introduced a style dubbed "the New Look" in 1947, which was characterized by accentuated waists, billowing skirts and an ultra-feminine silhouette. The need for excess petticoats to pull off the full skirts of Dior's New Look suggests the style was anything only new, just its clear throwback toward femininity stands as a direct reaction and retaliation to the functionality of wartime fashion. Rosie the Riveter, although born out of necessity rather than empowerment, was a direct threat to men and their place in society. She was traditionally masculine in her style and in her attitude, which meant she had to get.

Photograph of 'New Look' arrange designed by Christian Dior. Photographed past John French. London, England. 1947.

V&A John French Archive

Women'south Fashion in the 1950s: Happy Housewives

Past the end of the war, family life had never looked more highly-seasoned. Gild all of a sudden plant itself returning to a patriarchal sense of the dwelling house where Rosie the Riveter could not have been more than out of place. Now that men were returning from war, there was no reason for women to proceed participating in the piece of work strength, though that did not stop some women from working regardless of what men had to say about it. To combat the fear that women would steal jobs away from men, propaganda began to be released detailing the wonderful, romantic platonic of a life at abode. Many women took the allurement, thus returning to their traditional roles and much more traditional fashion. The 1950s carried on the aforementioned trends equally decades prior with a growing popularity in mass-produced items that made life easier, peculiarly for women'southward domestic work.

In 1956, a new style known as the shift dress fabricated its fashion into many American homes. Initially mocked and dubbed the "sack dress" for its shapeless design, women nonetheless bought the style in droves, plain attracted to its lack of a defined waistline. The mockery directed toward the dress is a poignant example of when the ideal image does non match the real image of the modern American woman. It stands as a clear example of lodge's expectations over women of the time: that they ought to extenuate their femininity through class-fitting clothes.

The dress's popularity among women could exist interpreted as a sign of changing attitudes and a desire for anything just a constricting waistline, but the shift dress was, plainly, just reserved for housewives who thought it easier to go about their daily routine. Career women, on the other manus, preferred to cater to club's expectations of the ultra-feminine adult female by sporting tailored suits over silk blouses – a refined silhouette that was oftentimes pulled together with gloves, a hat, and an essential pair of heels. Women connected to burden themselves with girdles, corsets, stockings, slips, and the occasional petticoat. Mode of the fifties, for the near part, was bourgeois and constricting – peradventure the about constricting it had been since the Victorian era. The shift dress undoubtedly came as a welcome blessing to some, merely its presence was certainly an exception to the dominion.

Youthful way for girls stayed very much in stride with their mothers with flowing skirts, tiny waists and an birthday preppy air. Some edgier styles managed to sneak through the woodwork and claiming fashion norms such as the greaser look or the controversial short-shorts of the late 1950s. In an era where conservatism ruled, it is no small wonder that short shorts were deemed immodest and resulted in revised dress codes across the nation. I could accept a stride back and chuckle at the government of yesteryear while thinking 'how foolish,' just the controversy surrounding the style is improve suited every bit a hint of a re-emerging fear of female person sexuality, offering upwards a bizarre duality between femininity and sensuality: that women must be sexually attractive just non sexual.

How Women's Mode Changed in the 60s

There was something in the air during the 1960s: a flavor of discontent with the way society was treating its citizens that would spill into the next decade. The women's liberation move was itch frontwards as women began to proceeds rights legally, culturally, and socially. Feminist Betty Friedan planted a seed for ideological change with her book The Feminine Mystique that inspired many women, especially those who were young and unmarried, to take charge of their own bodies. Sex activity was once again in style then, naturally, American way would slowly begin to reflect that.

Jacqueline Kennedy stood out as the most public supporter of traditional French haute couture, but her imitators were mostly plant among the wealthy. The majority of Americans instead embraced a fashion that was minimalist and primitive. A woman of the 1960s would typically wear long, floor length skirts or dresses during the day and mini-skirts when taking on the boondocks at night, which presents and interesting swap from traditionally long and more than provocative evening dresses and shorter daytime wear. The switch makes perfect sense considering youth of the decade wanted naught more than than to separate themselves from the older generation in every fashion possible. The mini-brim provided an especially strange dichotomy that both objectified and empowered women. The skirt's scandalous length that had remained unseen until now gave men an opportunity to ogle at complimentary amounts of bare legs while simultaneously providing power to the women wearing them. The mini-skirt was undoubtedly a sexually charged garment, but in its sexual appeal, information technology became a source of power for women likewise as a sign that modesty was for the erstwhile folks.

Style During the Historic period of Aquarius

The growing dissent toward the Vietnam War added more than fuel to the anti-Establishment fire, leading to a tearing disregard of societal values and morals that would give rise to hippie-style. Instead of befitting to traditional clothes norms, hippies often appropriated symbols from cultures outside of their ain to inspire their fashion, giving way a deeper pregnant as a political argument rather than a simple popular fad. Mainstream fashion continued the trends set by the miniskirt to carry as much of the trunk as possible with sleeveless, well-nigh transparent dresses and hot pants, though the almost unique feature of mode early in the decade was the lack of common conformity. Some women wore long flowing dresses and sandals while others rocked micro-minis and articulatio genus-high boots. Some people turned to more than conservative, put-together pieces while others continued to strut around in sloppy hippie fashions, resulting in a massive sense of individualism that would begin to ebb as the decade came to a close. By 1977, women were turning to oversized and costless-flowing garments that suggested the country desired a return toward conservatism.

