The intent of this essay is to explore the research question “How did cultural events from 1914-1945 affect women’s fashion and their means of self-expression?” Within this essay, various cultural events were investigated such as World War I, Women’s Rights Movements, The Jazz Age, The Great Depression, and World War II. Each of these events is explored in order to obtain knowledge of how they affected and shaped women’s fashion. Women were introduced into the workforce during both World Wars which influenced women in a way that made them desire more rights and privileges. Women’s fashion underwent various reforms as women began to gain more freedoms. With the birth of the Jazz era, fashion took a turn. Flapper dresses were produced and took…
As they frivolously pursue riches, they are only filled with emptiness: a hole that the American people still search to fill. As we enter the 90’s and even to the present day we are trying to find fulfilment in something; however, we have been conditioned to value money to the extent that it inhibits us from pursuing grander goals. As the time changed from the Civil Rights social justice movements of the 60’s and early 70’s to the escapism and focus on self and wealth in the late 70’s to 80’s, we witness significant changes reflected in what we value, how we think, and what we wear. James Laver said, “When seen in retrospect, fashions seem to express their era”, and this is clearly true from the analysis we have seen. Really, our fashion throughout history tells us a story; however, it is just an excerpt of an ongoing story continuing to today. History is not as easily partitioned as it appears to be here. Fashion and fads constantly evolving to reflect their eras. The story is fluid and the lines are inscrutable. Ultimately, Fashion reflects the society that it once represented. When taken apart carefully, within the proper context, it reveals the story of people: who they were, who they became, what they valued, and in a very simple manner, what they…
Schorman, Rob. Selling Style: Clothing and Social Change at the Turn of the Century. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 2003.…
Each generation of Americans has their own unique fashion story that has been influenced by the events of the time. Whether it was the flapper of the Roaring Twenties, or the suburban housewife of the Fifties, each decade of woman carved out their place in fashion history. From the Lost Generation to the Millennial Generation, we can see the way current events have affected the way our society clothes itself. We can see the evolution of hemlines and silhouettes, hairdos and accessories, and they can all be related back to the fears and the aspirations of society as a whole. There are so many factors that influence the way we dress. War, politics, the economy, celebrities, and social issues are all factors in determining the fashion trends of each and every American generation.…
When people talk about the word “fashion,” it automatically provides a sense of popular styles of clothing, accessories, and makeup. Fashion influences not only on people’s behaviors, but also influences society on a social and economic level. Sometimes, people show their social status through the consumption of luxury goods, while this trait can be found through the history of fashion. In Adorned in Dreams, the author Elizabeth Wilson introduces fashion’s history and through these changes, people can express different belief systems, social values, and public desires. In Subculture The Meaning of Style, Dick Hebdige introduces an example in Britain’s emergence of subcultures, which illustrates people had changed their social values and beliefs…
Throughout the 1900s, women began to use fashion as a way to express their identities and rights within the evolving society. Different perspectives, beliefs, points of view, innovations, and so much more, all contribute to the way that women today can express themselves and have their own…
The 1920’s fashion was a period of liberation, change, and even more importantly a movement towards the modern era. Fashion in the 1920’s varied throughout the decade but one could see the noticeable change from the previous fashion statements and eras. At the start of the decade, women began emancipating themselves from the constricting fashions by wearing more comfortable apparel. As women gained more rights and World War I forced them to become more independent, flappers came to be, mass-produced garments became available, and artistic movements increased in popularity, one can see how the fashions from the roaring twenties characterized the time and redefined womanhood. (1920s clothing 1)…
As I walked around the mall, I noticed the short shorts and baggy shirts that consume today’s women’s fashion. Leaving, I imagined the mall back in the 1950’s. The bright colored outfits reminded me of today’s. Even though both the 1950’s women fashion and 2016’s women fashion are bold in style, there are many similarities and differences in the two year’s fashion senses and their impressions on America’s fashion industry.…
As time goes by, fashion has had o very big influence on people´s personality features, clothing has become what. Over the 50’s and 80’s decades, it was suffered as many changes as the history its self has had. The main point on this essay is to compare or contrast the 80’s and 50’s fashion tendencies, and representative trends.…
about which store they buy their clothes from? We see these people being adored by the…
In this generation, there are constantly new styles that set a statement. With every new trend, there are people who follow every single one of them as if they are religions. Because of this, fashion around the world is beginning to look identical from one edge of the world to the other. In the fashion industry, anything from bold makeup and outgoing clothing that does not leave much to the imagination to shoes higher than the Rocky Mountains, is acceptable.…
Looking back over fashion trends for the past 100 years can only cause one to marvel at the drastic changes that have occurred, often in lockstep with societal changes. Women's liberation, for example, can be visually measured through the evolution from suffocating corsets to jersey fabrics to bikinis. A timeline of the past century shows how the times have changed.…
The designs of the fashions of today are very different from the designs of the past. Rather than having a few pieces of clothing for the entire year with the addition of a wrap for warmth in the winter, entire wardrobes are seasonal with one wardrobe for warm temperatures and another for the cool seasons. The designs now are basic with additions of ruffles, ribbon, pleats, and other things to decorate the basic items. An example would be the basic a-line dress for a girl. An a-line is a shift dress. It buttons at the shoulders and gradually increases its width to form a bell shape. But this basic shape is used by many children’s clothing designers. They make it their own by what they added to it. Accessories are used, but they tend to add to the style of the garment rather adding bulk.…
Fashion has always been a reflection of the collective consciousness and unconsciousness of society. In politically conservative times, fashion reflects the staidness of the majority, but also the subversive elements of the minority. No less a controversial figure than King Louis XIV of France was rumored to have said that fashion was a mirror. Music, films, and television, all potent pop culture mirrors in their own right of the anxieties, hopes, and dreams of any society, all collectively form a synergistic relationship with fashion, each informing, influencing, and cross-pollinating the others in various turns. Fashion is also a pop culture manifestation of the intellectual and cultural trend of postmodernism. Fashion depends on newness; summer, fall, winter, spring are…
From the Middle Ages to today, in the Twenty-First century, Fashion has always been a huge component of culture. It’s a form of identification, a way to express oneself, and even a canvas for the artistic. Every decade has its fashions and styles that everyone associates with it, and these women’s fashions of the Twentieth Century, from the Flapper’s dance dress of the Twenties to the miniskirt of the Sixties, are still incredibly relevant today. These fashions, seen through text books and todays fashion alike, can act as windows into Twentieth Century Fashion. The twentieth century decades are represented by the clothes and dresses that anyone in today’s culture with an interest in the history of fashion and culture should learn about.…