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The Impact of World War I on American Women's Fashion

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The Impact of World War I on American Women's Fashion Western Oregon University Digital Commons@WOU Honors Senior Theses/Projects Student Scholarship 6-2014 The Impact of World War I on American Women’s Fashion Bethany L. Haight Western Oregon University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/honors_theses Part of the Social History Commons Recommended Citation Haight, Bethany L., "The Impact of World War I on American Women’s Fashion" (2014). Honors Senior Theses/Projects. 16. https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/honors_theses/16 This Undergraduate Honors Thesis/Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Digital Commons@WOU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Senior Theses/Projects by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@WOU. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. The Impact of World War I on American Women’s Fashion By Bethany L. Haight An Honors Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Graduation from the Western Oregon University Honors Program Prof. Sandra Hedgepeth, Thesis Advisor Dr. Gavin Keulks, Honors Program Director Western Oregon University June 2014 Defining Fashion and Culture at the Start of the Twentieth Century Introduction: Clothing has been part of human history for tens of thousands of years. During this time fashion has be subject to innumerable changes around the globe. It has been, and continues to be, influenced by everything from the availability of resources to environmental and physiological necessity. While being reflective of culture the two play off one another, each impacting and redefining the other. To fully understand the shifts that occur in fashion it is necessary to understand not only coinciding the changes in culture but those that precede and develop as a result as well. Additionally, one must recognize that no fashion concept stands alone. No matter how innovative the change may appear to be, it always draws on previous styles for influence. As such, before the fashion concepts in question can be effectively discussed, what came before it must also be understood. It is a commonly held belief that the introduction of habitual clothing, or clothing that is worn consistently, came about as a response to migration into cooler areas such as northern Europe and Asia. Clothing offered a modifiable microenvironment with the potential to protect the human body from a variety of factors. As it became complex, sewn and tailored, it changed human physiology and altered the expression of cultural norms. With the transition to 1 habitual clothing body painting lost much of its relevance and clothing became a new form of skin.1 Over time it developed into a mode of self-expression, social subjugation, and visual representation of rank. As such, fashion has become linked to the formation of first impressions. Learning about influential events, such as World War I, that surround changes in dress can provide the context needed to understand why these changes occurred in the first place. Prior to discussing contemporary influences it is important to consider antecedent factors. While the entire history of clothing and fashion could be discussed, this work will focus on the most relevant years, the decade that preceded World War I. While this is due in part to its immediate association with the time in question this decade also marked the end of a century-long standstill in the Western fashion industry. Consequently, analyzing just this short period in history provides a depiction of fashion standards in the century before as well. Pre-War: The years between the beginning of the twentieth century and the beginning of World War I are known by many names. The most common of these 1 Ian Gilligan, "Neanderthal Extinction and Modern Human Behaviour: The Role of Climate Change and Clothing," World Archaeology 39, no. 4 (2007): pg. #502; Ian Gilligan, “The Prehistoric Development of Clothing: Archaeological Implications of a Thermal Model,” Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 17, no. 1 (2010): pg. #24-27. 