Fashion Trends of the 1980s: Exist a Human

The shift toward conservative ideals in the 1980s served every bit a direct reaction to the radical civil rights movements that rocked America. The Supreme Court whittled down previous victories such every bit Roe v. Wade and affirmative action to the point where the courts seemed to suggest that bigotry was no longer an issue. Conservatism ruled and if women wanted to be taken seriously in the workforce, they needed to adopt a more masculine style. Most people alive to this twenty-four hour period still remember or at least take heard stories most shoulder pads no affair how much they want to forget. The interesting, and partially demoralizing, aspect of the trend known as "power dressing", though, is the fact that doing so was meant to emulate men'due south broad shoulders, suggesting one must emulate a man in order to be successful. Power dressing, then, stands as a mockery toward any progress women had made.

"An Observation At Charlotte Russe" by Danielle Licea.

Behance

The Evolution of Women'due south Style in the 1990s: Into the Hereafter

Androgynous fashion would continue into the 1990s, but a unique feature of styles at finish of the century was a seemingly straight parallel of the previous century's end. Where women of the 1900s strolled near in flowing skirts that grazed the floor, women at the end of the twentieth century and beyond bared every inch of skin they could without violating public indecency laws. Such trends connected into the twenty-get-go century in varying degrees, some mild and some more than extreme than the rest. Two trends worth noting in this virtually recent era are the trend of transparency in several different garments – about notably blouses and skirts – and the large presence of studs decorating everything from shoes to headbands to jean shorts. Artist Danielle Licea noted that studs are the closest thing women will get to possessing armor to protect themselves in a world and then plagued with violence. On the other hand, transparent clothing that displays colorful bandeaus or simply a woman's bra under the garment can either be interpreted every bit objectifying women, or information technology could be seen as embracing women's sexuality and a movement toward a healthier stance toward body positivity. Though it is fascinating to watch how fashion reacts to the social climate surrounding it, it is perhaps far besides early to pass judgment on the greater influence fashion while said fashions are withal alive and potent.

Perhaps it is time to render to and question that sometime aphorism once more: apparel make the homo, they say. While information technology is truthful that men's fashion held a level of importance amongst American society, its significance pales in comparison to that of women'southward fashion, which altered so radically and much more frequently than men's clothing. Women'due south fashion has constantly fluctuated between practicality and vanity. It has taken on many forms, many meanings and has been received with mixed feelings by their contemporaries. Information technology has been used as a tool to conform to the societal mold as much as it has been used to challenge and break it, resulting in a colorful history that is all the same and volition continue to change as long as fashion remains a fundamental extension of 1's identity.

Referenced Works

• Banner, Lois W. Women in Modernistic America: A Brief History. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1995.
• Blanke, David. American Pop Culture Through History: The 1910s. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.
• Fukai, Akiko. Fashion : a history from the 18th to the 20th century : the collection of the Kyoto Costume Establish . Los Angeles: Taschen, 2006.
• Kunzle, David. Way and Fetishism: a social history of the corset, tight-lacing, and other forms of torso-sculpture in the Westward. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Littlefield, 1982.
• Marty, Myron A. Daily Life in the United States, 1960-1990: Decades of Discord. Westport, CT: Greenwood Printing, 1997.
• Sickels, Robert. American Pop Culture Through History: The 1940s. Westport, CT: Greenwood Printing, 2004.
• Wilcox, R. Turner. Five Centuries of American Costume. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1963.
• Young, William H. American Pop Civilisation Through History: The 1950s. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004.

yug7hygyuyu on Feb 10, 2020:

cool

Bidoludünya on October thirty, 2014:

Wonderful

Bidoludünya

http://world wide web.xn--bidoludnya-geb.com/

Bridget (author) from California on October 22, 2014:

Wow give thanks yous everyone for such positive comments! I'g and so glad y'all all like the hub!

Pinky de Garcia on Oct 22, 2014:

This article is better than a music flashback. While reading your hub, I feel similar living in the past.Information technology'due south practiced to know the fashion of my great grandma.Thumbs upwardly!

Bridget (author) from California on Oct 20, 2014:

Thank you! Information technology amazes me also, that at that place is so much unique content and creative minds hither. I'm glad you enjoyed my slice!

MarieLB from YAMBA NSW on October xx, 2014:

Hullo #Baboon Ryan, what a refreshingly dissimilar topic. It never ceases to amaze me [I have not been here long either] what a diverseness of people and of topics at that place is on this site. As fourth dimension goes on I am realising what a massive chore Admin must have to keep us in line.. ..ha!Ha!!

Dorsum to your commodity, you accept given me such an insight into your world. Beautifully washed. Will look forward to more from y'all.

Besarien from Due south Florida on October 19, 2014:

I dear fashion and especially the history of fashion. I hope yous keep adding to this hub!

Share this post