Fashion Imagery and the Construction of Masculinity in America, 1960-2000
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Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2014 The Fashionable Life: Fashion Imagery and the Construction of Masculinity in America, 1960-2000 Kelly Ann O'connor Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the History of Gender Commons Recommended Citation O'connor, Kelly Ann, "The Fashionable Life: Fashion Imagery and the Construction of Masculinity in America, 1960-2000" (2014). Dissertations. 907. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/907 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 2014 Kelly Ann O'connor LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO THE FASHIONABLE LIFE: FASHION IMAGERY AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF MASCULINITY IN AMERICA, 1960-2000 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM IN HISTORY BY KELLY A. O’CONNOR CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MAY 2014 Copyright by Kelly A. O’Connor, 2014 All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of this dissertation was a long, yet satisfying process. There are many institutions and individuals that need to be recognized and thanked for their efforts in making this dissertation possible. I would like to first acknowledge the Graduate School at Loyola University Chicago for their generous financial support in bestowing me with the Teaching Scholar Award, Advanced Doctoral Fellowship, and Arthur J. Schmitt Fellowship. This funding gave me the time and means to properly research and then write my actual dissertation. Much of the research for this project was undertaken at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, Illinois and the libraries at Loyola. The staff and librarians at both institutions were extremely helpful and accommodating. The History Department at Loyola deserves recognition as well. I realize that without their endorsement, I would not have received those fellowships and awards needed to properly complete this project, and for this I am very thankful. To my fellow graduate students in the department, I appreciate all of the feedback and commentary you provided over the years about my work. Each of the professors I encountered during my time at Loyola has enriched my love and knowledge of history. There are three professors in particular that need to be singled out for their efforts. I was fortunate to sign up for Lewis Erenberg’s course on American Cultural History. This was the class that provided the intellectual spark for what would become my eventual dissertation topic. Both he and Timothy Gilfoyle have been constant sources of intellectual support iii iv and encouragement. Their critiques of my work have not only made this dissertation stronger, but me a better writer and historian. A very special thank you goes to my dissertation advisor, Susan Hirsch. I have been the lucky beneficiary of her wisdom, experience, and keen critical eye. I know I would not have made it through this process without her guidance, support, and understanding. I received enormous support and assistance from my family and friends over the past few years. Two friends in particular deserve special mention—Anne Kingsley and Steve Catania. You both know how hard this process is and I thank you for lending not only an ear when needed, but also your good humor and spirits. I want to extend a huge heap of gratitude and love towards my family and those that make up the O’Connor, Glynn, Andrews, Patton, Schissel, Mihelich, O’Leary, and Esposito clans. To this end, my brothers Sean and Rory stand out for providing me with crucial moments of comic relief, general assistance, and encouragement. Finally, I want to recognize my parents, Neal and Kathy. I inherited my father’s love of history and my mother’s passion for fashion as this dissertation shows. My parents never once dissuaded me from majoring in history as an undergraduate at Holy Cross all those years ago. They have always pushed me to follow my own unique path and to always believe in myself. I hope I have done justice to their faith in me. To my parents, Neal and Kathy TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii LIST OF FIGURES vii ABSTRACT viii INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE: THE AMERICAN MALE IS “ALL SHOOK UP”: POST-WAR AMERICA AND MASCULINITY IN THE 1950s AND 1960s 24 CHAPTER TWO: “THERE’S SOMETHING HAPPENING HERE”: LEISURE SUITS, COWBOYS, AND THE EARLY 1970s 67 CHAPTER THREE: DRESS YOU UP IN NOSTALGIA: MASCULINITY AND MASCULINE DRESS IN LATE 1970s AMERICA 129 131 CHAPTER FOUR: SUITED UP FOR BATTLE: POWER DRESSING IN THE 1980s 182 CHAPTER FIVE: SUITED UP TO EXTREMES: THE SUIT AND MASCULINITY IN 1990s AMERICA 241 CONCLUSION 309 BIBLIOGRAPHY 320 VITA 344 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. 