The Undersigned, Appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School, Have Examined the Dissertation Entitled
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LOVE WILL NEVER BE RATIONED: WORLD WAR II BRIDAL APPAREL _______________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________ by ASHLEY HASTY Dr. Laurel Wilson, Dissertation Supervisor MAY 2011 The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled LOVE WILL NEVER BE RATIONED: WORLD WAR II BRIDAL APPAREL presented by Ashley Hasty, a candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. _______________________________________________ Professor Laurel Wilson _______________________________________________ Professor Pam Norum _______________________________________________ Professor Beth Myers _______________________________________________ Professor Elaine Lawless ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I’d like to thank my advisor, Dr. Laurel Wilson, for placing her considerable experience and wisdom at my disposal during this process. Her contributions to my education and this dissertation are substantial, and for that and much more, I am greatly appreciative. I must also express my thanks to Dr. Elaine Lawless, who not only introduced me to the discipline of ethnography, but made great efforts to expand my knowledge of the subject quickly. More than anyone, Dr. Lawless developed my interest in war brides. For serving on my dissertation committee and providing thoughtful and useful contributions to my work, I thank Dr. Pam Norum and Dr. Beth Myers. Their expertise has been invaluable during my graduate education. I couldn’t have completed this dissertation without the assistance of Marie Concannon and Brenda Graves-Blevins, research librarians at the Ellis Library. Their skillful navigation of staggering amounts of information is a remarkable talent, and I’m grateful for their contributions to my work. I’d like to thank Nicole Johnson-Blatz for procuring pictures that illustrate the wartime wedding gowns so well. Also, I’d like to extend my thanks to the graduate students of the Textile and Apparel department for your unwavering support during this process. Working closely with colleagues of your caliber has been rewarding both intellectually and emotionally. Finally, I’d like to thank my husband, Eric Hasty, and my parents, Robert and Terri Steffes, for their hours of editorial contributions and their unending emotional support. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ ii LIST OF IMAGES ...............................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................1 Goals of the Study 2. AIMS .........................................................................................................................1 Objectives Area of Contribution Testability Relevant Experience Significance 3. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS ................................................................5 Data Collection Measurement Strategies Ethics and Management Quality 4. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................12 Changing Women’s Roles and Increased Autonomy Economic Difficulties and the Importance of Frugality Importance and Personal Significance of Dress and Attire Impact of Military and Home-Front Obligations 5. OBJECTIVE 1: SOCIAL ........................................................................................40 Etiquette Books iii Magazines 6. OBJECTIVE 2: LOGISTICAL ...............................................................................53 Etiquette Books Magazines Newspapers Surveys and Interviews 7. OBJECTIVE 3: RATIONAL ..................................................................................65 Non-Traditional Attire Rational-Traditional Attire 8. OBJECTIVE 4: SENTIMENTAL ..........................................................................79 Magazines Newspapers Surveys and Interviews 9. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................92 APPENDIX 1. SURVEY QUESTIONS .........................................................................................95 2. NEW YORK TIMES DATA ANALYSIS TABLE ...............................................96 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..............................................................................................................97 VITA ................................................................................................................................105 iv List of Images Image Page 1. Mr. and Mrs. Schulz ............................................................................................48 2. Mr. and Mrs. Weddell ..........................................................................................81 v List of Tables Table Page 1. Marital Status of United States Population: Married ..........................................20 2. Marital Status of United States Population: Single ............................................21 3. Percentage of Announcements Featuring “Long White” v. Percentage of Detailed Announcements Featuring “Blue” and “Colored Dress ......................................69 4. Percent of Detailed Announcements Featuring “Colored Dress” and “Borrowed” ............................................................................74 5. Percent of Detailed Articles Featuring “Cap / Hat” and “Borrowed” ..................75 6. Percent of Articles Featuring “Long White” ........................................................86 7. Percent of Articles Featuring Detail .....................................................................87 8. Percent of Articles Featuring an Image ................................................................88 vi INTRODUCTION Wedding gowns have elicited unequaled excitement through costume history. Little girls dream of their wedding days while recreating the fairytale marriage of Cinderella and Prince Charming using Barbie and Ken dolls. Wedding gowns are often the most treasured garments in a woman’s wardrobe and are rarely given or thrown away. Even in times of economic disparity, the wedding dress was often a woman’s “best dress.” AIMS This study investigates factors influencing choice of bridal apparel during World War II. Little systematic research has been done in this area. A description of these factors is postured through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Complimenting the aforementioned analysis will be a review of published material. In this subsection a detailed description of intentions are provided, addressing objectives, relevant experience of the author, testability, significance, and area of contribution. OBJECTIVES Factors influencing brides’ selection of wedding attire during the Second World War are addressed through exploration of social, logistical, rational, and sentimental factors effecting war brides. The aforementioned factors constitute the four key objectives of this study, and they are addressed individually. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE 1 According to Lincoln and Guba, prolonged engagement is necessary to establish validity or credibility.1 Prolonged engagement may also be referred to as the researcher's immersion in the information and data.2 As the only collector of data, my immersion in and familiarity with the data is extensive. In addition to my eight years of employment in the bridal industry, I also wrote a senior thesis about the feelings women associated with their wedding attire. I interviewed ten women across four generations and asked them about what they wore to their weddings and how they felt when wearing it. The comparison between brides married once and those married multiple times was just as enlightening as the comparison between generations. Finally, I completed a Master's thesis on wedding apparel for second weddings. I interviewed ten women who were remarried in the 1970s or 1980s in addition to conducting a content analysis of Bride Magazine and etiquette books published in those same decades. TESTABILITY The objectives of this study are empirically testable. Through surveys, war brides were questioned about what they wore to their wedding ceremonies, the value they placed on the apparel they wore to their wedding ceremonies, and the feelings they associate with the apparel worn to their wedding ceremonies. The surveys were open-ended so the answers could range from any number of feelings, levels of value, and descriptions of what was worn. Through examination of the answers to these questions we determine 1 Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. 2 Neuman, W. L. (1994). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (Vol. 2d ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Geertz, C. (1973). Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture. New York: Basic Books. 2 much about the various dynamics surrounding a bride's choice of attire. The study is measurable through content analysis and rich descriptive