2 is “The Edwardian Era” but others include “The Age of Opulence” and “La Belle Époque.”2 Even today, these names evoke images of splendor in the mind. Fashion during much of this time was slow to change, and Paris stood as the unquestioned capital of Western fashion. Clothing varied to fit the changing seasons, but year to year it remained a static holdover of the previous century. With the consistency in styles people turned to other areas to infuse the desired individuality into their dress. During the first decade of the twentieth century this took the form of extensive trim.3 Throughout much of history women have been encouraged to adopt unnatural forms and postures to satisfy culturally accepted concepts of fashion and femininity. Western fashion has included everything from exaggerated hips to S-shaped corsetry.4 In 1908, backed by the couturier Paul Poiret, the idea of the natural figure was reintroduced in Paris, and eventually the whole of Western fashion. In the more than century that has followed Western fashion has continued to embrace natural posture in fashion.5 As was common at this time, New York fashion lagged behind Paris. Rather than developing new ideas New York focused on producing Parisian styles and while not far behind, in 1909 they 2 Valerie D. Mendes and Amy De La Haye, Fashion since 1900, 2nd ed. (London: Thames & Hudson, 2010), pg. #10. 3 Elizabeth Ewing, History of 20th Century Fashion (Hollywood: Costume & Fashion Design, 2001), pg. #62. 4 See reference image 5. 5 Ewing, pg. #62-63. 3 were still producing the S-shaped silhouette and flared skirt that had been tossed off by fashionable Europeans a year prior.6 This new style also marked the first time since the 1700s that women’s silhouettes were scaled back to a size that was comparable to menswear.7 Dresses and skirts became lighter and overall circumference shrunk, removing the necessity of standing several feet from everything. This revolution did more than allow for natural posture to overtake the existing S-shaped profiles. It took several years but this transition played a major part in the eventual dissolution of widespread corsetry. Before this could happen however, a new form of corset was needed to accompany the changing style. It produced a smooth vertical line from under-bust to foot and its various forms remained in toilettes in the years that followed. However, they were no longer a necessity used to bully the human form into submission and as such a few fashionable, and revolutionary, women decided to forgo them. Early forms of the brassiere existed in the late 1800s, and earlier in isolated cases, but the garment came into more widespread use at this time and was patented on November 13, 1914.8 6 National Cloak & Suit Co., Women’s Fashions of the Early 1900s: An Unabridged Replication of “New York Fashions, 1909” (New York: Dover Publications, 1992). 7 Anne Hollander, Sex and Suits: The Evolution of Modern Dress (New York: Knopf, 1995), pg. #127. 8 Ewing, pg. #63. 4 As part of this revival of directoire fashion hobble skirts9 came into vogue. The hobble skirt received its name because it did not widen at the knee or hemline thereby restricting leg movement. The dichotomy of this style led Poiret to say, “...I freed the bust, but I shackled the legs.”10 The very nature of this skirt limited its marketability as only women that lived lives of luxury and ease could afford such limited mobility. As was common with most preceding aristocratic fashions, appearance trumped functionality. However, new methods of information dissemination allowed the hobble skirt to become popular despite this flaw. The clean lines and reduced fabric meant it was easy to produce but middle and lower-class women needed a skirt that would allow for greater range of motion. Slits and nearly hidden pleats proved to be the solution.11 Soon the hobble skirt design was paired with the trotteur, or walking skirt, the hem of which rested above the ankle thereby limiting the concern for damaged and dirtied hemlines.12 However, the style became so pervasive within society that the upper-class sought to find a new fashion that would distinguish them from everyone else. Once again, Poiret led the fashion houses in a new form. He added subtle folds to skirts and lifted waistlines, mirroring earlier 9 See reference image 3. 10 Ewing, pg. #63. 11 Ewing, pg. #66. 12 Ewing, pg. #66. 5 Empire styles.13 Additionally, tunics and overskirts of varying designs became fashionable. These allowed the column-like shape indicative of the hobble skirt to be separated by one or more horizontal lines.14 During this time Eastern influence melded with Western fashion as well. As early as 1908 kimonos and Oriental satins were being advertised in London and they remained popular until the beginning of the war. Vibrant colors had come into vogue a few years earlier, and were furthered with the introduction of new Oriental colors. Unfortunately, Eastern influence floundered in 1914, due in large part to the beginning of World War I and the resulting strain on trade.15 At the beginning of the twentieth century necklines were high and constricting, with boning that came nearly to the chin. However, by 1908 they had begun to lower. Round necklines and Peter Pan collars were both present, as was the controversial ‘V’ neck. The reintroduction of the ‘V’ neck brought back the modestly vest that had been popular a century earlier. Soon these concerns ebbed and the necklines, now even lower, were accepted without modestly vests.16 13 Ewing, pg. #69; see reference image 2.
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