1950s Man in the Gray Flannel Suit 30 Figure 2. John F. Kennedy 55 Figure 3. Tunic Leisure Suit 84 Figure 4. Cowboy on the Town 115 Figure 5. Colorful Suiting Attire 128 Figure 6. Double Breasted Elegance 142 Figure 7. The Western Cowboy 166 Figure 8. Official Portrait of President Ronald Reagan 191 Figure 9. The 1980s Male Yuppie 208 Figure 10. Workout Gear 223 Figure 11. 1980s Masculinity in American Psycho (2000) 239 Figure 12. A Relaxed Suiting Ensemble 254 Figure 13. Glamorous Suiting Attire 276 Figure 14. Slimmer Suit Aesthetic 280 Figure 15. The Suit at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century 318 vii ABSTRACT Women for far too long exemplified the consumer of fashion in scholarship. While studies have been produced about men’s fashions, historians need to apply their tools of inquiry to give men, particularly American men, greater visibility as historical actors within consumer culture. This dissertation seeks to address this issue by examining the process of masculine identity formation through dress for the American male, specifically the upwardly-mobile, white, black, and gay male from the 1970s through the 1990s. After World War II, American culture, in large part, has been based upon the benefits and advantages created by consumerism. Happiness, fulfillment, and pleasure were defined through interactions with commodities that shaped one’s identity. Traditional masculinity proved less attainable in a world beset by political, economic, and cultural upheaval. Elements of traditional masculinity were repackaged into consumer goods. Clothing was one type of commodity that now embodied traditional masculine qualities of mastery, dominance, confidence, and control. Men turned to fashion for security, esteem, and masculine pride. No one article of masculine attire better symbolizes masculinity than the suit. During the 1970s through the 1990s, magazines serve as the best medium through which to explore the visibility and imagery of both the suit and American masculinity. Examining the varied presentations of the male body and suit fashions in print underscores not only societal expectations of masculinity, but how men used fashion to viii ix conform or oppose elements of traditional masculinity. Suits served as a barometer of masculinity, visually charting the American man’s struggle to locate an appropriate and comfortable masculinity that could be reproduced and replicated on a daily basis. Just as the suit oscillated between hard and soft imagery, so too did the American male depending upon societal conditions and individual needs. The suit not only acts as a window into the cultural, political, and economic issues of this period, but also allows for a greater understanding of American history and modern manhood. INTRODUCTION The inimitable French couturier and designer Coco Chanel claimed, “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”1 Chanel’s statement was made decades and decades ago by an insider to the fashion industry, yet many remain unwilling to give the study of fashion serious academic consideration. For some, fashion and its corresponding term “style,” are inherently linked with words like glitz, glamour, superficiality, and fad. Fashion is haphazardly labeled as a topic devoid of substantive or cultural value, one that does not merit significant or meaningful intellectual discussion. Yet, fashion is everywhere. The average person sees a plethora of ensembles and styles just by walking down a city block, surfing the web, or perusing magazines before boarding a commuter train. Celebrities, starlets, and various sophisticates are photographed constantly in sartorial offerings by designers, posing for red carpet snapshots, and being ranked as best or worst dressed. Along with magazines, fashion can be found on television in programs like E’s Fashion Police, TLC’s What Not to Wear, and Lifetime’s Project Runway among others. Award shows such as the Oscars and Golden Globes typically reserve time before the actual event begins on their respective television stations for in depth commentary and criticism regarding what 1 See http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/fashion; Internet; accessed 27 September 2013. 1 2 attendees are wearing. Fashion even infiltrates the world of politics with critics and supporters alike discussing Hilary Rodham Clinton’s suit choices during her travels as Secretary of State or whether First Lady Michelle Obama prefers wearing designs by Jason Wu to Isabel Toledo. Men are also not immune to the growing fashion consciousness within society. Male celebrities and politicians live under the watchful eye of fashion commentators who dissect their wardrobe choices including pontificating on the merits of Brad Pitt donning a Tom Ford tuxedo in contrast to Leonardo DiCaprio clothed head to toe in his perennial favorite designer, Giorgio Armani.