University of Portland Pilot Scholars History Undergraduate Publications and Presentations History 12-11-2019 Sewing Sacrifice: American omenW ’s Fashions and Clothing in World War II Maya Tawatao Follow this and additional works at: https://pilotscholars.up.edu/hst_studpubs Part of the United States History Commons, and the Women's History Commons Citation: Pilot Scholars Version (Modified MLA Style) Tawatao, Maya, "Sewing Sacrifice: American omenW ’s Fashions and Clothing in World War II" (2019). History Undergraduate Publications and Presentations. 22. https://pilotscholars.up.edu/hst_studpubs/22 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the History at Pilot Scholars. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Undergraduate Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of Pilot Scholars. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Tawatao 1 Maya Tawatao December 11, 2019 HST 471 A Sewing Sacrifice: American Women’s Fashions and Clothing in World War II Perhaps because fashion seems to be a more frivolous topic, most research or works on the topic are descriptive, rather than analytical, and focus on symbolism above all else. Fashion historian Annemarie Strassel argues that the subject is approached with too much caution about the significance, or lack of, surrounding the evolution of style. “Taken as a whole,” she notes, “the feminist potential of fashion has been limited to its visual or symbolic power, distinct from any kind of meaningful material transformation of women's lived experience.”1 Scholars also tend to place most of their attention on specific designers, rather than women themselves, as a group, influencing culture.