" Pretty and Patriotic": Women's Consumption of Apparel During World War II
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AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Jennifer M. Mower for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Design and Human Environment presented on September 22, 2011. Title: "Pretty and Patriotic": Women's Consumption of Apparel During World War II Abstract approved: ______________________________________________________________ Elaine L. Pedersen The War Production Board issued limitation order 85 in April 1942 in order to conserve fabric and manpower needed for the war effort. The L-85 order froze the silhouette so no major style changes in women's wear would occur during the war. It is clear that on the one hand the United States government hoped to curb, at least temporarily, the purchase of apparel and other goods to help support the war effort by restricting those materials needed for the war; on the other hand, the apparel industry was one of the leading consumer industries in the United States and putting it on hold was not only impractical but could potentially be harmful to the domestic economy. The United States apparel industry even marketed goods as patriotic to stimulate, not curb, consumer spending. This creates something of a dilemma. What we do not know is how consumers of women's apparel felt about the regulated apparel styles. The purpose of this research is to examine how female consumers of women’s apparel were influenced by the federal regulations of women's apparel and adornment during World War II. To learn how wartime affected women's purchase and use of apparel styles, patterns, and fabric, I asked thirty women who were at least 13 years old in 1941 about their purchase of these items and to discuss their feelings about the government regulation of dress and adornment under the limitation orders. Extant wartime garments were also examined to evaluate their adherence to the order. This sample of thirty women were not explicitly aware of the federal limitation orders on apparel. However, some remembered that wartime apparel styles were shorter and plainer than pre-war styles, and that there was a drastic change in styles after the war. Like many women during this time, many respondents made or their mothers made many of their clothes, and apparel purchases were generally fewer in number and often memorable. Memorable purchases related to changes in the body due to a pregnancy, a special occasion like a wedding, a dance or Easter, purchased for a new job, made while traveling or purchased with wages earned during a summer job. As indicated during their interviews, their purchase and use of apparel appeared to be more influenced by the pre- war economy, their age, their or their parents income, and whether they worked, went to school, raised children or a combination of these factors. This study makes it clear that not all consumers were aware of the L-85 orders, and as illustrated by the extant garments examined for this study, the orders weren't that limiting. Extant garments had style details like raglan and leg-of-mutton sleeves, allover pleats, pin tucks, wide pant legs, French cuffs, wide sweeps to name a few of the details that either stretched the limits of the L-85 order or outright violated it. ©Copyright by Jennifer M. Mower September 22, 2011 All Rights Reserved "Pretty and Patriotic": Women's Consumption of Apparel During World War II by Jennifer M. Mower A DISSERTATION submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Presented September 22, 2011 Commencement June 2012 Doctor of Philosophy dissertation of Jennifer M. Mower presented on September 22, 2011. APPROVED: ________________________________________________________________________ Major Professor, representing Design and Human Environment Department ________________________________________________________________________ Chair of the Department of Design and Human Environment ________________________________________________________________________ Dean of the Graduate School I understand that my dissertation will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my dissertation to any reader upon request. ________________________________________________________________________ Jennifer M. Mower, Author ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I'd like to thank my husband, Paul for his support. He has always supported my academic pursuits, but he has been especially encouraging and helpful after our daughter Eva was born. I also want to thank Jean and Mike Waters for their help with Eva. Knowing that she is loved and in good hands when I am working has given me peace of mind. I want to thank my committee for their help and guidance with this project, and for taking time out of their schedules to serve on my committee. I especially want to thank my major professor Elaine Pedersen. Throughout my master's and doctoral programs Elaine has always pushed me to improve my research and writing. She truly cares about her students and their success. I am truly honored to have learned from and worked with her these many years. Thank you. I want to also thank the women who took the time to be interviewed for this study because without them this study wouldn't have been possible. I also want to thank the Oregon State University Alumni Association and Anne Hatley with the Center for Healthy Aging Research for providing me with contact information for many of the women who were interviewed, in addition to soliciting friends and members of her church on my behalf. I want to also thank Kim Burgel at the Oregon Historical Society, Amy Gamblin at the Lane County Historical Museum, Mary Gallagher at the Benton County Historical Society and Museum, and Elaine Pedersen at the Design and Human Environment Historic and Cultural Textile Apparel Collection for their assistance with the extant wartime garments. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Chapter 1: Introduction.......................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review................................................. 5 United States before World War II............................ 5 World War II.............................................................. 7 Initial stages................................................... 8 United States Involvement............................. 9 Wartime Government Agencies................................. 11 Office of Price Administration...................... 12 War Production Board and Limitation Orders 13 Women's Wartime Employment in the Pacific Northwest 21 Boeing............................................................ 23 Kaiser Shipyards............................................ 24 United States Fashion Industry.................................. 26 Styles: Pre-war and World War II............................. 27 Chapter 3: Methods............................................................... 47 Research Design........................................................ 47 Historic Research.......................................... 47 Oral History.................................................. 49 Procedure.................................................................. 50 Sample.......................................................... 50 Interview Questions...................................... 54 Data Collection............................................. 56 Data Analysis................................................ 57 Reliability.................................................................. 57 Validity...................................................................... 61 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Page Chapter 4: Results................................................................. 63 Research Thesis......................................................... 63 Memories of War....................................................... 65 Sacrifices.................................................................... 66 Interest in Fashion...................................................... 67 Wartime Clothing....................................................... 73 Recalled.......................................................... 73 Extant.............................................................. 79 Acquisition of Apparel................................................ 84 Purchases......................................................... 85 Apparel Construction...................................... 87 Postwar Apparel Acquisitions ......................... 89 Budget............................................................. 90 War Inspired Clothing................................................. 93 Apparel Regulations.................................................... 98 Discussion................................................................... 103 Chapter 5: Conclusions........................................................... 113 Limitations.................................................................. 117 Future Studies............................................................. 118 Bibliography........................................................................... 120 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix Page Appendix A: Maximum measurements for all size ranges various women's and misses' daytime dresses....................................................................... 132 Appendix B: Wartime demographics by respondent............. 134 Appendix C: Recruitment Poster............................................ 138 Appendix D: Recruitment Letter for Newsletters................... 139 Appendix E: