AVANT-GARDE

COUTURE 100
YEARS

CULTURAL
INFLUENCES

RETRO
CON
TEN
TS
1
1900S 5
Edwardian era

1910S 31
World war I

1920S 52
Roaring twenties

1930S 86
The Great Depression

1940S 140
War age

1950S 195
The golden age of television

TRAVEL
1960S 250
Backpacking
in Incheon
Cultural deacade

41

1990S 411
1970S 302 Post world war
Me decade

2000S 466
1980S 357 Noughties
The decade of decadences
BILIOGRAPHY 466

2
 Preface
The Grandmother of Europe certainly left her mark in her 63-year reign of
the United Kingdom. Her children, grandchildren, and great-
grandchildren filled the continents’ courts: at the outbreak of the First
World War in 1914, no less than eight different European countries had
her relatives on the throne. Beginning her reign in 1837 when her childless
uncle William IV died, Victoria was never meant to be Queen, sitting fifth
in the line of succession until a series of deaths paved the way for her. Her
time on the throne was one of the most successful of any monarch in
British history and one of the longest of any around the world. Outliving
many of her own children and grandchildren, Victoria died on the 22nd of
January aged 81, succeeded by her son Edward VII. Today, she has
countless statutes worldwide to show the impact she made.
3
1900
 1900s News
The death of Queen Victoria
The Grandmother of Europe certainly left her mark in her 63-year reign of
the United Kingdom. Her children, grandchildren, and great-
grandchildren filled the continents’ courts: at the outbreak of the First
World War in 1914, no less than eight different European countries had
her relatives on the throne. Beginning her reign in 1837 when her childless
uncle William IV died, Victoria was never meant to be Queen, sitting fifth
in the line of succession until a series of deaths paved the way for her. Her Queen Victoria on her deathbed, 1901.

time on the throne was one of the most successful of any monarch in
British history and one of the longest of any around the world. Outliving
many of her own children and grandchildren, Victoria died on the 22nd of
January aged 81, succeeded by her son Edward VII. Today, she has
countless statutes worldwide to show the impact she made.
The assassination of
President McKinley
Across the pond, the United States of America also
lost a leader early in the century, but it came under
far more shocking circumstances. On the 6th of
September 1901, 6 months into his second term,
President William McKinley was assassinated. He
was in Buffalo, New York, attending an event at
the Temple of Music Hall greeting the public, as
people stood in line to shake hands with the affable
President. Security lingered nearby nervously, and
after 10 minutes of greeting, their nerves proved to
be warranted, as Leon Czolgosz approached and
shot McKinley twice with a revolver he concealed
in a handkerchief. One-shot ricocheted off a jacket
button, and the other wasn’t considered lethal, but
nevertheless, on 14th September, McKinley
succumbed to gangrene caused by the wound. 45
days later, Czolgosz was executed by an electric
chair.

25th President of the United States, William

McKinley, walks up the stairs of the Temple of
Music, on the day of his assassination,
September 9, 1901.

4
The Russo-Japanese War
Both the Russians and Japanese hoped-for expansion in the Far
East and a sphere of influence over the area of Korea and North-
East China, coming to loggerheads in negotiations. When they
broke down, Japan decided to strike first by launching a surprise
attack at Russian-controlled Port Arthur. In the ensuing war, the
Japanese crushed the Russians, humiliating them in naval warfare,
establishing themselves as a new world power on the military stage,
and sending shockwaves through the west. It was the first time an
army from Asia had defeated one from Europe. The Russian’s
performance was considered a national embarrassment, causing
their first revolution, a constitutional reform, and laying the first
brick in the eventual collapse of their autocracy a decade later. This
conflict was also the testing ground for modern warfare
technologies that would become commonplace in the First World
War.
Photograph of negotiations for the Treaty of
Portsmouth in 1905.

5
 Victor Talking Machine December 7, 1901

This ad appeared shortly after the Victor Talking Machine Company was incorporated. The more familiar “Victrola” brand
was introduced five years later, in 1906, and was the most popular home phonograph brand for decades.

6
 1908 Wooltex Styles Fashion Ad

Orville and Wilbur Wright were skilled mechanics, developing

ideas while working with bicycles about the possibilities of
heavier-than-air controlled flight. From 1900 they
completed early
tests with gliders
and designed the
machine and
engine that would
make them
famous: the
Wright Flyer. On
the 17th
December 1903,
in North Carolina,
it first took to the
skies during a
series of flights,
in which the
brothers took
turns and
witnesses looked
on. The initial reaction to their achievement was virtually
nonexistent, being considered impressive but not important. Much
of Europe, meanwhile, refused to believe the authenticity of the
The Wright Brothers conduct the first powered flight on
flight, and it was only with further improvements, both by the
December 17th, 1903.
Wright Brothers and others that pushed the boundaries and
improved the technology, that their monumental accomplishment
gained the recognition it deserved.

7
Women’s wear
Hourglass Figures
Underneath their walking dresses,
restrictive corsets molded women’s bodies,

For fashionable women at the turn of the century, the ideal body had an ample bosom, throwing the bust forward and the hips

tiny waist, and large hips. Known as the hourglass or Sbend (because it followed the back to create a curvy S-bend shape

curves of a letter “S”), this silhouette was achieved by wearing a rigid, boned
corset. Helped by their
maids, fashionable
women usually
changed clothes
several times a day,
wearing different
outfits for morning,
afternoon, and evening.
Daytime clothes
covered the whole
body.Whether in
dresses or separates,
women wore high
collars, puffed-out
bodices, and full skirts,
worn over layers of
rustling petticoats.
Clothes were generally
made by hand and
involved enormous
amounts of labor.
Some dresses were
embroidered with tiny
flowers or draped with
lace. Bodices or blouses
were often

8
 Mariano Fortuny (1871–1949)
The Spanish-born designer Fortuny spent time studying painting, drawing,
chemistry, and dyes before turning to fashion design. During the 1890s, while
building theatrical stage sets, he started to think more about the effects of light.
Fortuny developed a special way of pleating silk, which created interesting
plays of light. One of his earliest dresses was the Delphos gown (1906), a simple
tunic made of pleated silk satin, inspired by the costume of classical Greece.

Manual washers were manufactured until

the 1920s. Turning the lever moved one of
the curved surfaces inside the tub over the
other, rubbing the wet clothes in between Three gowns by Mariano Fortuny

Caring for Clothes

Middle- and upper-class families employed servants
who kept their houses and their clothes clean. Some
families used washerwomen or even commercial
laundries. Cleaning clothes was a labor-intensive
business. Clothes were supported on a wooden
washboard and scrubbed clean using a brush, water,
and soap. Manual washing machines, which had been
invented in the United States in the 1840s, rubbed
clothes between two curved surfaces.The first electric
clothes washers appeared around 1900.They had a
motor-driven spinning tub, but were not very
reliable.They often caused electric shocks or shredded
delicate clothes.

9
 In 1900s the key trends were La Belle Époque and the Gibson
Girl.
La Belle Époque style was favoured by the rich and privileged.
Sumptuous fashions were made in luxurious fabrics. Women
who were not part of the upper echelons of society, however,
had to settle with less expensive clothing.

Gibson Girl look was viewed as the ideal feminine form, featured
La Belle Époque
a large bosom, tiny waist and rounded backside, all of which were
achieved with the help of swan-bill corsets. It fit in with an almost
ethereal idea of beauty, where women had long, elegant necks;
wore their hair piled invitingly high on their heads and had a
faraway, dreamy gaze.

Gibson Girl

10
Fashion for women in the first decade of the twentieth century largely
followed the fashion of the previous century. The highly structured
silhouette of the Gibson Girl was still popular at the beginning of the
decade. The simplification and loosening of dress that would come to
define the century did not begin to appear until late in the decade and
early in the next. Instead, modest dresses, bodies moulded by corsets,
and ostentatious ornamentation dominated women’s fashion
throughout the first ten years of the century.

For a large part of the decade, the fashionable silhouette continued to

be dominated by the S-shape created by a new “health” corset. These
corsets pushed the bust forward and the hips back in an attempt to
avoid pressure on the abdomen (Laver 213). The shape emphasized a
narrow waist and large “mono-bosom,” which can be seen in the
fashion illustration by La Mode Artistique and the early 1900s dinner
dress by the House of Worth.

Fashion plate from La Moda Elegante Ilustrada, December

30, 1905, December 30, 1905.

Tops were blousy and loose, like that in the extra fabric helping
to emphasize this top-heavy shape. Sleeves were equally
dramatic. The effect was enhanced with petticoats that had full
backs and smooth fronts (Milford-Cottam 15).

Jean-Philippe Worth (French, 1856–1926). Dinner dress, ca. 1900. Silk, metal,
rhinestones. New York: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan
Museum of Art,

11
Modesty was emphasized with day dresses covering the body
from the neck to the floor and long sleeves covering the
arms. Skirts were bell-shaped and lace was a popular
decoration (Laver 216). For those who couldn’t afford lace,
Irish crochet was a good alternative (Laver 216). Rich
fabrics were used with silk satin and chiffon two popular
choices. Colors were light, but embellished with decorations.
Editor Kathryn Hennessy writes in Fashion: The Ultimate
Book of Fashion and Style, “Sumptuous fabrics such as silk
satin, damask, and chiffon, usually in light, soft colours,
were decorated with lace, rhinestones, and spangles, often
highlighting a part of the body or the face”. Daniel Milford-
Cottam adds in Edwardian Fashion, “The most fashionable
daywear was often as elaborately trimmed and accessorized
as evening wear” (16). This can be seen in the bodice of the
afternoon dress by Jeanne Paquin

Jean-Philippe Worth (French, 1856–1926).

Evening dress, 1905. Silk. New York:
Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009.

Jeanne Paquin (French, 1869–1936). Afternoon

dress, 1906-8. Silk. New York: Brooklyn Museum
Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum
of Art, 2009.
. Overall, the prevailing look was that of a mature,
sophisticated, and graceful woman, like that seen in the
cream silk gown by the House of Worth.

12
Evening dress largely followed the same
silhouette, though these gowns were more
revealing with very low décolletage and short
sleeves. The sleeve length was offset by the
wearing of long gloves. Milford-Cottam writes,
“The cut of the bodice was often the only way to
tell an evening gown from an afternoon dress”
(23). Where day dresses had blousy, high-
collared bodices, evening gowns had more fitted
bodices with low-cut necks, like that seen in the
elaborate
gown from 1902 (Fig. 6). Sleeves Jean-Philippe Worth
could also be draped and necklines (French, 1856–1926).
were sometimes off-the-shoulder. Evening dress, 1902. Silk,
While the wealthy woman wore rhinestones, metal. New
the extravagantly decorated York: Brooklyn Museum
styles of the 1900s, many women Costume Collection at The
were beginning to work outside the home.Metropolitan
These Museum of
women needed Art

something more practical to wear and this came in the form

of the “tailor-made.” These suits were introduced in the late
1800s and both working and wealthy wore them in the
1900s. James Laver writes in Costume and Fashion: A
Concise History, “Even rich women wore tailor-mades in the
country or when traveling” (221). The suits allowed women
to change the bodice or the blouse while keeping the skirt, an
economic way to stay fashionable (Fig.7).
While the prevailing mode favored the embellished day and
evening dresses, women began to emphasize the importance
of dressing for the occasion. Milford-Cottam writes,
“Event-specific dressing was increasingly important, and
smart people took care to dress appropriately for the
occasion. The wealthiest women had multiple costumes,
ranging from theatre and evening gowns to morning and
afternoon dresses and practical costumes for hunting,
yachting and other active pursuits.”

Palais de Glace Costume, Fashion plate from

The Queen, January 6, 1900, 1900.

13
Afternoon Dress

Jeanne Paquin (French, 1869–

1936). Afternoon dress, 1909.
Silk. New York: Brooklyn
Museum Costume Collection at
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,

14
Dinner Dress

Jean-Philippe Worth (French, 1856–

1926). Dinner dress, 1908-10. Silk,
rhinestones. New York: Brooklyn
Museum Costume Collection at The
Metropolitan Museum of Art

15
 Menswear’s
Like most of the first half of the twentieth century, men’s fashion moved
much slower than women’s. There weren’t great changes to the prevailing
menswear modes, but rather subtle changes in details and accessories. What
men wore continued to be ruled by the appropriateness for the event and
men could wear suits in varying degrees of formality.
Throughout the decade, the most formal option for men was the frock coat
during the day and tails in the evening. However, Milford-Cottam
comments, “The frock coat was beginning to be thought old-fashioned by
1901, suitable only for Sundays or the most conservative daywear”. During
the day, the three-piece suit dominated, though colors and materials were
more varied (though not too daring). Morning dress was worn for the most
formal daytime occasions. Neckties were essential and allowed for a small
pop of color. Though soft-front shirts were introduced during this period,
they would not become widespread until the 1920s. Instead, starched shirt-
fronts with high collars were worn with the three-piece suit.
Though the suit was still the primary daywear, clothing associated with
various sporting pursuits was becoming increasingly acceptable as daywear.
Jno Mitchell Co.. Frock Coat April 1904,
Hennessey writes,“Other
1904.
garments that were used
for sport were cardigans
for tennis, cricket,
and baseball as well as
increasingly for leisure
wear, and thick, woolen
sweaters seen on motor-
cyclists and skiers. Woolen
jumpers were also popular
with fishermen – workwear
being another source for
fashion innovation.”

Jno Mitchell Co.. Morning dress,

1901.

L.S. Davidson (American). Suit,

1903. New York: Brooklyn
Museum Costume Collection at
The Metropolitan Museum of
Art

16
 Fashion plate of men's golfing clothes, from the Sartorial
Arts Journal, New York, 1901, 1901.
Knickerbockers and tweeds worn on the golf
course were also acceptable daywear. Milford-
Cottam describes other popular day looks that
popped up at sporting events in England:
“By 1901, men attending spectator sports in the
summer were increasingly wearing flannel and
linen suits, straw Panama or boater hats, blazers,
white trousers, and, of course, the royal-approved
homburgs [a type of hat] and tweeds.”
Besides sporting looks, the lounge suit was another option,
with light colored suits especially popular in the summer.
Mr Corbella. Imperial Hotel, The Mall, Waterford, September
8, 1903.
Wedding Photography, ca. 1900s
Evening wear continued to be very formal, though the tuxedo,
which was seen as less formal at the time, was becoming
increasingly acceptable. While older, more conservative men
continued to wear tails, the tail-less dinner jacket of the tuxedo
continued to rise in popularity during the decade. Despite this,
tailcoats were still seen as the most formal attire. Milford-Cottam
explains the evening options throughout the decade:
“Evening dress consisted of a black coat and coordinating
trousers, often worn with an expanse of crisp, starched white
shirt-front and a low-cut waist-coast, which could be in either
black, matching the suit, or white to coordinate with the shirt.”
(41)
He continues to explain that the bow tie would be coordinated
with the waistcoat, with white ties and waistcoats seen as more
formal.
Like womenswear, hats and gloves continued to be worn. Black
shoes were the most acceptable, though gray, brown and tan were
acceptable during the day. By the end of the decade, men’s
fashion largely looked the same as it did at the beginning.
Menswear would further stall in the following decade due to the
First World War.
17
CHILDREN’S WEAR
The new century did not bring drastic changes in children’s wear.
Children continued to be dressed as mini-adults with many of the
styles found in menswear and womenswear making their way into
children’s wear. Themes found in fashion for both boys and girls
included light colors and stiffly starched material.
For girls, light colors and lace, like in womenswear, were popular
choices. Young girls wore dresses to their knees embellished with lace
on the bodice and stiffly starched material. For less formal wear, girls
might wear pinafore dresses over blouses and their clothing tended to
be much simpler than their adult counterparts.
Along with the dresses, girls wore black stockings and shoes. In the
winter, they might wear lace up boots. Like women, girls wore gloves
with their outfits: kidskin in the winter and crochet in the warmer
months. Their hair was decorated with ribbon

Cecil Plains. Portrait of two children with dolls in a

garden, 1900-1910. Item is held by John Oxley Photographer unknown. The (almost) hidden

Library, State Library of Queensland. mother, ca. 1910.

18
 Young boys wore shorts or knickers along with tunics or “Russian
blouses” like the one in which allowed for young boys to move
freely. Like young girls, boys wore long stockings to cover up the
rest of their leg. Older boys wore suits that followed their adult
counterparts. Black shoes and boots were popular for boys, as well.
Just as girls wore starched dresses, boys wore stiff Eton collars
outside their jackets. Sailor suits continued to be popular for boys,
as well
Both children and adults wore light-colored clothing which
demonstrated a family’s wealth. Milford-Cottam writes,
“However, maintaining the whiteness and cleans of outer garments
was time-consuming, and negated any illusion of practicality that
washability might suggest. Similar themes were seen in the best
clothes of well-off Edwardian children, whose spotlessly laundered,
elaborate white frocks, coats and sailor suits advertised how their
parents and nurses had both money and time to dedicate to
maintaining their attire.”
Even for young children, clothing had to the ability to give an
insight to their wealth and class.

Maybury. Jessop Children, 1905. Cabinet

card. pellethepoet.

Photographer unknown. Edwardian Children,

ca. 1900-1910.

19
Photographer unknown. Portrait of Marjory
Bryson as a little girl, Queensland, ca. 1905.
Item is held by John Oxley Library, State
Library of Queensland.

20
Prominent Art Movement
Art Nouveau (c. 1890s-1910s)
Gustav Klimt depicts the couple locked in an
intimate embrace against a gold, flat background.
The two figures are situated at the edge of a patch
of flowery meadow that ends under the woman's
exposed feet. The man wears a robe printed with
geometric patterns and subtle swirls. He wears a
crown of vines while the woman wears a crown of
flowers. She is shown in a flowing dress with floral
patterns. The man's face is not shown to the
audience and instead, his face is bent downward to
press a kiss to the woman's cheek, and his hands
are cradling the woman's face. Her eyes are closed,
with one arm wrapped around the man's neck, the
other resting gently on his hand, and her face is
upturned to receive the man's kiss.
The patterns in the painting suggests the

"The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt (1907-1908)

style of Art Nouveau and the organic forms of the Arts and Crafts movement. At the same time, the background evokes the conflict
between two- and three-dimensionality intrinsic to the work of Degas and other modernists. Paintings such as The Kiss are visual
manifestations of fin-de-siecle spirit because they capture a decadence conveyed by opulent and sensuous images. The use of gold leaf
recalls medieval gold-ground paintings, illuminated manuscripts, earlier mosaics, and the spiral patterns in the clothes recall Bronze
Age art and the decorative tendrils seen in Western art since before classical times. The man's head ends very close to the top of the
canvas, a departure from traditional Western canons that reflects the influence of Japanese prints, as does the painting's simplified
composition.
Cupola of the choir: An Angel Offers a Model of The Church to Bishop Ecclesius, Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy
Klimt's father was a traveling artisan specializing in gold engravings, but Klimt's use of gold leaf in paintings was inspired by a trip he
made to Italy in 1903. When he visited Ravenna he saw the Byzantine mosaics in the Church of San Vitale. For Klimt, the flatness of
the mosaics and their lack of perspective and depth only enhanced their golden brilliance, and he started to make unprecedented use of
gold and silver leaf in his own work.
It has also been argued that in this picture Klimt represented the moment Apollo kisses Daphne, following the Metamorphoses of Ovid
narrative.
Art historians have also suggested that Klimt depicts the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. More specifically, Klimt seems to be showing
the exact moment when Orpheus turns around to caress Eurydice and loses his love forever. As shown in this painting, the woman
being held is slightly translucent, indicating a fading away or disappearance

21
Fauvism (c. 1900s-1910s)
Woman with a Hat (French: La femme au chapeau) is a painting by Henri Matisse. An oil on canvas, it depicts Matisse's wife, Amelie.
It was painted in 1905 and exhibited at the Salon d'Automne during the autumn of the same year, along with works by André Derain,
Maurice de Vlaminck and several other artists known as "Fauves".
Critic Louis Vauxcelles, in comparing the paintings of Matisse and his associates with a Renaissance-type sculpture that shared the
room with them, used the phrase "Donatello chez les fauves..."(Donatello among the wild beasts).His comment was printed on 17
October 1905 in Gil Blas, a daily newspaper, and passed into popular usage. Woman with a Hat was at the center of the controversy
that led to the term Fauvism. It was also a painting that marked a stylistic shift in the work of Matisse from the Divisionist
brushstrokes of his earlier work to a more expressive style. Its loose brushwork and "unfinished" quality shocked viewers as much as its
vivid, non-naturalistic colors.
Although the Fauve works on display were condemned by many—"A pot of paint has been flung in the face of the public", declared the
critic Camille Mauclair—they also gained some favorable attention. The painting that was singled out for attacks was Matisse's Woman
with a Hat, which was bought by Gertrude and Leo Stein for 500 francs: this had a very positive effect on Matisse's morale, which had
suffered with the bad reception of his work.
Sarah Stein, the wife of Gertrude and Leo's elder brother Michael, claimed to have been the original purchaser of this
painting, not Gertrude (Leo did not like the
painting at first). One can see it in
photographs of Sarah and Michael's home on
Rue Madame. It was a centerpiece in Sarah's
home in Palo Alto, California for many years.
During the 1950s, in San Francisco, it was
bought by the Haas family. In 1990 Elise S.
Haas bequeathed thirty-seven paintings,
sculptures and works on paper to the San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among
them Femme au chapeau.

"Woman with a Hat" by Henri Matisse (1905)

22
 Modernism (emerging by the early 20th century)

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (The Young Ladies of Avignon, originally titled The Brothel of Avignon)[2] is a large oil painting created in
1907 by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. Part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, it portrays five
nude female prostitutes in a brothel on Carrer d'Avinyó, a street in Barcelona, Spain. The figures are confrontational and not
conventionally feminine, being rendered with angular and disjointed body shapes, some to a menacing degree. The far left figure
exhibits facial features and dress of Egyptian or southern Asian style. The two adjacent figures are in an Iberian style of Picasso's Spain,
while the two on the right have African mask-like features. Picasso said the ethnic primitivism evoked in these masks moved him to
"liberate an utterly original artistic style of compelling, even savage force” leading him to add a shamanistic aspect to his project.[3][4][5]

Drawing from tribal primitivism while eschewing

central dictates of Renaissance perspective and
verisimilitude for a compressed picture plane
using a Baroque composition while employing
Velazquez’s confrontational approach seen in Las
Meninas, Picasso sought to take the lead of the
avant-garde from Henri Matisse. John
Richardson said Demoiselles made Picasso the
most pivotal artist in Western painting since
Giotto and laid a path forward for Picasso and
George’s Braque to follow in their joint
development of cubism, the effects of which on
modern art were profound and unsurpassed in the
20th century.
Les Demoiselles was revolutionary, controversial
and led to widespread anger and disagreement,
even amongst the painter's closest associates and
friends.

"Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" by Pablo Picasso (1907)

Henri Matisse considered the work something of a bad joke yet indirectly reacted to it in his 1908 Bathers with a Turtle. Georges
Braque too initially disliked the painting yet studied the work in great detail. His subsequent friendship and collaboration with Picasso
led to the cubist revolution.[6][7] Its resemblance to Cézanne's The Bathers, Paul Gauguin's statue Oviri and El Greco's Opening of the
Fifth Seal has been widely discussed by later critics.
At the time of its first exhibition in 1916, the painting was deemed immoral.[8] Painted in Picasso's studio in the Bateau-Lavoir in
Montmartre, Paris, it was seen publicly for the first time at the Salon d'Antin in July 1916, at an exhibition organized by the poet André
Salmon. It was at this exhibition that Salmon, who had previously titled the painting in 1912 Le bordel philosophique, renamed it to its
current, less scandalous title, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, instead of the title originally chosen by Picasso, Le Bordel d'Avignon.[2][6][9]
[10] Picasso, who always referred to it as mon bordel ("my brothel"),[8] or Le Bordel d'Avignon,[9] never liked Salmon's title and would
have instead preferred the bowdlerization Las chicas de Avignon ("The Girls of Avignon").

23
Significant Designers
Mariano Fortuny Spanish Fashion Designer
Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo (Catalan: Marià Fortuny i de
Madrazo, pronounced ; 11 May 1871 – 3 May 1949) was a Spanish
polymath, artist, inventor and fashion designer who opened his
couture house in 1906 and continued until 1946. He was the son of
the painter Mariano Fortuny y Marsal.

Mariano Fortuny Spanish Fashion Designer

Delphos Gown, 1909 illustrated by Mariano Fortuny

Delphos gown
The Delphos gown—unusual and evocative—and its creators Mariano and Henriette Fortuny are so significant in the history of fashion
that they were canonized in literature during the height of the gown’s popularity, as shown in the above quote.
Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo was the son of Mariano Fortuny y Marsal and Cecilia de Madrazo who were both involved in artistic social
circles. After his father's death, when Mariano was three, the family moved to Paris, where he spent his formative years close to his uncle
and another Spanish painter, Rogelio de Egusquiza; there, he met Henriette. Though they met in Paris, Mariano and Henriette began their
relationship in Venice and established a residence in Palazzo Pesaro degli Orefi.
An artist, painter, and photographer, one might go so far as to call Fortuny a ‘Renaissance man.’ He created his own machines for the
fabrication of garments, developed his own technique to print textiles, and he worked in lighting and scenography. Fortuny’s interests were
interconnected as well; the Delphos gown can be seen in his paintings and photographs.
But we cannot give credit to Fortuny alone for his work with textiles and garments. Henriette Negrin is often referred to as Fortuny’s
“muse” due to her frequent appearances ain his paintings and photographs, but her active role as co-designer is not as well known. This
paper seeks to establish Negrin as Fortuny’s co-designer and co-creator of the Delphos gown.

24
Alongside the patented pleating, this registration
confirms the consistency of the Delphos design. Illustration of the Delphos gown

Most interestingly, there is a handwritten note patent. Founded in : Brevet

by Mariano Fortuny in the registered patent D’Invention, genre de vêtements

that states, “This patent is owned by Mrs. pour femmes, Office National de

Henriette Brassart who is the inventor. I la Propiété Industrielle, 10 June

enclosed this patent on my name/behalf due to 1909. M.8.1.5. Il Fondo Mariutti

the urgency of the deposit…in Paris June 10, Fortuny, Biblioteca Nazionale
1909.” [5] He indicates with these words that Marciana, Venice. Photo taken by
Henriette is in fact the creator. Despite this, she Alba Sanz Álvarez
is more likely to be referred to as inspiration or
a collaborator

rather than as the designer or co-creator of the gown.

This may be because the Delphos gown stopped being produced when Mariano Fortuny died in 1949. However, Henriette wrote in a letter to
Elsie McNeill:
“[…] Regarding Delphos, after mature consideration – and this is why I have been slow to answer – I have irrevocably decided to cease all
commercial production. Similarly, given that these garments are of my own creation, even more than many other, I desire that no-one else
take them over, and thus to the sale of the Delphos we must apply the words the end.” [6]
Not only do these archival pieces support her co-creation of the Delphos gown, but further analysis of photographs reinforce this speculation.

Fortuny, Mariano. Henriette wearing a prototype of the Delphos gown, 1909. Scatola A, F.3, 0218. Il fondo Mariutti Fortuny, Biblioteca
Nazionale Marciana, Venice.
This photograph dated 1909—the same year as the patent—shows Henriette wearing a dress similar to the Delphos. The title of the archive
summary confirms that it was a prototype. The white sheet in the background of the photo indicates that she
is in a studio and various poses allow us to assume that the viewer is analyzing the dress from different
perspectives for design purposes. A private or personal photo would not share these aspects.
While one might note that Henriette is only modeling in this photo, this should not invalidate her
influence and agency in the creative process of the gown. On the contrary, the wearer of the gown is given
great importance in the creative process. Her insight on how to wear this dress is similar to feedback that
a wearer would provide. [7] She was able to provide her own experience wearing the garment in the
creative process. Her and Fortuny’s joint experiences in the creation process—she as the model and he as
the photographer—allowed them both to examine, analyze, and improve the garment on the wearer to
the desired result.
We are aware of a similar relationship between Charles Frederick Worth and his wife, Marie Vernet.
Worth was one of the first designers to show dresses on living models. His wife became his star and, after
she had stopped modeling, she trained Worth’s models. [8] While it is not known if Vernet’s role as a
model influenced Worth’s designs and creative process, she had an active role in promoting the business.
Another aspect of this photo worth considering is the styling of the garment. Henriette is wearing gloves,
which usually adorned evening gowns. [9] However, the Delphos gown is believed to have been developed
as a tea gown, to be worn in the late afternoon. [10] This differentiation is relevant because the tea gown
was reserved for the home as opposed to the evening gown; including the gloves in the photograph could
change our idea of the gown’s original purpose. Mariano and Henriette may have imagined the Delphos
as an evening gown rather than a tea gown so that it may be worn in public rather than within the home.

Fortuny, Mariano. Henriette wearing a prototype of the Delphos gown, 1909.

Scatola A, F.3, 0218. Il fondo Mariutti Fortuny, Biblioteca Nazionale
Marciana, Venice.

25
 Charles Frederick
Charles Frederick Worth (13 October 1825 – 10 March 1895) was
an English fashion designer who founded the House of Worth,
one of the foremost fashion houses of the 19th and early 20th
centuries. He is considered by many fashion historians to be the
father of haute couture.

The Peacock dress of Lady Curzon is a gown made of gold

and silver thread embroidered by the Workshop of Kisha
n Chand (India), and designed by Jean-Philippe Worth for
Mary Curzon, Baroness Curzon of Kedleston to celebrate the
1902 Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra at
the second Delhi Durbar in 1903.[1] It is today kept in the
Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, as part of its collection.[2]
1903, Lady Curzon wearing the peacock dress.
The dress features a design representing the feathers of a peacock, a symbol of great significance in Indian culture and the Hindu
religion, on a fabric traditionally worn by Mughal court rulers.[3] Lady Curzon's dress was a reference to the Peacock Throne that
originally stood in the Diwan-I-Khas, palace where the ball took place. This dazzling jewelled throne, now lost, was made for Shah
Jahan in the early 17th century but was looted during the Persian invasion of Nader Shah in 1739. A replica throne was destroyed in
1857 when the British commandeered the Red Fort as a garrison in India's First War of Independence.[3]
The gown was assembled from panels of chiffon that had been embroidered and embellished by skilled craftsmen in the Workshop of
Kishan Chand (India), using the zardozi (gold wire weaving) method (the technique takes its name from the densely worked metal
thread; zar (gold) and dozi (work)).[4] It was then shipped to Paris, where the House of Worth styled the dress with a long train edged
with white chiffon roses. The worked panels were overlapping peacock feathers that had a blue-green beetlewing at the center. Over
time, the metal thread in the dress has tarnished but the beetle wings have not lost their luster.[1] The gown weighs over 4.5 kilograms
(9.9 lb).[1][5]
The Viceroy, Lord Curzon, organized the second Delhi Durbar in 1903 to celebrate the 1902 coronation of King Edward VII, "the
grandest pageant in history", which created a tremendous sensation, and served as a symbol of British rule over India. The dress was
featured in a Chicago Tribune article because Lady Curzon was from Chicago. State portraits were ordered from the artist William
Logsdail, but Lady Curzon's portrait was completed in 1909 after her death in 1906. The peacock dress is preserved, together with the
Logsdail portrait, at Kedleston Hall.[5]
Lady Curzon was instrumental in promoting the use of Indian embroidery in Western fashion, and many of her friends ordered gowns
from Worth using such decorations, though they generally used much less metal threadwork which weighed her dress down. Another of
her embroidered court dresses, assembled by the House of Worth in 1903, is on display at the Fashion Museum, Bath.

26
 Lucy Christiana
Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff-Gordon (née
Sutherland; 13 June 1863 – 20 April 1935) was a
leading British fashion designer in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries who worked under the
professional name Lucile.

At the height of popularity, the over-the-top hats women so enjoyed in

the late 19th and early 20th centuries could have reached 19 to even 22
inches in width. But if you look at the styles that came before and after,
the trend was no so much to be outrageous as to simply have the top of
the head covered. Bonnets and sporting-style hats were popular
through the middle of the 1800s, both a bit of an afterthought to the
rest of a woman’s outfit. Soon to enjoy a short trend, however, was the
flowerpot hat, named for obvious reasons. This may have given women
a taste of weight on top of the head, and the height was soon replaced
with width.
The early 1900s also brought with it the S-silhouette that I touched on
in the post on Edwardian women’s fashion. The look called for curves
in very specific places, and the large brimmed hat quickly became a
part of the style.
Another reason women may have preferred large hats was that
imported trimmings and animal products were as enormously popular
as the hats themselves. A hat with a lot of real-estate could show-off a
lot of French lace and chiffon, for instance.

Merry Widow hats and the S-silhouette

27
 Jeanne Paquin
Jeanne Paquin (French pronunciation: [ʒan pakɛ̃]) (1869–1936)
was a leading French fashion designer, known for her resolutely
modern and innovative designs. She was the first major female
couturier and one of the pioneers of the modern fashion
business.

This outfit, titled Fabiola,was designed for the winter collection of 1903. It is
an example of the so-called 'S-Bend' silhouette present in fashion design up
until about 1908. Although flat-fronted corsets did help create the silhouette
by pushing the bottom back and the bosom forward, the effect was further
exaggerated with puffed and draped bodice fronts and skirts with flat fronts
and sweeping back fullness.

The “dance at the gym” scene from the hit

musical West Side Story reflects the kind of
Saturday night entertainment enjoyed by
most young people all over America. Suits for
the boys and full skirts and high heels for the
girls were the order of the day.

28
29
1910
1910s NEWS
The sinking of the Titanic (April 1912)
The great unsinkable ocean liner, the largest in operation at the time, sank in
the North Atlantic in the early hours of 15th April 1912. Traveling from
Southampton, England, to New York City, on her maiden voyage with 2224
people on board, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg. Two hours and forty
minutes later, the ship was submerged, taking over 1500 souls with her to the
bottom of the sea. Lifeboats were launched, but for some inexplicable reason,
despite room for many more, the Titanic was fitted with only enough to carry
half of the passengers to safety. Distress signals were sent and those lucky
enough to be on a lifeboat had to paddle by the cries of freezing men and
women in the water, for fear they would capsize the boats if let on board. To
this date, the Titanic remains one of the most deadly peacetime maritime The RMS Titanic passenger liner in

disasters in history. Southampton, England just before it left for

its maiden voyage to New York City on April
10th, 1912.

30
The First World War (July 1914 to November
1918)
With tensions simmering in Europe and war seeming
inevitable, the straw that broke the camel’s back
proved to be the assassination of Austrian Archduke
Franz Ferdinand on 28th June 1914. Within a month,
large-scale battle with new destructive capabilities
ravaged the continent. The Great War ultimately
pitted the interests of the Central Powers, consisting of
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the aging Ottoman Empire,
against the Allied Powers of Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and
Serbia. As the war showed no signs of ending quickly, and
Indian soldiers on foreign land fighting for WW1
much of the world was now involved in some capacity,
American reinforcements arrived and helped turn
the tide in favor of
the Allies. By the time German Kaiser
Wilhelm abdicated and the armistice was
signed on the 11th of November 1918,
millions had been killed.

Trench warfare

The Beginning of the Russian Revolution

The two revolutions of Russia took place on the first days of March (known as the
(1917)
February Revolution as the Julian calendar was used at the time) and November
(called the October Revolution for the same reason). Tensions had been boiling for
decades, with an uprising in 1905 placated by weak attempts at political reform and
a state government that Tsar Nicholas II spent the next decade overruling at every
opportunity. With anti-monarchist sentiment at its highest, and the mounting
bodies of Russian men on the Western Front, the people revolted. A triggering
factor was the murder of Rasputin on the 30th December 1916, which undermined
the imperial family, and the Tsar was not strong enough to guide the country back
from the brink. Nicholas signed the abdication papers and 300 years of Romanov
autocratic rule came to an end. In July 1918, Nicholas and his family would be
The Beginning of the Russian Revolution (1917)
executed to remove any chance of a return to the old regime.

31
The Spanish Flu pandemic (March 1918 to April
1920)
After the devastation of the First World War, the intermingling of people in terrible Soldiers sick with Spanish flu at a
conditions across the globe led to one of the most prolific pandemics in human history. hospital ward in Camp Funston, Fort
Known as “the Spanish Flu” to contemporary historians, despite not originating in Spain, Riley, Kansas, USA, circa 1918
the H1N1 influenza virus was first reported in the USA in March 1918, spreading through
Western Europe in the following weeks, and in two years, killing as many as 50 million
people worldwide. The timing couldn’t have been worse, with many of those infected already
malnourished, crowded in medical camps, and practicing hygiene appalling by today’s
standards. It came in four waves, finally ebbing out in severity by Spring 1920 when immune
systems had picked up and post-war health conditions and treatments had improved.

32
women’s wear
Fashion in the 1910s, like the decade itself, may be divided into
two periods: before the war and during the war. World War I
had a profound effect on society and culture as a whole and
fashion was no exception. While changes in women’s fashion
that manifested in the 1920s are often attributed to changes due
to World War I, many of the popular styles of the twenties
actually evolved from styles popular before the war and as early
as the beginning of the decade.
The 1910s opened with a softer silhouette than the decade
before, which was dominated by the “S-shape.” While the
contorted shape created by straight-fronted corsets had softened
into a more natural silhouette, the style in the early years of the
decade still had an emphasis on the bust that echoed styles of
the previous decade. The ball gown by G & E Spitzer shows
how the S-curve softened in the early part of the decade but still
relied on the top-heavy look. As this S-shape began to disappear G & E Spitzer (Austrian). Evening dress, 1910-12. Silk, pearl,
altogether, skirts began to taper towards the bottom, like the glass. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003
example by Doeuillet and a completely new style, that of a
revived empire waist, emerged as well.

An important development at the beginning of the decade was

the rise of Orientalism. The Ballets Russes performed
Schéhérazade (a ballet based on One Thousand and One Nights)
in Paris in 1910, setting off the craze. Paul Poiret helped
popularize this look, which featured draped fabrics, vibrant
colors, and a column-like silhouette. He even introduced
“harem” pantaloons in 1911, a ballooning pair of trousers that
only the most daring of women opted to wear. The fancy dress
costume worn to his party “The Thousand and Second Night”
epitomizes this style.

Paul Poiret (French, 1879–

1944). Fancy dress costume,
1911. Metal, silk, cotton.
New York: The
Georges Doeuillet (French, 1865-1929). Evening dress, 1910-13.
Metropolitan Museum of
Silk, rhinestones. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Art, 1983.8a, b. Purchase,
2009.300.1338. Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The
Irene Lewisohn Trust Gift,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum,
1983.
2009; Gift of Mrs. Frederick H. Prince, Jr., 1967.

33
Poiret’s fashions dominated the first half of the decade if only because
they were inventive and news-making. In 1911, he introduced the
“hobble skirt” which narrowed so much at the bottom of the skirt that it
made it difficult for women to walk. His striped dress from 1910 hints
at this silhouette. He liked to claim that he had abolished the corset and,
indeed, his loose chemise dresses no longer required the rigid
undergarment, though other designers were also moving away from
corseted looks at the same time. Another of his innovative silhouettes
included the “lampshade tunic.” In this way, you begin to see how
Poiret’s playful and inventive approach to fashion led to the popular
styles of the twenties.

Though Poiret made a formidable impression on early 1910s

fashion, he was by no means the only prominent designer. Lucille,
or Lady Duff Gordon, was a popular designer whose London-
based business crossed the Atlantic to New York and Chicago at
the beginning of the decade. French designer Jacques Doucet
enjoyed popularity for his fluid designs, while Mariano Fortuny of
Venice patented new processes of pleating and dyeing.

Author unknown. Hobble Skirt

Postcard, ca. 1911.

In 1914, the world was thrown into the “war to end all wars.” Tunics worn over
skirts, like the ones seen in the picture of the Rockaway Hung Meet , were a
popular wartime fashion, as were simple, utilitarian clothing. Even French
designers like Jacques Doucet produced simple, cotton designs during the war.
Women began to wear uniforms, including overalls and trousers, as they worked in
munitions factories for the war effort.

Jacques Doucet (French, 1853–1929).

Dress, 1918-19. Cotton. New York:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
C.I.51.97.10a, b. Purchase, Irene
Lewisohn Bequest, 1951. Source: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Paul Poiret (French, 1879–1944). Evening dress, 1910. Silk, linen. New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009.300.1289. Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection
at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of
Ogden Goelet, Peter Goelet and Madison Clews in memory of Mrs. Henry Clews,
1961. Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

34
Artist unknown. At Rockaway Hunt Meet -- fashion mannikins, Between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915. 1 negative :

35
glass; (5 x 7 in). Washington: George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-
19041 (digital file from original negative). Source: Library of Congress

36
 USMC Archives from Quantico. Final
Review of Marine Reservists and Navy
Yeoman, 1919, 1919. Marine Corps
Women's Marine Reserve (COLL/981),
Marine Corps Archives & Special
Collections. Source: Flickr
House of Worth (French,
1858–1956). Evening dress,
1916. Silk, metal, rhinestones.
New York: The Metropolitan
Museum of Art,
2009.300.3235. Brooklyn
Museum Costume Collection at
The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, Gift of the Brooklyn
Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. C.
Oliver Iselin, 1961. Source:
The Metropolitan Museum of
Art
Paul Poiret (French, 1879–1944).
Coat, 1918. Wool, rayon. New York: would eventually develop into the popular flapper look
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
2005.201. Isabel Shults Fund, 2005.
Source: The Metropolitan Museum
of Art
USMC Archives from Quantico. New York
Recruiting Office, 1918, 1918. Marine Corps
Women's Marine Reserve (COLL/981),
Marine Corps Archives & Special
Collections. Source: Wikimedia
Though the US didn’t enter the war until 1917, the
war’s effect on fashion was already felt in France, the
UK, and the rest of Europe. France had been the
center of fashion for years and the war slowed, though
did not stop entirely, production and distribution of
new fashions. The Worth evening dress from 1916
shows that fashion was not entirely forgotten, as does
the image of women who came to enlist in the Marines
in 1918. For women, military uniforms had elements of
current fashion: the long skirts with tunics or jackets
worn over them were reminiscent of civilian dress. The
white uniforms of the female Navy Yeomen are
especially evocative of styles worn by the Suffragettes.
After the war ended, simple styles continued and a
“barrel”-like silhouette emerged. Fashion historian
James Laver writes in Costume and Fashion: A
Concise History that “the effect was completely
tubular. Skirts were still long, but an attempt was
made to confine the body in a cylinder” (230). This
of the next decade and Poiret’s pleated skirt and
cocoon coat strongly hint at what was to come.
37
Photographer unknown (American). 5th Avenue Easter Parade, 1911.

38
Men’s wear
Men’s fashion has not seen as dramatic a change since 1910. What men wore then is very similar to what you might find in a shopping
mall today, with some slight differences.
For example, while coattails were still worn during the evenings or for special events, this decade marked an important shift to a more
casual look, where suits became more functional, and styles extended beyond the silk top hat.

In the early 1910s, men’s fashion largely

continued on from the previous decade.

Artist unknown (Irish). A group of four men Lounge suits – three-piece suits much like
from the Imperial Hotel, The Mall, business suits today – increased in
Waterford., May 27, 1914. Dublin: National
popularity as a more casual alternative to
Library of Ireland. NLI Ref.: POOLEWP
2548. Source: Flickr the more formal suits of years previous.
There were various styles of these suits.
Trouser legs crept up to ankle length for
a shorter look, often with the cuffs
turned up. Laver writes:
“trousers tended to be rather short and
very narrow, and young men were
beginning to wear them with permanent
turn-ups and with a sharp crease in front,
which had become possible since the mid
1890s with the invention of the trouser-
press.”
The lounge suit typically consisted of a
sack coat, a waistcoat (vest), and
trousers. Collars were worn starched and
high on the neck. It was referred to as a
“lounge suit” because it was far less
formal than the suit worn with a frock
coat. Though it was worn more

frequently in the 1910s, it was previously a well-to-do man’s least formal suit, one that would have been worn to lounge in his home. The
lounge suit was often worn with a Homburg hat, a felt hat with a dent down the top, or a bowler hat. Men of the upper-classes continued to
wear top hats. An image showing Winston Churchill and his cousin Lord Londonderry in 1919 shows how the morning suit differed from the
lounge suit.
While the lounge suit enjoyed popularity on a day-to-day basis, the frock coat and morning coat continued to have prominence for formal
day events. Evening wear was dominated by dark tailcoats, worn with a waistcoat and trousers. However, the less formal tuxedo was also an
acceptable form of evening wear. Men sported quite a range of suits, sportswear, and evening wear for every occasion.

39
 Artist unknown. The Tailor and Cutter
Fashions, 1913. New York: The Met, Costume
Institute Fashion Plates. Gift of Woodman
Thompson. Source: The Met Digital Collections

Angevin Knight. Winston Churchill and his cousin Lord

Londonderry, 1919. Source: Wikimedia

40
Like womenswear, menswear saw a
divide between before World War I
began and during/after the war. Of
course, many men joined the war
effort by enlisting in the military. The
Victoria and Albert Museum writes,
“from 1914 to the end of the decade,
many men were photographed in
military uniform” (History of
Fashion 1900-1970).
Though men’s fashion would return
to the three-piece suit after the war,
the conflict did have a lasting effect
on both men and women’s fashion.
Though part of their uniform and not
a fashion statement at the time, the
trench coat saw its rise (and was even
given its name) in the desperate
conditions on the front in World War
I. British officers, who outfitted
themselves, began to buy the coats
that had been developed in the mid-
nineteenth century as a functional
part of their uniform. Lighter than
the coat issued by the British army,
water resistant, and a khaki color,
the coats helped keep officers warm
and dry. Burberry and Aquascutum
sold these coats to both men and
women during the war. It was
utilitarian at the time but would later
be adopted by Hollywood, providing
the garment with a lasting legacy that
is still felt today.

Burberry (British). Burberry Advertisement 1916, 1916. The

Sphere. Source: Wikimedia

41
Art movement
Cubism and Primitivism

The addition of
geometric
figures to
expressionism-
style paintings
characterized
the Cubism
movement.

Pioneered by Pablo Picasso, Cubism sought to deepen the consideration that Expressionist artists had created by rendering objects and
ideas from different angles, seeking to break up and analyze things. Primitivism was similar by extension and was influenced by
American colonization and exploration in the early 1900s.

Featuring collages and works made of many different mediums, Cubism and Primitivism explored the human relationship with the
mundane and extraordinary and were characterized by their analytic and synthetic qualities.
This art movement was also relatively short and reached its height in the years between 1907 and 1911, extending and intermingling
with the Futurism movement. However, art scholars agree it had reached the end of its lifetime by 1919.

42
Amedeo Modigliani, Italian, 1884–1920: Jean Cocteau, 1916–17. Oil on canvas, 100.4 x 81.3 cm. The
Henry and Rose Pearlman Collection. Photo: Bruce M. White

43
Modernism

The spirit of 1913 and its revolutionary effect finds probably its most iconic materialization in The Prose of the Trans-Siberian—the
“simultaneous poem” jointly produced that year by poet Blaise Cendrars and painter Sonia Delaunay. On one long folded sheet, this
book merges image and text to weave fictions of Paris and the world, of voyage and war, of the individual caught in the swirl of modern
life. Examples of crosspollination between literature and the visual arts abound in this period, and dialogues between artists and writers
resulted in further innovations in the illustrated book, such as the collaboration between Cendrars and Fernand Léger on The End of
the World Filmed by the Angel N.-D. (1919). The poet became the subject of paintings, such as Modigliani’s portrait of his friend the
poet, playwright, and filmmaker Jean Cocteau. Poets also aspired to be painters—like Guillaume Apollinaire, who initially gave the
title I, Too, Am a Painter to his visual poetry collection, Calligrammes: Poems of Peace and War (1918), in which he arranged the text
of his poems to form images. Formal experimentation ranged from the intense subjectivity of the German Expressionists of Die Brücke
and Der Blaue Reiter to Georges Braque’s and Pablo Picasso’s cubist depictions of everyday objects.
Eugène Atget’s photographs from the period document the shacks, shop windows, and street scenes of nineteenth-century Paris that
were quickly disappearing with the evolution of the modern city in the twentieth century. The sense of a vanishing world captured in
these photographs took a different direction, and was dramatically amplified, when artists engaged with the social and political reality
of the First World War. In magazines like L’Elan and Le Mot, assertions of fierce nationalism collided with expressions of horror at the
unprecedented scope of violence. Avant-garde groups formed before, during, and after the war aimed not only to innovate modern
aesthetic forms but also to change the world around them. The Italian Futurists radically rejected the past and attempted to express the
energy of technological progress. Futurist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti had glorified war as a precursor to sweeping social change in his
1912 book Zang Tumb Tuuum, in which he expressed the chaos of the battlefield of the First Balkan War in free verse. Russian and
British responses to Futurism also privileged speed, dynamism, and the machine as signs of a new world order.
Not all modernist artists and writers embraced the war as a welcome harbinger of social change. The Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich gave
birth to Dada, a movement formulated in 1916 as a direct reaction against xenophobic patriotism and the carnage of war. Similar
movements quickly developed in Berlin, New York, and Paris. Dada artists employed performance art, sound poetry, collage, the
display of found objects, and other absurdist strategies to ridicule a rational bourgeois society and to question the idea of modernity
itself. The magazine format proved perfectly suited to Dada’s international identity and its investment in ephemeral art practices. In the
years following the war, George Grosz, one of the founders of Berlin Dada, took a particularly strong political stance in his art and
illustrations, protesting the moral corruption and social chaos of the Weimar Republic in scathing satirical drawings published in
subversive left-wing political journals.
The cataclysmic events of World War I galvanized the multifaceted modernist aesthetic of 1913 in various ways. During the next two
decades, trends in formal experimentation and modes of engagement with the world that were initiated by the avant-garde movements
persisted and evolved. The exhibition closes with works that evoke the legacies of 1913: Paul Klee’s 1930 watercolor points to an
ongoing exploration of abstraction; Chaïm Soutine’s painting of dead poultry from 1926 offers an expressionist interpretation of a
mundane subject that leaves a visceral impression of violence; and Pablo Picasso’s masterpiece Minotauromachy (1935) distills the
political unrest of the 1930s and foretells the rise of Fascism and the catastrophes of the Second World War.

44
Designer
Jacques Doucet

Jacques Doucet (French pronunciation: (1853–1929)

was a French fashion designer and art collector. He
is known for his elegant dresses, made with flimsy
translucent materials in superimposing pastel colors.

In 1912, the fashion creations of Jacques Doucet were

illustrated in the fashion magazine La Gazette du Bon
Ton with six other leading Paris designers of the day –
Louise Chéruit,Georges Doeuillet, Jeanne Paquin, Paul
Poiret, Redfern & Sons, and the House of Charles Worth.
His most original and outstanding designs were those he
created for actresses of the time. Cecile Sorel, Rejane and
Sarah Bernhardt (for whom he designed her famous white
costume in L’Aiglon) all wore his designs both on and off
stage.

Beaded and embroidered evening or dinner

gown, ‘La Mode’ magazine, French, 1910.

44
Mariano Fortuny
Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo
(Catalan: Marià Fortuny i de
Madrazo, pronounced; 11 May 1871 –
3 May 1949) was a Spanish polymath,
artist, inventor and fashion designer
who opened his couture house in 1906
and continued until 1946. He was the
son of the painter Mariano Fortuny y
Marsal.
Fortuny was born on 11 May 1871, to
an artistic family in Granada, Spain.
His father, a genre painter, died when
Fortuny was three years old and his
mother, Cecilia, moved the family to
Paris, France. It was apparent at a
young age that Fortuny was a gifted
artist, showing a talent for painting as
well as a passion for textiles. During
his childhood he was introduced to
many different textiles and fabrics,
which greatly imprinted upon his
creativity. His parents were passionate
for materials and had their own .

collections of textiles from various shops they had visited in Europe. His father also collected Mariano Fortuny in 1895
metalwork and armour from previous ages as a hobby.As a young child he was fascinated with all of
these textiles and would dye pieces of material for amusement. It was this exposure that led him to
designing and producing his own textiles and dresses. The family moved again in 1889 to Venice, Italy.
As a young man, Fortuny travelled throughout Europe seeking out artists he admired, among them the
German composer Richard Wagner. Fortuny became quite varied in his talents, some of them including
inventing, painting, photography, sculpting, architecture, etching and theatrical stage lighting. In 1897,
he met the woman he would marry, Henriette Negrin, in Paris. While in Paris Fortuny registered and
patented more than 20 inventions between 1901 and 1934.
He died in his home in Venice and was buried in the Campo Verano in Rome. His work was a source of
inspiration to the French novelist Marcel Proust

45
 Paul Poiret
Paul Poiret (20 April 1879 – 30 April 1944, Paris, France)was a French fashion
designer, a master couturier during the first two decades of the 20th century. He
was the founder of his namesake haute couture house.

Poiret's house expanded to encompass interior decoration and fragrance.In 1911,

he introduced "Parfums de Rosine," named after his daughter, becoming the first
French couturier to launch a signature fragrance, although again the London
designer Lucile had preceded him with a range of in-house perfumes as early as
1907. In 1911 Poiret unveiled "Parfums de Rosine" with a flamboyant soiree held
at his palatial home, attended by the cream of Parisian society and the artistic
world. Poiret fancifully christened the event "la mille et deuxième nuit" (The
Thousand and Second Night), inspired by the fantasy of a sultan's harem. His
gardens were illuminated by lanterns, set with tents, and live, tropical birds.
Madame Poiret herself luxuriated in a golden cage. Poiret was the reigning sultan,
gifting each guest with a bottle of his new fragrance creation, appropriately
named to befit the occasion, "Nuit Persane." His marketing strategy, played out
as entertainment, became the talk of Paris. A second scent debuted in 1912 – "Le
Minaret," again emphasizing the harem theme.
In 1911, publisher Lucien Vogel dared photographer Edward Steichen

Poiret harem pants and sultana skirts, 1911

to promote fashion as a fine art in his work.Steichen responded by snapping photos of 'gowns designed by Poiret, hauntingly backlit
and shot at inventive angles. These were published in the April 1911 issue of the magazine Art et Décoration.According to historian
Jesse Alexander, the occasion is "now considered to be the first ever modern fashion photography shoot," in which garments were
imaged as much for their artistic quality as their formal appearance.A year later, Vogel began his renowned fashion journal La Gazette
du Bon Ton, which showcased Poiret's designs, drawn by top illustrators, along with six other leading Paris designers – Louise Chéruit,
Georges
Doeuillet, Jacques Doucet, Jeanne Paquin, Redfern, and the
House of Worth. However, notable couture names were missing
from this brilliant assemblage, including such major tastemakers
as Lucile, Jeanne Lanvin and the Callot Soeurs.
In 1911, Poiret launched the Les Parfums de Rosine, a home
perfume division, named for his first daughter. Henri Alméras
was employed as a perfumer by Paul Poiret as of 1923, though
certain sources suggest he had worked there since 1914.
Also in 1911, Poiret launched the Les École Martine, a home
decor division of his design house, named for his second
daughter. The establishment provided artistically inclined,
working-class girls with trade skills and income.

46
Although the U.S. Census Bureau never endorsed the product, the L. E. Waterman Company claimed its fountain pens would save
enumerators time in an advertisement featured in a 1910 issue of Scribner’s Magazine. In that year, approximately 70,000 enumerators
conducted interviews for the 1910 Census. In cities, they were given 2 weeks to complete their work, while rural enumerators had 30
days to make their rounds. At its conclusion, the 1910 Census counted 92,228,496 residents—an average of more than 1,300 people per
enumerator!

Learn more about interesting census-related artifacts on the Census Bureau's social media pages using the tag #ArtifactFriday. For
previous #ArtifactFriday posts, visit the History Web site's Artifacts pages.

A 1910 advertisement implying that only a quality pen could complete the census

47
 Fat Is Fatal

Dr. J. Spillenger of New York City uses endorsements from customers and a dramatic illustration, while warning readers that “Fat Is
Fatal.” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would agree with the good doctor. What Dr. Spillenger does not say is exactly what
his methods are to help you lose weight. Whatever his method, it involves not starving or exercising. “Rheumatism, Asthma, Kidney
and Heart Troubles will leave as fat is reduced. Don’t take my word for this: I will prove it at my own expense,” the copy reads.

48
49
1920
1920’s News
INTRODUCTION
A spirit of liberty, a break with
the past, and a celebration of
individuality and freedom
characterized this age.
1920s fashion marks a shift in
both culture and aesthetics. It
was a period of statement of a
new, modern identity and
rebellion against the limitations
of Victorian and Edwardian
fashion.
CHANGING ROLE
OF WOMEN
The 1920s is considered to be
social revolution, coming out
War I, culture changed as
inhibitions distressed out
youngsters commanded
experiences and more freedom
controls.
women's suffrage: London demonstrators
A new woman could be seen as Prior to World War I, it was
a "flapper" who was reckless thought that women should not
danced, drank, smoked and work in industries like chemical,
voted. automobile, or iron and steel
This new woman cut her hair manufacturing. However, this
short, wore lots of make-up,
and partied. She was known
was temporarily changed during
the war. During World War I,
for being light-
headed and taking risks. New
black women who had previously
been barred from factory jobs
occupations opened for single started to gain employment by
period of
women in offices and schools, accepting lesser pay.
of World
with
remunerations that helped
and the them to be more independent.
novel
from old
50
 Cigarettes publicity AD in 1920's
The achievement of suffrage led
Women had to struggle with not having the same
feminists to focus their energies
rights as males before the Roaring Twenties, and The writer can use redirection to
on other objectives. Many ensure that the reader keeps
they were frequently told what to dress and what not
women shifted their focus from reading the article and to draw
to wear. her attention to other articles.
politics to questioning
In order to further their already granted rights,
conventional definitions of
women had to challenge the system and stand
womanhood, but organizations
In order to assert their rights and stand up for their
like the National Women's Party
own forms of expression, women had to challenge
persisted in the political struggle
the system. Women felt imprisoned before this time.
and proposed the Equal Rights
They had had enough and started speaking up for
Amendment in 1923, working to
what they wanted and doing what they wanted to do
repeal laws that discriminated
in order to make themselves happy, but no one was
against women based on their
listening.
sexual orientation.
The 1920s fashion revolutionized
women's attitudes toward
professing themselves.
This significant decade has had a
big impact on modern fashion.

51
Women's wear
INTRODUCTION
European and American fashion trends were influenced by
Paris.Women's fashion was all about having fun. Every day, women
wore dresses all day. Day dresses featured drop waists, which were
belted around the hips or low waist and hung the skirt anywhere from
the ankle to the knee, never higher. Daywear featured straight, pleated,
hank hem, or tiered skirts with sleeves that extended to the mid-bicep.
Frequently cropped hair gave off a boyish appearance.

THE CHEMISE DRESS

The first coat was designed in
1916 by Jeanne Lanvin, Callot
Seours, and Coco Chanel,
among others. By 1920, the
chemise, also referred to as a
Winter dress
shift dress, would become the
norm for day and evening
wear. The garment hung from
the shoulder to slightly below ROBE DE STYLE
the knee. The waist was not
above the hips. In the 1910s, As an alternative to the straight-cut chemise dress,
middy blouses and chemise the robe de style refers to a fashion trend that was
dresses were often paired with popular in the 1920s.
loose belts. That look may The skirts in this style were very full. The full skirt
have inspired the drop waist. identified the robe de style, but the bodice could be
fitted or straight-cut in the chemise style with a
dropped waist. Sometimes hoops, panniers, or
petticoats were used to support the fullness.
Designer Jeanne Lanvin's signature piece was the
robe de style.(Source: )

Chemise dress

RISING SKIRT HEMS

The waist dropped to the hips, and hems hosiery. Sales of stockings sharply
rose precariously to the knee. The sudden increased.The most popular fabric was
exposure of women's legs in the 1920s led still silk. White, gray, and beige were the
to a sharp rise in interest in women's most frequently utilized hues.

52
 It was about 1920 when Chanel said: “At about
that time, I remember contemplating the
auditorium at the Opera from the back of a box…
those reds, those greens, those electric blues
made me feel ill. These colors are impossible.
Chanel did not think all the bright colors she saw
were suited to couture as did her rival at the
time, couturier Paul Poiret. He had flooded the
market with flashy colors and flamboyant
designs. She felt they were more suited for the
stage. In direct reference to her thoughts about
Poiret’s fashions that she found distasteful, were
that they were not chic saying: “…the richer the
dress, the poorer it becomes.”Chanel’s reasons
for preferring

The little the elegance of black can

be found in her quote:

black dress
“Nothing is more difficult
to make than a little black
dress.

It was Chanel’s genius to offer a dress design

that was affordable and boasting that those who
were not wealthy could: “walk around like
millionaires.” Simply put, women needed
affordable fashion. From the beginning of
Chanel’s career, simplicity was a keynote in her
designs. The little black dress was a modern
sheath for the modern woman— it hugged the
contours of the body, sans frills, like a canvas
that could easily be accessorized.
Her revolutionary introduction of the little black
dress took black, heretofore saved for mourning
and worn by peasants, to celebratory occasions
evoking Chanel chic. She had done it with the
jersey suit and was about to do it again shaking
up the fashion world with the little black dress
forever placing it in the fashion lexicon. Over and
over she shook things up in the fashion world, so
it’s not surprising that once again she made
herself relevant with the little black dress.
Fourteen years later, in 1926, the little black dress
made its debut—a chemise with long sleeves
made of crêpe de Chine with delicate pleats in a
V-shape on the slightly bloused top and skirt
pared with pearls and a cloche hat.

American Vogue October 1926. Original little black dress.

June Edition | 2023 53

THE FLAPPER
DRESS
In the 1920s, a
subculture of young
Western women known
as flappers wore short
skirts (knee height was
considered short at the
time), bobbed their hair,
listened to jazz, and
showed off their
contempt for the social
mores that were deemed
appropriate at the time.
Flappers were viewed as
brazen for defying social
and sexual norms in
other ways, such as by
driving cars, drinking
alcohol, smoking
cigarettes in public,
wearing excessive
makeup, and treating
sex casually.
A young lady who
rebelled against
conventional social
norms by donning short
dresses, bobbed hair,
and other short
hairstyles. In the United
States, flappers are
primarily connected to
the late 1910s
and early 1920s.
A typical flapper wore
straight-lined, sleeveless
dresses that were
frequently low-cut and
only reached the knees,
which at the time was
considered quite
scandalous. She had chin-
length hair, wore
stockings that were
frequently rolled down
below the knee, and
boldly applied makeup to
her face. Her usual
accessory choices were
long strands of beads,
bangle bracelets, the
form-fitting cloche hat,
and a headband. Flappers
pushed boundaries rather
than follow the
established social norms.
They did things that were
considered unladylike at
the time, like going to
parties without
chaperones, drinking and
smoking in public, and
talking more openly
about having sex.

The Gibson Girl,

who wore a
long skirt, a corset
to tighten the
waist, and long
hair styled in up do, was
the primary fashion icon
for young women when
the flapper era began.
Young women embraced
the flapper lifestyle,
relishing in the freedom
to make daring choices
in their appearance and
behavior, as the
stereotype of the Gibson
Girl began to fade.

54
LA GARCONNE
Victor Margueritte's novel "La Garconne," published in 1922, is credited with
creating the concept of the La Garconne. It narrates the story of a young lady
who decides to pursue independence in life by leaving her family and home.
Women found the story aspirational rather than grounded when it was
published because, in actuality, very few women would be liberated enough to
enjoy social, economic, or political freedom.
Following the war, women's lifestyles underwent a dramatic shift that peaked
in 1926. Women began to gain greater freedom and independence at this point.
Because it required a pre-pubescent figure, it was viewed as a youthful and
boyish style that drastically altered both the fashionable physique and the
silhouette.Adjectives like "slender," "svelte," and "sleek" were used to describe
this silhouette in fashion magazines.

By the 1920s, things had

started to change. This
illustration appearing in
The Queenslander in 1921
shows the strong
influence of modern
fashion on what was
considered appropriate
tennis attire – the dress is
slimline and drop-waisted
in accordance with the
androgynous or
‘beanpole’ style that
came to define the
decade.

javelin throwers,The Capricornian

The shift in sporting attire for javelin throwers

between 1912 (R) and 1928 (L). Leg-revealing
shorts had entered the scene of women’s
athletic wear and this evolution in modern
Importantly, looser fitting dresses, slightly higher fashion radically changed the energy and
hemlines sitting above ankle-length and less physicality with which women could
cumbersome hats all combined toallow women participate in their chosen sport.
freer athletic movement. It seems unlikely anyone
would have seriously attempted to play sport in the
kind of heeled shoes shown here, but they served as
a visual reminder to women to maintain their
femininity even in the throes of an exhilarating
tennis match.

55
Menswear
The most
significant
development in
men’s fashion
occurred in two
unique kinds of
trousers: the
Oxford bags and
the plus-
fours.Oxford bags
grew in popularity
around 1924-25
when
undergraduates at
Oxford adopted
these wide-legged
trousers.

Though the origin of the style is

contentious, it is generally agreed that it
As womenswear valued simplicity in the derived from the trousers that rowers on
1920s so, too, did menswear. Men moved Oxford’s crew teams pulled on over their
away from starched collars and formal shorts, and you can see how The
three-piece suits during the day. Instead, Bystander satirized this in 1924. The
they adopted soft collars and one- or two- original style was about 22 inches wide
button suit jackets often worn without a at the bottom, several inches wider than
waistcoat. Pinstripes were popular, as were the average men’s trouser leg. Oxford
British wools and English tailoring. Martin undergraduates began wearing these
Pel writes that “British men were perceived around the university and soon the style The plus-fours were the other major

to be sartorially the most elegant, and spread. As the style spread, so too did
fashionable men hoped to emulate the style the width of the trouser legs until at one
point they reached up to 44 inches wide.
and heritage of Savile Row and the English
The trousers were made out of flannel
elite”. Popular materials were tweeds and
and came in a variety of colors. They
flannels, depending on the season
were mostly worn by youths –
(Shrimpton
perhaps the male counterparts of the
flapper – and became a favorite of
Britain’s “Bright Young People,” a
group of wealthy, aristocrats known for
their antics in London’s nightlife.
advancement in menswear during the 1920s.
Like Oxford bags, plus-fours originated from
regular knickers, which are short-legged pants
that gather at the knee. They were a more
voguish take on their predecessor. The term
"baggy" came from the fact that they had four
extra inches of material (rather than extending
the trouser leg). They still fastened around the
knee, but the extra material hung over the
band, giving the impression of being at a
racetrack in 1920. Plus-fours were a popular
golf outfit, especially when paired with a
sweater. However, just as tennis wear made its
way into casual womenswear, so did this style
become popular for men's daywear. However,
you can see how casually the men dressed for
tennis.

56
 Children’s wear

Just like in girls' clothes, a

boy's age dictated the length
of his pants. While older boys
started wearing long pants,
frequently paired with similar
tops, younger boys wore
The 1920s saw a boom in children's wear thanks to advancements in technology and studies on child shorts with a sweater or tunic.
development (Shrimpton 49). As the layers of earlier decades came off, comfort and freedom of Like men, young boys were
movement became more important, and simplicity—as demonstrated by the straightforward styles fond of Fair Isle sweaters and

that home-sew patterns offered—became crucial. This trend was similar to that of women's and blazers; in fact, blazers were
frequently a necessary part of
menswear.
a school uniform, as seen in
the uniforms worn by the boys
below. Boys' clothes, like that
of women and men, was
influenced by sportswear as
the woolen blazers and flannel
pants of tennis and cricket
evolved into respectable
daywear for boys (Shrimpton
51). Caps that resembled
crickets, such as the one
below, were literally worn to
top off uniforms.

57
Simple, flowy dresses made of cotton or linen were the
norm for young girls, though velvet coats like this one
were common for special occasions. The dresses' lengths
varied according to the girls' ages, growing longer as they
grew older (Shrimpton 49). Throughout the decade, girls'
clothing featured patterned fabrics, embroidery,
smocking, and peter pan collars (Shrimpton 49). Many
fashions took their cues from womenswear, but in the
1920s, childrenswear wasn't just an infantile imitation of
adult attire (Grindstaff). Although there were some
changes, girls should be dressed in similar styles because
many of the decade's popular women's styles already
appeared girlish.

As we can see from the smallest model above (Fig. 3), the
romper—which we might now refer to as a onesie—
became the most significant advancement in babywear
during the decade. As Shrimpton puts it:

Rompers were innovative new clothes that were first sold

by Harrods in 1919. They resembled tiny boiler suits and
featured a yoked bodice, short knickerbockers, and long
sleeves. Compared to traditional heavy petticoats, these
were much more convenient for moms and gave babies
and toddlers more mobility when they were crawling.
They were made of simple, easily laundered fabrics.

58
ART MOVEMENT
MAJOR ARTISTS AND MOVEMENTS OF THE 1920S ART
SCENE

The elaborate Victorian-era styles gave way

to the new Art Deco movement, which
peaked in the 1920s. Major realist painters
like George Luks remained popular during
this period, along with a new appreciation
for abstract art and nature reflections. The
1920s saw the rise in popularity of painter
Georgia O'Keeffe, who is still praised for
her portrayals of natural settings. Her
exploration of abstract forms in painting
coincided with an expansion in the range of
her sculptures. Marcel Duchamp and the
Dada movement are largely responsible for
the revolutionary thinking behind three-
dimensional production. Surrealism had an
impact on Dada as well as the visual arts,
literature, theater, film, and music.

Pieter Hofman, 1920

Art Deco
In the 1920s, optimism prevailed and the future appeared
promising. The world economy was booming following the
end of World War I. A spirit of frivolity and luxury, as well
as a sense of freedom and hope, were brought about by the
Roaring Twenties.

Women had gained the right to vote, jazz music was huge,
and the flapper helped to further emancipate women. When
Coco Chanel returned from a cruise to Cannes in 1923,
wearing a hot new accessory—sun-tanned skin—leisure
travel became more and more popular!

Life Magazine - Jazz Age

59
 Vogue Art Deco Cover
Among the most recognizable trends of the 1920s was probably Art Deco. Art Deco became an art form that symbolized luxury and
modernity by fusing ornamental geometric shapes and lines with expensive materials like ivory, gold, platinum, and diamonds. Geometric
shapes serve as the foundation for all compositional arrangements, according to Eugene Grasset, a Swiss artist living and working in
Paris, who wrote Méthode de Composition Ornementale, Éléments Rectilignes in 1905. Artists flocked to the Art Deco movement, drawn
by Grasset's writings and the desire to contrast the organic curves of the Art Nouveau style. Following World War I, both consumers and
artists desired to see their wealth and modernity reflected in everything from jewelry to architecture, and Art Deco succeeded in doing just
that.

60
Expressionism
During the 1920s art movement, Expressionism emerged as a modernist movement in Germany. It began as a poetic and painting
movement that focused on presenting the world—internal and external—only from a subjective point of view. The Cabinet of Dr.
Caligari, a masterwork by Robert Wiene from 1920, epitomizes the artistic cinema of this emotionally charged era. Extremely warping its
visuals to evoke strong feelings; emotions and feelings took precedence over actuality.Expressionism was largely influenced by the
Symbolism movement of the late 19th century, but it was also influenced by contemporary currents and the advancement of the time. It
was partially a reaction to Impressionist art, as well as a reaction to the growing social anxiety and the idea of the loss of spirituality.
Among its most well-known painters are Franz Marc, Wassily Kandinsky, Erich Heckel, and Edvard Munch. These artists established the
new aesthetic standards that subsequently spawned the art movements of Neo-Expressionism and Abstract Expressionism.

The poster for the film Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’, 1920)

61
German Expressionist Cinema emerged as a significant art form within the
German Expressionist movement. Its significance stems from the fact that it
was among the first artistic subgenres to have a major influence on the
growth of contemporary cinema, which in turn facilitated the emergence of a
multitude of Avant-Garde styles that have since been developed.
The majority of Expressionist films were initially created in response to
Germany's feelings of alienation prior to the outbreak of World War I.
Nevertheless, interest in this avant-garde cinema style quickly grew, and by
the early 1920s, German Expressionist cinema had become well-known
worldwide. As a result, numerous European filmmakers experimented with
Expressionist filmmaking techniques in their productions.
Following witnessing the atrocities of war, Expressionist
filmmaking flourished. Distinguished instances of this
genre of film comprise The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
(1920), The Golem: How He Came into the World
(1920), and Metropolis (1927). There is an eerie
undercurrent running through all three movies, which is
supposed to symbolize the chaos and horror that
followed the end of the war in society.

Dada
Dadaism has been hailed for a
century due to its significance and
impact as one of the most significant
avant-garde movements.
Starting in Zurich during World War
I, it swiftly expanded to other cities in
Europe and America, becoming an
international phenomenon. Dada
artists were known for their
opposition to cultural and intellectual
conformity in art. They often
displayed political affinities with the
radical left and organized and
participated in public gatherings,
demonstrations, and the publication
of literary and artistic journals.
Regarding the visual arts, a novel idea
that extolled the concept over the
subject was born. The movement's
founding figure, Marcel Duchamp, is
known for his experiments, which
gave rise to innovative concepts like
readymades.

Using images from the media, the

Dadaists, also known as "monteurs"
(mechanics), expressed their opinions
about modern life using scissors and
glue instead of paintbrushes and
paint. Photomontage is a variation on
the collage technique that makes use
of real or press-printed photographs.
Max Ernst illustrated messages about
the devastation of war in Cologne
using pictures from the First World
War.The Berlin photomontages were
put together like engines, but the
interactions between the various
components were more symbolic than
actual.

Raoul Hausmann, ABCD(self-portrait), a photomontage from 1923–24

62
 Surréalisme
During the war, Dadaist activities
gave rise to surrealism. With its
headquarters in Paris, it swiftly
evolved from an artistic movement
to a cultural one. Andre Breton,
arguably the most significant of its
founders, emphasized the
significance of surrealism as a
revolutionary movement. Believing
that the concept of the subconscious
and the elements of surprise,
juxtapositions, and the significance
of dreamlike worlds dominated the
period during which psychoanalysis
emerged, their works reflected the
philosophy of that time. Breton
described the ideas of the day as pure
psychic automatism in his 1924
Surrealist Manifesto. Alongside
Breton, the Spanish artist Salvador
Dali, who called himself a genius and
produced some of the most
provocative and frequently sensual
pictures, is now regarded as one of
the most important surrealists of all
time.

Two competing surrealist groups had

emerged prior to 1924. Every faction
professed to be the offspring of a
revolution that Apollinaire had
started. Pierre Albert-Birot, Paul
Dermée, Céline Arnauld, Francis
Picabia, Tristan Tzara, Giuseppe
Ungaretti, Pierre Reverdy, Marcel
Arland, Joseph Delteil, Jean
Painlevé, and Robert Delaunay were van Goll, Surréalisme, Manifeste du surréalisme, Volume 1, Number 1, October 1, 1924,
cover by Robert Delaunay
among the members of one group,
which was headed by Yvan Goll.
Two weeks before Breton's Manifeste du surréalisme, which was released by Éditions du
Sagittaire on October 15, 1924, Yvan Goll published his own version of the manifesto on
Aragon, Desnos, Éluard, Baron,
October 1, 1924, in his first and only issue of Surréalisme.
Crevel, Malkine, Jacques-André
Goll and Breton engaged in a public dispute over the rights to the term surrealism at the
Boiffard, and Jean Carrive were
Comédie des Champs-Élysées, even going so far as to physically fight at one point. Breton
among the members of the other
ultimately prevailed in the conflict thanks to superior numbers and tactics.In Even though
group, which was led by Breton.
André Breton prevailed in the debate over surrealism's superiority, the movement's history
would continue to be characterized by splits, resignations, and loud excommunications. Each
surrealist had their own perspective on the problem and their own objectives, while mostly
accepting the definitions provided by André Breton.

63
 Theo van Doesburg, Counter Composition V, 1924. Courtesy Stedelijk Museum

De Stijl
Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg, two of the first
Dutch abstract artists, established the De Stijl in 1917. De
Stijl, which translates to "style" in Dutch, was once a
magazine where artists published articles promoting their
theories on abstraction and art. De Stijl quickly developed
into a recognized movement that promoted a visual
language made up of primary colors and precise geometric
shapes, most commonly squares, rectangles, and straight
lines.
The Counter Composition V by Theo van Doesburg, 1924
In 1924, Van Doesburg started releasing his Counter Compositions.
His goal to introduce diagonal lines and break free from the
limitations of De Stijl was embodied in these iconic works. He also
included a grey triangle in this Counter Composition V, which
otherwise only used primary colors and non-colors.

64
DESIGNER’S
MADELEINE VIONNET
Madeleine Vionnet was a French fashion designer who lived
from June 22, 1876, in Loiret, France, to March 2, 1975.
Before coming back to France to open her first fashion house
in Paris in 1912, Vionnet received her training in London.
Despite having to close in 1914 when the First World War
broke out, it reopened later that year, and Vionnet went on to
become one of the most influential designers in Paris in the
1920s and 1930s. Vionnet retired in 1940 after being forced to
close her home in 1939.

Known as the "Queen of the bias cut" and "the architect

among dressmakers," Vionnet is most recognized for her
sophisticated Grecian-style gowns, which helped popularize
the bias cut in the fashion industry. She is also credited with
serving as an inspiration to several contemporary designers.

“Queen of bias cut”

STYLES AND
TECHNIQUE
In the 1920s, Vionnet had created a
developing garments utilizing the bias
stir by
cut, a
technique for cutting cloth diagonal to the grain of
the fabric, enabling it to cling to the body while
stretching and moving with the wearer. While
Vionnet herself did not invent the method of cutting
fabric on the bias, she was the first to utilize bias cuts
for the entirety of a garment. Her work contrasted
existing garments that utilized bias cutting for trims
and embellishments placed on fabric pieces cut along
the straight-of-grain.

Madeleine Vionnet draping the pattern

for her design on an articulated artist
model mounted on a piano bench, 1923.

65
Vionnet rose to prominence
in the fashion industry
thanks to her innovative use
of the bias cut, which
produced a sleek, attractive,
body-skimming silhouette
that revolutionized women's
clothing. Vionnet asserted to
have introduced the
technique—which was
previously utilized for skirts,
trims, and embellishments—
to full-body dresses, despite
occasionally being given
credit for its invention.(7)
Being a skilled tailor,
Vionnet was aware that
materials with bias cuts
could be draped to follow a
woman's natural curves and
convey fluidity of movement.
She incorporated comfort
and movement along with
form into her designs by
utilizing the cut to encourage
the possibility of expression
and motion.

Even though Vionnet's styles

seemed straightforward, they
required a lot of preparation,
such as cutting, draping, and
pinning fabric designs on
tiny dolls.She replicated
entire outfits on life-size
models made of silk, chiffon,
or Moroccan crepe. When
creating her clothing,
Vionnet employed materials
like satin, gabardine, and
crêpe de chine, which were
uncommon for women's
fashion in the 1920s and
1930s.

One of Vionnet's most triumphant dresses carries the grand patterns of silk around the body, while the
fabric twists and tucks back upon itself. The "subject" of this dress is ultimately how it was made and
how it works as a composition. It is the fascination of a Vionnet to recognize that the dress is, in its
way, transparent, yet it is also a kind of three-dimensional, silk-swathing puzzle.

66
 Her most notable
achievement was
founding Lanvin
Parfums SA in 1924. The
sound of her daughter
Marguerite rehearsing
her piano scales served as
the inspiration for her
iconic scent, Arpège,
which was first released
in 1927. Arpeggio is
known as arpège in
French.
In 1922, Lanvin
redesigned her
apartment, her houses,
and her businesses in
partnership with
renowned French
designer Armand-Albert
Rateau. In 1985, the
apartment's living room,
boudoir, and bathroom
were put back together at
the Musée des Arts
Portrait of Jeanne Lanvin in 1925 by Clémentine- Décoratifs in Paris.
Hélène Dufau, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris Rateau created some
amazing bronze furniture
Arpège perfume in 1920–22 for this
residence.
The address of Lanvin Perfumes'
establishment, 4 Rond-Point des
JEANNE
Jeanne Lanvin was born in Paris on 1 January 1867, the eldest

Champs-Elysées, is 1924. The former
milliner saw it clearly: a woman's
dressing table needed to have
perfume as an accessory.American
fragrance was the first. When Maria
Zède created the perfume My Sin and
released it in the US in 1925, it
became popular right away.
LANVIN
of 11 children of Constantin Lanvin and Sophie Deshayes. She
became an apprentice milliner (hat maker) at Madame Félix in
Paris at the age of 16. She trained with Suzanne Talbot and
Caroline Montagne Roux before becoming a milliner on the rue
du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in 1889.
The Lanvin empire featured a Nanterre dye factory starting in
1923. Shops featuring menswear, lingerie, furs, and home décor
were established by Lanvin in the 1920s.

67
Not until 1927 did France give birth to the renowned fragrance Arpège. Renowned perfumer André Fraysse created a special perfume that

Jeanne Lanvin wanted to gift to her daughter Marguerite, who had by then become Countess Marie-Blanche de Polignac, for her 30th

birthday. Marie-Blanche exclaimed, "It's like an arpeggio," upon firstsmelling this composition, which included notes of Bulgarian rose,

Grasse jasmine, honeysuckle, and lily of the valley.It was a total success, and Arpège came to represent Jeanne's love for her daughter

above all else.

Before starting her

own millinery
business in 1889,
Jeanne Lanvin
worked as an
apprentice for a
dressmaker and a
milliner. When her
clients started
requesting the outfits
she wore to adorn her
daughter Marguerite
di Pietro (1897–1958),
she decided to branch
out into dressmaking.
With its careful and
relatively minimal
surface
embellishments and
robe de style
silhouettes, which
could be worn by
women of all ages,
her style perfectly
captured the
femininity of youth in
a most contemporary
way. The 1920s saw
Lanvin's house
expand into fur,
lingerie, menswear,
home

goods, and perfume, demonstrating her talent. Even more wisely, she opened her own dye factory where she created the unique "Lanvin

blue."

The robe de style, which is often associated with Lanvin, is characterized by its dropped waist and wide skirts designed to resemble court

dresses of the 18th century. The style safely hid the figure, which made it comfortable for clients of any age and shape. This particular robe

de style's uncomplicated bold decoration and sculptural silhouette is unmistakably iconic of the 1920s haute couture style of Lanvin.

68
JEAN PATOU

French fashion designer Jean Patou (27 September 1887 –

8 March 1936) founded the Jean Patou brand.
In 1880, Patou was born in Paris, France. Furs and
tanning were the family's businesses in Patou.(Source: )
After working with his uncle in Normandy, Patou
relocated to Paris in 1910 with the goal of pursuing a
career in couture.

The "designer tie" was first popularized in the

1920s[citation needed], when Patou's perfume counter

was situated next to men's ties that were made of the

same fabric as her women's dress collection in department

stores. The designer tie is still popular among today's

fashion designers, including Paul Smith, Patrick

McMurray, Timothy Everest, Louis Feraud, and

Duchamp.

Patou started his perfume company in 1925 with three

scents designed by Henri Alméras.*[4] The first sun-tan

lotion was invented in 1928 by Jean Patou and was called

"Huile de Chaldée".

For Jean Patou, Louis

Süe created all of the

perfume bottles and

packaging.

69
COCO
CHANEL
French fashion designer and businesswoman
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel (/ʃəˈnɛl/
shə-NEL) was born on August 19, 1883, and
passed away on January 10, 1971. The creator
and namesake of the Chanel brand, she is
credited with making sporty, casual chic the
norm for feminine style in the years following
World War I. This brought an end to the
previously popular "corseted silhouette" and
was replaced with a more affordable, easier to
wear, more comfortable, and less time-
consuming style without sacrificing elegance.
On Time magazine's list of the 100 most
influential people of the 20th century, she is
the only fashion designer.

Chanel was a prolific fashion designer who

realized her aesthetic design in jewelry,
handbags, and fragrances, expanding her
influence beyond couture clothing. The
renowned interlocked-CC monogram that
Chanel created and has been wearing since
the 1920s is an iconic product, as is her
signature scent, Chanel No. 5.

CHANEL’S JEWELRY
The stunning gemstone necklaces and other accessories that
Chanel wore as "illusion jewelry" gave her "simple modern" look
more depth.

Since modern women would not have to contend with bulky

outerwear or the confining shoulder pads of the Victorian era, this
method of adorning them with exquisite jewelry was well suited to
her vision of the modern woman.

70
CHANEL’S
PERFUME
Not only did the House of
Chanel transform women's
fashion in the 1920s, but its
signature scent, Coco
Chanel, helped to define
and trademark Chanel's
reputation as the style
demigod.
As you've undoubtedly
gathered by now, one of my
favorite 1920s icons is Coco
Chanel.
Not only did Chanel redefine
fashion, but she also
reinvented fragrance,
creating an iconic perfume
in the form of Chanel No. 5.
Chanel No. 5 has become a
symbol of luxury fashion;
most people associate it
with the house of Chanel.

No. 5, which was first

introduced to a select group
of close friends of Coco in
1921 and subsequently
promoted to the "regulars"
at Chanel's Boutique, was
distinctive due to its
synthetic base.

According to Chanel, she

desired a "artificial"
perfume. Even though this
sounds awful to us now, we
have to consider the
historical context of
Chanel's remarks.

Chanel was all about creating something new; she didn't want to be limited by the aromas that could only be
used in earlier perfumes.

Prior to the invention of synthetics, perfume had to be worn heavily or all evening because natural oils had a
tendency to diffuse quickly.

Compared to "natural" perfumes, synthetics allowed the scent to linger on the skin for a significantly longer
period of time.

71
 ICONS
The 1920s marked the beginning of modern
society as we know it, with women's
emancipation, the introduction of quickly
advancing technology, and a desire for a
comfortable life.

This was the time of jazz, flappers, and

mixed drinks; F. Scott Fitzgerald referred
to it as the “most expensive orgy in
history.”

Known for her striking bob hairstyle,

Louise Brooks was a bold and innovative
flapper of the time. She was the first
woman in London to dance the Charleston,
and it's possible that her wild reputation
served as the inspiration for the 1925 song
Don't Bring Lulu, which is about a strange
and unpredictable woman you should
never invite to a party.
Numerous copies of Brooks' sleek,
lacquered black helmet of hair, including
Anna Karina in Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre
Numerous imitators have been drawn to
Brooks' sleek, lacquered black helmet of
hair, including Anna Karina in Jean-Luc
Godard's 1962 film Vivre Sa Vie, Melanie
Griffith as Lulu in Something Wild (1988),
and Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction (1994).
Her bob served as a practical haircut for
women who were too preoccupied with
leading fast lives to give their hair much
thought, in addition to serving as a
statement of modern femininity.
The 1920s fashions represented a rejection
of the centuries-old restrictions placed on
women's clothing. Women abandoned their
corsets, lowered the waistlines of their
gowns, and raised their hemlines in place of
being tightly bound and covered. This
change was partially motivated by the
suffragette movement and their freedom
from slavery during World War I.
A new breed of young woman emerged with the flapper; she was gregarious, drank
heavily, smoked, and could dance all night long while wearing loose-fitting clothes. Along
with their pale night-owl skin, black kohl around their eyes, and defined lips that
frequently formed a little, pouty cupid's bow, women's faces also became harder and more
knowing.
The fashion of Louise Brooks was audacious and innovative. She wore wide trousers,
pleated skirts, velvet blazers, deep-cut evening gowns without a bra, furs, silk blouses with
geometric patterns, and strings of pearls. The cloche hat, a mainstay of the 1920s, was
pulled down over her bob. Her lips were painted in a half-smile, half-sulk, and her figure
was the epitome of the flapper—boyishly thin with a flat chest.
She asserted, "A well-dressed woman can conquer the world, even if her purse is painfully
empty."
In retrospect, Brooks has gained more recognition for her work in Germany with G.W.
Pabst on Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl, rather than for her Hollywood
productions like The Canary Murder Case. Brooks was also a very contemporary silent
star. She declined
She preferred nuanced expression to the theatrical, exaggerated acting of silent cinema.
Louise Brooks was born in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1906. She fled her small Midwestern
town at the age of 15 for New York, demonstrating her rebellious nature from an early
age.
She met the socialite Bennett sisters there in 1922, picked up fashion tips, attended
dinners with stockbrokers and high society dances, and got her hair cut in the iconic
short bob. Hollywood was phoning her soon after.
Despite having never been to Germany or heard of Pabst, Brooks signed up for
Pandora's Box on a whim. She plays the stunning and captivating Lulu, who drives men
to destruction until she is destroyed by Jack the Ripper.

However, Brooks was undervalued in Hollywood, and by the middle of the 1930s, she
had lost all credibility following a falling out with Paramount Pictures. She didn't start to
gain popularity again until the 1950s, when she started a second career as a witty critic
and Hollywood memoirist. Her autobiography, Lulu in Hollywood, offers a sharp look
into her professional life.

72
JOSEPHINE
BAKER
It's been said that in the 1920s, every black artist aspired to work in
Harlem. Josephine Baker wasn't an anomaly.

Born in 1906 in St. Louis, Ms. Baker joined the "roaring Twenties" at the
age of fifteen. However, she had spent her entire life performing.

She had traveled across the Atlantic and arrived in France a different
person by the time she was 19 years old. She once responded to a
question about how she got into dancing by saying, "Because I was born
in a cold city, because I felt cold throughout my childhood, and because
I always wanted to dance on stage."
But, Sissle and Blake called her "too ugly, too thin, too dark" during her
audition for their stage production of "Shuffle Along" when she traveled
to Harlem to get her big break. Her "outlandish" dance performances
made her the star of the same show by 1921, thanks to her talent and
perseverance.

Born With Less Than Nothing, Baker Became the Most

Famous Woman in the World
Cummings makes complimentary as well as racist remarks. In essence, he
describes Josephine's performance as the epitome of an animal and the
devil devoid of genuine humanity.

In addition to being the first African American lead in a major motion

picture and a symbol of the Jazz Age, Josephine Baker also participated in
the Civil Rights Movement, helped the Red Cross during the war, and
fought against the German occupation of France.

If Ms. Baker's reputation in the 1920s is anything, it's for the flawless
Charleston dance.

Cummings wrote the following about Baker's appearance in the stage

production of "Chocolate Dandies":

"She resembled some tall, vital, incomparably fluid nightmare which

Josephine Baker Redefined what was beautiful and crossed its eyes and warped its limbs in a purely-unearthy manner – some
sexy in the 1920's vision which opened new avenues of fear, which suggested nothing but
itself and which, consequently, was strictly aesthetic."

She relocated to Paris from New York City in 1925, and

in 1926 and 1927, she dazzled audiences with her most
iconic ensemble in the renowned Paris revues. Her entire
costume featured a skirt composed of seventeen beaded
bananas, cuffs accentuating her wrists and ankles,
dangling earrings, and a long string of pearls.
Despite the war putting an end to her burgeoning career,
her wild dance style enthralled audiences all over Paris,
and she will always be recognized as one of the most
well-known music hall and variety show performers of
the 1920s.

73
DANSE SAUVAGE
She wore her first banana costume to
perform the "Danse Sauvage" in 1926.
Although the skirt's designer is
unknown, many sources give credit to
either artist Paul Colin or Jean
Cocteau. “Thousands of dolls in
banana skirts were sold all over
Europe,” according to Vogue.
“Beauty editors advised women to rub
walnut oil on their faces to darken
their skin like Baker’s.” Baker was
also featured on a lot of postcards,
which featured her famous banana
skirt, glossy hair, and jewelry placed
strategically over her bare breasts.

In her signature Banana Dress

Doing the Charleston

74
RUDOLPH VALENTINO
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, sex symbol, and early pop icon.
Known as the “Latin Lover”, he was one of the most popular
international stars of the 1920s, and one of the most recognized stars of
the silent film era. He is best known for his work in The Sheik and The
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. His death at age 31 caused mass
hysteria among his female fans, propelling him into icon status.
Valentino was born Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Piero Filiberto
Guglielmi in Castellaneta, Puglia, Kingdom of Italy, to a French
mother, Marie Berthe Gabrielle Barbin, and Giovanni Antonio
Giuseppe Fedele Guglielmi, a veterinarian who died of malaria, then
widespread in Southern Italy, when Valentino was 11. He had an older
brother, Alberto, a younger sister, Maria, and an older sister Beatrice
who died in infancy.
As a child, Valentino was reportedly spoiled and troublesome. His
mother coddled him while his father disapproved of his behavior. He did
poorly in school, and was eventually enrolled in agricultural school
where he received a degree.
After living in Paris in 1912, he soon returned to Italy. Unable to secure
employment, he departed for the United States in 1913. He was
processed at Ellis Island at age 18 on December 23, 1913.

75
KIKI DE
MONTPARNASSE
She was the toast of Montparnasse at a time when the popular quarter in the
south of Paris welcomed penniless avant-garde artists and bohemian
characters. Her raven black garçonne bob, prominent nose and art deco
Cupid’s bow made her recognisable to one and all. Kiki de Montparnasse
was not particularly beautiful or elegant, but there was something electric
about her: “she was very wonderful to look at”, said Hemingway. Soutine,
Foujita, Gargallo and of course Man Ray must have agreed with him, for
they all asked her to pose for them. But Kiki de Montparnasse was more
than just an artist’s model.
Born Alice Ernestine Prin, a healthy country girl brought up by a kindly and
unshockable grandmother, Kiki de Montparnasse first arrived in Paris in
1913, aged 12, to work as a baker’s apprentice. However, five years later, the
Armistice found her down on her luck, homeless, roaming the streets of
Paris and sleeping in a vagabond’s hut behind the Gare Montparnasse. her most prized possession. It was there, beneath the mirrors that
Refusing to become a prostitute (she had an irrational fear of venereal multiplied the possibilities of seeing and being seen, amid the
cigarette smoke and the aromas of Pernod and hot chocolate, that
disease) she would go to the Coupole and sit there all da, sipping a six-cent
café-crème wearing a black silk hat, she filched croissants, made scenes and got artists to buy her
drinks. She would pose for them in exchange, soon building up
friendships with lovely Foujita, dirty Soutine or drunken
Modigliani. She didn’t belong to any clique but rather reveled in
seducing everyone: surrealists, cubists, futurists, Dadaists; and
rubbed elbows with drunken sailors, pimps, boxers and cocaine
users on the terraces of the Dôme or the Rotonde. She was famous
for her generosity with her tears, with her body, with her laughter,
with her money whenever she had any.

"She didn’t belong to any clique but rather reveled in seducing everyone: surrealists, cubists, futurists, Dadaists; and rubbed elbows with
drunken sailors, pimps, boxers and cocaine users..."
In 1921 she met Man Ray and reluctantly accepted to pose for him, even though she was weary of photography, especially the “lewd”
kind. It was love at first sight. They moved in together to a modern, luxurious building on 31 bis rue Campagne Première. For Kiki de
Montparnasse this was a dream
come true: perfumed with Guerlain’s L’Heure Bleue, she would
entertain in her salon the greatest personalities of her time. Matisse,
Picasso, Joyce and Gertrude Stein all dropped in to enjoy her
excellent French cooking. She still posed for artists, always
remaining silent, never judging their work. She picked up cues from
the very people she modeled for and became an accomplished
artist, but was devoid of artistic ambition. She could even have been
a movie star when, in 1923, Paramount scheduled an appointment
for her in New York. But, at the last minute, she decided to go
shopping instead. She would rather stay in Paris, a city that was, in the words of Alice B. Toklas, “more beautiful, vital and
inextinguishable than ever”; a city where her own life and the creating of her persona would become her works of art.

76
HAIRSTYLES
The Bob
Of the cuts, this one was the most widespread.
The bob was usually square-cut around the base of the head and fell to the bottom of the ears.
The hair was frequently parted on one side. Hair was usually swept to one side, though bangs
were occasionally worn.
Bobbing one's hair was less about the style and more about the act of cutting it short. No matter
how you styled it, your hair would be "bobbed".

Natalie King sporting a bob haircut

For a variety of reasons, including fitting the trendy cloche hats over their heads, girls started
bobbing their hair.
introduced some time before the start of World War I, by dancer Irene Castle. The hair can be
combed to one side or worn with bangs on the short bob haircut.
Since the 1920s, the bob hairstyle has remained popular. Movie stars have continued to wear this
hairstyle, which was popularized by Zelda Fitzgerald and Louise Brooks in the 1920s and is still
in style today.
Natalie Portman and Cameron Diaz have both stylishly donned this look..

earbuds
In the very early 1920s, this was a popular hairstyle for young women, primarily high school girls.
Because lice and other "stuff" could be concealed in the big bun of hair at the side of a woman's
head, this style was also known as "cootie garages."
Women who didn't want to commit to an extremely short cut could still have an attractive
hairstyle with the help of earphone styling.
Naturally, Princess Leia's hairstyle in the Star Wars series was known as "earphones," albeit in a
very futuristic way.

The Shingle

The Shingle had a modified bob cut with an odd triangle-shaped nape of the neck.
An illustration of a straight Shingle cut
is essentially a tapered bob cut that ends at the nape of the neck. The neck's hair is shaved very
short in a ¡V” shape, frequently featuring ¡spit curls” at the sides.

This 1923-introduced style was also known as "the boyish bob."

Katie Holmes is a well-known contemporary celebrity who embodies this stylish cut from the
1920s.

77
The Dutch boy

One of the most notable celebrities of the 1920s was Louise Brooks, whose hairstyle became
known as the "dutch boy."
The Dutch Boy Haircut of Louise Brooks
The most recognizable hairstyle from the 1920s is undoubtedly Louise Brooks' "Dutch Boy"
look, despite not being the most fashionable.

With their sharp angles and square lines, the bangs and sides that envelop Brooks' lovely
face give off a very square appearance that reflects the Art Deco movement's influence.

Because of her hair, Brooks will always be referred to as "the girl in the black helmet".

Eton crop

The striking eton crop was inspired by a boys boarding school cut, and it was popularized
by eton baker Josephine Brooks with her signature eton crop.
The Eton Crop is the shortest and most dramatic of all the bobbed hairstyles that were
fashionable in the 1920s. It essentially wrapped a woman's head in the razor-sharp shortness
of "the Shingle."

The mandatory boy's hairstyles at London's esteemed Eton Preparatory School served as the
inspiration for this particular look.

Chignon

Women who desired longer hair but still wanted to look stylish could do so with the chignon
cut.
A classic Chignon Cut for ladies who prefer to wear their hair long and pull it back for
social events at night. This method produced shiny waves across the head that concluded at
the nape of a woman's neck in a chignon or bun.

To hold the hair in place and create waves, bobby pins were utilized.

78
ACCESSORIES
The elegant styles of The Jazz Age extend into
the style of 1920's jewelry.
This was an era where women got a taste for
the exotic.
These tastes translated to a desire for bright
colors, foreign materials, and new angular
shapes.
A rare portrait of a flapper flaunting her (real?)
jewelry
The encroachment of easy to make colorful
plastics into commercial production allowed a
whole new style to be born!
That of the flamboyant, daring, androgynous
(and dare we say even garish at times) flapper.
1920's Egyptian Style Jewelry,
Complete with Fake Rocks
The Story behind 1920's Jewelry
In the case of 1920's fashion, the
jewelry tells a story of a truly great age,
especially for women. People were
fascinated by the exotic, the foreign,
the unknown, and inspired by the
beauty of "the new."
The world expanded rapidly as
technology and peoples' desire to
explore their surroundings increased.
They would return from their
adventures with a new discovery and
new treasures. These influence of these
exotic finds were
The Story behind 1920's Jewelry
In the case of 1920's fashion, the jewelry tells a
story of a truly great age, especially for women.
People were fascinated by the exotic, the
foreign, the unknown, and inspired by the
beauty of "the new."
The world expanded rapidly as technology and
peoples' desire to explore their surroundings
increased. They would return from their
adventures with a new discovery and new
treasures. These influence of these exotic finds
were
Bright colors were the new aesthetic of the 1920's; the rise of technology, affluence,
and ease of travel, brought never before seen colors to the world of jewelry.
This color reflected the vibrancy of the Jazz Age. The invention of new materials such
as plastic and stones from exotic locations introduced an entirely new aspect to jewelry
designers.
Anything that added decoration to an exposed neck, back, or bare arm was the perfect
accessory for an alluring woman of the 1920’s.
During the glitz and glam of the Jazz Age, it was all about the over-sized pearls, ornate
gem brooches, beaded necklaces, fringe, and filigree rings.
Decadence, romance, and excess ran rampant, but this time, it was on the cheap.
Authenticity was no longer required. What we now think of as “costume jewelry”
showed up in dress shops and replaced the heirlooms and overly costly ornaments of
the Edwardian era.
79
Art Deco Jewelry

The straight and simple designs of women's

fashion in the 1920s lent itself to expressive
jewelry.
In 1924, Coco Chanel popularized "costume
jewelry" to accent and contrast the straight and
simple lines of her fashion designs.
Angular pieces adorned women's belts,
brooches, sautoir necklaces and hair clips,
adding interest and flair to the fashion itself.
You don’t have to be a jewelry aficionado to
know the brand power in the name Cartier.
During the 1920’s, Cartier’s famous Art Deco
designs and filigree rings were highly coveted
by the old and young alike.
A vintage tiara from Cartier
Cartier designed for the royal families of
Europe as well as Hollywood’s most glamorous
starlets. If you were anyone, you wore Cartier.
Tiffany and Co., a rival of Cartier’s, was
known for its Art Deco engagement rings
whose now vintage styles have remained
prominent in popularity even today.
Other notable brands during the 1920’s like
J.E. Caldwell and Bailey, Banks, and Biddle,
pre-dated other manufacturers but they were
responsible for building the foundations of
these newer Art Deco styles, taking from the
earlier Art Nouveau movement that brought
with it a highly ornamental and organically
inspired set of standards.
Art Deco Jewelry did not mess around when it
came to going all out

80
MAKEUP
Advances in 1920s makeup played
a significant role in defining a
woman's beauty.
Few will deny that the 1920s were
the decade which ushered in
modern fashion.
Until the end of World War One, a
woman's typical makeup routine
was a powdered white face, black 1920s makeup and who wore it.
mascara on the eyes. The female celebrities of the 1920s certainly had a lot to do with its popularity. Women in the
Makeup before the 1920s was movies wore makeup to accentuate their features "on screen," and then, as today, people
looked to their favorite celebrities to define what was beautiful.
difficult to use, due to the fact
With the development of the pharmaceutical industry and advancing marketing practices, the
products as we know them today makeup market flourished (Like many products in the 1920s).
hadn't been developed. Flapper Lips
Lucy Doraine Wearing Typical Typically, before the mid 1910s, a refined woman did not wear lipstick. But as with the
Makeup of the 1920s accentuated eyes, a woman's lips were defining feature of beauty and independance in the
1920s.
Women would often make mascara
Flappers were famous for applying lipstick in public, an act that would have been considered
at home with ash and India ink, or
scandalous before the 1920s.
lampblack, then apply this Businesses like Max Factor and Elizabeth Arden grew and began developing and selling new
concoction to their eyelashes. makeup products:
In the early years putting on
makeup was, obviously, a more
tedious process than it is today.

Dark mascaras and eye liners to define a woman's eyes. Typically women would line the
entire eye for maximum definition.
Different shades of eye shadow (browns for eyebrows, blues, greens and teals for the eye
lids and brow bones) to accentuate the famous "Flapper Look"
Lipstick in tubes. Various shades for the famous deep red "Cupid's Bow" (Heart-Shaped)
lips.
Clara Bow Rocking "Cupid's Bow" Lips
Gloria Swanson Looking Fierce With Dark Eyes and "Heart" Shaped Lipstick
New beauty standards sprung quickly from the pale "Asian" look of the early 1920s, the
garconne styles of 1925, and the femme fatale at the end of the decade.
The rich colors of the era's paintings helped influence the colors of 1920s makeup and the
sharp edges of 1920s hairstyles.

81
FOOTWEAR
Shoe heels for daywear were sturdy “Louis” heels, also called tango, curved,
Spanish or vintage heels. They were about 2 inches high. The curved heel
went out of fashion in the mid-20s, being replaced by the sturdier military or
Cuban heel.
The 1-inch stocky Cuban heel was common on house shoes and low walking
shoes. The 1 3/4 inch “Military heels” were the perfect height for sporty
oxfords and some daytime heels. Rubber heels and soles were added to
walking shoes for comfort and stability in the mid-’20s, otherwise leather
soles remained the standard.
Toes were very pointed in the early years and followed the Edwardian shoe
trend, before rounding out in the mid-twenties into the almond toe. They
became almost square in the late 1920s.
Materials – Most shoes were made of leather. Calfskin, kid, suede, lizard,
alligator, and goat were the most popular. Both matte finish and shiny patent
leather was equally as popular for the daytime. Meanwhile, evening shoes
required heels that sparkled with a high sheen. Colors for day shoes tended to
be shades of black, brown, grey, and beige (called blonde). Two types of
contrasting leather could be combined on the shoe body and straps to create
unique swirl patterns, color blocking, or texture blocking.
1928 lizard skin on black patent leather, and reptile skin on brown kid leather
Sport shoes and summer heels were made of sturdy gabardine or canvas cloth.
Leather shoes could be inset with panels of cloth for ventilation. This resulted
in two-tone shoes of brown & white or brown & tan, with the occasional
black and ivory combination. The more trendy women at the end of the
decade chose bright colored shoes in bold red, orange, blue, white, and any
combination of these together. Red bodies with blue heels, sometimes striped,
gave a decidedly Art Deco look.
1922 white canvas with black patent trim
Indoor shoes were pretty satin, grosgrain, brocade,
velvet, or lambskin materials. These could be worn in
the evenings too, for dinner and dancing.
Late 1920s Brocade T-Strap Formal Dancing Shoes
(Courtesy of Liz White)
Buckles and buttons (Fasenettas) were covered in
precious stone and metal sequins over diamante onyx
(shiny black), bronze, or pearl. Button covers made
decorative plain shoes affordable to the poor. As the
decade progressed, straps became thinner and covered
in precious stones or metal sequins and/or shaped into
geometric designs. Cutouts on the sides, toes and
straps added even more skin exposure and more places
for geometric “Art Deco” shapes to form.
Stone Embellished Shoe Buckles
1920S WOMEN’S SHOE STYLES
“Strap pump” shoes were the trendiest of the ’20s
shoes. Single strap shoes across the vamp were called
“strap shoes” in the ’20s. There were also straps that
crisscrossed in an X pattern or went straight across
with 2-4 thin straps. Small cutouts on the sides that
connected to the strap across the vamp were also very
common. All straps on dressy heels were thin and
getting thinner as the decade progressed.
1922 double T-strap and triple Mary Jane straps
Some straps did not buckle but were tied with a silk
ribbon bow. Ribbon looped through eyelets on either
side and tied at the center. Ribbon laces were especially
common on walking oxfords.
82
83
1930
1930’S NEWS
The thirties were a decade that opened in depression and ended in Mickey Mouse and SnowWhite
Walt Disney’s rise to fame is a classicsuccess story. Born in
war.Throughout the 1920s, economies worldwide had been booming,
1901, a poor boyfrom the Midwest, he made his way to
bringing prosperity to thousands of ordinary people who gambled their thetop through a combination of enterprise,ingenuity, and
spare cash on stocks and shares. But in 1929, the economy of the hard work.In 1928, Disney’s finest creation,Mickey Mouse,
made his debut in
Western world sank deep into a period of depression.The downward Steamboat Willie
spiral began with an excess of agricultural , the first cartoon tofeature a fully synchronized sound
track.By the end of 1930, Mickey was aninternational
products ,which led to falling
celebrity, known in Italy as“Topolino” and in Japan as
prices. In an attempt to “Miki Kuchi.”He was such a personality that in 1931,
control the decline
Time
, produce kept off the magazine ran a feature article onhim. Equally
markets. The fall in remarkable was that WaltDisney had reached a
position ofeminence matching that of the
agricultural prices meant greatestHollywood stars and directors with only
that the farming ahandful of films, none of which ran forlonger than
eight minutes.Influential admirers included theItalian
population faced a conductor Arturo Toscaniniand Russian film director
reduced income.
When agricultural prices SergeiEisenstein.Disney’s first full-
lengthanimated film,
began to fall, in America at least, investors Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
in industry remained optimistic, and in early 1929, , which hadcost close to $1.5
million,premiered on Christmas
the price of stocks was still rising. With this
1937before a star-studded audience
investment in industry ,manufacturers were able to atHollywood’s Cathay Circle
Theater.Sensational reviews followed,
increase their output: in 1929, the automobile
and
industry produced about 5.5 million cars. But the Snow White
industrialists soon began to realize thatthe market went on to become notonly a hit but a
movie classic.
would become saturated andthey would have to
check production.Doubts turned into fears, which in
turngrew into panic as people to withdraw
their investments. On October24,
1929, 13 million shares were sold
onWall Street, the financial heart
of America. One company after
another crashed as its credit
failed, and by the end of the
month, American investors
had lostsome $40
billion.Unemployment
rose whilepurchasing
power collapsed. Large
businessesfailed, often taking smaller ones with them.Thousands of
small investors lost everything, and in theindustrialized towns and cities,
unemployed workers joinedbreadlines. By 1932, 3 million were out of
work inBritain,

6 million in Germany, and 14 million inthe United States.Generally, when we think of the 1930s,our minds conjure up images of
despair: massunemployment and breadlines, the rise of Fascism and the drift toward World War II. Withthese images firmly planted in
our minds,it is easy to forget that fashion, beauty,and glamour were still important aspectsof everyday life for many people.

84
TIGHTENING THE BELT
If fashion had been merely a luxury, during the
1930s the industry would have totally collapsed.
Instead, it responded to all the economic and
social changes of the decade and was swayed by
the opposing influences of the economic climate
and the impact of Hollywood-style luxury.
These 1932 dinner frocks from the Houseof Lelong show fashion
Because the rich were tightening their belts,
in a transitionalphase. The longer length and slimmer cutare
spending less and making economies where they
countered by the crisscross necklines,which still retain a feel of
could, designers responded by cutting their prices,
the previousdecade.
by producing new lines of ready-to-wear clothes to
make up for the shortfall in orders for couture
garments, and by producing more practical clothes
made of economical and washable fabrics. In 1931,
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel showed a collection of
evening dresses that helped to promote cotton as a
fashion fabric, and by 1932, she had also cut
nearly 50 percent off her prices .Designers also had
new fabrics to work with. What were then called
artificial silks like rayon were now stronger and
better, and in1939, the production of nylon began
in the United States. Nylon was stronger and more
elastic than previous artificial silks. In addition to
a whole host of preshrunk, or Sanforized, fabrics,
there were uncrushable fabrics like Zingale and
glass fabrics like Rhodophane, which Elsa
Schiaparelli used to sensational effect. For women
who could afford them, the fashions of the early
thirties were stylish and elegant. The longer and
more flowing lines that the Paris-based couturiers
had shown in their collections in the autumn of
1929 were to become established in 1930. But the
increasingly difficult economic situation meant
that many women simply could not afford the
luxury of new clothes. In an effort to bring their
existing shorter-length skirts up.

85
NEW DEAL
On a cold, windy day, March 4, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt took the presidential oath of office and addressed America with
thewords: “This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.” Roosevelt seemed to promise, as his
popularcampaign song indicated, “Happy Days Are Here Again.”The plan to revive the flagging American economy and national
spirit was called the New Deal, and the president’s first act wasto rescue the banks, many of which had gone into bankruptcy. In the
first of his famous Fireside Chats on the radio, FDR announcedthat the banks would reopen the next day. All over America, people
listening in were convinced of his ability to lead them out of theDepression: the next day, bank deposits exceeded withdrawals.A
more lighthearted way of cheering up the country was the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, which since 1920 hadprohibited the
manufacture and sale of alcohol.But FDR did not lose sight of the many other important issues. The New Deal program of reforms
brought help for mortgagedfarmers and tenants by ensuring that their mortgage holders and landlords did not foreclose and leave
them homeless. A federalpayroll of $500 million was used to put the unemployed back to work. On Muscle Shoals in Tennessee, the
river was used to generatecheap electrical power for the people of the Tennessee Valley.The New Deal program had something for
everyone: farmers, workers—even writers and artists, with a government-sponsoredprogram of public art and writing projects. All
this reflected Roosevelt’s hope that he could lead a united country along the road torecovery.

From 1934 through the late 1930s, the Midwest was hit by annual dust storms, with huge black clouds of soil blowing off farmland
that hadbeen overplanted and overgrazed. Destitute farmers headed west to California, which they believed to be a promised land with
jobs for all.

86
Marathon dancing was a grim way for the desperate to earn money in the Depression. Couples danced for days on end until the last
leftstanding won a cash prize. The authorities tried to close these dances down, but audiences loved them.

87
many women resorted toadding lengthening bands of
contrasting fabric or even fur to theirhems. Material was
often added to collars and sleeves to give the impression that
their outfit had been designed that way and was not simply a
emergency measure.Within a year, the new lines for
fashion had been abolished,
and as if they were mirror
ing the economic slump ,
hemlines dropped. Longer
and narrower
skirts that gradually flared-
out fell to the bottom of the
calf. Longer hair was waved
lower onto the-nape of the
neck. Hats featured skullcaps
with draped folds of fabric
attached to the back or sides
or brims than obscured one
eye. Sleeves were owned full
from the elbow to the wrist ,
where they draped onto cuffs
or were loosely tied. Colors
also reflected the subdued
mood of the early thirties:
black, navy, and gray were
popular for city wear; browns
were and greens were
repopular for autumn outfits. Forafternoon wear
and evening dresses, black or pastel shades of peach, pink,
green, and blue were the most fashionable.
More outfits from Lucien Lelong,

Moving with the Movies for

(right to left)
Although designers still continued to create lavish gowns for royalty and the rich,they were
morning, afternoon, and evening.
also taking into account the requirements of the working lives led bymore and more ordinary
Theoverall shape of all three
women. The changed role of women in society and thegradual weakening of clearly defined
designs is definedby broad
social distinctions that had begun at thebeginning of the century meant that many more
shoulders and narrow waists, as
people were sharing similarlifestyles. During the day, women might be working in offices or in
wellas contrasting effects of
light industry,while their evenings were spent dancing or at the theater or movies.If radio was
texture and color.
the miracle of the twenties, the miracle of the thirties was thetalking picture. Sound movies
had arrived in 1927, but it was in the thirties thatthey were truly “all talking, all singing, all
dancing” spectaculars. While the richand royal may still have looked to Paris for their
fashions, working women all overthe world—and even the couturiers themselves—kept an eye
on the movies.

88
The text on this ad read: “Whether she speaks English, French, Spanish, Italian, or YankeeAmericanese . . . her gown proclaims in the
very shade and texture of its fabric the worldwidepreference for Stehli Silk.” The favorite fabric of a decade that loved bias cuts and
folds,nothing would cut and drape like silk.

89
 Watching a Joan Crawford film is like flipping
through a 1934 issue of Vogue ,”wrote one
critic about the woman who played tough but
was never less than elegant.

The first of the designers to try to join movie costumes with real-life clothes
Claudette Colbert had a special talent
wasCoco Chanel, who went to Hollywood in 1929. Although her designs
forcomedy in addition to dramatic
wereelegant and innovative, by the time the movies were released, hemlines
roles.Despite her fluffy image, she had
haddropped and the styles that she had created were obsolete. Nevertheless,
goodbusiness sense and was one of
manyother designers made the pilgrimage across the Atlantic to Hollywood,
Hollywood’shighest-paid stars of the late 1930s
includingElsa Schiaparelli, Marcel Rochas, Captain Edward Molyneux, Alix
(laterMadame Grès), Jean Patou, and Jeanne Lanvin. But undoubtedly the
bestwere Hollywood’s own indigenous designers like Gilbert Adrian, Orry-
Kelly, andEdith Head.Not only did women copy the dress styles of the movie
stars, they alsocopied their hair. Claudette Colbert’s bangs, created by
Hollywood stylistAntoine, became popular. Greta Garbo’s bobbed hairstyle
was another Antoinecreation. Women all over the world now started to copy
the style by parting their

90
 YA AIN’T HEARD NOTHIN’
YET After the 1927 success of the first “all singing, all talking” movie The Jazz Singer
,which starred Al Jolson as the son of a Jewish cantor who embarks on a career
as amusic hall singer, Hollywood soon realized that movie audiences would no
longer pay tosee silent movies.Many of the silent screen stars were unable to
make the transition from silent movieacting to the more subtle style required by
sound pictures. They were now required toact and deliver their lines without
interruption from the director, who had previouslybeen able to shout out
instructions on the set. Good voices and clear pronunciation werenow a must,
which meant that stage-trained actors rapidly replaced silent stars. Manyactors
ended their careers either because they had strong foreign accents (like
PolaNegri and Emil Jannings) or voices that somehow did not match their screen
image (likeNorma Talmadge and screen idol John Gilbert).Other silent stars, like
Greta Garbo, Gary Cooper, Janet Gaynor, and Joan Crawfordmade the
transition to sound movies with the help of voice teachers and dialogue coaches
.Advances in sound also led to the rise of an important new genre, the musical.
Atfirst, musicals were simply filmed versions of Broadway shows, but within a
few years,thanks largely to the work of two men—choreographer Busby
Berkeley (1895–1976) anddancer-choreographer Fred Astaire (1899–1987)—the
original movie musical grew insophistication to become the film hit of the 1930s.

hair either in the center or on the side and waving or curling their hair onto
theirshoulders. Another variation was the long bob, created by pinning up the
frontand sides of the hair and leaving the back loose or curled under on the
shoulderlike a long pageboy style.Thanks to Hollywood, the cosmetic industry
began to evolve into the giantit is today. Innovations in these years included false
fingernails and eyelashes.Unlike the twenties, when makeup features in magazines
had been rare, everyimportant movie star now appeared in fan and fashion
magazines andcontributed to the new looks with step-by-step guides to
transforming one’s self from girl next door to glamour girl—with the help of face
makeup, eye shadows,pencils, mascara, rouge, and the very essential lipstick. In
their efforts to lookmore like the Hollywood stars, women copied Marlene
Dietrich’s practice of plucking her eyebrows to the thinnest line. If their own
eyebrows were not archedenough, they plucked them off completely and penciled
in new super-thinarched brows.Fashion photographers like Cecil Beaton, Horst P.

The relative simplicity of Greta Garbo Horst, Man Ray, andGeorge Hoyningen-Heune also caught the Hollywood fever

style ensured that she achieved popularity while and photographedtheir models in a movie-like style, re-creating the rich tones,

maintaining her air of mystery and aloofness.Photohighlights, andmood of movies.

inRed Letter
magazine,1933.

91
 Hats Off to Busby!
THE MODERN WOMAN A successful dance director of
Broadwayshows, Busby Berkeley went
The new woman of the thirties was alsoa
different shape. Gone was the flat-chested, to Hollywoodin 1930 to work for

boyish look of the previousdecade. Bosoms reappeared, Samuel Goldwyn, but itwas not until

waistswere back in their normal 1933, when Berkeley movedto the

place, andshoulders gradually began to Warner Brothers studio, that histrue

broaden—eventually reaching theexaggerated proportions genius was revealed. As dancedirector

of JoanCrawford’s. Curves returned for movie musicals like

as skirtswere draped over hips. But the biggest fashion 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, Dames

innovation of the decade wastage , and the“Gold Digger” films of 1933,

backless evening gown. Popularly accredited 1935, 1937,and 1938, Berkley

to French couturierMadame Madeleine developed hisflamboyant visual style

Vionnet, the halter-neck, bias-cut evening with the help ofaerial photography,

gowns shaped themselves to the wearer’s kaleidoscopic cameralenses, and scores

body. With a variety of outfits, women of singers and dancers.

Footlight Parade , from 1933,
naturally needed a variety of shoes. In the
shows off theBusby Berkeley babes
twenties, shoe designs had been limited for the most part to
to perfection
“Louis-heeled” styles(resembling those worn by the French
king) with pointed toes for evening wearand sturdier
versions for day wear. Thirties shoes came in a variety of
styles, heelheights, and materials, with pumps popular for
both day (in crocodile, lizard, andsnakeskin) and evening
(in satins, dyed to match evening gowns, brocades,
andsilver or gold kid).Sandals were also popular and were
worn with sundresses and beachpajamas. Beach pajamas
were oufits of flapping, bell-bottomed pants plus a loosetop
that could be worn over a swimsuit to cover modest ladies
as they journeyedfrom their hotel to the beach or the cabin
The sophistication of these
of their cruise liner to the sundeck.Pants had been worn by
Ferragamoplatform shoes from the
the more avant-garde fashion-conscious woman in thelate
late thirties makesus forget that the
1920s, but by the thirties, they were more acceptable and
designer got his big breakby designing
more widelyadopted.Sandals came in a variety of styles:
footwear for “sword andsandal” epics
sling-back, high-heeled, open-toed—and in 1936, Italian
in the 1920s.
shoedesigner Salvatore Ferragamointroduced the wedge
heel, followed in1938 by the platform sole. It was
evenpossible to produce combinations:open-toed, sling-
back platform wedges!By 1939, daytime shoes
haddeveloped into practical, low-heeled,broad-toed shoes
of rather clumpydesign. . It would be some years
beforemany women would have theopportunity to wear
more dainty styles.

92
“Style and Home,” German style, from1932. In particular, note the collar detailand asymmetrical fastening

93
Shoes for day wear were neat butunexciting. The hand-
fashioned Spring rangefrom Lotus featured a high-
heeled suedecourt shoe, a shoe with punched-
outdesigns, and two heeled lace-ups.

Pleats from the knee, cloche hats, andcontrasting

weaves were the hallmark of latethirties day wear by
Captain EdwardMolyneux, a British designer working
in Paris.

A huge number of movie magazines keptfans abreast of

the fashions of theirheroines.

94

Laborsaving devices, like the electricrefrigerator, made
their appearance in thehome, allowing the housewife to
preparemeals, and apparently, finish all herhousework
dressed as if for a party.
These French gauntlet-style gloves
from1934 have elegant cutwork at the
wrist andwould probably be worn for
taking afternoontea in town.
VITAL ACCESSORIES
While the wealthier woman might owna
number of outfits suitable for manydifferent
occasions, to a vast numberof women the
world of fashionclothing was unattainable.
Manywomen simply had to make theirclothes
last longer, and whereverpossible, they altered
them by addingnew trimmings to hats and
coats andnew collars and cuffs to
dresses.Although the styles of the
early thirties were more complicated tomake and required more fabric
thanthe simple short, straight-lined stylesof the 1920s, resourceful
homeknitters and dressmakers stillmanaged to look
fashionable.Separates like knitwear, blouses,skirts, and button-up
dresses became the foundation on which many womenbuilt a
fashionable image. A change of hairstyle or a new scarf, bag, or
broochhelped to keep up appearances and spirits.The large department
stores catered to the modern woman’s needs. Notonly would she find
the basic household goods, furnishings, and clothing underone roof—
here the fashionable woman could also buy those important littleitems
that finished off her outfit.
95
A selection of British and European handbags from 1933. Pochettes (small bags) andevening bags in crepe de chine sit alongside a
beaded bag, an embroidered nightgown sachet,and a bag with appliqué flowers.

96
These three girls with their perky littlehats are
described as “of the Ginger Rogersera,” indicating
just how much influence thedancing star had on
the fashions of the da
Even today, the best straw hats come
fromItaly, where they have been
made since thesixteenth century.
Most people haveprobably forgotten
by now that the wordmilliner is a
corruption of “Milan,” the townat the
center of the hat industry.
Costume jewelry in semiprecious stones or even fakeplastic
had been popular since the twenties, and by thethirties,
costume jewelry departments in stores could beextensive.
Rhinestones and diamanté earrings and clip setswere popular.
Most fashionable were heart-shaped or studearrings, while the
dress clips were often larger versions of the same shape. These
clips were worn fastened to scarvesor collars and sometimes
worn as a pair on the neckline of adress. Placed at either side
of the neckline, the clips pulledthe neck of a dress open and
down, forming a diamond orheart shape—the so-called
sweetheart neckline.Belts, handbags, and hats were also very
importantparts of an outfit. Autumn and winter styles for
hats werebased on rather masculine shapes, with high
crownstrimmed with a matching or contrasting band of
ribbon.Tyrolean-style hats with feather trims or veils were
alsopopular. Hats with curled or shovel-fronted brims were
worntilted on the forehead and turned up at the back to
revealneatly waved or roll-
curled hairstyles. In the summer, shinystraw hats were the most popular. These were usually
fairlylarge saucer shapes trimmed with artificial fruit or flowersand worn at an angle. Often
an elastic band was attached tothe inside of the crown and pulled over the back of the
headto hold the hat in position, the band concealed under the waves of the hair.Gloves were
selected with great care to complement each outfit. With cityclothes, suede or soft kid
leather wrist gauntlets or elbow-length gloves would beworn. More expensive gloves had
scalloped edges and embroidered details. Lessfancy short gloves in leather, wool, or
combinations of the two were worn withmore casual country clothes, while knitted gloves
with fancy patterns and colorswere popular with home knitters, younger girls, and winter
sports fans.
97
 A selection of Art Deco hat pins with stylized plastic
heads.

A recruiting poster for the Hitler Youth association

Hitler andthe
Nazis
Adolf Hitler was no
ordinary politicalleader.
Nor did theNazi Party
conduct itself like a
Each time a woman changed her clothes, she changed her
traditional political
handbag.Small, neat bags continued to be popular with evening dresses,
party. The Nazisplaced great emphasis on visual
but as thedaytime silhouette became fuller, larger bags became more
andverbal impact, using uniforms, theswastika emblem,
fashionable. Large,thin envelope bags were held under one arm;in
mass rallies, andconstantly repeated slogans.
contrast, very soft leather orsuede was draped onto an often elaborately
Politicalmeetings were huge, cleverly stage-managed
worked clasp to give a classicaldraped style to a bag, which hung from
public events. But the Naziskept their message simple:
the arm on broad straps. For summerwear, handbags were made in
Germany wasthe rightful ruler of Central and
linen or straw with appliquéd or embroideredmotifs to match dress
EasternEurope; traitors both inside and
colors and fabrics.Body-conscious and health-conscious men and
outsideGermany had caused its defeat in 1918and had
women took to physicalfitness in droves, dressed in knee-length shorts
since conspired to keep Germanyweak. The Nazis
and sports shirts made of open-weave fabrics. The ultimate fashion
demanded that thesetraitors be replaced with “loyal”
accessory of the thirties was a suntan—preferably, for Europeans,
Germanslike themselves so that Germany couldonce
gained at one of the fashionable French resorts of LeTouquet, Cannes,
again be strong.Hitler was convinced that
or Biarritz.Throughout history, fashion had dictated that suntans were
leadershipwas being denied him by an
undesirablesince they were associated with outdoor work and hence
internationalconspiracy of Jews and Communists.
peasant life.Fashionable women had always tried to keep their
Healso believed that when different racesintermarry,
complexions as pale aspossible by covering up their skin under skirts,
they become degenerate, so inorder to safeguard the
hats, and sunshades. In the latetwenties, Coco Chanel started the vogue
“purity” of theGermans, he adopted a policy of anti-
for sunbathing, and it was during thistime that a suntan became
Semitism. Persecution of Jews began soonafter the
synonymous not with work but with leisure. Naturally,sunbathing
produced the need for yet another fashion accessory—sunglasses,which Nazis came to power.

were quickly popularized by the Hollywood stars.

98
BERLIN OLYMPICS America’s Jesse Owens leads the field onhis way to winning
the gold medal in the 200meters at the Berlin Olympic Games,

In 1936, it was the turn of Germany andthe city of 1936

Berlin to host the OlympicGames. Hitler attempted

to turn the entireoccasion into a spectacular display
ofGermanic, or Aryan, superiority and thewill to win
of the “master race.”Unfortunately for Hitler,
blackAmerican athlete Jesse Owens made amockery
of his racial policies by winningfour gold medals and
breaking two worldrecords. Hitler refused to present
Owenswith his medals.Hitler had commissioned the
Germanfilmmaker Leni Riefenstahl to make
aspectacular documentary of the 1936game, and
despite the poor showing ofthe Aryan athletes,
Olympiad/Olympic
wasfinally released in 1938. Although it is atestament
to athletic achievement, it wasalso a strong
propaganda piece forHitler’s Germany, maintaining
that goodhealth and physical well-being were by-
products of Nazism.

This poster advertises the WinterOlympics, held in

Munich in 1936 tocomplement the summer games in
Berlin.The skier is sporting the latest—and, forthe
period—formfitting ski wear.

99
 In that famous phrase, EdwardG.
Robinson tells partygoers to “reach
forthe sky” in a scene from Little Caesar
(1930).

RISING SUN
America and Europe alike were
uncertainabout what steps should be taken
to haltthe political trends in Europe in
thethirties. Both were, however,
becomingincreasingly anti-Nazi, a process
that wasencouraged by Germany’s
associationwith Japan. Germany and
Japan wereseen as power hungry,
promotingoppressive domestic policies and
externalaggression. In 1936, Japan and
Germanysigned the Anti-Comintern Pact,
agreeingto exchange information
aboutinternational Communist activities

LITTLE CAESARS
andcooperate in planning counter-
measures.In 1931, Japan’s increasing need
foreconomic recovery after the

The coming of sound in the movies and the new “realism” it allowed also gave rise toa Depression,its need for raw materials for

cycle of gangster movies that vividly portrayed armed violence and tough talk.Between industry,and the ambitions of its political

1930 and 1933, the brutal violence of films like Little Caesar, Public Enemy ,and Scarface andmilitary leaders converged. Japan
provoked a public outcry.In 1933, the Hays Office, under the supervision of Postmaster invadedManchuria, in China, on the

General Will Hays,intervened with the Production Code Administration, intended to pretext ofprotecting the economic interests

impose certainstandards on motion picture producers.In addition to prohibiting “scenes of the Japanese-owned South

of passion,” unpunished acts of adultery orseduction, profane and vulgar language—like ManchurianRailway Company.While

the words “guts” and “nuts”—nudity,cruelty to animals and children, or any Japanese diplomats assuredforeign

representations of childbirth, the Hays Codeoutlawed depictions of certain types of crime. statesmen that the militaryoperations were
Gangster films could no longer showmachine guns or even allow screen gangsters to a temporary measure andthat their troops

mention weapons. Law enforcementagents must never be shown dying at the hands of would be withdrawn assoon as possible,

criminals, and all criminal activitiesmust be seen to be duly punished.The response to the advance of the Japanese forces in

these restrictions was a shift in emphasis from the gangsteras tragic hero to the gangster as China continuedunabated. It became clear
social victim. This led to a spate of films likeWilliam Wyler’s Dead End that Japan wasa threat to the Asian

(1937), Fritz Lang’s You Only Live Once (1937), and MichaelCurtiz’s colonies andspheres of influence

Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), set in deprived neighborhoods and ofteninvolving prison. established by theEuropean powers in
earlier centuries. Japan would see war in
Europe as a greenlight to seize these
colonies

100
 In this cover illustration by Ernst Drydenfor the
February 1932 issue of thefashionable French men’s
magazine Adam , a man in studiedly casual clothes
loungesaround a harbor or boating marina
FASHION FOR EVERYONE
Being fashionable was not, of course, simply confined to the ladies.
Men’sclothes were also heavily influenced by royalty and movie stars.With
the exception of colored sports clothing, men’s clothes in the thirtieswere
quite dull. Setting the

trend for menswear in this decade was the

Princeof Wales, later King Edward VIII—
the man who would give up the throne of
England to marry ultra-fashionable
American divorcée Mrs. Wallis Simpson.
ThePrince of Wales set the trend
forAmerican-style trousers, wide-
leggedpants fitting snugly around the
hips.For evening, he revived the fashion
forwearing white vests under his dinner
jacket.For men, a broader figure withwide
shoulders and an athletic lookwas much
admired. Sensing thechanging mood,
Hollywood studiosmade fewer films
featuring theromantic, sensitive heroes
popular withfemale audiences in the 1920s.
Menwere now portrayed in more
masculineand earthy ways. Movies with
warthemes became popular, with the
malelead playing the role of a dashing,daring
pilot. The men who portrayedgangsters in
the movies may not havebeen as good-
looking as earlier stars,but they were now
the tough guys:he-men and strong, silent
types. Inan effort to impress their
sweethearts,many young men took to
wearing long,loose overcoats or

raincoats with thecollars turned up—a style heavilyinfluenced by screen gangsters likeGeorge Raft or the emergingHumphrey
Bogart.Men’s clothes were veryconservative compared to women’s.Business and social etiquette stillrequired men to wear heavy,
dark suits,collars, and ties—and, of course, a hat.The most popular hat of the thirtieswas the trilby, a soft felt hat with anindented
crown, made fashionable bySir Antony Eden, the British statesman.

101
 George Raft, another of the screen“gangsters”
who really dressed to kill. Notethe elegant leather
gloves in this shot from They Drive by Night
, made at the end of thedecade.

Style for girls. Shirley Temple

An alternative was the fedora, a hatwith stars inCurly Top ,complete

“snap” brim that was worn withthe brim with fashionablebox-pleat skirt

up at the back and down atthe front.Many and fitted capelet withhand-
of the youngergeneration, especially the embroidered ducks. The outfit

morebohemian artists and writers, wasdesigned by Rene Hubert,

werevery politically conscious, and wardrobe chieffor Twentieth

theirclothing often displayed their Century Fox.

beliefs.Since they felt that dealing

withserious world problems was
moreimportant than spending time
andmoney on their appearance, theclothes
they wore were

basic and functional.Young women in this group-wore their hair straight and cut off at the
chin or shoulder: longer hair waspinnedbasic up into a bun or worn in braids. Young men
still wore their hair short,but it was considered longer and less well groomed than was usual
oracceptable for the thirties. Many of these men discarded their hats, but somedid wear
berets, as did like-minded females. Young women sometimes worescarves tied either under
the chin or at the back of the neck in what wasconsidered a peasant style. For both the men
and women of the “hatlessbrigade,” standard clothing consisted of basic and often leather
jackets, open-necked shirts or roll-neck sweaters, and baggy corduroy trousers. Well-polished
lace-up shoes were cast aside in favor of sensible and comfortableopen-toed sandals.Children
were not immune from fashion, especially the well-knownones. The two young British
princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose werefollowed, photographed, and copied everywhere
they went. In 1932, little girlsin England all wanted a “Margaret Rose dress”: a knitted dress
trimmed withrosebuds. Following a newspaper report that Princess Elizabeth’s favoritecolors
were primrose yellow and pink, lots of little girls went to parties swathedin tiered organdy
dresses in the colors worn by the future queen of England.The child idols of Hollywood were
Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, andShirley Temple, whose curls and sweetness won the hearts
of millions of mothers. There was even a product called Curly Top, which claimed
toencourage children’s hair to curl! Boys, however, had their curls cut off and weredressed in
miniature men’s suits and ties as soon as they were old enough.

102
THE SPANISH CIVIL FROM MUNICH TO WORLD WAR
WAR
In 1936, the army, under the leadership of the Fascist II
Hitler’s plans for a greater Germany implied expansioninto
GeneralFrancisco Franco, led a revolt against Spain’s legitimately
electedleft-wing government, attempting to replace it with a single- neighboring territories, and by 1938, he wasthreatening
party,conservative, and Catholic state.The government had the Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic andSlovakia). In an

support of republicans, socialists,communists, anarchists, labor attempt to appease Hitler and preventhim invading the whole

groups, and Catalan and Basquenationalists, all organized into a country, the Sudetenland—thearea of Czechoslovakia that

loose coalition calling themselvesLoyalists. They were soon joined bordered Germany andcontained many German-speaking Czechs

by a volunteer force of men and womenfrom other countries— —was cededto Germany in the Munich Agreement of September

including many writers and artists—known asthe International 1938.Signing the treaty, British prime minister NevilleChamberlain

Brigade. The contingent of 3,000 American volunteerswas known promised that it guaranteed “peace in ourtime.”Peace, however,

as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.Both Italy and Germany proved to be a short-lived respiteduring which the major European

supported Franco, providing thousands oftheir own troops, countries continuedtheir massive rearmament. In March 1939,

advisers, planes, tanks, and ammunition. Only Russiagave any help Germanyannexed the remainder of Czechoslovakia, and in
to the Loyalists, while democratic governments inAmerica and August,negotiations between Britain, France, and the SovietUnion

Europe chose neutrality. In spring 1939, however, theRussians to form a “peace bloc” broke down when the USSRsigned a non-

stopped supplying the Loyalists, and the Spanish Republicfinally aggression pact with Germany.On September 1, Hitler’s armies

fell after more than two years of bloodshed. More than a invaded Poland, andtwo days later, Britain and France declared

millionSpaniards had died, and thousands of refugees had fled to war onGermany. The conflict would last until 1945 and claimsome

France.One of the worst incidents was in 1937, when the 20 million lives around the globe.

GermanLuftwaffe bombed the small Basque town of Guernica in

northernSpain, inflicting massive civilian casualties. Such
horrifying scenes ofdeath and destruction finally made all nations
aware that warfare wasno longer limited solely to opposing armies.
Civilians—even wholecivilizations—were now under threat from
the machinery of modernwarfare.

103
 WALLIS AND THE
KING
Mrs. Wallis Simpson, the wealthy American divorcee
whose marriage to the Prince of Wales,heir to the British
throne, caused a major constitutional crisis, was famous
as afashionable trendsetter. Her extensive
jewelrycollection was auctioned after her death for
arecord-breaking sum.

In their weddingpicture, Mrs.Simpson shows herflair for fashion in adress from AmericandesignerMainbocher. Telltaledetails include
thegathered bodice andtiny ornamentalbuttons.

104
 SPIRIT OF THE AGE Hollywood and royalty were not the
onlyinfluences on fashion design in thethirties.
Designers also responded to thecurrent trends
in art, science, and evenengineering. One major
art and literarymovement of the thirties
wasSurrealism, which featured dream-
likelandscapes and strange images. Themotifs
used by Surrealist artists likeSalvador Dalí,
René Magritte, Max Ernst,Jean Cocteau, and
Man Ray can befound incorporated into many
designsby couturiers—especially those of
ElsaSchiaparelli, who often collaborated
withSurrealist artists to produce hats
thatlooked like shoes or wicker baskets
filledwith butterflies, dresses with
“deskdrawers,” and gloves with goldfingernails
attached to them.The 1930s were also a decade
of great engineering triumphs, symbolizedbest
in the early years by the ChryslerBuilding and
the Empire State Buildingin New York City
and later, in 1937, bySan Francisco’s Golden
Gate Bridge.While

Almost dwarfed bya

some people attempted to produce the tallest, the largest, or thebiggest, others competed
streamlinedlocomotive, a modelin fox fur
for the honour of being the fastest. The idea of speed captured the imagination of young
jacket and“bird hat” by ElsaSchiaparelli
people in the thirties and led to fierce international competition for all types of speed
makesthe cover of
records ,like the fastest transatlantic crossing by an ocean liner. World land speed
Vogue ,fall 1939. Lookclosely to see
recordswere set and broken by Britain’s Sir Malcolm Campbell in his car Bluebird, while
themodel’s oversizedbangle bracelets.
inthe air, his compatriot Amy Johnson flew her tiny Gypsy Moth plane called Jasonfrom
Europe to Australia. When
Vogue
announced in 1934 that the fashionablesilhouette would have the sleek lines of a
speedboat or airplane, evening dressesfell into swallowtail points at the back, waists were
pinched in, hair was swept back,and hats were cut across the head at acute angles.But in
1939, it was to be all change on the fashion front. As Europebecame embroiled in World
War II, fashion designers and magazines stressedeconomy, simplicity, and practicality.
For many women, the clothes they hadbought in 1939 were the last they would invest in
for a long time. Now they hadto make do and mend.

105
DANCING IN THE
DEPRESSION
Gowns to Beat the Blues
Despite failing economies, many women saw itas
their duty to be fashionable. As people triedto
compensate for the grayness of everydaylife in the
Depression, they turned their leisuretime into
something special by way of theirclothes.Evening
clothes became very differentfrom day clothes. In
earlier decades, when thewealthy had set the styles,
there had been noreal need for them to wear
practical dayclothes or to reserve the really
impracticalstyles for evening. Now, despite
theDepression, all kinds of women were
leadingactive and productive lives. They
requiredsimpler fashions for daily wear, while
theirluxurious long gowns were kept for
evening.Evening dress for men remained
formal:dinner jacket, tuxedo, or tails.

A more elegant chain store look for 1939, with tightly beltedwaists and
gathered sleeves. Hats could be wide
brimmed ornarrow, as long as they were worn at a saucy.
angle

American tailoring is seen at its best in thesecustom-made suits

from Middishade. The catalog for1931 offered Middishade Blue,
Gray, and Brown.

106
Tailor-made clothes for spring 1932 from Lucile of Paris. Thedress
on the left, trimmed with four brass buttons, is worn over abeige The styles for fall 1933 are defined by subdued colors,asymmetrical

“chemisette.” A boldly colored scarf contrasts with the blue-and- fastenings, three-quarter-length skirts, fur trimmings,tiny clutch bags,

white diagonals of the center dress, while the jacket of thebeige suit and berets.

on the right falls to a point at the back, and its collar andcuffs are
trimmed with brown astrakhan

In 1930,Vogue summed up the day and eveninglooks of the year. They all
came from the Anglo-Danishactress Gertrude Lawrence’s wardrobe for Noel
Coward’splayPrivate Lives and were designed by Paris-basedAmerican
Mainbocher: fur-trimmed tweeds and a bias-cutevening dress of paneled
white satin.

PEELIN’ THE APPLE

“Big band” was the definitive sound of the thirties.
Suitably attired for the evening, people could escape thebleakness of
everyday life at the theater, where they werecaptivated by the lyrics
and melodies of Jerome Kern, ColePorter, George Gershwin, and
Noel Coward. But an evenmore popular entertainment in these years
was dancing.In the twenties, the popular dances had been
theCharleston and the Black Bottom—but in the thirties, youneeded
rhythm and had to know how to “swing.” The swingmusic of
Americans like Fats Waller, Jack “The Gate”Teagarden (“gate”
meaning the ability to swing), CountBasie, Artie Shaw, and Duke
Ellington set dance floorshumming, from the ritziest nightclubs and
ocean liners rightdown to dance halls. Even in front of the radio in
their ownliving rooms, everyone and anyone Lindy-Hopped or
dancedthe Big Apple (the forerunner of the jitterbug, whose name

107
was a euphemism meaning “bottom”). Dancing was a popular way to keep fit inthe thirties.
You needed more than rhythm for steps like Kicking the Mule,Truckin’, and Peelin’ the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers swing
Apple: these dances also required completeunselfconsciousness. In America, this was no intoaction in Top Hat the hit musical
doubt encouraged by the repeal, in1933, of Prohibition—a ban on the manufacture and sale of 1935.Ginger Rogers wears one of
of alcohol in place since1920. The more restrained could still tango or take to the dance floor her own highlydistinctive designs
to thesounds of the big bands led by Henry Hall, Jack Payne, Glenn Miller, and Tommyand
Jimmy Dorsey.Offshoots of commercial swing music included Latin American rhythmslike
the rhumba, whose hip-swaying movements were ideal for drawing attentionto the flowing
lines of draped, bias-cut dresses. The more acrobatic LindyHoppers needed different dancing
clothes—for women, blouses and sweaterswith a short flared or pleated skirt, white bobby
socks (ankle socks), and flatshoes. For their partners, the look was created by loose pants and
sweaters.The best loved of all the dancers were also Hollywood idols. Throughoutthe decade,
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dazzled audiences with theirintricate routines and left
everyone humming “Cheek to Cheek,” the hit song from Top Hat. RKO had been one of the
smallest of the Hollywood film studios,but in 1933, following the success of the first Fred
Astaire and Ginger Rogersfilm,
Flying Down to Rio—in which they weren’t even given star billing—it

108
 became known as the home of the Fred Astaire-Ginger
Rogersmusical. Between 1934 and 1939, RKO made
eight Astaire-Rogersmovies, including The Gay
Divorcée (1934),
Top Hat (1935), and Swing Time (1936), establishing
Fred and Ginger among themost popular box office
attractions in America.Although they both began as
performers, Astairewent on to direct and choreograph
most of his owndance sequences, while Ginger Rogers
designed manyof the lavish gowns she wore on-screen.

Few could match the style of Fred and Ginger, but the LindyHop was for
everybody—or at least, the young and fit.
GENTLEMEN DRIVERS
Another popular way of keeping the blues at bay in thethirties was automobile driving. Those
fortunate enough toown a car, whether it was a Ford “Tin Lizzie” or one of thefancier sports models,
drove off to the new “roadhouses,”some of which had restaurants and sometimesswimming pools and
dance floors. For these outings,the chic woman wore a jacket-and-skirt outfit underone of the new
three-quarter-length swagger coats withepaulets at the shoulders or, on wet days, a military-styletrench
coat.Gentlemen drivers ideally sported heavily greasedhair, a little mustache in the manner of
Hollywood starRonald Colman, a single-breasted jacket, and a pair of plus

fours—aform of knickers—worn overdiamond-patterned

woolen stockings.The “lounge lizard” type—smooth
andlanguid with clipped sideburns—worecuff links, shirt
studs, and tie pins andcarried a cigarette holder.Being
correctly dressed for theoccasion was not something
dictatedby fashion alone. In the thirties, socialduty and status
also demanded thatthe correct hats, dresses, or suits beworn.
Suspenders and certain styles of boots and caps, were not
acceptable.There might be a Depression butfashionable men
and women could notdrop their standards.

Style was crucial, even in the suburbs:the DeSoto was

billed as “America’ssmartest low-price car.”

109
HOORAY FOR
HOLLYWOOD!
Stars of the Silver Screen
In the midst of pre-war gloom and the economic depression blazed theirresistible
glamour of American films. The screen goddesses of the thirties—Joan Crawford,
Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Marlene Dietrich, or Mae West—weremodels whose
looks and mannerisms many women tried to copy. Furthermore,the cinema also
acted as a showcase for chic, avant-garde interiors: there was apreference for
films in which the settings were department stores, beauty salons,and glamorous
homes. Shot in black and white, the Hollywood moviespopularized the
characteristic Art Deco style of the period.Certain stars were style models, and
the outfits they wore becameimportant features of the film, exerting a direct
influence on the fashionsavailable in the stores. One of the top Hollywood
designers was Gilbert Adrian,who had begun his West Coast career creating
clothes for silent moviestar Rudolph Valentino. Later, when Adrian joined
MGM Studios, he designedcostumes for Crawford, Harlow, and Norma Shearer.
For Garbo, inthe 1929 film
A Woman of Affairs
, he had created the “slouch hat,” a larger-than-normal cloche hat worn at an
angle and pulled down over the forehead.It proved to be influential on hat design
for the next ten years. In 1936, Garbowore another Adrian creation, the Eugenie
hat in the film
Camille
. Trimmedwith ostrich feathers and partially obscuring one eye, the Eugenie hat Joan Crawford wearing the “Letty
waswidely copied. Lynton”dress, which spawned a thousand
copies.

In the hands of British stars like

GertrudeLawrence and Ivor Novello,
fashion onthe musical stage was as
glamorous andup-to-date as on the
screen.

110
Bette Davis, a liberated woman in a maledominated industry, specialized in difficultand powerful roles, setting a new standardfor
women on the big screen. On-screen andoff, she personified a slightly aloof elegance.Inset: style was not restricted to the
women:Clark Gable, the unchallenged king ofHollywood, was the fashion yardstick formen all over the world.

111
 Screen goddess Greta Garbo wears theEugenie hat designed for her by
Adrian forthe movie Camille (1936).

In 1932, a dress that Adrian designed for Joan Crawford proved sopopular
Marlene Dietrich favored a personal styleof casual
that Macy’s department store in New York reported selling over half amillion
tailoring, whether she wore skirtsor, a little
dresses in similar styles. This was the “Letty Lynton dress”: a wide-
shouldered, white organdy dress with ruffled sleeves, extended shoulders, and uncommon for the time, slacks.

anipped-in waist.Although the influential fashion trade paper

Women’s Wear Daily
hadreported a year earlier that French designers were exaggerating the widths
of shoulders with new cuts, revers, and capelets, Adrian’s Letty Lynton
dressaccelerated the conversion to the wide-shouldered style. The optical
illusion thiscreated, of narrower waists and hips, emphasized a woman’s
natural shape anddirected attention down to shapely legs and ankles.Each of
the stars had their own look, created for them by their designers.Greta
Garbo, for instance, was known for her pageboy hairstyles, tailored suits,and,
in particular, her belted trench coat worn with dark glasses, a beret, or
afloppy-brimmed hat.

Blonde hair was greatly admired, much sought after, and easily
THE BLONDE
acquired.Peroxide was brushed on the hair, usually with a toothbrush, and
BOMBSHELL
reapplied untilthe desired shade was achieved. Many of the starlets in
Hollywood were groomed

112
ART DECO: THEMESAND MACHINES
STREAMLINE STYLE
Art Deco was a style that drew on the art of different culturesfor
its motifs. In the 1920s, elements of the style had beentaken from
African and pre-Columbian art, and after thediscovery in 1922 of
Tutankhamen’s tomb, Egyptian themesbecame hugely popular.
Alongside motifs of fountains,gazelles, hunting dogs, and zebras,
these elements wereincorporated into fabric designs and pieces of
jewelry.By the 1930s, the hallmark of the Art Deco style wasits
geometry, largely derived from the Cubist movement in art.All the
motifs, from flowers and animals to the human figure,became
angular, but the most popular subjects were thehard-edged forms
of zigzags, electric flashes, and sun-raymotifs. The geometric
shapes of Art Deco lent themselvesperfectly to strong colors and
contrasts, with red, black,white, and silver being one of the most
fashionable colorcombinations.The greatest stylistic innovation of
the Depression era,and an important aspect of Art Deco, was
streamlining. Speedwas one of the marvels of the modern age, and
the shapesand lines dictated by aerodynamics were incorporated
intothe work of many designers. In America, the style
wasembraced by a wave of European designers who came to
theUnited States to escape the rise of Fascism and the
imminentwar in Europe. But the prophet of streamlining was
industrialdesigner Norman Bel Geddes. Many of Bel Geddes’s
ideaswere visionary rather than practical, but through his
efforts,streamlining became the accepted style. It also came to
beseen as a symbol of optimism and promise for the
future,suggesting a nation moving forward out of the Depression
tobecome the powerhouse of the new machine age.
Manhattan Skyline
The best examples of the Art Deco style are to be found inthe
design of skyscrapers. Skyscrapers were born of theproblems of
constructing buildings in the restricted spaces of cities like Chicago
and New York, but since they quicklybecame potent symbols of The Chrysler Building, New York: a towering monument to
commercial power, many werebuilt in towns and cities where thesuccess of the Chrysler Motor Corporation.
building space was not inparticularly short supply.

113
The folds of this evening gown by Alix areclosely modeled
on the flowing drapery ofthe ancient Greek sculpture
“WingedVictory.”

The most famous of all the skyscrapers built in the 1930s are in New
YorkCity. Begun in 1931, Rockefeller Center is a complex of offices,
shops,restaurants, and theaters that included the RKO Roxy movie
theater and RadioCity Music Hall. The Empire State Building of 1931
rises 102 stories above thecity and included, at its summit, a mooring
for airships. Unfortunately, theupdrafts and currents created by
neighboring tall buildings made the use of airships in cities
impossible.The best example of the Art Deco skyscraper is the 1930
ChryslerBuilding. Its overall shape is a ziggurat, or stepped pyramid,
topped by a towerand spire with sculpted decorations inspired by
automobile parts like radiator
Traveling clothes of 1932 from Woman’s Journal.
The short red jacket in heavyweightcloth offers the freedom
of movementneeded for driving, while the other outfitsare
perhaps more suitable for the passengerseat or the railroad
car.

114
grilles and hubcaps. The building notonly suggests the wealth of
theChrysler Corporation but, in itsdecoration, also recalls
theChrysler car.
This smart red necklaceis made of

MATERIAL ADVANCES Bakelite. Thisnew plastic, made by

Dr.Leo Baekeland, a
Not only were the headquarters andfactories of the
Belgianchemist, became one ofthe
manufacturing giantsbuilt in the new style but so were smallgas
wonder substances ofthe decade
stations, bars, restaurants, andmovie houses. These buildings
and was usedfor everything
usedmodern and inexpensive materials:enamels, plastics, wood,
fromjewelry to telephones.
andaluminum could all be producedas prefabricated units. The
stylesand materials of streamlining,representing everything that
wasforward-looking, modern, clean, andefficient, proved
themselves flexibleenough foruse not only on thesuper-sleek
transcontinental trainsand skyscrapers but for a widerange of
low-cost, mass-producedconsumer items like kitchenappliances,
radios, and even fashionaccessories.The belief that
somethinginexpensive could also be fashionablefirst appears
with Art Deco. Thefashion of earlier decades had been
more or less confined to the wealthy,who were
happy to pay for expensivematerials and exclusivedesigns.
Gabrielle (Coco)Chanel
captured the newspirit in a range of clothes
designed on simple linesin inexpensive fabrics likecotton, and her
designscould be easily
copiedby the home dressmaker.Chanel also
helped to popularise costume jewellery made of inexpensive
materials like plastic.

The Greyhound bus was another triumph

ofstreamlining, its long, lean lines
suggestingspeed and comfort.

This enamel and white-metal watch, fromthe middle of the decade,

has the classicstepped pyramid design so typical of ArtDeco.

115
Bakelite, this time colored to look likeivory, was used
for this radio, made by theItalian firm Ducati.

A blue-and-white-striped suit of 1936 shows many Art Deco influences

in its pattern, cut,and detailing.

Plastic became chic simply because it was a novelty, but it was also
cheapenough to be available to all—not just the better off—and
versatile enough tomimic ivory, ebony, jade, or coral. Fashion could
now be mass-produced, andthe make-believe glamour of the movies
was within the reach of everyone whoaspired to it.

The Phantom Corsair, designed by RustHeinz in 1937. A

styling exercise for the“car of the future,” it looks some
twentyyears ahead of its time.

116
NEW-
MATERIALS:
REVEALING
THE BODY
BEAUTIFUL
From Silk to Rayon
Not only did the clothes that
womenwore in the 1930s become
morewomanly, women also wore
fewer of them. The new curvy shape
thatwomen sought was enhanced by
avariety of fabrics, some old and
somenew, that could be cut and
draped toshow off the wearer’s
body.In addition to the various
silks,wools, and linens designers had
alwaysused, they now had at their
disposal awhole range of synthetic
materials.Since these new fabrics
could beproduced inexpensively, they
wereoften used for mass-produced
clothing.Some designers, however—
notablyElsa Schiaparelli and Victor
Stiebel—incorporated synthetic
materials intotheir haute couture
This woman is delighted that her silkstockings are protected by their
newcellophane packaging, but by the end of thedecade, the stockings themselves
wouldprobably be made of an artificial material.

range.Since the late nineteenth century, the search for synthetic substitutes for natural materials had concentrated on silk. Silk was the
most expensive raw material because it was thehardest to produce: the mulberry tree on which the silkworms feed will grow onlyin
certain climates. Experiments in the last years of the nineteenth century led to the development of artificial silk, later called rayon,
which was made of woodcellulose treated with chemicals to produce long, silk-like threads. The new fiber,once woven into cloth,
produced a fabric that not only draped well but also had ahigh absorbency, which meant it could be dyed easily.Looking and feeling
like silk, rayon was used for lingerie at the lessexpensive end of the market, and since it was also washable, a whole range of ready-to-
wear, crease-resistant dresses became available, in colors from the palestpastels to the deepest blues.

117
The secret of this simple dress worn byscreen star Gloria Swanson is in the figure-hugging drape. The outfit is set off by
astunning selection of jewelry based onethnic designs.

118
 The Surrealists seem to have taken over this particular fashion shoot,which Beachwear styles of 1935 in Krepe-Texfrom the
promotes a white rayon suit from Dorville, dating from 1938. American Charnaux Company,promising fit “as never
before.”

Rayon was also widely used for stockings, but in 1939 it would bereplaced by a new fabric, nylon. Nylon was the result of a research
programbegun in 1927 by Wallace H. Caruthers at the Du Pont Company in Delaware.In 1938, Du Pont produced nylon commercially
and in the following yearsuccessfully tested it in knitted hosiery. By the end of the decade, nylonstockings had replaced the often shiny
and poorly fitting rayon ones.

FABRICS GALORE
Rayon and nylon are perhaps the two most familiar synthetic fabrics from awhole host of intriguingly named materials. We are also
familiar with cellophane,but we don’t usually associate it with fashion. Yet it was out of this material thatAlix created an evening dress
likened to the wing case of a shiny black beetle.Victor Stiebel also used cellophane, in conjunction with white taffeta, in anaccordion-
pleated gown modeled in
Vogue
in 1936 by Vivien Leigh.Metallic fabrics were also popular. Lamé is the name given to fabricswoven with flat metallic threads,
immensely popular for evening wear. Sequinsand beads made from colored plastics and glass also swathed women’s bodies
inshimmering light effects.Rhodophane, a less well known fabric developed in the 1920s by theFrench company Colcombet, was a
glass-like fabric made from a mixture of cellophane and other synthetics. It was versatile enough to look either like clearglass or a gauzy
cobweb. Despite its fragile appearance, Rhodophane was used

119
Artificial crepe is the material for
thiscinema frock. Clearly, a new kind of
socialoccasion demanded a whole new
style ofgarment and a new fabric.

by Schiaparelli for a variety of dressesand

accessories, including handbagsand even
shoes.The new synthetic materialswere not
just confined to evening wearand lingerie.
They also gave a boost toaccessories and
leisure wear. Elasticyarns made of rubber
combined withsilk, cotton, or rayon
produced a fabricthat, since it clung to the
body andkept its shape when wet, was ideal
forswimwear. Plastic materials could
bemolded and colored to create
jewelry,handbag frames, belt buckles,
andsunglasses. Plastic zippers, inmatching or
contrasting colors, werepioneered by
Schiaparelli, first insportswear and later on in
eveningdresses.

The typical Art Deco handbag thatcompletes

actress Myrna Loy’s elegant outfitowes its
neat, flat shape and shiny surfaceto the new
materials.

120
HALTER NECKS ANDBIAS CUTS
Madame Vionnet Cuts It
In the 1920s, the well-known couturier Madame Madeleine Vionnet had
deviseda method of cutting fabric called “bias cutting.” This involved cutting
across thegrain of the fabric and had two distinct
advantages
over ordinary cuttingtechniques, despite the fact that it required a greater
width of material. First,when a dress was made up of bias-cut pieces, the
fabric draped in sinuous foldsand clung to the wearer’s body where it
touched. Second, the dress wouldstretch sufficiently to allow the wearer to
put it on over her head or simply stepinto it, without the need for any side,
back, or front openings.Using bias-cutting techniques, designers could
produce gowns in silk,satin, chiffon, and crepe that would cling around the
bosom, waist, and hips andflare out from the thighs into an elegant sweep of
skirt. The bias-cuttingtechnique continued into the thirties, but the evening
dresses now had an addednew element: they were backless. Some dresses were
held up by narrowshoulder straps, while others had halter necks, where the
high panel of the frontwas tied around the back of the neck,leaving the back
and shoulderscompletely exposed.

Hollywood’s Back Plunge

This tunic andskirt It has been argued that the
are bycouturier fashionfor plunging backs came
CaptainEdward out of Hollywood’s ban on low
Molyneux,1936. The necklines, butit is also likely that
back-flared the bare-backedstyle was
tunicplayfully influenced by the
recallsthe bustle increasingfashion for sunbathing
ofthe and swimweardesigns cut low at
latenineteenthcentur the back to allowmaximum
y. tanning.Whatever its origins, the
newfashion for evening dresses
wascertainly elegant.

A flowing georgette evening gown of

1930,with full scarf and trimmed
skirt. A singlestring of pearls hangs
from the back of themodel’s neck.

121
“The interest begins at the top” in thisselection of
evening gowns from 1932. Ofparticular interest are
the varyingtreatments of sleeves and shoulder
straps.From the waist down, things are a littlemore
standardized.

Paris designs for winter 1935, with low backs, bias cuts, and diagonal
seams.

Designs from 1936 by (left) Lucien Lelong and (right) Jean Patou. The
Lelong design twistsmulberry and emerald ribbons into a column that extends
down the spine; Patou slashes thefront of the predominantly black/brown
dress to reveal a rainbow of colors beneath.

122
back and artificial flowers pinned atthe base of the spine.
Elsa Schiaparelliwent so far as to design a backlessdress
with a bustle that jutted out likea shelf.

SATINS AND FURS

To complement the sweep of the skirt,many women
carried large, brightlycolored chiffon handkerchiefs.
Alsopopular for evening wear were foxfurs. Entire animals
—or, better still,two animals—were draped over
bareshoulders. The most sought-after furswere those of the
silver fox, but ultra-fashionable women adopted white
foxcapes for evening wearFor day wear, bias-cut skirtsthat
flared from the hips lentthemselves to a new fashion for
stripesand checks on the bias. For evenings,heavy crepes
and dull satins gaveflowing, folding, and draping
dressestheir most statuesque qualities. Thegreatest draper
and molder of jersey,silk, and wool was Alix Barton,
laterknown as Madame Grès, who openedher own fashion
house in Paris in1934. With great patience and skill,Alix
pleated fabrics into precise,elegant, and simple shapes
thatresembled Greek sculptures.

Classic design from Alix (Madame Grès) in1937. It may not

be surprising to learn thather early ambition was to be a
sculptor.

123
The new, more revealing dresses calledfor underwear
that was itself more brief andthat, while being less
restrictive, could offerfirm control. Panty girdles in
Lastex from theKestos Company of America solved
theproblem.

This figure-hugging evening dress bySchiaparelli, also

from 1937, is worn withlaced ballerina shoes.

124
SCHIAPARELLI AND THE
SURREALISTS
Objects and Illusions
Surrealism was one of the majorinternational art
movements of thethirties. Initiated in the 1920s
byAndré Breton—who wrote itsmanifesto—and
drawing on the Dadamovement, dreams, and
Freudiananalysis, Surrealism was initially
aliterary movement involving writers likeLouis
Aragon, Jean Cocteau, and PaulEluard but soon
moved on to embracethe visual. The Surrealists Atavistic Relics After Rain

werefascinated by objects removed fromtheir , 1934, byarch-Surrealist Salvador

usual setting and seen in somenew, often bizarre Dalí.

context. Thisdisruption in the traditional role,

scale,and association was intended to shockthe
viewer and produce a completelynew
interpretation of the scene. Therewas no single
Surrealist style. Somepaintings are eerie
landscapesinhabited by objects that are
notidentifiable from the conscious world,while
others, like Dalí’s“dreamscapes,” place
distortedfamiliar objects into strange
locations.Influential on art and
literature,Surrealism also began to affectfashion.
And not only in the way thatfashion was
presented—in illustration,photography and
window displays—but in the clothes themselves.

A relatively restrained Schiaparellievening

coat in tweed, from 1936. Therevers are
lavishly beaded for contrast, andthe
headdress shows Asian influences.

A feather motif comes into its own in thisgown.

125
MUTTON
CHOPS AND
SLIPPERS

The designer most influenced bySurrealism

was Italian ElsaSchiaparelli. Her first
commerciallysuccessful design, around
1926, wasfor a trompe l’oeil (“fool the
eye”)sweater. A simple black wool
sweaterwith a white butterfly bow knitted in
atthe neck, its instant success
enabledSchiaparelli to establish a business
inParis concentrating on sportswear,tailored
clothes, and evening wear. ButSchiaparelli
liked nothing better thanto amuse, either
through wit or shocktactics, and like her
Surrealist friends,she was also fond of
displacingelements, using tweed for
eveningclothes and burlap for day
dresses.The classic exercise inSurrealist
fashion displacement wasthe Shoe Hat, the
product of acollaboration between
Schiaparelli andSalvador Dalí. In 1932, Dalí
had posedfor a photograph wearing his
wife,Gala’s, slipper on his head, and in1937,
he designed the now famousShoe Hat for
Schiaparelli. In a trueSurrealist cycle of
events, Dalí thenphotographed Gala
wearing the ShoeHat, dressed in a suit with
lips forpockets. Other Dalí-
Schiaparellicreations included the Ice-
CreamCone Hat and the Mutton-Chop
Hat,which perfectly matched a
suitembroidered with cutlet motifs.

Schiaparelli’s famous tear dress,

withmatching cape, from 1938

126
 Schiaparelli’s perfume “Shocking” wasthought to
be very French, despite the bottlebeing modeled on
all-American Mae West.

The famous fingernail gloves, paired with a three-quarter-length black

evening dress.

Fabric designs by Christian Berard and Jean Cocteau were complementedby a

range of bizarre accessories: clear plastic necklaces decorated with
coloredmetal insects that appear to crawl directly on the wearer’s neck;
handbags thatlook like bird cages; ceramic vegetables and aspirins as
necklaces (designed inconjunction with poet Louis Aragon); glowing
brooches and buttons shaped likepaperweights or grasshoppers.Also
imaginative and inventive was Schiaparelli’s use of zippers, which
sheincorporated into the designs of garments. A simple dress with a zipper in
a contrasting color may not seemoutrageous now, but at the time, it
wascompletely new.

Schiaparelli creations in wool for daytimewear,

1938. The fabrics are jersey andtweed, and the
pinched waists are beltless.

127
 A SHOCKING EXPERIENCE
Schiaparelli’s perfumes also bore thestamp
of Surrealism. She marketed twofragrances
in the thirties, named—thanks to her
preference for namesbeginning with her own
initial—Shocking and Sleeping. The
hourglass-shaped bottle for Shocking
wasdesigned by Surrealist artist Leonor
Finiand based on the silhouette of
Hollywood actress Mae West, who hadsent
Schiaparelli a life-size plastercaste of herself
in the pose of Venus deMilo as a model for
the dresses shehad ordered to wear in her
film Sapphire Sal . The bottle for
Sleepingtook the form of a candlestick,
areference to the world of dreams,always a
potent source of Surrealistimagery.Although
Schiaparelli had been“shocking” her clients
throughout thedecade, her moment of
triumph camein the 1937–1938 season.
Returning totrompe l’oeil effects, she

Two more Schiaparelli

produced a jacket, inspired by Jean Cocteau,which had a pair of clasped handsembroidered at the
creations from1938. Although
waist and a woman’s hair, suggested by gold bugle beading,flowing down one sleeve.The
they somewhat
Harlequin Collection produced the Domino motif hat, while the CircusCollection showed the
resemblewomen’s riding hats,
words “Beware of Fresh Paint” on the back of a dress aswell as hats named Chicken-in-a-Basket,
these are definitelyhats-about-
town. Quill-Pen, and Ink-Well. Collaboratingwith Dalí, she created the Lobster Dress: a giant pink

lobster surrounded bysprigs of parsley printed onto an organdy dress. Dalí also helped design

thefabric for Schiaparelli’s Tear Dress and matching cape. An evening gown to beworn at the

most formal of functions, it appears to have been torn repeatedly.And since the cape (see p 49)

did, in fact, have real tears in it, the outfit—evenwhen brand new—looked like it had already been

ruined.Just as Surrealist artists played games with people’s expectations of art,Schiaparelli

transformed clothing—the greatest of all the illusionistic devices—byallowing the unexpected to

replace convention.

128
SHAPING UP:HEALTH
ANDFITNESS
Sport for All
During the thirties, physical activityand sun
worshiping assumed cultproportions. One of the
manifestationswas the Women’s League of
Healthand Beauty, founded in Britain byPrunella
Stack in 1930. In theiruniform of brief, black satin
shorts andsleeveless white satin blouses,thousands
of league members gavepublic demonstrations of
physicalfitness, based on the principle that
atrained body was the secret to asimple but happy
life.All over England and continentalEurope,
naturist clubs and health andsports societies were
formed to payhomage to the body beautiful.
Nudismand hiking had come from Germany,and
all through the thirties, Austriaand Germany were
fashionableEuropean holiday destinations.
Theeffect on fashion was a trend towardTyrolean
peasant dirndl skirts, shorts, and feathered hats,
as youngsters andadults alike joined hiking
clubs.People were so obsessed with keeping fit that
a strike by French taxidrivers in 1936 started a
craze for bicycling. Naturally, special cycling suits Motoring and

werea must!Even if she didn’t take part in any sportswear for the

sporting activity but was content towatch, the women of1938. The cut
fashion-conscious woman could wear what the echoes the forms of
fashion magazinescalled “spectator-sports eveningwear, although
clothes.” For spring and autumn, these were skirt- in more robust
suitsand coats in tweeds and checked wools, while materials—suede,
in summer, navy blue jackets andwhite skirts were leather, and tweed
appropriate wear for watching tennis or polo.The predominate,
navy-blue-and-white combination was also andneckties and scarves
popular wear on cruiseships or at holiday resorts. are popular.
To emphasize a nautical look, motifs like anchors
andship’s wheels were embroidered on pockets
and lapels.

The fashionable female cyclist optedfor culottes or

somewhat elongated“shorts.”

129
 FREEDOM OF
MOVEMENT
With the increased popularity of
activesports, designers of sportswear
nowhad to address the functional needs of
the sports rather than simply
alteringexisting day-wear styles, while at
thesame time maintaining a
fashionablesilhouette. Active sportswear
had toallow for maximum movement.
Skatingskirts were now shorter than they
hadever been, well above the knee
andpleated or flared for movement and
aneye-catching line. The sport itself
wasgiven a boost by the champion skater-
turned-Hollywood-star Sonja Henie,who
skated through her films in avariety of
lavish one-piece skatingdresses.As winter
sports grew inpopularity, a skiing vacation
becamean annual event for those who
couldafford it. Fashionable ski
outfitsconsisted of matching jackets
andpants that were worn tucked into lace-
This feature from What to Wear and How to Make It
up ski boots and finished off with
magazine shows red, navy andwhite cruisewear in a
aweatherproof cap.
casual style.

Sonja Henie’s films usually featuredballetic

skating sequences. Sun Valley Serenade,
shown here, could be mistaken for Swan
Lake.

130
Fun in the Sun
As the “fun-in-the-sun”
mentalityencouraged a heightened
bodyconsciousness, men’s and
women’ssportswear became more and
morerevealing.Standard tennis wear for
menhad been long white flannel
pants,with the cuffs turned up for play,
whiteshirts with rolled-up sleeves,
whitesocks, and white, crepe-soled
shoes.Fashion-conscious players in
thethirties, however, started to opt for
oneof French tennis star René
Lacoste’sshort-sleeved shirts, with a
smallcollar, buttons, and the
famousalligator emblem on the
chest.Although some amateur
players,finding the long flannels too hot
anduncomfortable, switched to
shorts,professional players still played in
longpants until the 1932 Men’s
Elastic waistbands for
NationalTennis Championships at
tennis pants andshorts
Forest Hills,New York, when Bunny
meant goodbye to
Austin daredto wear shorts.Bare legs for
suspenders forever.These
women on thetennis courts was a trend
chain-store styles for men
started in1928 by the Spanish player Lili and womendate from
deAlvarez, who played in 1934.

a just-below-the-knee culotte dress designed bySchiaparelli. Total freedom

of movement came in 1933, when AliceMarble wore shorts at the
Wimbledonchampionships.

Bare on the Beach

Designers were also cutting away atswimwear. In the 1920s, men hadworn
one-piece swimsuits that coveredtheir chests. Gentlemen who baredtheir
chests in public were not justconsidered disrespectful, they riskedbeing
arrested. By 1932, men atprivate beach resorts began to followthe European The military influence, on both fabric andcut, is
lead of swimming unmistakable in this weekend casualwear from
France, 1939.

131
without shirts. Driven by the craze for suntans, the most popular swimsuits
formen and women were those that offered maximum body exposure. Once
menhad cast off their shirts, designers set to work on the trunks: legs were
cut higherand new knitted fabrics like Lastex promised a figure-hugging fit.
Fashion offereda variety of solutions to the problems posed by the laws
governing decency onpublic beaches. The Jantzen Topper model of 1934
had a zipper waist thatallowed for the attachment of a swim shirt when
decorum ruled. But by 1935,attitudes had changed sufficiently to allow men
to swim in trunks alone at mostpublic beaches.Women bathers, in their
pursuit of greater freedom and maximumexposure, eventually abandoned
the yards of over-skirts and shirts of the earlierstyles and adopted a one- or
two-piece swimsuit based on the male prototype.

Swimming costumes for men from the renowned Jantzen label. These
novel and ever morebrief designs were only made possible by the new
stretch fabrics.

132
THE END OF THE
RAINBOW
The Gathering Storm
By 1936, the worst years of the Depression wereover and the
number of unemployed people wasbeginning to fall. But it
was also the year that thepolitical sky grew darker. The
Spanish Civil War,which broke out in July, was seen by
many as theshowdown between the political left and right
inEurope.When the Germans bombed the Basque townof
Guernica, almost wiping out the entire population,the world
was outraged. Pablo Picasso’s famouspainting
Guernica
(see p 25), which commemoratedthe event, went on tour
throughout Europe in aneffort to raise people’s
consciousness about the war.Despite the efforts of the many
Europeans andAmericans who joined the International
Brigade tofight on the Republican side, it was soon clear
thatFranco and his German and Italian allies would
win.Greatly encouraged by their exploits in Spain, Hitlerand
Mussolini began building up their own forces.War was not
confined to Europe, however. Inthe same year, Japan
invaded China and seizedBeijing and Shanghai, forcing the
government tomove to Hankow and uniting Chiang Kai-
shek withthe Chinese Communist forces led by Mao
Zedongand Zhou Enlai. It was only a matter of time
beforethe storm broke over the world.

“The aristocrat of coats forhalf a century” was the

proudslogan of Rodex, makers ofcoats in fine tweed.
Thesecoats were exported all overthe world, their status
boostedby the guarantee that “Rodexcoats conform to the
bestEnglish traditions and aremade exclusively by
Britishpeople.”

133
 Color makes a comeback in these outdooroutfits
by Margaret Barry, Eva Lutyens, andW. W.
Reville-Terry.

Gearing Up
Fashion designers responded to andreflected the
prevailing mood of thesetroubled years. Daytime
fashionbecame more severe and militarilyinspired,
with square, epaulettedshoulders, frog fastenings,
These two typical suits of
featheredhats, gauntlet gloves, and sensible,low-
1938, withbroader shoulders
heeled shoes. Like soldiers,women were expected
and boxy jackets,
to bemeticulously groomed and to payattention
wereperhaps aforetaste of
to every tiny detail.By 1938, it was clear that war
the military styles ofthe war
was not far off. That season’s designswere seen by
years. Hats and button
Vogue
details,however, show these
as being useful “factory” looks. Hair was pinned
designs to be rootedfirmly in
up safelyand hidden under scarves,
the prewar era.

suits were broader shouldered, and skirts were alittle more skimpy, using less
fabric. In contrast, evening dresses cast anostalgic look back at a more romantic
and peaceful past with crinolines (stiff underskirts), tight waists, and frills.A year
later, Europe was engulfed by war—but not before a whole newindustry of ready-
to-wear clothing had been established, catering to the needsand desires of people
who wanted moderately priced, fashionable clothes.Thousands of Europeans fled
the oppressive regimes in their homelands toseek refuge in Britain and America,
among them many skilled tailors,seamstresses, and dressmakers, who brought not
only their labor but a sense

134
Suitcase labels from romantic places:
inthis case, the Italian lakes.

These are definitely styles for

men goingon vacation and not to
war, although this isFebruary
1939.

A tailored linen suit from Maggy

Rouf thatlooks forward to the
styles and cuts of thefollowing
decade. The flower-decked
Suzyhat claims inspiration from
FrenchImpressionist painter
Claude Monet.

135
of continental style that had beenlacking in
some areas of British andAmerican
design.In 1939, European couturierswent
to war with clothes that werepractical and,
in most cases, the lastthey would design
until peace wasrestored. They produced
shirtwaistdresses and simple suits that
wouldnot date, while sweaters and
pantsbecame acceptable fashion
wear.Makeup artists like
HelenaRubenstein and Cyclax
respondedwith spiritedly named lipsticks
likeRegimental Red and Auxilliary
Red.The ever resourceful
Schiaparelliproduced designs in Maginot
LineBlue and Foreign Legion Red
beforeembarking on a lecture tour of
theUnited States, where she was tospend
most of the war years.One trend that
emerged verybriefly in the Paris collections
of 1939, only to disappear
almostimmediately, was the sharply
definedwaist. In contrast to her earlier
styles,Coco Chanel showed tight-
waisted,full-skirted dresses, while
Mainbocherdisplayed full-skirted dirndls.
Not untilChristian Dior’s New Look in
1947—the first postwar fashion to have
astrong impact—would slim waistsagain be
featured so strongly.But for the time being
at least,there were to be no more
escapistfollies or fashion fantasies. All over
theworld, practical fashions were in style.

Anticipating the shape of the Dior

“NewLook,” with its emphasis on the
nipped-inwaist, Mainbocher’s 1939
collection canalso be seen as pointing the
way to the styleof the forties.

136
137
1940
 1940’ S NEWS
Fashion wasn’t exactly grabbing the headlines in the newspapers of 1940.As the
decade began, the silhouette for both men and women was largelyunchanged from
Keeping them rolling. Like many
the previous couple of years. The female shape consisted of wide, padded shoulders;
otherswho suddenly found themselves
a narrow natural waistline; thin hips; and a skirt that fellto just below the knee. For in jobspreviously reserved for men, this
men also, the line fell in an inverted triangle fromsquare shoulders down to the woman inuniform does her part on the
PennsylvaniaRailroad. Her passengers
waist and hips. Heavy shoes provided acounterbalance in both cases. wear a fairlyrepresentative selection of
Accessories were still essential for women. Hats remained popular,with styles wartime styles;the variety of different
headgear worn byboth sexes is
varying from those tipped over the forehead to those plantedfirmly on the back of
particularly interesting.
the head. During the war, however, hats wereincreasingly replaced by fabric head
scarves and turbans, especially forwomen involved in war work in factories. It could
be said that hats were oneof the casualties of war. For a time, there was also a
vogue for “snoods,” akind of pouch made of fabric or of knitted or crocheted yarn
that heldfashionable long hair in place at the nape of the neck.Purses took the form
of small box bags, especially in black plasticpatent with a mirror in the lid. For
daytime, women carried over-the-shoulder bags or large “clutch” bags without
handles. “Crushed” suedegloves with flaring cuffs were popular for day wear. These
were elbow lengthbut were worn casually pushed down the arm; hence the name
crushed. Forevening wear, shirred (gathered with elastic thread) rayon jersey gloves
wereconsidered a glamour accessory around 1944 as fabric replaced leather.Despite
this continuity, there had already been occasional hints ofchange on the runways of
the fashion salons in both Paris and New York,where a number of designers had
been experimenting with a new silhouettefocusing on the waist. For the moment,
however, there were more seriousthings to worry about.
The World at War
The months of uncertainty and apprehension leading up to World War II were
atlast over; the real thing had begun. Europe was in bloody turmoil. Adolf
Hitler’sarmy had invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Two days later, the British
andFrench governments declared war on the German Third Reich. By the time
theUnited States entered the conflict—following the Japanese attack on
PearlHarbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941—Norway, Denmark, Holland,
Belgium,France, Yugoslavia, and Greece had fallen into Hitler’s hands, and the
Europeanregions of the Soviet Union had only narrowly escaped the same fate.It
looked as if Britain’s days were also numbered. Although the planes of the German
Luftwaffe (air force
)
had been beaten off in the Battle of Britain(July–October, 1940), bombs continued
to fall on the major British industrialcities and seaports, so that eight months later,
one in every six families inLondon no longer had a home. Bombs weren’t the only
problem, however: it was

138
Many magazines, even those devoted tohigh fashion, began to give their articles
andillustrative material a suitably patrioticwartime slant. However, the fur and
velvetworn by the models in this shot from British Vogue in one of its 1942 high-
fashion photofeatures must have seemed a far cry fromthe clothing worn by
“real” women.

139
 Going out in the evening was difficultduring wartime,
widely believed that chemical or gas warfare would be used against
especially in London andother large British cities where
civilianpopulations, so gas masks were issued and carried by everyone.
people hadto dodge air raids. But when they did
The fashionableLondon store Harvey Nichols advertised specially
designed hooded gas-protection suits for women, “made of pure oiled headfor a dance hall, they expected somethingspecial,

silk … in dawn, apricot, rose,amethyst, eau-de-nil green, and pastel pink. and the entertainers had to looktheir best. Here Benny

The wearer can cover a distance of two hundred yards through mustard Goodman and hisorchestra perform in white tuxedo

gas and the suit can be slipped overordinary clothes in thirty-five jackets,black ties and trousers, and red carnations.

seconds.”

RATIONING
All military personnel, on both sides of the Atlantic, had to be equipped
withweapons and clothing, which meant that factories had to swing from
producingconsumer goods to war goods. The effects of this program
were felt in Britainfrom 1941 and in North America from a little later.
Everything seemed in shortsupply or about to be rationed. In Britain in
1943, even bathwater was limited tofive inches in the tub, regardless of
how many people shared the same water.Not surprisingly, the number of
advertisements for deodorants suddenlyincreased!

140

CHANEL’S WAR
Although designer Gabrielle “Coco” Chanelclosed
her Paris fashion house anddisappeared from the
fashion scene a yearbefore the war started, her
activities stillcaused controversy. In part, this was
dueto her relationship with a high Naziofficial, but
she was also a vocalsupporter of the Vichy regime,
despised bymany French people and not recognized also because a purchase tax wasapplied to such non-coupon items. Anyone
bythe Allies. She regarded members of theFrench
Resistance as criminals since theywere breaking the
terms of the armisticethat France had arranged
with theGermans. Because of this, Chanel
haddifficulty in reestablishing her salon,which did
not reopen until 1954.
The House of Chanel, founded in 1919, was a Paris landmark and was much
missed duringthe 1940s in spite of Coco Chanel’s personal unpopularity
In Britain, clothes rationing started in earnest in June 1941. At first,
adultsreceived sixty-six coupons a year, but this was quickly reduced to forty-
eight andthen, by 1945, to thirty-six.Extra coupons were available on the
black market—the illegal trade ingoods that were in short supply—and it was
possible to buy some non-regulatedfabric and garments. Supplies became
increasingly limited, and prices werehigh, not only because of the scarcity, but
caught trying to avoid the regulationsfaced a heavy fine. Lady Astor
discovered this to her cost in 1943, after she hadpersuaded her American
friends to send over clothes for her. She was fined 50British pounds—ten
times the cost of a lady’s suit bought with coupons.Not even the royal family
was exempt from rationing. For her wedding toPhilip Mountbatten (now the
Duke of Edinburgh) in 1947, Princess Elizabethwas merely given an extra
allowance, totaling 100 coupons. The government alsospecified that no
“enemy” products were to be used for the wedding dress,
141
which meant that British
designerNorman Hartnell could use
neitherJapanese seed pearls nor Italian
silk.In the United States,restrictions
and embargos were alsohaving an
effect. The ban onJapanese silk thread
meant that nylonwas replacing silk for
stockings, butnylon itself was also
required formilitary uses. The US
ProductionBoard issued Limitations
Orders, suchas the 1942 order L–85,
which aimedto save 15 percent of
domestic fabricproduction and 40 to
50 millionpounds of wool and to freeze
fashion,“thus forestalling any radical
Because of clothing restrictions, manywomen
change… making existing clothes
had to abandon their dreams of aromantic
obsolete.”The L-85 order specified the
wedding dress. Most couples, likethis stylish
amountof fabric, pleat, and trimmings
pair married in 1940, managed anew suit and
to beused as well as the length of
dress that could be worn againfor Sunday
jackets,skirts, and trouser legs and
best, and smartened up theoverall effect with
even thenumber of buttons.
a flower corsageand a fashionable hat.

High heels werefixed at a maximum height of oneinch in the United States,

althoughthe British government allowed amore generous two inches.
Curiously,although the manufacture of metalzippers was for military use
only,sequins were classified as unessentialto the American war effort, and
theirsupply and use were unrestricted.All the American clothing restrictions
were lifted on VE (Victory in Europe)Day—May 8, 1945—when US price
control chief, Chester Bowles, announcedon the radio: “Now you can take
your gasoline and fuel oil coupons and pastethem in your memory book.
Rationing has been lifted, too, on canned fruit andvegetables.” With that, the
orders for 187 million books of green-and-white rationcoupons were canceled,
but the price freeze that had been introduced in 1943went on for another year.
In Britain, rationing continued for three more painfulyears, until 1949, with
some restrictions removed only in 1955.
Fashion in Wartime
With the German occupation of Paris in the summer of 1940, the fashion
housesin Paris, under the leadership of Lucien Lelong, fought for survival and
to protecttheir employees from being sent to enemy factories. They were no
longer thesecond-largest exporting industry in France. For all intents and
purposes, Paris

142
Wartime Utility fashions from Britain’s Norman Hartnell, June 1943. Employing top designerswas a clever way of making standardized
designs more attractive, and ironically, it alsomeant that some women became better dressed as a result of wartime restrictions.

143
was totally cut off: suddenly, American and British designers were thetrendsetters,
with an important part to play in keeping public morale high. Nolonger designing
solely for a small, exclusive clientele, their work was toencourage a positive response
to the strict clothing regulations. In Britain,fashion designers, including many who
had left France before the fall of Paris,came together in the Incorporated Society of
London Fashion Designers (ISLFD),working with the government’s Board of
Trade. Similarly, designers in the UnitedStates involved themselves in the war
effort, either directly—as in the case of Mainbocher, who designed the WAVES
(Women Accepted for VoluntaryEmergency Service) uniform—or working within
the government stipulations laidout in the L-85 order. American fashion journalists,
facing life without Paris,suddenly realized the talent on their own doorsteps, and
American fashionhouses began to receive the recognition they richly deserved. It
was a short-livedbut sweet triumph.For the average person, of course, Hollywood
films offered the usualfashion inspiration, although costume designers had to work
within the samefabric restrictions as everybody else. The government made frequent
appeals todesigners and stars to help the war effort by promoting various styles.To
play their part in the war effort, ordinary women were told: “Use it up,wear it out,
make it do, or do without.” They became increasingly adept atmaking do, taking
Ann Sheridan, the “oomph girl” or“sweater
garments apart and restyling them. The media constantlyoffered advice and hints,
girl” used knitwear to show offher ample curves.
such as how to make coats out of old blankets. In NewYork City, there was a drive
for old furs that were then made into fur-lined vestsfor the merchant marine.
SWEATERS—A
HEALTHHAZARD?
One of the most popular garments of the1940s
was the sweater, but at theVought-Sikorsky
Aircraft Corporation inAmerica, fifty-three
women were senthome for wearing them. At
first,management explained that the ban wason
moral grounds: sweaters were too sexy.But when
the union pointed out thatsweaters were
considered suitable foroffice workers, the
company cited safetyreasons. The National Safety
Councilconfirmed that sweaters might easilycatch
fire because they attracted staticelectricity, and if
caught in machinery,they would not rip and so
might pull thewearer in too. Hollywood’s Ann
Sheridan,known as the “Oomph girl,” joined
thedispute and said that sweatersthemselves
weren’t bad, but a little girl ina big sweater might
be a safety hazard,while a big girl in a small
sweater mightbe a moral one. Finally the

Sweethearts of the Forces! Contestants from the various women’s armed ConciliationService of the US Labor Department

services gather inNew York to compete for the title of “Service Cover Girl of hadto intervene.

1944.”

144
 A WAR DIET
The new year in 1940 was marked in Britain by the introduction of food rationing.Each
adult was allowed twelve ounces of sugar, four ounces of butter, and fourounces of
bacon or ham every week. By the end of that summer, one pound of meatper person was
permitted, but the butter ration had been halved, and the restrictionswere soon extended
to include tea and cheese. Eggs, too, were strictly rationed: oneadvertisement in a local
paper ran “Wanted: egg timer, sentimental reasons. Wanted:egg, same reason.” Not only
did the end of the war bring no immediate relief, butbread rationing was introduced and
the basic food allowance was further cut, sothat by 1948, the average person was worse
off than during the war.Rationing for the Parisians under Nazi occupation began in
September 1940.Each adult was allowed twelve ounces of bread a day but only about
five ounces ofmeat and cheese for a whole month. Sugar and coffee were like gold dust.
Within sixmonths, rice, noodles, fats (including soaps), fish, tobacco, textiles, and wine
wereall rationed. By December 1944, fuel was in such short supply that cooking
As women rediscovered a talent for
waspermitted for only one to two hours at lunchtime and an hour in the evening. It
homedressmaking, publications obliged
wasanother four-and-a-half years before rationing was lifted.
withcheap patterns and style
suggestions.The weekly rations for a British
family inwartime look very meager to our
eyes.

The weekly rations for a British family inwartime look very meager to our
eyes.

145
 Non-Utility clothes in wartime Britainoften followed the
styles of the officialUtility designers and many displayed
theslightly military influence in tunic-styletailoring.

Advertisers never passed up a chance tocash in on the

theme of the moment. Here,in February 1945, the
fashionably patrioticappeal of servicemen is harnessed
topromote the sale of coffee. Note how thewaitress has
her hair tied back in a stylesimilar to that suggested for
factory work.

“GOT ANY GUM,

CHUM?”
With the United States entering the war in1942,
increasing numbers of Americanservicemen were
stationed in Britainbefore being moved to the
battlefront. Itquickly became apparent that
althoughthey shared the same language, the
twocultures were very different and bothgovernments
offered advice on codes ofbehavior. The American GI
was advised:“Don’t comment on politics. Don’t try
With so many men on both sides of the Atlantic drafted into militaryservice,
totell the British that America won the lastwar.
it was up to women to ease the very real shortage of labor, both on thefarms
NEVER criticize the King or Queen.Don’t criticize
and in the factories. Quickly, the traditional barriers defining “men’s
food, beer, or cigarettes.…Use your head before you
work”and “women’s work” collapsed, along with the social conventions
sound off, andremember how long the British alone
relating todressing up for certain activities. Jeans and other pants and one-
haveheld Hitler off. If the British look dowdyand
piece coverallswere now socially acceptable as women’s wear at work, while
badly dressed it is not because theydo not like good
scarce suppliescombined with safety regulations to dictate new hairstyles.
clothes or know how towear them. All clothes are
Although differencesin wages remained for some time, many women enjoyed
rationed. Oldclothes are good form.”The British
the greateropportunities that war work offered. They were now expected to
newspapers in turnasked their readers to remember
play a full andactive role in society, and this was reflected in the romantic
that theAmericans “are foreigners … and thatthe
fiction and films of the time. In hits like His Girl Friday (1940), the square-
mistakes they make are likely tospring from too quick
shouldered, short-skirtedheroine was portrayed as working toward self-
enthusiasm and toolittle background; that though we
fulfillment—and finding the man of her dreams along the way. There was no
may bespiritually far more civilized, materiallythey
hint that to keep him, she wasexpected to give up her quest.
have the advantage.”

146
She wore her first banana costume to perform the "Danse Sauvage" in 1926. Although the skirt's designer is unknown, many sources
give credit to either artist Paul Colin or Jean Cocteau. “Thousands of dolls in banana skirts were sold all over Europe,” according to
Vogue. “Beauty editors advised women to rub walnut oil on their faces to darken their skin like Baker’s.” Baker was also featured on a
lot of postcards, which featured her famous banana skirt, glossy hair, and jewelry placed strategically over her bare breasts.

147
For the youngsters in the ideal Americanfamily,
casual style meant bobby sox, plaidskirts, and
linen jackets with thecharacteristic wide shoulders
of the period.The well-appointed kitchen, including
thelatest model of refrigerator, indicates thatthis
family is quite well off.

Newly liberated ex-servicemen stride outin their

“demob suits.” Although there werecomplaints
about the lack of choice andpoor quality of the
fabric, most men wereglad to be finally out of
uniform, and hadnever been particularly fashion
consciousanyway.

148
 ONLY ANGELS HAVE
WINGS
For many, the wartime pilot was the
heroof the hour, especially after the
Battle ofBritain. As Gary Cooper
showed in For Whom the Bell Tolls
(1943), the pilot wasthe twentieth-
century version of themedieval knight
with his protectiveclothing going forth
alone or with a fewfriends to vanquish
the enemy and putthe world to rights.
His heavy sheepskinjacket—called the
Shearling amongAmerican airmen and
the Irvin in RoyalAir Force circles—set
him apart from themen of the other
services. Everyonewanted to be identified
with the image.Even Anglo-American
Chinese and American combat pilots, about to embark on a mission, are wearing the
designer Charles James claimed his
war’smost influential garment, the sheepskin jacket.
prewar heavily quiltedladies’ jacket,
made of Chinese silk, wasthe inspiration

Winning the Peace behind the World War IIShearling

The end of the war brought its own problems. The process of demobilizationreleased United States Air Force jacket.

millions of men from military service, and finding work for them was anurgent
priority. Suddenly, the women workers were no longer needed.Governments began a
crash program to persuade them that their place,happiness, and future were in the
home, while the men themselves had toreadjust to home life and the realization that
in their absence, the women hadmanaged quite well without them.On leaving military
service, each man was discharged in his serviceuniform, given a $50 clothing
allowance that included a suit, shirt, tie, socks,hat, and a pair of shoes—and sent on
his way. Menswear did not undergo anyradical change from the prewar to the
postwar era. This may have been becausethe tailors and manufacturers, after half a
decade of war, weren’t able to makeanything other than a suit based on late thirties
styling. It’s alsopossible that men themselves, already insecure in their new civilian
lives,preferred this conservative look, which had almost a military conformity about
it.There were a couple of exceptions. The zoot-suiters and spivs reveled in
theirexaggerated style of dress, but the general public disapproved of such
displays,and in Britain in particular, it was associated with the seamy side of life
andracketeering.

149
Again, advertising catches the spirit of the moment: the typical American
family isbusily sweeping away memories of austerity with some postwar
spring cleaning. Top-Siders (worn by the young man in the foreground),
shorts, and sleeveless sweaters sumup the American casual look, linked here
with the growing thirst for Coca Cola.

As these post-war sketches show, a return to longer, fuller styles followed on

fromthe restraints of wartime conditions

150
 All the news that’s fit to print. The ultra-brief bikini
swimsuit makes its entrance insummer 1946,
complete with newsprintmotifs.
Baring the Midriff
The US government should be thanked forthe
introduction of the two-piece bathingsuit. In 1943, it
ordered that the fabricused in women’s swimwear
was to bereduced by one-tenth as part of its policyto
reduce textile waste. The little “skirt”panel of the
one-piece was the firstvictim of the cuts, and then the
one-pieceitself was attacked. The two-piece, andthe
midriff, were born. Three years later,American
nuclear tests carried out onBikini Atoll in the South
Pacific inspiredthe little-known Parisian designer
LouisRear to name his latest swimwear designthe
“bikini.” He said later that this wasbecause the name
symbolized “TheUltimate.” In a similar way, the
incrediblepower of the atomic bomb, asdemonstrated
at Hiroshima in 1945, ledto a rash of “atomic”
products, such asAtomic dry cleaners, Atomic hair
restorer,and even Atomic pudding.
Elbow-length capes and full-length leather gloves are key elements of New
Look outdoorwear for 1948. Dior’s bombshell shattered the complacency of
designers hoping to revert tosafe, late-1930s styles.
In the United States, rationing and restrictions were quickly lifted, and
thecountry moved speedily from full-scale armaments manufacture into
massdomestic production, enjoying the increased prosperity that war work
hadbrought for many. In Europe and Britain, however, the process took
much longer.The war had destroyed not only factories and houses, but also
ports and railyards. National economies were in serious trouble, and Britain
itself was virtuallybankrupt. Rationing continued and was even more
rigorously applied.
Enter Monsieur Dior
To many in France and abroad, the fact that the fashion houses continued
tooperate during the war smacked of collaboration with the Nazis. Matters
weremade worse when, after liberation, pictures of the Paris collections were
seenabroad. Garment after garment seemed to ignore the restrictions and
regulationsthat had bound designers in Britain and the United States. And
when ChristianDior unveiled his “Corolla” (flower-like) collection in 1947—
quickly named theNew Look—postwar murmurs about past collaboration
erupted into roars of disapproval. Government officials in London and
Washington took one look at theamount of fabric used in the Dior dresses
and warned that the newly revivedpostwar economies could be fatally
damaged if such extravagance were copied.
151
For the first few years after the war, therewas uncertainty about the direction fashionwas to take. Some American designersresponded
with designs of great luxury andfemininity, like these 1946 evening dressesfrom (left to right) Hattie Carnegie, AdeleSimpson, Nettie
Rosenstein, and Muriel King.The appearance of full skirts and narrowwaists foreshadows the coming of the NewLook in 1947.

152
Dramatic stripes and decorative gatherslend
excitement to the latest stretchswimsuits from
Jantzen, 1948.

Rainwear for the man about town: AustinReed of

London’s version of the man’sovercoat, trilby hat,
umbrella, and kidgloves. Broad-shouldered styles
like thesewere widely popular in the postwar forties.

A Barbaric New Era?

Only in the last years of the war did the true scale of its horror begin to be
realized.With the Allied advance into Europe, the reality of the Nazi concentration
camps wasuncovered. The news and the horrifying pictures stunned everyone. It
seemedimpossible that humans could inflict such cruelty on others. Almost 6
million peopledied in what is now called the Holocaust. Prisoners of war returning
from Japanesecamps showed that inhumanity was not confined to Europe, and as
the atrocitiessuffered by hundreds of thousands of Chinese showed, was not
inflicted just onEuropeans. In early August 1945, the atomic bombs dropped by
America onHiroshima and then Nagasaki unleashed a monstrous new power of
destruction.

153
Dior, however, had timed itperfectly.
Women on both sides of theAtlantic were
eager for change. Theyhad had enough of
square shoulders,short skirts, and dark
colors. It alllooked so military, so
functional—sodull. They fell for Dior’s
curvaceousline, which accentuated the
bust, thewaist, the hips, and the ankles,
andthe sheer extravagance of yards
andyards of fabric.Perhaps the wartime
fashiondesigners had done their job too
well.From serving a small élite
clientele,they now enjoyed enormous
publicprestige and influence over a
muchwider section of society. Whereas
inthe 1930s, fashion had had
littleimmediate or direct impact on
thegeneral public, now cheap
massproduction—the result of
reorganization to meet war demand—
meant that everyone could havecopies of
model designs quickly andat a fraction of
the original cost.Although the fashion
houses still reliedon their established
clientele, theirfate was increasingly decided
byfashion journalists, who gave athumbs-
up or thumbs-down on thecollections. To
get cash flowing intothe fashion house and
increasepublicity—and sometimes to
The wasp-waist demanded by the
offsethostile criticism of a collection—
NewLook was not achieved without
thedesigner’s name was used to
effort, as wecan see from this shot of
selleverything from scarves to
models lacingeach other into tight
underwearand perfume. By the end of
corsets. At home,presumably, husbands
thedecade, the fashion houses hadbegun to
were pressed intoservice.
play the “name game,”promoting the cult
of the individualdesigner.
New Look in New York. The
“outrageous”Christian Dior arrives by
sea to promote hisdesigns in the United
States in April 1948.

154
A glamorous 1947 evening dress byAmerica’s Norman
Norell, featuring a fullwhite chiffon skirt with a daringly
low-cut,halter-neck leopard-print bodice. The NewLook
shape can be seen in the nipped waistand accentuated hips.

155
 With their bobby sox and pennyloafers,pleated skirts,
sweaters, round collars, andtied back hair, these girls look
young fortheir age, but they are wearing the“uniform” of the
average twelve- toseventeen-year-old. But don’t call
themteenagers: the term was not invented untilthe 1950s.

The Bobby Sox Idol

The format orchestration of the bigband was
losing its appeal in favor ofa new “intimacy”
with radio listenersas Bing Crosby showed
what completemastery of the microphone
couldachieve. As Bing crooned his way
intothe dreams of adult women on bothsides
of the Atlantic, Frank Sinatrabecame the
idol of teenage girls—the“Sultan of Swoon,”
as his press agentput it. He had started work
singing forthe big bands, where he learned,
ashe said, to “play” his voice just
likemusicians played their instruments,and
his artistry in phrasing a songnever deserted
him. He explained hisimmense success in the Frank Sinatra, king of the crooners, wasalways cool in wide lapels, top-

early 1940sby saying: “It was the war years, pleattrousers, and big cufflinks.

andthere was great loneliness. I was theboy

in every corner drugstore who’dgone off,
drafted to the war. That wasall.”

156
The war proved a spur to developments
inmany areas of material technology
from whichfashion was to benefit. This
new range ofrainwear from B.
F.Goodrich was made from anew
waterproof fabric called Koroseal.

The postwar passion for new

technologywas swiftly spreading to cars.
As we cansee, the advertising for the
smart 1949Oldsmobile went beyond
“new look” to“Futuramics” and
included terms like“rocket engine.” The
sleek lines of theOldsmobile look
forward to the streamlinedstyling of the
1950s.

157
Wartime advertising saluted
therole of women in the armed
forces,associating their
contribution withsocial activities
(left). In thepostwar period,
women regainedtheir femininity
but were hardpressed to hold on
to theirnewfound independence.

158
In essence, the look of the lateforties was conservative andunderstated: the still essentialaccessories of hat and glovescomplete an outfit of
tweed daywear that might be worn for a visitto town.

159
WAR WORK
As the factories moved into munitionsand
other war production, consumergoods
became scarce, and rationingwas the only
fair way of distributinglimited supplies to
everyone. Someraw materials were
completelyunavailable and sacrifices had
to bemade, while general shortages led
tosome ingenious solutions.The US L-85
order was gearedto save 15 percent of
domestic fabricproduction by banning
such items asfull skirts and knife pleats.
Cuffs,double yokes, patch pockets,
andattached hoods were all banned aspart
of a general “no fabric on fabric”rule.
Order M-217 conserved leatherand limited
shoes to six colors, whilelaces and some
kinds of embroiderywere restricted by
order L-116.The need to save 10 percent of
the fabric in women’s bathing suitsled to
the happy invention of thetwo-piece suit.
As the
Wall Street Journal
reported: “The saving hasbeen effected—in
the region of themidriff. The two-piece
bathing suitnow is tied in with the war as
closelyas the zipperless dress and
thepleatless skirt.”Given the widespread
Even chocolate candy bars got thepatriotic treatment
difficultiesin obtaining entire new and were advertised aspart of the US war effort.
wardrobes,accessories such as hats, gloves,
andhandbags became very Nylons, already just a happy memory forBritish
important.Dickeys—or collars, some women, were fast disappearing fromthe stores in
withextended shirtfronts—were often America too.
wornbeneath sweaters instead of a
blouse,as were jabots, often in the form of
astanding band collar with an
attachedruffle at the front.

160
 Designed for War
American dress manufacturers had
todesign their styles to be worn
withoutgirdles since the use of rubber
ingirdles was banned. One
dressmanufacturer advertised: “No
girdlerequired for this dress … with
nofastenings (zippers gone to
war)adjustable at waist and bust.”
Anotherad read: “Duration suit: both
jacketand skirt … are adjustable at
thewaistline; designed for wear with
orwithout a girdle.”While some
corsetmanufacturers designed
rubberlessgirdles—one even went back to
usingwhalebone—women were
beingadvised to adjust to life without their

In one of the most famous rallyingposters of

the period, “Rosie the Riveter”persuaded
thousands of women to volunteerfor work in
factories or heavy industry. Theyfound
themselves doing work they had
neverdreamed themselves capable of
andenjoying it.

The military braid hairstyle, approved forwomen in

wartime. The curls were intendedto retain some
measure of femininity inwhat was essentially a rather
severe style.

161
 Coveralls and head scarves meant thathairstyles were
irrelevant to these ordnancefactory workers, at least
during working hours.

restraining help. McCall’s Washington newsletter warned: “Just what the lack of
girdles will eventually do to styles is anyone’s guess, but Washington’s
expertsdon’t hold out much hope for a return to solid, hefty bulges.”With
increasing numbers of women drawn into war work, safety madeits own
demands, and companies encouraged their designers topromote safe, attractive
outfits. Vera Maxwell, for example, createdthe coveralls for women working for
Sperry Gyroscope. McCall’s in1942 listed the advantages in work wear: “The girl
in the defense factoryreally has all the luck. She wears a coverall for work and
thereby savesclothes, time, money, and nervous energy. And look at all the nice
green cashshe picks out of the envelope each week!”Women were urged to have
their hair cut short in the new “vingle” (aclose-cropped haircut), the victory roll,
or the liberty cut, which needed to becut only once every three months. This
served more than one purpose: hairpinswere unavailable, hats needed coupons,
and women in wartime factories werebeing badly injured as a result of getting
their hair caught in machinery. Theimmensely popular “peekaboo” hairstyle
worn by American movie star VeronicaLake, with its cascade of hair over one
eye, was now considered hazardous.When appealed to, Veronica Lake
patriotically, and very publicly, changed to ashort style in the hope that her fans
would copy her.

Slacks, blouse and jacket, and flat-

heeledshoes: a practical look for the
workingwoman.
Veronica Lake, before and after.

162
 Seams an Illusion
Silk and nylon stockings were in
shortsupply: in Britain, they had
vanishedfrom shops completely by
December1940. Pants hid their absence,
butwomen also resorted to CyclaxStocking-
less Cream, or other forms of leg makeup,
completing the illusion of stockings by
drawing “seams” downthe back of the legs
with an eyebrowpencil.When the US War
ProductionBoard conducted a survey
amongAmerican women, asking
whichcosmetics were absolutely vital to
theirmorale, women agreed that
facepowder, lipstick, rouge, and
deodorantwere crucial. Curiously, they
alsodecided that while bath oil wasessential,
bath salts were not.

When it came to appearances, restrictionsand

shortages brought out the inventivestreak in most
women.

In this outdoor outfit from Nina Ricci,1943, the

elaborate headgear so commonduring the war is
teamed with a waistlinethat prefigures the New
Look.

American GIs, new to Britain andencountering

shortages for the first time,found themselves much
in demand assuppliers of chocolate, cigarettes,
andchewing gum.

163
PARIS UNDER FIRE
Occupation
In June 1940, the Germans marched into Paris and occupied the city
untilAugust 1944. The French government was taken over by Marshal
PhilippePétain, a veteran of World War I, who asked the Germans for an
armistice. It wasagreed that a French government, under Pétain, could rule
over the unoccupiedpart of the country. This was known as the Vichy
government. Many Frenchpeople did not recognize its authority, however,
because it cooperated with theGermans. Paris and the northern and western
parts of France were placedunder German rule. Here, as everywhere under
Nazi rule, Jewish people wererounded up and deported to concentration and
forced labor camps.The Paris fashion houses were to survive the Nazi
occupation of Paristhanks to one man: Lucien Lelong, head of the Chambre
Syndicale de la CoutureParisienne (the Paris Fashion Syndicate). Many chief
designers and Jewishmanufacturers had already left Paris at the outbreak of
hostilities, and in 1940the Berlin High Command ordered the closure of the
CSCP and the transfer of the fashion houses and designers to Berlin and A street scene in occupied Paris. Mostpeople seem

Vienna. The Third Reich wantedfashion centers it believed worthy of its simply depressed by what ishappening to them,

leader. Lelong argued that the French fashion industry relied not just on the although rumors ofcollaboration with the occupying

star designers, but also on a wholenetwork of manufacturers and suppliers, forceswere rife. After the war, society tookrevenge:

expertise that could not be transferred.The order was withdrawn, the Chambre a woman suspected of a liaisonwith a German could

reopened, and Pierre Balmain andChristian Dior moved to join Lelong. In all, expect to have her hairshorn off and her head
covered with tar.
twenty fashion houses kept their doorsopen, and 112,000 skilled workers were
excused from compulsory work inenemy factories.
.

164

In occupied France, as in Britain andAmerica, there
was a campaign to getwomen to knit gloves, scarves,
and sweatersfor soldiers at the front. Most
magazinescarried approved patterns for
variousgarments.
Wedges and Berets
Lelong also pointed out that American clients would bring in much
neededdollars—although, in fact, most stayed away for the duration of the
war. Whenrationing was introduced in France in 1941, the fashion houses were
givenspecial fabric allowances and permission to sell their garments outside
couponrestrictions. Prices soared, not only because of the increased cost of
fabric, butalso because all other costs now had to be met from a mere hundred
stylesinstead of the prewar level of about 3,000.The average Parisian woman
wore whatever she could get her hands on,and in winter, because of the
shortage of fuel, it was all worn at once. Colorfulpatches and separate collars
were a way of enlivening and repairing old clothes,while pants at last became
acceptable wear for women. Hefty cork wedges and jointed wooden soles filled
the gap left by a scarcity of shoe leather, and by1943, it seemed that as the
wedge heels got higher, hats became moreexaggerated to balance the look.
Hats with small crowns, upturned brims wornforward and to one side, based
on prewar designs by Elsa Schiaparelli, were theorder of the day. But perhaps
this was a deliberate snub to the unpopular Vichyregime, which in the early
1940s had tried to get its supporters to wear berets.
Haute Couture Collaborators?
When the work done by French fashion designers under German
occupationfinally came to light, it was greeted with disapproval. It seemed that
whileeveryone else—even Hollywood—had been frugally saving and heeding
officialregulations, French designers had carried on as if there were no war.
Thedesigners’ work featured cuffed sleeves, pocket flaps, non-functional
buttons,pleats, and draped fabric galore, along with dolman (“parachute” or
“magyar”)sleeves. The foreign press and buyers were shocked and angry.And
they weren’t the only ones. The American War Production Boardimmediately
proposed press censorship, forbidding any reference to Parisianfashions,
“which are in flagrant violation of our imposed wartime silhouette,”
andreminded American manufacturers that L-85 restrictions still applied. No
wonderthe French government’s appeal to the Allied Powers for aid to clothe
itspopulation met with a cool response. The Paris designers bowed to the
criticismsand the following year limited the fabric in their model dresses to
three yards.
Paris Fights Back
The next task was to reassert the importance of Paris as the center of
hautecouture (high fashion), which began in earnest with the 1945 CSCP’s
successful
165
 This deceptively simple button-down,
shirtwaisted day dress by Balenciaga from
1940benefits from strongly
differentiatedaccessories, especially the
eccentric hat.

traveling exhibition, “Le Théâtre de laMode”

(Theater of Fashion), whichwas shown in the
West Europeancapitals and New York.
Thiscomprised some 200 dolls, about twofeet
high, dressed by the leadingdesigners. The
observant fashionwatcher that year would have
seen theway forward. Cristobal
Balenciagabrought his hems down to fifteeninches
from the floor, and by thefollowing year, most
fashion houseshad incorporated the narrow
waist,more sloping shoulder line, andaccentuating
of female curvesprefigured in 1939 by
Mainbocher.But none of this aroused any
greatexcitement or controversy.That was to come
in February1947 with the Christian Dior show.
Hebrought all the elements together andgave
them a new emphasis. Theaudience went crazy.
Carmel Snow,chief editor of
Harper’s Bazaar
,summed it up: “It’s quite a revolution,dear
Christian, your dresses havesuch a new look.” It
was these twowords—“new look”—that became
theinternational press’s name for thedramatic new
silhouette.

Another day dress, this time from Jacques Heim, shows the military influence in its
frontdetail.

166
If people could not travel to Paris to see the new fashions, then the fashions would have to go to them. The remarkable “Theater
ofFashion,” with minutely detailed mannequin dolls displayed in a stage setting, toured Europe and the United States.

167
THE AMERICAN CHALLENGE
American Elegance
With the occupation of Paris by the Germans in June 1940, many peoplepredicted that the
center of the fashion world would be transferred to New York.Not only had the
atmosphere in prewar Europe already caused a few leadingdesigners from Paris to open
salons across the Atlantic, but also a number of American fashion houses were already well
established and getting coverage inthe fashion magazines. Charles James, Norman Norrell,
and Claire McCardellalready had their devout followers, and the return of Mainbocher
and othersfrom France seemed to seal it. And it wasn’t just New York. Dallas, Texas,
wasgetting a name for sportswear and Los Angeles for casual wear, particularly forthe
beach.The fact that the Parisian fashion houses were continuing to operateunder Nazi
occupation suggested to many Americans that money spent onFrench fashion meant
dollars in the Berlin treasury. The New York fashionindustry did not simply continue, as
before, to follow the lead set by Europe’sdesigners. In 1941, six major department stores in
New York City showedAmerican designs twice daily. The race to become top fashion An extremely glamorous satin eveninggown

center was on.For those ladies wanting elegance and glamour, American designerNorman with fur trim, by Mainbocher.

Norell’s sequined cocktail dresses were the answer, as was thesophistication of Charles
James or the drapery of Mainbocher, former fashioneditor and editor of French Vogue ,
who had been designing for Wallis Simpson,Duchess of Windsor, for many years. These Three models wearing the same gray suitby

designers also had a practical side.Mainbocher worked on uniforms for women attached to American designer Claire McCardell

the American navy and from1943 demonstrate the thrifty way a

singleoutfit could be varied by the addition
ofdifferent accessories.

168
With money and customers in short supplyin war-torn Europe, New York became ahaven for the designers of couture eveninggowns.
These classic and timeless designsare by Anglo-American Charles James.

169
Red Cross and promoted knitwear, while Norell explored thegrowing ready-to-
wear market, concentrating on tailored butwaistless jersey shifts (which reduced
the use of fabric by 50percent) and the separates look of skirt and shirt, which
in1945 developed into the tightly belted waist and full skirt.

Magnificent McCardell
But the real leader in the free-and-easy style that was theAmerican look was
Claire McCardell, who, like Norell, lovedthe qualities of jersey. She was also a
pioneer in the use of unexpected ordinary fabrics, including cotton
denim,gingham, calico, and striped mattress ticking. She designedfor
everywoman and for the everyday world of work andleisure. Her garments were
functional and comfortable towear, with dolman (magyar) sleeves, adjustable
waistlines,and deep pockets, in durable or easy-care fabrics. HerPopover dress,
designed in 1943, was basically awraparound denim overall, but it looked so
stylish that itremained a favorite well into the fifties. It was classed as aUtility
garment, and within a year, 75,000 had beensnapped up.McCardell also hated
the clumpy, notoriously difficultto wear wedge and platform shoes, preferring
to exploit theUS rationing exemption on play shoes and ballet slippers. In1944,
she asked Capezio, the leading New York maker of ballet shoes, to create an
outdoor version of their ballet slippers with strongersoles and heels.The US
government regulations on fabric and clothing were quickly liftedafter the war.
Silk was available again for underclothes and evening wear,although synthetic
The Popover dress revealed ClaireMcCardell’s
rayon was still used. An important first was the introduction of nylon stockings
inventive way with stitcheddenim.
that were totally seamless and very sheer, creating a “nude leg”look.

The Changing Silhouette

A gold lamé evening dress of stunningsimplicity by
By 1946, the silhouette began to show definite changes. Shoulders may stillhave
Norman Norell.
been padded, but some were sloping or dropped, and soon natural,unpadded
shoulders became very popular. Opinions were now divided onwhether women
would opt for a new, radically different style of full and longerskirts or, with
their newfound freedom working outside the home, continue tofind wartime
functional garments more suited to their lifestyle. In a 1947 article,
McCall’s stated: “The short skirt is out of the running. Even before
governmentalrestrictions were taken off skirts, smart girls were letting hems
down. Thebest-looking clothes seen walking around New York at the moment
are aboutfifteen inches from the sidewalks. Fourteen inches if the wearer is
short. No twoways about it, hips are very much in style. The new clothes
emphasize round

170
 hips by big pockets, gathers, and drapery. Waistlines are small, and
shouldersare rounded.
”But it was Dior, supported by the influential fashion journalists CarmelSnow
of Harper’s Bazaar and Mrs. Edna Woolman Chase of Vogue , who settledthe
argument. With his New Look, Paris regained its position as leader of the
fashion world for another decade.

A small waist makes the most of arounded hipline.

Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, wasdressed

by Mainbocher for many years andremained a
style leader well into middleage.

This two-piece playsuit by American designer Addie Masters is made from synthetic
fabricin a rather jazzy pattern.

171
BRITISH DESIGNERS AT WAR
Women in Uniform
The recruitment of women into theBritish armed services
from 1938required new uniforms to be designed,usually
based on those of the men.The uniform of the Women’s
AuxiliaryTerritorial
Service, established in 1938,was similar to that
of the British Army,while the Women’s Royal
NavalServices’ uniform was modeled onRoyal
Navy lines but without the fullinsignia and markings
because, it wasargued, the women
did not carry outfull battle duties. It was recognizedthat the
uniform could affectrecruitment and morale. The
commander in chief of what was laterthe
Women’s Royal Air Forcesuccessfully argued
for a blue rather than a khaki outfit, partly
because of the difficulty in finding cosmetics tomatch
khaki.
It was also thought that“blue uniforms would
not onlyencourage loyalty and enthusiasm butwould also
be an aid to good discipline.
”Nurses’ uniforms changed dramatically. The Victorian
look, with itsstarched linen—impossible for the battlefront
British women serving in the navy werethe proud wearers of a brand-
—was increasingly replaced by asimple uniform designed
new uniform,which seems to have allowed for a certainamount of
by British designer Norman Hartnell, while the BritishRed
feminine freedom in the hairstyle.
Cross nurse adopted an easy-to-wash gingham outfit.Digby
Morton, an Irish-born fashion designer living in London,
worked onthe outfit for the Women’s Voluntary Service.
Established in 1938, the wartimeWVS ran soup kitchens at
bomb sites, sold tea at ports and stations for thetroops, and
organized thrift shops for those who had lost everything in
thebombing. Green had originally been chosen for the
uniform, but since this wastraditionally regarded as an
unlucky color, gray was added to the weave.

A Boost for Morale

Morale was important on the home front. The British
government recognized thatstringent rationing could
quickly demoralize the population, and in 1942, withonly a
little prodding, the country’s fashion designers, along with
Captain EdwardMolyneux from France, were brought
together in the Incorporated Society of
Senior British designer Norman Hartnellwas a founder member of the
group thatmasterminded the Utility program.

172
 Mr. and Mrs.
Stripes and checks serveto
Average—
brighten up an
Utility designs
otherwisesimply cut outfit, but
for men
notethe wrap-and-tie
andwomen
detail,which cinches in the
from 1945.
waistand emphasizes the flare
ofthe unpressed pleats.

London Fashion Designers. Members

includedHardy Amies, Norman Hartnell, Digby
Morton, andVictor Stiebel, and their task was to
show that,despite rationing, clothes could still be
fashionableand attractive. They came up with the
Utilitycollection—stylish garments that
conformed to thegovernment regulations. From
their designs for fourbasic items—a coat, a suit,
an afternoon dress, anda cotton dress suitable for
office work—thirty-twowere selected for
production in 1943. The line wasessentially based
on prewar styling and retained theheavy square-
shouldered look of the late 1930s,although—
while staying within fabric restrictions— jackets
and tops had a slightly bloused look. Whenworn
with pants or skirts lacking fullness and
hatsmodeled on cap and beret shapes, the
designshad a distinctly military look.

173
 Definitely a non-Utility design! The
Britishcartoon “Just Jane” provided comic
fantasyrelief for troops and others with
herscandalous adventures. Here she preparesfor
the rigors of war in 1940 by swappingher
thirties-style evening gown for auniform.

Although most of the wool produced went into the manufacture of uniforms, home
knittingwas greatly encouraged, and sweaters became popular.

CAN MAKE IT—CAN’T

HAVE IT!
Although deprived of their usual business of dressing the British aristocracy,
themembers of the ISLFD continued their haute couture work, but now
solely foroverseas customers. Because the promotion of British designs and
fabrics likeHarris tweed brought in badly needed dollars, this had full
government approval.Peacetime brought no immediate change, and the mass
of visitors seeing thenew ISLFD fashion styles at London’s Victoria & Albert
Museum in the spring of 1946 discovered from the catalog that virtually
everything on display was forexport only. The exhibition’s official title,
Wedge heels for wartime wear from theLotus
“Britain Can Make It,” was soonpopularly changed to “Britain Can’t Have
company in 1941.
It.”

174
A model shows off a new tweed trousersuit
by DAKS, classic British designers ofcasual
and leisure wear since 1894.

Utility fashions for the British company Berkatex by Norman Hartnell, 1943.

While American and French high fashion recognized the

high quality of British export textiles, the runways of the
ISLFD salons offered no seriouscompetition at this time to
those of Paris and New York, and not just becauserationing
was still in force. From their memoirs and biographies, it
seems most of the British designers did not consider this
period of austerity their “finest hour”and preferred, on the
whole, to forget it.

Women workers at a spark plug factory inBritain, 1941, wearing

special hats andsnoods to prevent hair from becomingtangled in
machinery.

175
ZOOT-SUITERS, SPIVS, AND
ZAZOUS
Zoot-suiters
There is still some dispute about exactly where the zoot suitfashion
began. The name may have been coined byAmerican bandleader and
clothier Harold Fox in 1942, butwhatever its origin, the style was
favored by both black andHispanic teenagers in New York’s Harlem
and on the WestCoast. It consisted of a knee-length draped jacket with
six-inch shoulder pads, an eye-catching tie (bow or knotted), along
dangling key chain, and very high-waisted trousers,fully and deeply
pleated at the waist and generous in the legbut sharply tapered at the
cuff. The look was completedwith a long, greased hairstyle, combed
back off the face, abroad brimmed hat, and pointed-toe shoes.

designer is unknown, many sources give credit to either artist Paul

Colin or Jean Cocteau. “Thousands of dolls in banana skirts were sold
all over Europe,” according to Vogue. “Beauty editors advised women
to rub walnut oil on their faces to darken their skin like Baker’s.”
Baker was also featured on a lot of postcards, which featured her
famous banana skirt, glossy hair, and jewelry placed strategically over
her bare breasts.

Jazz musicians,often
considered tobe on the edge
ofpolite society, beganto
cultivate an“alternative”
image.Here trumpeter
DizzyGillespie sports adouble-
breasted suit,goatee beard,
andblack beret.

Cab Calloway,resident
orchestraleader at New
York’sfamous Cotton Club,
inclassic zoot-suit: long,draped
jacket, baggypants with
narrowcuffs, and danglingkey
chain.

176
Note especially the two-tone shoes wornby the
snappily dressed entourage in thistypical
Perhaps it was the zoot-suiters’ apparent disregard of austerity regulationsto
nightclub routine.
which the servicemen of Chavez Ravine military base in California
tookexception when, for two nights in June 1943, they savagely beat up the
Mexicanzoot-suiters of Los Angeles. They cut their hair and stripped off their
trouserswhile the naval shore patrol and army military police looked the other
way.

177
The chalk-stripe suit beloved ofgangsters and postwar wide boys. Thewide-brimmed hat, two-tone shoes, andpatterned tie provide the
essentialaccessories.

178

The zazou style may have been
afleeting fashion, but on the
streets ofParis, it could hardly
be ignored.
In his letter to the president, demanding the arrest and punishment of theservicemen
involved, political commentator Walter White brought out some of thesocial significance
of the fashion when he stated that the zoot-suiters dressed asthey did “to compensate for
the sense of being neglected by society. Thewearers are almost invariably the victims of
poverty, proscription, andsegregation.”
Zazous
A similar fashion was seen on the streets of occupied Parisamong the zazous, streetwise
people involved in the blackmarket and general racketeering. Only through those
illegalconnections could the men acquire their huge dropped-shouldered, thigh-length
jackets and tight, almost drainpipetrousers and the
women the square-shouldered fur coats,short skirts, and striped
stockings in which they paraded thestreets. Both carried large umbrellas
and peered through darksunglasses whatever the weather. But by 1945,
a year afterthe liberation of Paris, the zazou style was finished and
thesecondhand shops in Paris were full of this nowunfashionable
clothing.
Spivs Confusion surrounds the phenomenon of the British “spiv”,
or“wide boy”, although it is clear why he emerged. He was thesmall-
time black-market racketeer who, for a price, could getanything you
couldn’t find in the shops. So, as rationingbecame more rigorous, he
appeared more frequently in thetown centers with his battered suitcase
or handcart full of things that had “fallen off the back of a truck.”
Where theterms spiv and wide boy came from, and whether his style of
dress can be linked with the American zoot suit is unclear.
Picture Post stated that the word spiv came from Detroit inthe 1920s,
while others maintain it is from the Welsh
spilav meaning “to push.”As for wide boy, that may refer to the wide
chalk-striped suiting material that wasworn by many spivs. This fabric
had been first popularized by Edward VIII whenhe was Duke of
Windsor but had fallen out of favor with
his abdication in 1936.The style is usually described as “flashy,” but contemporary
cartoonsshow the spiv’s suit was usually well tailored from good-quality material,
whereasthe average man’s suit in postwar Britain looked shabby and ill fitting.
Thegenerous wide lapels and double-breasted look of the spiv jacket spoke of money, and
the jacket was worn with a wide, colorful tie, a little trilby hat (madeof felt, with a
lengthwise dent in the crown and a narrow brim) worn to one sideover the forehead. The
spiv no longer sported the flamboyant handlebarmustache beloved of the wartime Royal
Air Force but instead the tiny, neatlytrimmed mustache popularized by Hollywood’s
Ronald Colman.
179
MEN AT WAR AND
PEACE
GI Joe
It wasn’t really until American GIs—the abbreviation stands for
“governmentissue” but was used generally to denote American
servicemen—were seen overin Britain that people realized how ill
fitting the British military uniforms were.The GIs all looked like
officers in their stylish uniforms, while the British fielddress, with its
high-waisted long jacket and baggy trousers, appeared
crumpledalongside its American counterpart. It didn’t help, either,
that to save cloth andproduction costs, details like pocket pleats
and pointed sleeve cuffs had beendropped, and the smarter
ceremonial dress was no longer in production.Everyday menswear
British servicemen are shown their demoboutfits. There was
was also regulated under both the British Utilityscheme and the
very little choice, and instyle, not much had changed since
American L-85 order. The only exception was the clothingprovided
thethirties. Many joked that they had simplyexchanged one
for undercover intelligence officers sent into enemy territory—such
unifor
.

180
 austere styling worn abroad would have immediately identified
thewearers as spies and agents. Some garments that disappeared
duringthe war never came back into fashion, while others born of
necessity became standards. Vests, for instance, used upvaluable
coupons in Britain and were banned underAmerican restrictions, but
short socks introduced to savewool remained in fashion after 1945. The
shortage of wool also led to the introduction of very tight-
fittingsweaters with a short body length.

Back to Peacetime
With the coming of peace, more than 5 millionBritish servicemen were
demobilized, that is,released from military service. The
desperateclothing shortage in Britain meant that the socialniceties of
wearing a special outfit appropriate todifferent occasions was largely
forgotten. Ordinaryeveryday suits, called lounge suits, were now
perfectlyacceptable for all occasions, and everyone accepted thatthe
scarcity of dyestuffs meant that suit material came inlighter tones. In
the United States,
TheNew Yorker magazine wittily illustrated seven outfits, complete
with hats,that the returning soldier would need for leisure and work—
butthat, of course, he couldn’t possibly afford.As rationing ended, men
celebrated by selecting double-breasted suit jackets and coats with
wide, peaked lapels, sopopular before the war. Trousers again became
fuller in the leg.Cuffs reappeared, as did unpressed pleats at the waist.
At first,the trouser waist was high, as in prewar styles, but gradually,
itwas lowered. Men on both sides of the Atlantic also took towearing
items of military dress, notably the duffle coat in Britainand in the
United States, the T-shirt.

Duffle Coats
Although Viscount Montgomery of Alamein—the British
commanderin chief in the North African, Normandy, and Ardennes
campaigns—was frequently seen wearing a duffle coat, what made this
garmenttruly popular was its association with the merchant navy and
thesmall, fast escort ships called corvettes, which plied the
Atlantic,immortalized in Nicholas Monserrat’s novel and the
subsequent film The Cruel Sea,in 1952. Subzero temperatures and
wave-washeddecks dictated the duffle’s wooden toggles and hemp
(rope) loops,which frozen fingers could manage more easily than
metalfastenings and buttonholes.

The duffle coat, one of the most essentialadditions to the

civilian wardrobe from thewar years, would continue to go in
and outof fashion for decades to come.

181
 General Eisenhower, observing troopsprior to
the invasion of Europe, sports aversion of the
American “reefer” coat.

After the war, these thickwoolen

navy coats, named after
theiroriginal place of manufacture,
Duffelin Flanders, were snapped
up frommilitary surplus stores. It
Stylish overcoats, in a rather English-looking tweed, for the French man about town
was onlywhen they were adopted
of1943. The dog is probably an optional extra.
by universityteachers and students
andincreasingly associated with the
anti-establishment in the late fifties
thatthe duffle coat lost its heroic
aura andbecame the badge of the
intellectual.

182
 T-SHIRTS
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had the immediateresult of putting
eleven million Americans into uniform—and into regulation underwear. The
following year, the USNavy sent out its official specifications for an
undershirt—calling it a T-type shirt—with a round neck and shortsleeves set
in at right angles to the front and back panels,made in knitted cotton. At
first, they were plain white butwere later often printed with the name of the
military baseor division.The prewar fashion for sleeveless undershirts
hadgone into decline after Clark Gable appeared without one inthe film
It Happened One Night
(1934). Suddenly, it wasunmanly to wear that kind of undershirt. The T-
shirt,however, saw so much battle action that no one could thinkthe same
about this garment. By the time a T-shirtedMarlon Brando was acclaimed for
his “sensual, unfeeling ,mean, vindictive performance” in A Streetcar Named
Desire (1951), the T-shirt’s success was sealed

Sports clothes from California, 1947: achecked

wool jacket with patch pocketsand four-button
front, worn with cuffedslacks and a tailored
sports shirt.

The T-shirt, another military garment

thatquickly gained a place in the wardrobes
ofreturning GIs, was given a huge boost atthe
turn of the decade when worn byMarlon
Brando.

183
HOLLYWOOD
Impact
The Hollywood studio costumedesigner had to
wrestle with a set of problems different from those
facingthe haute couture houses. Designshad to pass a
censorship board calledthe Hays Office, set up to
guardagainst provocative costumes, as wellas enforce
conformity to thegovernment’s austerity program,
anddetermine whether to conceal oremphasize the
physical attributes of the individual star.Devices
intended to flatter astar’s looks had sometimes
spawnedlong-lived popular fashions, such asdesigner
Adrian’s decision toaccentuate Joan Crawford’s
broadshoulders—in
Letty Lynton
(1932) and
Today We Live
(1933)—to make herhips seem narrower. His
trademarksquare shoulders and short skirtswere so
influential that thoseresponsible for drawing up the
L-85order and Utility program could notenvisage
women’s fashions withoutpadding. And not only the
costumedesigner had an impact. FilmmakerHoward
Hughes is credited withhaving designed the wired
brassiereworn by Jane Russell in
The Outlaw
(1943) in order to get the contour andexaggerated
uplift he required.

Designer Adrian was a favorite ofHollywood stars.

This outfit typifies theelaborate and three-
dimensional tailoringfor which he became known.
Based on thebroad-shouldered silhouette, the
suitdisplays an intriguing asymmetrical cut.

184
Scarlett O’Hara’s green velvet dress,
cutfrom a pair of curtains, was
Hollywood’sultimate symbol of “make
do and mend”home fashion.
Sex symbol Jane Russell set the
screensmoldering in
The Outlaw.
To make the mostof her curvaceous
figure, most of herscreen outfits were
made of tight-fittingjersey or other
softly clinging fabrics.
Hollywood goes to War
War brought its own problems, with hundreds of studiostaff diverted
into war work and those who remainedhaving to work with slashed
budgets and otherrestrictions. The supply of shiny bugle beads, so
essentialto the glitzy Hollywood look, was totally cut off by
Hitler’sinvasion of Czechoslovakia, where the beads originated.By
1942, studio stocks of brocades, gold and silver lamé,satin, and crepe
were severely depleted, and as rationingcame into force, wardrobe
departments were ransackedfor old costumes that could be taken apart
and restyledfor new productions. The famous scene in
Gone with the Wind
—made in 1939 and still showing to packed moviehouses in the 1940s
—in which Scarlett O’Hara (VivienLeigh) makes a dress from green
velvet curtains took on awhole new significance.
All points to Glamour
Hollywood’s most obvious impact was, as ever, on theglamour
business. A picture of Betty Grable in a one-piece swimsuit, looking
over her shoulder at the camera,was one of the most popular pinups
among the Americanforces, although the alluring Rita Hayworth came
a closesecond. But while many women may have envied the legsof
Betty Grable, few wanted to imitate the “Brazilian
185
 The big-shoulderedlook
spreads toromantic
eveningwear: girl-next-
doorDeanna Durbin
alldressed up in
Nice Girl?
(1941).

Betty Grable’sfamous
legs madeher the
armedforces’ favoritepin-
up.

The elegantcostumes worn by JudyGarland and her screenfamily in

Meet Me in St. Louis
(1944) may look like silk,but the ever resourcefulstudio wardrobe actuallyused rayon as a
look-alikesubstitute.

186
 bombshell,” Carmen Miranda, whowas most
famously seen with exoticdisplays of fruit
balanced on her head.Nevertheless, Miranda
certainlyplayed her part in promoting
theturban, so necessary for factory safety,as a
glamour item. Her wedge shoes,too, were
closely copied by shoemanufacturers, while
the taste forLatin American frills and off-the-
shoulder peasant blouses and“Pacific” sarong
prints was stimulatedby the Road films
starring DorothyLamour, Bob Hope, and
Bing Crosby.Less exotic fashions weretypified
by the white organdy dressdesigned by Vera
West for DeannaDurbin in
Nice Girl? (1941), which wascopied endlessly
for American promdances, and the rose-
covered hatsworn in the war film Mrs.
Miniver (1942)—a fashion that
spreadeventually to Paris. As for
menswear,films such as This Gun for Hire,
withAlan Ladd, and
Casablanca , withHumphrey Bogart, ensured
thepopularity of the trench coat with thebelt
casually tied and the

Dorothy Lamour on the road tosomewhere exotic in one of the

sarongsthat she single-handedly made famous.

collar up.But movie fashion didn’t likerestraint, and within months of

Germany and Japan surrendering,Hollywood returned to extravagance.

Top-to-toe fashion from the exoticCarmen

Miranda.

187
THE NEW LOOK
The Feminine Image
For Christian Dior, his February 1947 collection symbolized a new beginningbased on
nostalgia for the Belle Epoque, a period of comfortable life just beforeWorld War I:
“We were emerging from a period of war, of uniforms, of women-soldiers built like
boxers. I drew women-flowers, soft shoulders, flowering busts,fine waists like Iiana
[slender vines] and wide skirts like corolla [flowers].” Itwas a look that symbolized
opulence, wealth, and femininity, in clear contrast tothe wartime outline. The shape
looked natural, but was in reality totally artificial,entailing as it did shoulder and hip
pads, a padded bra, and a boned waistgirdle.

The new look didn’t come without a

price,however. The shoulder pads, wasp-
waistcorset, and hip pads required to underpinthe
new feminine silhouette were, notsurprisingly,
often referred to as “armorplating."

Dior’s classic New Look day wear: atapering

jacket with tightly fitted waist,paired with pleated
full skirt, hat, andgloves. Demure and ladylike,
this wasabout as far as one could get from
thefashions of the war years.

188
 And the New Look certainly wasn’tuniversally popular.
Here the style getssome dirty looks in New York as
ademonstration is mounted against theextravagant new
style for the benefit ofMarguerite Cook, model and
devotee of thenew hemlines, in October 1947.

Counting the Cost

It wasn’t just the corsetry that caused the temperature of public and governmentalike
to soar abroad: it was the cost of the vast amount of fabric used in makingthe skirt;
often over twenty-five yards. Even in Paris, women demonstrated,angrily shouting,
“Forty thousand francs for a dress and our children have nomilk!” At the time, a
schoolteacher earned 9,000 francs a month and dairyproducts, oils, and chocolate
were still rationed.Given the limited amount of material available overall, estimates
showedthat the cloth needed for Dior’s new length and fullness would bring output
downby the equivalent of 800,000 garments manufactured in regulation style.
Thepresident of the British Board of Trade warned that since it would be impossibleto
make and sell the same number of garments, the whole future of the Britisheconomy
was at stake, and he persuaded the British Guild of Creative Designersto boycott the
new length. A female member of Parliament, Mabel Ridealgh,denounced the style as
“too reminiscent of the ‘caged bird’ attitude,” adding, “Ihope our fashion dictators
will realize the new outlook of women and give thedeath blow to any attempt at
curtailing women’s freedom.” A female presscommentator railed: “We are back in the
days when fashion was the prerogativeof the leisured wealthy woman, and not the
everyday concern of typist,saleswoman, or housewife”—pointing out that few British
women had the fabricallowance, the money, or the personal lifestyle that suited the
New Look.

Dior Triumphant
But most British women in the late forties had had enough of their Utilitywardrobes
and wanted change. On hearing the news that rationing was to becontinued, A tiny waist, tapering shoulders, fullthree-

Marghanita Laski summed up their feelings in British quarter-length skirt, and high-heeledcourt

Vogue :“Patriotism is definitely NOT ENOUGH, and I, for one, am fed up. I’m fed shoes: the overall silhouette could beadapted for

up athome and I’m fed up when I go abroad, I don’t like to see a foreigner pointing day, evening, or outerwear.

189
This gun-metal-and-pale-blue-check tweedcoat by British designer Hardy Amies is aworld away from his Utility collection.
High-heeled court shoes were essential to balancethe classic silhouette of the New Look.

190
 and whispering, “You can see
she’sEnglish—look at her clothes!”
And if Princess Margaret, then
seventeen,could appear in public with
an extraband of fabric sewn onto her
coat hemto achieve the new length, so
couldothers. By 1948, London
departmentstores were selling
garments based onDior’s designs for
six British poundswith fifteen
coupons. In no time,everything had a
New Look label,including furniture,
housing, and evena kind of
daffodil.American women were
alsohostile at first to the new Hattie Carnegie gives another

length,although it has been suggested Americanversion of the style in 1948.

thatthis was because it hid their Following theestablished silhouette, it is the

legs.American designer choice ofcolors and detail decoration that

gives thisdesign its individual stamp.

Adrian lockedhorns on American radio with Mrs.Chase from Vogue over the New
Look.Mrs. Chase and Carmel Snow of Harper’s Bazaar were passionateadvocates of
Dior, while Adrian bitterlycriticized the American fashion magazines for suddenly
transferring their loyaltyback to Paris and welcoming the reintroduction of heavy
corsetry.But he lost the argument, and the United States lost its battle to be thecenter
of the fashion world. Paris, led by Dior, had won. Rumor had it that thelonger length
had simply been a means of increasing sales for Dior’s financialbacker, textile
industrialist Marcel Boussac. Whatever the truth was, six years afterits establishment,
the fashion house of Dior had expanded into six companies,sixteen associated
enterprises, twenty-eight workrooms, and over 1,000employees. The New Look was to
influence the world of haute couture for tenyears.

Paul Parnes provides an Americaninterpretation of

the New Look in fall 1947.For autumn warmth, full-
length dresseswere combined with suit jackets in
Parnes’scollections.

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192
1950
1950’S NEWS
January 1, 1950, was like any other New
Year’s Day. There was no change of
direction on the political, economic, or
fashion scenes to mark the start of the new
decade. The election of World War II hero
Dwight D. Eisenhower as president in 1952
was a milestone in a decade when many were
looking back to the alliances and
achievements of World War II as something
solid to hold on to in a world newly split by
East–West tension and the terrifying
possibility of nuclear war. This conservative
mood dominated the early years of the
decade, both in the United States and in
Europe, where conditions were quite
different. America had emerged from the war
years with increased prosperity. Wartime
restrictions had been quickly removed, and
the new “consumer society” was forging
ahead, helped by such new developments as
the start of the credit card system in 1950.
But many European countries, Britain
included, were still rebuilding their shattered
economies, and there rationing continued
well into the next decade. These quite
different conditions, however, produced the
same effect on fashion—a veering away from
the radical and extreme and a tendency to
prefer the safe and

normal. With the memory of the war still so fresh in many people’s
minds, “normal” felt good. But the world was changing. The
Bathing beauties relax in swimsuits designed by Klein of
People’s Republic had been established in China in 1949. India was
enjoying the independence gained from Britain at the end of 1947. Montreal: after the revealing early bikinis, these suits look

In Egypt, the year 1952 symbolized a new beginning with the quite conservative.

departure of King Farouk, while the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953

193
 The “exciting new colors” for the kitchen of the fifties were
pastels—feminine shades, usually associated with bedroom or
bathroom interiors.

A Forest of Aerials
Suddenly, television antennas were appearing
on thousands of roofs. By 1954, one person in
every seven in the United States had a TV set.

It wasn’t unusual for family members and friends to gather in the Soon everyone was humming the commercial

house of whoever had a TV in order to watch a program of major “jingles.” Viewers on both sides of the

interest. Atlantic could watch the antics of Lucille Ball

and Desi Arnaz in the I Love Lucy show,
along with the neat packaging of singer Patti
Page and the thrills of Dragnet.

194
 The McCarthy Hearings
Fears that Communists were attempting
to undermine the American way of life
were widespread in the early fifties, in
what became known as the “Reds under
the bed” scare. US senator Joseph
McCarthy declared—but never
substantiated his claims—that over 260
members of the State Department were
Senator Joseph McCarthy points out the distribution of 250,000 Communist
Communist sympathizers or party
“fellow travelers” across the United States
members. A “witch hunt” and smear
campaign began, with McCarthy
heading the Senate Investigations
marked the end of an era for citizens of the Soviet Union. World War II had
Subcommittee of 1953. The televised
brought the end of the European colonial empires, and third world countries
hearings lasted for over a month, but
were striving toward economic development and political unity. Although the
even after they had been wound up, the
war was over, the American government and military—and the general public—
allegations continued, ruining the lives
were becoming increasingly apprehensive about the extent of Communist
and careers of hundreds of people.
influence in Asia and at home. Communism had to be contained, whether in the
Between 3 and 5 million immigrants
rice paddies of Korea or in the film studios of Hollywood. As a last resort, the
were said to be “subversive”; over 100
thinking went, the nuclear bomb would deter the enemy, and the decade saw a
Hollywood film studio personnel were
number of political crises when everyone thought the bomb just might be used.
denounced, and 600 Protestant clergy
Slowly, the realization of what this might mean began to spread: questioning of
were accused of being secret party
government and military policies began to gain ground, along with a cynicism
members. In 1957, more than 700
among the young that would be the hallmark of the 1960s.
organizations and publications were
branded as Communist agencies.

195

Barbara Goalen, one of the most photographed
models of the forties and fifties, is wearing a
1953 “Petunia” evening dress by Mattli. The
extended shoulder detail emphasizes the
pinched waist and echoes the wide, ballerina-
length skirt.
The Appliance of Science
The idea that science could control or even improve on nature seized the public’s
imagination. Chrome car fins that resemble rocket jets and the many designs
based on chemical or atomic structures that appeared on household products and
furnishings all show the fascination with science. Whether in the field of nuclear
energy, the newly emerging computers, or the development of man-made
substances such as nylon and plastic, science promised the answer to every
problem. All the individual had to do was sit back and enjoy the fruits of hard
work in the community and a contented family life. That was the theory, but life
wasn’t quite like that for everyone. Many saw migration as the route to a better
life. Puerto Ricans left for America’s mainland cities, while migration from the
Caribbean to Britain and France and from India and Pakistan to Britain also
increased, introducing a substantial black population into these countries for the
first time. Despite the bravery shown by members of nonwhite communities in
World War II and later in Korea, racial discrimination was widespread.
Government responses to racial tensions were often hesitant and overcautious,
and increasingly communities began to take matters into their own

Little Rock and

Discrimination
Segregation in the American military and
government services was officially ended in
1953, and one year later, the Supreme Court
ordered schools to integrate pupils,
whatever their race, “with all deliberate
speed.” Many southern states resisted this
ruling for as long as possible, and in 1957,
the governor of Arkansas used National
Guard troops to ensure that no black
students entered Central High School in
Little Rock. His action resulted in federal
troops being sent in to open the school to all
students. By then, Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., and others had initiated a number of
boycotts against segregated buses, trains,
parks, beaches, lunch counters, and diners

Elizabeth Eckford tries to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas,
in April 1957.

196
Fifties style often meant a display of super-luxury, whether it was in the use of lots of shiny chrome on an automobile or a Hattie
Carnegie designer gown of satin and lace.

197
 hands. The civil rights movement in the United States is just one example. And while black
cultures had as yet made little impact on mainstream fashion, seeds were being sown that
would bear fruit in the coming decades.

The Young Ones

The “dance at the gym” scene from the
Pop songs with titles like “White Sports Coat” and “Blue Suede Shoes” indicate the interest
hit musical West Side Story reflects the
the young had in clothes, but for the most part, young people—in the fifties, this meant
kind of Saturday night entertainment
seventeen-to-twenty-five-year-olds—were expected to dress like their elders. Few retail
enjoyed by most young people all over
outlets paid attention to them, although Newsweek in 1957 estimated that in the United
America. Suits for the boys and full skirts
States, young people probably had $9 billion of disposable income to spend. Women’s
and high heels for the girls were the order
magazines did tentatively raise the subject of young fashion but agreed that the difference in
of the day.
dress should be a matter of accent—“less sophisticated”—rather than actual styling.

198
So for girls, it was full skirts and stiff petticoats or, perhaps, a pencil-slim skirt and sweater. Tight-
fitting pedal pushers or calf-length capri/pirate pants were popular leisure wear. Jeans (then called
dungarees) became acceptable when Marilyn Monroe was photographed in them, and a particular fad
of American girls was wearing a man’s shirt outside their jeans. In high school, a twin sweater set or
round, “Peter Pan” collar blouse were favored looks.
For formal events like weddings or school proms, young women still wore elaborate formal wear
similar to that of their elders, but for the informal school dances, which formed many people’s
entertainment in the fifties, girls had more choice. Many favored very full skirts, some with deep, four-
inch hems and often made of wool felt fabric, appliquéd with bright motifs, such as the ever popular

Embroidered
skirts were very
popular. This full
circle skirt in
cotton broadcloth,
with motifs evoking
Venice and Paris,
is paired with a
simple three-
quarterlength-
sleeve top.

199
The Space Race
In the 1950s, it seemed that science had
the answers to all problems. Nuclear
power appeared to be a cheap, efficient,
and clean source of energy, while the
very threat of a thermonuclear bomb
would persuade hostile nations to meet
for peace talks. The discovery of the
structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic
acid), the molecule that carries the
body’s genes, paved the way for
important medical research. However,
the one scientific development that took
hold of everyone’s imagination was the
launching of the first space satellite. The
successful Soviet firing of Sputnik I in
October 1957, quickly followed by
Sputnik II with Laika, a husky dog,
aboard, shattered the confidence of
western nations, which had assumed
they were ahead in science and
technology. The space race was on. The
first, much publicized attempt by the
United States to put a satellite into orbit
in December failed, but by February
1958, the American Explorer I was
orbiting the earth.

Debbie Reynolds was the embodiment of

girl-next-door ordinariness, conjuring up
images of white picket fences and soda
fountains. This comforting image was
important to America—and to the rest of
the movie-watching world—in the postwar
period.

200
 Rock-and-roll star Little
Richard displays a little
subversive dressing: well
turned out in a linen suit, he
has a striped shirt, no tie,
and a T-shirt on display

“poodle on a leash.” A tight-fitting blouse tucked neatly into the skirt was usually anchored
with a very wide, waist-cinching belt and flat-heeled shoes. Young women took the floor to
the Latin rhythms of the cha-cha, mambo, meringue or, increasingly, the new—and
scandalous!—rock and roll. For young men, it was shirt, tie, and carefully pressed trousers,

Elvis Presley
unless you were rebelling against your family and society in general, that is. Then you
rejected this conventional dress in favor of clothing that was darker, rougher in texture, and The phrase “rock and roll” was first
more crumpled in appearance or clearly exaggerated in styling. And people noticed. heard in 1934, but in 1951, it was used to
describe a brand-new type of American
popular music that fused elements of
A Man’s World gospel, rhythm and blues, country, and
boogie. Five years later, Elvis Presley
As far as the family was concerned, the media message was that the male was the
was its undisputed king, both in
breadwinner, returning home to relax and perhaps do a few household repairs. He had
America and abroad, with such hits as
unquestioningly obeyed orders in the war; now he obeyed the commands of big business.
“Blue Suede Shoes” and “All Shook
He dressed in a dark, quiet, understated manner for the workplace, but relaxed in slightly
Up.” His stage performances seem
looser, more colorful clothing during leisure hours. As the decade progressed, jackets got
rather tame by today’s standards, but
longer, with the shoulders less padded, and the trousers narrower in the leg, although they
for many in the 1950s, they were
were just as perfectly pressed. The introduction of new man-made fabrics brought a
outrageous, oozing with steamy
reduced weight of cloth and some experimentation in color and texture in the weave but no
masculine sexuality—so much so that
radical change in styling. However, a revolution was taking place in the supply of clothing.
when Elvis appeared on the popular Ed
Wartime garment production had resulted in increased efficiency, lower costs, and
Sullivan TV show his hip gyrations were
standardization of quality and sizes. Already, mass-produced men’s shirts were available
concealed from viewers.
from chain stores. No wonder bespoke, or custom-made, garments

201
The really wild one: Marlon Brando in T-shirt, jeans, and leather motorcycle jacket. The 1953 film, The Wild One, which represented
society under threat from an alienated sector of its young people (see page 56), made antiheroes out of bikers and gave a huge boost to
Brando’s equally rebellious offscreen image. The T-shirt and the jacket—based on wartime flying jackets—indicate how the military
clothing of the forties had been adapted into social wear for the next decade.

202
 Two years after she had square-danced her
way into the hearts of many North
Americans, wearing a fashionably circular
felt skirt, Princess Elizabeth was crowned
queen of England on June 2, 1953. Like the
first Queen Elizabeth, she came to the
throne at an early age. Having given useful
war service as an ambulance driver, she was
now leaving behind her personal life to lead
Britain from postwar austerity into what
was billed as a “new Elizabethan age” of
rebuilding, technological advance, and
prosperity

The Korean War

(1950–53)
At the end of World War II, the East
Asian country of Korea was divided
along the 38th parallel into North and
South Korea and occupied by Soviet
and American forces respectively until
1948. Two years later, North Korean
troops crossed the border to invade the
south, capturing Seoul in three days.
President Harry S. Truman
immediately sent in American soldiers
and called on the Allies for military
were speedily giving way to ready-to-wear clothes. As retail menswear outlets showed assistance. After bitter fighting and
steadily climbing profits, British and French fashion designers sat up and took notice. great loss of life on all sides, the 38th
There were other changes. Vests were becoming unfashionable, while men’s cardigans, as parallel border was reestablished.
worn by film star Rex Harrison, were slowly becoming acceptable at work. Hats, too, However, this was not the end of
were losing popularity on both sides of the Atlantic, although they were featured American military action in the Far
frequently in advertisements and films. For the older generation, who still wore them, East. By the end of the decade, the US
there were around seventeen different styles, one for every occasion. When it came to government had become involved in
hairstyles, most men favored the suppressing Communist guerrilla
activities in South Vietnam.

203
Rex Harrison’s image as Professor Higgins in the smash-hit musical My Fair Lady matched his off-screen
persona in the same way as Brando’s, although this time the image was that of an English gentleman enjoying a
relaxed country weekend. The cardigan was fast gaining ground as casual wear, along with sweaters and other
knitwear.

204
safe and rather military “short back and sides” with a side parting, slicked back
Jacques Fath’s stark colors and simple, structured
with hair cream, although some young men were risking crew cuts, or cultivating
shapes proved more popular in the United States than
a pompadour. At the beginning of the decade, daytime leisure wear retained a
in his native France, but wherever it was worn, this
rather military look, with a fitted sports jacket or navy double-breasted blazer
outfit was definitely intended for the individualist.
with an ornate badge on the left breast pocket, worn with gray flannels or cavalry
There is a hint of the ultra-sophisticated beatnik about
twill trousers. Increasingly, though, leisure wear began to mean a more colorful,
it
open-necked sports shirt in drip-dry poplin, a comfortable sweater, and slip-on
shoes

205
 Nylons were back in
circulation after the
shortages of the forties.
But the wonder fiber
wasn’t just for lingerie and
stockings. As this
advertisement indicates, it
was now being used
extensively in men’s
underwear, socks, and
sportswear.

From the Cool to Hard Bop the New Orleans tradition of Louis Blakey’s Jazz Messengers were emphasizing—

Pop music of the fifties had few intellectual Armstrong through the gospel singing of thanks to Blakey’s own explosive drumming—

pretensions. If you were young and hip, your Mahalia Jackson to the sophisticated rock the beat of the bebop style and coming up with

music had to be jazz—but what kind of jazz? and roll of Chuck Berry. Elsewhere, Miles the more soulful and even danceable “hard bop”

Jazz on a Summer’s Day, the film of the 1957 Davis was building on the reputation he sound. And in the very last year of the decade,

Newport Jazz Festival, displays the quality and had established in the late forties with a sax man Ornette Coleman released the first of a

variety of the fifties jazz scene, from the vocal series of stunning small and large ensemble series of revolutionary, atonal “free jazz”

art of Anita O’Day and Dinah Washington to recordings made with the likes of Gil recordings that were to reverberate right through

the avantgarde style of Chico Hamilton and Evans, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the next decade.

from Cannonball Adderley. Art

206
 Entertaining “the modern way.” Everything about this interior, including the decor and the postures of the guests, hints at a lifestyle
still described by many as “bohemian.” Figure-hugging pants and shirt blouses were the order of the evening, and note that the outfit
is completed by enormous earrings and matching finger- and toenails painted in a shade very far from the usual coral pink.

Fibres and Fabrics

The impact of the new artificial fabrics and fibers was felt mostly in underwear and leisure wear, although as early as 1952, haute
couture designers like Christian Dior, Jacques Fath, Pierre Balmain, and the House of Lanvin had been featuring them in their
designs. It was the practical qualities such fabrics offered —lightness combined with warmth, minimum shrinkage, quick drying, and
waterproofing—that were exploited to the fullest extent in sportswear. The impact on underwear was in reduced weight, increased
wearability, and easier laundering rather than in styling, which was, after all, governed by the shape of the outer garments. But man-
made fibers had one other important impact, and that was on the color of clothing. When fabrics could be washed and dried almost
overnight without fear of shrinkage, there was no reason why light and pastel shades couldn’t be worn by everybody.

207
Society, however, was promoting dream homes and dream families. Mother—pretty in pink—and father are dressed for a big night
out as soon as baby daughter is properly tucked into bed.

208
Woman, Wife, and Mother
According to the media, a woman’s place was
firmly in the home, and particularly in the
kitchen. Women’s magazines proclaimed that
“femininity begins at home.” The best career
was marriage and raising a family: to remain
unmarried meant one was “emotionally
incompetent.” For the many women who, in
wartime, had enjoyed working outside the
home and being in control of their own
money, it was not an easy adjustment. By the
end of the decade, social commentators had
noted the increased use of sedatives and
antidepressants and were talking about
“trapped housewife syndrome.” Throughout
the fifties, women’s fashion, broadly based on
Christian Dior’s “New Look” of the late
1940s, promoted an idealized image of the
happy housewife. The media continually used
adjectives like “soft,” “charming,” and
“feminine” to describe clothing, yet most
fashion photographic images show tall,
slender, heavily corseted models holding
themselves in highly artificial, ballet-like
poses, with little or no sign

Scientists working on satellites for the

exploration of space also had their minds on
more immediate domestic problems. Orlon was
The Cold War and Khrushchev just one of the many new fabrics designed for
The Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1948 and the blockade of the Western
women whose lifestyle was speeding up by the
Allies’ sections of Berlin did nothing to improve relations between Moscow and
day and who no longer had domestic help. “Plop
Washington. Even when control of Soviet affairs passed to Nikita Khrushchev on
it in the basin, pretty pleats and all,” says the
Stalin’s death in 1953, tensions did not lessen. On the international stage, Khrushchev
small print. “You can when it’s wonderful,
alternated between being the good guy and the bad guy. Although he tried, during his
washable . . . winter-perfect jersey of Orlon
ten years of power, to improve the living standard of the average Soviet citizen, massive
resources went to build up Soviet military power. Diplomatic crises continued
throughout the decade, prompted by the sending of Soviet tanks into Hungary to
suppress the national rising in November 1956, and by the attack by Britain and France
on Egypt following its nationalization of the Suez Canal.

209
The Suez Crisis
In the summer of 1956, worried by
Egypt’s increasingly close ties with the
Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the
United States and Britain withdrew
their offer of financial help for the
building of the Aswan Dam in Upper
Egypt. Because this project promised
to transform the country’s economic
future, President Gamal Abdel Nasser
reacted by immediately nationalizing
the Suez Canal, explaining that canal
dues would now go to finance the dam.
The British and French governments—
the major shareholders of the Suez
Canal Company —began military
attacks on Egypt that were widely and
internationally condemned. The
United Nations, backed by the United
States and the USSR, insisted on a
cease-fire, and a peacekeeping force
was sent in. Both British and French
diplomatic reputations suffered, while
Egypt and many other Arab countries
looked increasingly to the East Bloc
for support.

overleaf: An overview of fifties fashion,

as designers parade with their models
against a typically opulent background.
These are the “big twelve” members—
significantly, all men—of the
Incorporated Society of London Fashion
Designers, including Hardy Amies,
Mattli, John Cavanagh, and Victor
Stiebel. The influence of Paris, and Dior
in particular, can be clearly seen in this
collection of evening gowns and day
wear.
Bronwen Pugh, one of the famous fashion faces of the fifties. Her looks are typical of the cool,
elegant, even haughty-looking models favored by photographers and designers at the time.
Ironically, it was a style that made women look much older than their years and often
indistinguishable from their mothers.
of emotion. No softness there! Few photographs showed the models in a work situation, outside,
or in the home.
In fifties fashion illustrations for women, the relationship between waist and hips and between
neck and shoulders becomes clear. A figure eight is repeated from head to toe, whether in
garments from the fashion houses or from the discount stores—until 1957, when the loose-fitting
styles of Hubert de

210
211
212
 For some, the New Look continued. In
this outfit by Jacques Heim from 1956,
this meant a three-quarter-length clutch
coat, pearls, and a full skirt with narrow
waist.
Givenchy, Cristobal Balenciaga, and
Yves Saint Laurent for Dior heralded
the new look of the 1960s. For most
people, though, all this was far
removed from reality. The styles
offered by the silver screen were not
only more attractive, but, for once,
perhaps more attainable. It was easier
to identify with stars like Doris Day and
Debbie Reynolds than with fashion
models Bettina or Dorian Leigh.
Even the sex symbols of the
fifties were often photographed
dressed like ordinary women,
with Brigitte Bardot in gingham
Marilyn Monroe
She was the sex goddess of the decade.
Signed up by 20th Century Fox in 1946, it
was some eight years before Marilyn
Monroe (formerly Norma Jean Baker) hit
the big time with the film Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes (released in 1954), in which
she worked alongside forties sex symbol
Jane Russell. Although known for her
figure, pouting mouth, and wiggle— said
to have been deliberately engineered by
having high heels of different heights—
Marilyn also had considerable acting
talent, as shown in Bus Stop (1956). Her
marriage in 1958 to playwright Arthur
Screen sex goddess Marilyn Monroe and
Miller baffled the press, who could not
playwright Arthur Miller: the marriage the
imagine a love match between these two
media simply couldn’t believe. Here
—brains and beauty being surely
Miller’s conservative and formal male
incompatible
evening dress is a backdrop for Monroe’s

and Marilyn Monroe in jeans. glamour.

High Fashion
Fashion itself was moving slowly from select
boutiques and the fashion runways of Paris,
New York, Rome, and London into the better
shops and the multiple chain stores. The format of
display “islands,” as found in selfservice supermarkets,
with their message of low prices and high quality, was
increasingly adopted in clothes stores. The days of
custom-made, or bespoke, tailoring were drawing to a close
. The mass-production processes introduced in wartime to fill
bulk clothing orders now went into action to supply the new
domestic demand. Cutters could now handle an amazing 200
layers of cloth at one time. Faced with the growing threat of r
eady-to-wear garment manufacturers offering standard sizes and allaround better
quality, the fashion designers realized that
future success—indeed survival—in a changed post-war
society now lay outside their traditional clientele. However,
they wanted both types of customer. So, while quietly
establishing commercial links with the massmarket garment
suppliers and outlets in America and Britain, the Paris
fashion houses decided to court

213
 publicity. They began to promote the idea of “planned obsolescence,” meaning that last
season’s wardrobe had to be discarded in favor of the new season’s collection. This
message was repeated twice a year at the spring and autumn shows, increasingly
theatrical performances that attracted huge media attention. To further whet the public’s
appetite as well as to prevent their designs being copied immediately by mass
manufacturers, fashion houses went to extreme lengths, banning cameras and
sketchbooks from the shows. The feverish attempts of journalists to beat the system often
attracted more attention than the actual collections.
Haute couture design became further and further removed from the real world, with the
models presented as untouchable goddesses. But for the moment, the clothing industry
still paid attention to the major fashion shows, taking one or two features from the
collections and incorporating them into their garments. Soon, however, the pace of
fashion would be set on the streets.

Paris continued to dictate, but by 1955, the great Dior was moving into the longer look and
a softened, sloping shoulder line.

Castro and Cuba

Fidel Castro, the lawyer son of a Cuban
sugar planter, first attempted to
overthrow the corrupt government of
Cuba in 1953, but failed. After his release
from prison, he fled to the United States
and Mexico, returning secretly to Cuba in
1956 with about eighty supporters,
including his brother Raul and Che
Guevara. Moving from guerrilla tactics to
a public rejection of President Fulgencio
Batista’s regime and all that it stood for,
over a two-year period, Castro became a
popular leader, giving voice to
widespread discontent. The disturbances
that followed his call for a general strike
in April 1958 finally forced President
Batista to flee in January 1959. Castro
became prime minister a month later.

214
LIVING DOLLS
Housewife Life
From the end of World War II, there was a concerted move to persuade women to
leave their wartime jobs and return to looking after the home. As leading American
media adviser Ernst Dichter said: “We helped the housewife rediscover that
homemaking is more creative than to compete with men.”
Yet the usual media image of the housewife showed her not as a mother in
comfortable pants and sweater but as a doll-like figure dressed in rustling, full
The ideal fifties woman was a homemaker,
bringing up her daughter in her own image to
yearn for domesticity. This is neatly underscored
by the matching aprons, with their heart-shaped
decoration.

The I Love Lucy show, featuring real-life

couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz,
entertained viewers throughout the fifties
with the antics of a couple seen
affectionately as Mr. and Mrs. Middle
America. Every week, ditzy stay-at-home
housewife Lucy plunged her household into
chaos, to the frustration of her
businessman husband, but usually
managed to work things out in the end.
Ironically, off screen, Lucille Ball was one
of the most astute businesswomen in TV.

215
 skirts, nipped waist, and narrow-fitting bodice. Even her
apron had deep frills and a heart-shaped top and pockets. The
message was that a woman’s catching and keeping her man
depended not on her personality and mind but on her young,
slim, hourglass appearance, her long legs precariously perched
on high stiletto heels.

Working Women
If the housewife’s role model was the Debbie Reynolds–style
girl next door, the role model for the working woman was the
character usually portrayed by Grace Kelly. Going into town
called for a trim, closely fitting suit like the uniform of an
airline stewardess, worn with high-heeled shoes. But there was
little in this outfit of the power dressing of the eighties and
nineties. Everything hinted at fragility, from the sloping
shoulder line and the tailoring,

Two or more “cancan” petticoats of nylon

net, often with frills in pastel colors, were
worn under full skirts. These were stiffened
by dipping in sugar solution and then drip
drying.

The late forties New Look of Christian Dior

still dominated fashion throughout the fifties.
Button-through shirtwaists and skirt and
blouse combinations, both with full skirts and
slim-fitting bodices, were everywhere. High-
heeled pumps were necessary to balance the
effect but did not always prove the most
comfortable casual wear.

216
which accented the curve of the bust, rib cage, hip, and pelvis, right down to the
heels, which emphasized the ankle and calf. A little hat with face veil and
feathers, gloves, and small handbag completed the picture.
Social life still retained some formality. For the more mature woman, theater
going and even home entertaining called for cocktail wear (ballerina length) and
evening wear (floor length). For young and old alike, this meant the romanticized
image of the swan-necked, soft-shouldered female in rustling taffeta, shimmering
silks (real or artificial), or layers of pastel nylon net decorated with lace, ribbons,
and sequins

Colorful prints on a white background were

summer favorites, as well as pastel floral motifs.
Like the high-heeled shoes, however, the tight-
fitting bodices and narrow waists made few
concessions to hot weather.

Gingham, with its overtones of prairie style and

girl-next-door simplicity, was a great fifties
favorite on both sides of the Atlantic. This
outfit, designed by Malcolm Brown, features the
pedal pusher pants and the midriff-baring top
introduced by Claire McCardell. The tops often
featured a sash to be tied or buckled under the
bust.

217
 New Styles in New Fabrics
The new man-made fabrics brought exciting developments in sportswear, where fashion
and function were equally important. American and Italian designers showed the way,
producing lightweight but warm and easily cleaned sailing and ski jackets, based on
wartime flying jackets, with nylon used for both padding and the main fabric. Zippers
eliminated drafty openings. Two-way stretch fabrics were ideal for ski pants and motor
scooter slacks, with instep straps to produce a smooth, tapered leg line and side zippers—
front zippers were thought to be too provocative.
Swimwear also exploited man-made fibers. Elasticized two-way stretch fabrics were used in
figure-controlling one-piece suits with preformed or padded cups to guarantee the best
shaping. These suits, either strapless or with halter tops and frequently modeled on those
worn by swimming star Esther Williams, were worn with extravagant bathing caps. The
more daring two-piece bikini, launched by Parisian designer Louis Reard in 1946 after the
atomic bomb test on Bikini Atoll, was gradually catching on. In America, there was
another choice: the revolutionary softly draped stretch jersey suits of Claire McCardell,
who continued to design simple but stylish easy-to-wear coordinates.
Color was everywhere, from the ski slope to the beach, with Italian designer Emilio Pucci
in the forefront of European leisure wear. His loose-fitting, printed silk “scarf” blouses
quickly became popular for holiday wear, while American women relaxed in tropical-
patterned Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts.
Like ice-skating champion Sonja Henie in
the thirties, swimming star Esther
Williams made a screen career out of her
sporting abilities. She had a huge effect in
popularizing the swimwear worn in her
movies, although it was often
extravagantly unsuited to practical wear.

The elegant styling of this black-and-white

striped shirtwaist and the neat clutch bag
mark the dress as town wear or even work
wear for the still rare professional woman.

218
 THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT
Corporation Man
Fifties man was much in demand at work, helping rebuild the economy, and also on the social scene. Hollywood’s men in gray
War had proved his bravery, endurance, and ability to obey orders. It was his turn to be waited on, after flannel suits: Cary Grant
a day’s work, by his wife, the homemaker. He didn’t have to be fashionable—that was her job—but as and James Mason star
the dependable breadwinner, his style of dress projected the image of a clean-cut, white-collar company with ice maiden Eva Marie
man: sober, mature, and anonymous. This was the “man in the gray flannel suit,” the subject and title of Saint in Alfred
a 1955 novel by Sloan Wilson. Such men could be seen by the thousands going to work every weekday Hitchcock’s 1959 thriller
morning, all dressed in their uniform of suit (usually singlebreasted), white shirt, silk tie, and briefcase. North by Northwest.
Several fifties films played on the idea of the man in the gray flannel suit besides the one based on
Wilson’s novel, which starred Gregory Peck. In Alfred
Hitchcock’s
North by
Northwest, Cary
Grant stars as a
Madison Avenue
advertising man
accidentally
caught up in
Cold War
espionage
through
mistaken
identity.
“Have you met
our distinguished
guest?” asks the
chief villain, on
capturing the
hero. “He’s
certainly a
well tailored one,”
replies an
accomplice. After
a hair-raising
adventure with a
crop duster
armed with a
machine gun,
Grant gets his
suit dry-cleaned before confronting the villains and finally escaping death on the face of Mount
Rushmore. He overcomes it all without changing his executive suit.

219
 Ivy Leaguers
The gray flannel suit had also long been a favorite among the Ivy Leaguers, the
Casual suits were now acceptable dress not only for
college men of the long-established East Coast universities. The 1950s version
work but for many social occasions, providing the
was usually charcoal gray with a two- or three-button (widely spaced),
trousers had knife creases, the jacket fell well, and
singlebreasted jacket, long and unwaisted, with narrow shoulders and one or no
the shirt cuffs were just visible under the sleeve
back vent. It was said to conceal the bulkier form of the American man. The
cuffs. Man-made fibers meant that the weight of the
English jacket was shorter and more fitted, usually with two back vents. By the
suits could be reduced by almost half. By the
mid fifties, the softer “Continental” shape favored on the west coast of America
summer of 1957, jackets were longer and the line
and in Europe emphasized a slimmer, longer line, from lapel and shoulder widths
emphasized by softer shoulder padding and slim-cut
down to the more tapered trouser leg, now without the cuff. The introduction of
lapels.
man-made fibers into men’s suits marked American experiments in textures and
color.

220
In 1951–52 there was a fashion for slubs—materials with “random”
scattering of bright specks—and by 1955–56, synthetic silk-like suiting
was popular, especially for the hotter months. Synthetic shirt fabrics
meant shirts could be washed and drip-dried overnight. The shape of the
collar was softening from long points, stiffened by celluloid tabs, to a
shallow, rounded shape, with a screw pin or fabric tab placed behind the
tie knot or buttoned down to the shirt front.
Another feature of Ivy League dress was the penny loafer. This was a
comfortable slip-on, laceless shoe, with a strip or “apron” across the front
and tongue. The name “penny loafer” came from the idea of sticking a
shiny cent behind the decorated cutout shape of the apron.

American males led the way in

enjoying the freedom of leisure
wear, both in the loose fit and the
vivid prints of sports shirts like this
Hawaiian version popularized by
Montgomery Clift.

Pierre Cardin was one of the first

French designers to create a fashion
range for men. These three high-
button styles were shown in
February 1950: Montparnasse à la
Flannel town suit with a Nehru
collar (left); Saint Tropez summer
suit of striped cotton, complete with
a furled umbrella (center); and
Toile, a town suit (right).

221
222
AN ARTIFICIAL FREEDOM
Laundry Trouble
The media continually exhorted women to “wash whiter” as part of their wifely and
motherly duty. Commercial laundries and dry cleaners weren’t cheap, and anyway,
dry cleaning removed the water-resistant finishes from garments until new
processes were introduced in 1959. Laundromats were still few and far between, so
once a week the boiler, washboard, and heavy mangle would be dragged out or— American housewives could now manage the

for those lucky enough to own one—the lumbering top-loader washing machine home laundry in record time—and in top-to-toe

with integral mangle. Suddenly, artificial fabrics came to the rescue. Some of them elegance—thanks to the new top loader, but

had been around for several years, but only in the 1950s was there large-scale they still needed a man around to install it and

production, dramatically increasing supply fix the odd problem.

and lowering costs

Nylon Revolution
Nylon—a by-product of
petroleum pioneered by the
DuPont company in the 1930s—
was first used for women’s
stockings and lingerie, but
during the war, most output
went to supply the military
demand for parachutes, ropes,
and tires. When American
manufacturers were released
from wartime restrictions,
however, the demand for nylon
hosiery was so high that the
word nylons quickly replaced
stockings. The advantages of
nylon for underwear were
considerable. Advertising
promoted its qualities as
easily washable, shrink proof,
and quick drying, as well as
lightweight and long lasting.
“Goodbye to mending” was the
message. It could be produced
in all weights of fabric, from heavy fake
fun furs to the sheerest of lingerie. It
could feel as soft as silk, yet be stiff
enough to hold out the circular skirts of
a dance dress.

223
224
Although the polyester fiber Dacron became widely available after 1954, it hardly revolutionized menswear styling. However, belts
began to replace suspenders, and a closer fit without waist pleats became popular, even for leisure wear.

225

The new artificial fibers made
pastel shades and accordion pleats
one of the most popular choices in
the mid-fifties.
The 1956 movie Baby Doll spawned a fashion
for shortie night wear, made from nylon or
Tricel, based on that worn by the movie’s star
Carroll Baker, who portrayed a mixture of sex
kitten and teenage Lolita.
Rayon and Beyond
Rayon was another low-cost, manmade fiber with a
long history and a romantic, luxurious aura that was
suggested by the name it was often given—”artificial
silk” or “art silk.” Few women realized it was made
from wood pulp, with caustic soda for viscose and
with cotton fibers and acetic acid for acetate. By
1954, a by-product of petrochemicals, Terylene, or
Dacron as it was first known in the United States, hit
the headlines. A polyester fiber, it had first been
developed in Britain before the war but then taken
up by the American company DuPont. Like nylon, it
was easily washed, quick drying, and shrinkproof, as
salesmen in America demonstrated by diving into
swimming pools or standing under showers fully
clothed. Although crease resistant, it could take
permanent pleating, removing at a stroke the
tiresome chore of ironing. Lightweight but warm, a
man’s suit made of Dacron weighed only twelve
ounces rather than the usual twenty, a boon in
summer weather. Suddenly the somber colors were
gone, and shrinkage, moth damage (real problems in
the past for knitwear), and ironing were virtually
banished. All this should have given women more
leisure time, but in fact, surveys at the end of the
decade showed they were spending ten percent more
time on household chores than in prior decades.
226
HAUTE COUTURE HEYDAY
Fashion Dreams from Dior
It was clear at the beginning of the decade that the fashion houses of the United
States had failed to break the French designers’ hold on haute couture. It was the
runways of Paris that featured prominently twice a year in the glossy magazines
of the fifties. Yet it was American designers who responded more directly to the
needs of the contemporary woman. The biggest showman of all was Christian
Dior. He grabbed the headlines time and again, right up to his death in 1957.
Dior promoted dreams. When his “New Look” was first shown in 1947, he
remarked that “fashion comes from a dream, and the dream is an escape from
reality.” Dior also introduced the concept of planned obsolescence, maintaining
that “novelty is trade.” A new collection emerged from the House of Dior every
six months, and with each spring and autumn collection, new “lines” were
announced—the Oval Line, Princess Line, Sinuous Line, and Profile Line (1952);
H Line (1954); A Line (1955); and Trapeze Line (1958, the brainchild of Yves
Saint Laurent). Other fashion houses had little alternative but to follow.
However, many fashion commentators believe that Cristobal Balenciaga was the
designer who really broke new ground. Spanish born, he was one of the few haute
couturiers in Paris who knew how to cut: a master of technique as well as
creativity. The tortoiseshell-like jacket back, three-quarter-length sleeves, slit One of the more unusual shorter styles featured an

vertical side pockets in skirts or patch pockets that showed below the suit jacket above-the-knee flounce caught into a tight hem or

—all of these are said to be his innovations. Well before Dior’s 1954 H Line, sometimes a band. Perhaps not surprisingly, the style

Balenciaga was releasing women from the highly artificial hourglass shape and did not prove popular because it was so difficult to

adopting a more fluid functional line, while retaining the accepted “romantic” walk in, but that did not deter determined followers of

image for evening wear. This looser fashion.

style was then further developed by his close

associate, Givenchy, with his famous sack dress
of 1957, which was in turn taken up and
exploited to great effect by British designer
Mary Quant and others in the early sixties

The hot question of the moment: would

American women obey the fashion “tyrant”
in his decree that hemlines should rise?

227
 The tyrant himself—Christian Dior—surrounded by models wearing some of
his evening dress designs in April 1950.

Givenchy and Chanel

The Givenchy “sack” took New York by storm, with American Vogue declaring
in September 1957: “More than a fashion, it’s actually a way of dressing.” Anita
Loos, writing in British Vogue, maintained that the loose fit of the sack lent
mystery to the wearer. “I mean, no gentleman is ever going to puzzle his brain
over the form of a girl in a bikini bathing suit.”
Coco Chanel was the one Paris designer who designed wearable clothes for real
women rather than promoting a fantasy image. She reopened her fashion house
after a long postwar delay in February 1954, but the show got mixed reviews.
The Chanel look was unmistakable: the straight skirt (with or without box
pleats) and the single-breasted cardigan jacket (with or without lapels) with
braid or ribbon trims of contrasting color on the edges, hems, cuffs, and pockets,
The simple, loose style of the sack dress was a
paired with a pussycat-bow blouse. Chanel’s style was based on ease, comfort
direct challenge to the more common nipped-in
for the wearer, and practicality—as she maintained: “Fashion fades; only style
waist of the mid-fifties and looked forward to the
remains the same.”
shift dress of the 1960s. One of the sack’s
attractions, apart from the freedom of movement it
offered, was that it was easily dressed up or down
with jewelry and accessories.
American Innovation
American designers who had come into the limelight in the 1940s—Norman
Norell, James Galanos, and Adrian—still remained influential. Mainbocher, so
important during the war years, continued to accentuate the hips and waist:
fitted, waist-length jackets and pencil skirts starred in his 1953 collection. He
also initiated the craze for beaded evening sweaters and clearly enjoyed himself
designing costumes for movies such as Call Me Madam (1950) and Wonderful

228
Town (1953). However, it was the easy, relaxed look of Claire
A, S, and H lines: the three Paris
McCardell’s day and leisure designs in jersey, denim, and cottons that was
silhouettes for autumn 1954. Hats
to have the greatest and most long-lasting impact on American fashion,
are still very much de rigueur.
influencing both Bill Blass and Calvin Klein. Bonnie Cashin also
responded to the needs of the fifties woman by bringing fashion and style
into separates—a wartime invention to get around clothing scarcities—
and so firmly established the idea of mix-and-match coordinates for the
following decades

229
A Balenciaga coat from 1953, with threequarter-length
sleeves and slit side pockets. Loose, ample coats with
interesting collars, made from textured fabrics—often
mohair in the late fifties—provided a striking contrast to
the closefitting dress or suit worn underneath.

Fashions changed around it, but the Chanel suit,

with its trademark braid trim, remained an
unmistakable fashion classic throughout several
decades.

230
THE UNDERCOVER STORY
Corsets and Curves
The unstated message of the decade was that female curves
were all-important for catching and keeping a man. Young
women in the fifties had to show that they were potentially
good material for marriage and child bearing. Until the
last years of the decade, the hourglass line was smooth,
soft, and so close fitting that it looked like a second skin.
To achieve this, the body was squeezed and imprisoned in
stiffly boned corsets. Dior may have announced that he
was ending the encasing of women in iron, but his dresses
could literally stand up on their own, supported by their
internal boned structures. If France was seen as the home
of the fashion designer, America was seen as the source of
the perfect corset. Many shop assistants acquired
qualifications in corsetry since customers would frequently
ask for a personal fitting. News of a “revolutionary”
design in stock could result in the shop being besieged by
thousands of women. Cages that crammed the body into
the desired shape were given fanciful, frothy names like
“Romance,” “Merry Widow,” and “Pink Champagne.”
Although lighter, more flexible plastic and celluloid
“bones” eventually replaced the whalebone and steel
stiffeners and the introduction of zippers meant much
easier fastening, it must have been a relief to take off the
foundation garment each evening.

Engineered for Uplift

Brassieres, either short or long line, called “Lovable” and
“Sweet and Low,” were similarly wired, particularly for
wear with strapless and backless evening dresses. The cups
were padded and fully stitched to give enhanced shape and
cleavage, with advertising copy employing architectural
terms like “uplift” and “cantilevered comfort.” One widely
Exceptions to the heavily girdled and corseted look were the designs of
advertised brand promoted the notion that its brassieres
American Claire McCardell, famous for her casual jersey and denim
were such an integral part of dress that the customer might
garments. This 1950 beach outfit, doubling as swimsuit, displays the
actually forget to put on the final top garment.
casual elegance typical of her designs.

231
Halter-neck and strapless dresses with
tight-fitting bodices required long-line
strapless bras, which were wired and
padded.

232
Heels and Hose
The final element in the armor was the stiletto heel. If the pencil-slim, full skirts emphasized the fragile
hourglass figure, the stiletto drew attention to the ankle and calf and the movement of the hips in
walking. Jordan of Paris was the first to combine steel with wood for heels in 1951, but the Italian shoe
designer Ferragamo is usually credited with the invention of the steel support in a synthetic heel that
allowed a very small heel tip. The impact was tremendous

Designers were getting into the accessories

market in a big way. Cleverly promoting one
fashion accessory on the back of another, this
advertisement offers an Anne Fogarty scarf
designed to match Cutex’s “Pink TNT”
lipstick

Cosmetic pots still decorate the dressing table,

but pan sticks, developed from movie makeup,
were fast replacing loose powder and rouge

233
 not least on floors. Airline management and hoteliers met
hurriedly to discuss how they might protect floors from the
myriad indentations suddenly appearing.
By 1958, heels had gotten higher and the toe had become
sharply pointed—the design of Beth Levine two years earlier,
some say. Problems with posture and feet became common, and
commentators drew analogies with traditional Chinese foot
binding. However, many a young woman warded off
unwelcome attention by “accidentally” bringing her heel down
on an unsuspecting male foot!
By this time, nylon stockings were not only finer and much
cheaper but had a better shape. Perhaps it was this closer fit
that encouraged designers to raise hems from the lower calf in
1952 to an inch or so above the knee by 1958. With this shorter
length came the “bare-legged” look of seamless nylons.
The lifting of postwar restrictions resulted in an explosion of
interest in cosmetics, boosted by the entry into the market of
movie makeup artists. Cheeks were gently rouged and eyes
emphasized by liquid eyeliners, a little eye shadow, and masses
A typical fifties face meant peaches-andcream complexion, bright
of mascara. But it was the lips, women were told, that trapped a
pink lipstick, eyes emphasized by liquid eyeliner, and penciled
man, and most lipstick names implied cool seduction—into
eyebrows. The look was completed by a neat beret-style hat and
marriage, of course.
pearlized stud earrings: to have pierced ears was as yet
The face was framed by curls and gentle waves, carefully and
unfashionable.
painstakingly pinned up or pinched in clips before drying.
Straight hair was definitely unfashionable except when pulled
back into a chignon or French twist, but permanent waves,
applied either in the hair salon or at home, solved the problem
for those without natural curls.

This design in corsetry promises “excellent abdominal support”

from its “comfortable but firmly boned construction.” The aim:
Evening shoe, featuring metallic threads and stiletto heel, from
an hourglass figure to fit Dior’s wasp waist look.
footwear wizard Ferragamo.

234
 Singer and movie star Pat Boone
was for many the personification of
the clean-cut Ivy Leaguer: an all-
American boy next door with
button-down collar and plain blue
jacket.

Shirley Jones as the girl next door

in April Love (1958). Women’s
slacks had side fastenings, since
front zippers were considered rather
risqué.

HOLLYWOOD DREAMS
The Silver Screen
Fewer people went to the movies than in the immediate postwar years, preferring to
stay at home watching television or listening to the radio or record player, but for
many, the weekly visit to the local drive-in movie was still important. On the silver
screen, lavish productions and character stereotyping were the order of the day,
with little of the experimentation to be found in contemporary theater productions.
No one, argued Hollywood, wanted reality: the customer preferred pure escapism,
thrills, spills, happiness ever after—and a role model

Girl Next Door/Boy Next Door

The girl next door look was epitomized by Doris Day and Debbie Reynolds. The
all-American girl was squeaky clean, tidy, and bubbling with health. She wore a full
skirt, wide tight belt, and fitted blouse with a perky collar, white ankle socks, and
penny loafers or saddle shoes and had her hair in a ponytail. The boy next door
(also about twenty years old) was actually to be found on the college campus,
wearing over his shirt a long cardigan or sports jacket and belted slacks or chinos
(suspenders were definitely out). On his feet were easy-fitting penny loafers or white
buckskin laced shoes, as popularized by singer Pat Boone. A bookish look and
serious gaze, even horn-rimmed glasses, hinted at a certain vulnerability, which
appealed to female moviegoers of all ages.

235
Clint Eastwood began his movie career as cowhand Rowdy Yates in Rawhide, one of the many westerns that filled 1950s TV screens and
sent men running to the stores for plaid shirts and jeans

236
How the West Was Won
Throughout the 1950s, westerns were very popular. These tales of action
and romance, of ruggedly handsome good guys and sullen-faced bad
guys, offered welcome escape for the gray-suited businessman—and also
confirmed the homemaking role of fifties woman, since even the
independently minded film heroine would surrender thankfully into
protective masculine arms in the final scene. No wonder many American
men, in their leisure hours, shed their tailored jackets and trousers for
fringed suede jackets, plaid shirts, and jeans, worn with moccasins or
cowboy boots, like their movie heroes. As for women, the message was
clear in Calamity Jane, where Doris Day only got her man once she had
changed her cowboy clothing for gingham dresses. Calico, homespuns,
lace, and crochet work became popular in a style based on Dior’s New
Look— but that was itself rather mid-nineteenth century in concept

Cool and Sophisticated

This was the image every woman really yearned to achieve while elbow
deep in the Monday washing suds. It spoke of good breeding, a
comfortable income,

The mid-forties look of Thelma Ritter’s dress

and shoes contrast with Grace Kelly’s mid-
fifties elegance in a scene from Hitchcock’s
Rear Window (1954)

Doris Day projected her own brand of

wholesome, unthreatening sexiness on screen
and off. Here she wears the new stretch pants
based on ski wear.

237
 sophisticated friends, and a household of
servants. Stars like Margaret Lockwood,
Deborah Kerr, Kay Kendall, Grace Kelly,
and Kim Novak were walking, talking
versions of the haughty, elegant models
who graced the runways of the Parisian
fashion houses. Their screen roles, however,
made them seem more like “real” people.
Perhaps, just perhaps, given the money and
opportunity, one could be like them.…

The Homewrecker
The pinup girl of the forties was still a
potent image in the fifties. The embodiment
of this was Jane Russell, one of the original
forties “Sweater Girls,” famous for her
bosom and bee-stung lips. Her wardrobe
was a mixture of girl next door and haute
couture but more sexually inviting—a lower
neckline, perhaps, or a more close-fitting
dress. No ice-cool goddess this one: she was
the girl you definitely didn’t take home to
meet Mother. Equally famous were the
cleavage of Elizabeth Taylor, the legs of
Cyd Charisse, and the wiggle of Marilyn
Monroe. Continental films cultivated a
more aggressive, earthy image, and with it,
a younger focus. Thus, from the “female
tiger” role played by Silvana Mangano in
the Italian film Bitter Rice developed the
sex kitten, made famous by newly
Sultry temptress Jane Russell in classic sex
discovered French star Brigitte Bardot
goddess pose. Elegant sheath dresses like this
(And God Created Woman, 1956) and
one, shimmering with sequins, were the hallmark
America’s Carroll Baker (Baby Doll, 1956).
of American designer Norman Norell.
Baker’s scanty, short pajamas in that film,
along with Bardot’s gingham bikini and

Fifties Hollywood was at its most lavish in the gingham wedding dress, immediately
sparked off demands for similar styles in
musical High Society, starring Grace Kelly as the
shopping malls country-wide.
ice-maiden daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia
family. Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra rounded
out the starry cast.

238
CAFÉ SOCIETY
Crazy World
Not everyone in the fifties wanted to be associated with a gray flannel suit
or a living doll image. The new decade had promised so much—World
War II had been the “war to end all wars,” or so one was told. But
instead, as the decade progressed, the promises seemed to fade, with new
political and military conflicts breaking out around the globe and the
threat of nuclear weapons hanging over the world. Relations between the
West and the East Bloc were rapidly deteriorating, and in America,
Senator McCarthy’s witch hunts for so-called Communist sympathizers
spread across all intellectual and cultural activities. The horizons of many
young people were being widened through educational reforms, and on
both sides of the Atlantic, the problem of racial discrimination could no
longer be ignored.

Jazz was the music of the early fifties and the

favorite of students and intellectuals. Racial
discrimination may have been rife in society,
but there was no denying that the leading

“Where Go? What Do? What For?” exponents of jazz were predominantly African

The nonconformists of the 1950s were the beatniks, whose philosophy American. Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Thelonius

was summed up in these three questions, put by Beat poet and novelist Monk, Ray Charles, Milt Jackson, and

Jack Kerouac in 1958. Journalists first suggested in 1952, when the Ornette Coleman were just a few of the many

movement took off, that beat stood for “weariness” (“deadbeat”), but different interpreters of jazz style

Kerouac corrected them, maintaining that his was “basically a religious

generation” and “beat means beatitude, not beat up.”

239
The young Brigitte Bardot was one of the few European actresses to achieve cult status in the United States. Taken up by the beat
generation in their hunger for anything French, exotic, and sexy, she was already enjoying a high profile as a magazine celebrity and
pinup when she starred in husband Roger Vadim’s movie And God Created Woman in 1956. The movie, about an amoral teenager in a
respectable small town, suited Bardot’s teenage sexuality perfectly. “She is every man’s idea of the girl he’d like to meet in Paris,”
declared one film critic

240
 A still from the movie of Jack Kerouac’s
sensational novel The Subterraneans.
The movie was released in 1959.

The beat movement had similarities with the postwar existentialist movement,
when students and intellectuals would meet in Parisian bistros to talk and argue
over the latest writing of Albert Camus, JeanPaul Sartre, and Simone de
Beauvoir. From America’s West Coast, ideas spread to New York’s Greenwich
Village, while Allen Ginsberg’s protest poem Howl was heard as far afield as the
jazz clubs and coffee bars of London. Disquiet over established values was
reflected in dress. The message was not just anti-establishment but anti-fashion
. The clean-shaven look and neat hairstyle for men were out, as
was the immaculately pressed gray flannel suit. Turtle- or polo-neck sweaters,
preferably black, or a crumpled shirt and unpressed trousers, khaki pants, or
jeans were in. As for the young beatnik woman, she dressed just as casually, in a
black leotard, perhaps, or a long, heavy “sloppy Joe” sweater over a long black
skirt and black tights. Occasionally, she wore tight-fitting straight-leg corduroy
pants but always with flat-heeled ballet pumps. Black was definitely the color for
the beatniks.

The looser, longer “sloppy Joe” sweaters of the late

fifties were worn with tight pants, flat ballerina
One Cappuccino, Please? pumps, and strings of cheap glass or plastic poppet
The focal point of all the activity was the coffeehouse, the favorite beads.
meeting place for real and would-be beatniks in the early fifties. Here one
could listen to play or poetry readings and “cool” music, either on the
jukebox or from a live jazz band. But mainly one could just hang out,
lingering over a cup of cappuccino or espresso. However, the impact of
Italy was not confined to the import of Gaggia espresso machines and
Italian pop songs such as “Che sera, sera” and “Volare.” It was in leisure
wear that Europe, and Italy in particular, was rapidly gaining an
international name.

241

A publicity still from Roman Holiday (1953),
in which over-protected princess Audrey
Hepburn discovers freedom and romance in
Rome from the back of a scooter. One of the
hit films of the decade, it married the allure
of continental Europe with the latest casual
fashions—an irresistible combination for
Americans
From 1950 on, the Italian motor scooter manufacturers Lambretta and Vespa
aimed their sales promotion at the European youth market, stressing freedom of
the roads, friendship, and cheapness. As the scooter quickly became the “in”
mode of transportation throughout Western Europe, it not only emancipated
young Italian women, but also revolutionized their dress. Tight calflength capri
pants or pedal pushers or shorts were worn instead of full skirts, which could
get caught in the wheels. Striped knit tops with dolman sleeves lent a
continental air and gave freedom of movement, while a turtleneck sweater or
neckerchief kept the drafts out. Hair was styled in a short gamine cut or kept in
place with a headscarf, while slippers or flat ballet shoes were best for scooter
riding.
242
REBELS WITHOUT A CAUSE
Antiheroes?
There were those who wanted to sit and talk about the state of the world
and those who broke from established conventions by less intellectual
methods. On the political scene, America’s General Douglas MacArthur
and Senator Joe McCarthy had won many supporters when they argued
that action and retribution were better policies than diplomacy and
compromise. On both sides of the Atlantic, violence and sudden death
were featured in numerous films about World War II exploits, in detective
novels about the adventures of lone-wolf private investigators like Mickey
Spillane, and in TV police series like Dragnet. It seemed as if the best way
to beat trouble was to stand alone and meet it head-on.

The Wild One

It was a short-lived reign of terror by a motorcycle
club in a quiet California town sometime in 1947 or
1950 that grabbed the imagination of filmmaker
Stanley Kramer. His 1953 film The Wild One starred
Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin as two of a gang of
violent bikers threatening an insular community.
Their uniform and equipment spoke of the rejection
and the undermining of accepted values— their
powerful motorcycles were like those used by the
highway patrol, the short flight jackets similar to
those worn by World War II pilots and generals as
well as US law enforcement officers. Black leather
and blue jeans worn with T-shirts became identified
in the public’s mind with greasers, and eventually
with the Hell’s Angels

This man’s crumpled, unpressed

The Right not to Conform look is a compromise suggestive
Two more American films were to grab the attention of someone not quite ready to
of the young. On the Waterfront (1954, again trade in his tie and jacket for the
featuring Marlon Brando) showed one man in black turtleneck of a beatnik
rebellion against authority and its ruthless exercise of
power—in this case, gangland’s hold over the docks

243
James Dean and friends, in the new uniform of jeans, T-shirts, and leather
jackets, confront authority in a scene from Rebel Without a Cause, one of the
most controversial movies of 1955.

244
The Teddy Boy was a peculiarly
British phenomenon first seen in
London’s East End in 1952. Teddy
Boys had no political or moral
agenda: they just liked looking good,
but that didn’t come cheap—the suit
alone could cost three or four weeks’
pay. Thicksoled suede shoes, vivid
Day-Glo socks, and narrow
“drainpipe” trousers, sometimes with
four-inch cuffs, were worn with a
long, single-breasted, drape jacket
with a single back vent, sloping
padded shoulders, and velvet trim.
Underneath went a flashy satin
waistcoat over a white poplin shirt
and shoestring tie. A carefully
coiffed ducktail haircut and long
sideburns were the final touches.

Jerry Lee Lewis was another of the

unpredictable wild boys of the music
scene who bridged the gap between
country and rock ’n’ roll, often
leaping onto the piano and walking
along the keyboard to stomp out a
rhythm

245
 Elvis Presley, king of the fifties. Once
Bill Haley had let the rock ’n’ roll genie
out of the bottle, Elvis took the music to
heights no one could have imagined,
along with a stage routine that sent
temperatures soaring.

In Rebel Without a Cause (1955), James

Dean played a rootless, defiant teenager
unable to communicate with parents who
were themselves trapped in an unhappy
marriage. With his tousled hair swept up
and dressed in jeans, T-shirt, and jacket,
Dean swiftly became the other great youth
hero of fifties cinema, and his untimely
death, in a car accident in October 1955,
not surprisingly turned him into an
international cult figure. From now on,
denim jackets, jeans, and plaid shirts worn
without ties took on a whole new romantic
aura.

Rockabilly
A cheap B movie of 1954 caused a storm
both in the United States and

Britain. Blackboard Jungle’s account of juvenile misbehavior and

rowdiness was loathed by adults and loved by teenagers, who felt that
Bill Haley’s song “Rock Around the Clock” summed up their feelings:
life is short, so let’s enjoy it. As for the audience, the boys sat in the
usual adult tailored suit or leisure wear but with their hair in a slight
pompadour and (sometimes blacked-in) sideburns, while the girls were
in pencil-slim skirts and twin sweater sets or shirtwaisted dresses or full
skirts and narrow-fitting blouses. Their hair was either drawn back in a
ponytail or French twist or framed the face in waves and curls, while
their lips glowed with lipstick in such shades as “Hound Dog Orange”
and “Heartbreak Hotel Pink.”

246
247
1960
1960’S NEWS
Rock Stars
Rock stars in the 1960s gained animportance that
The 1960s were a great time to be young. Youth culture and youth went well beyond theaudience for their music.
fashions,which had begun to take shape in the fifties, blossomed as never before. Performers likeBob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Janis
Youngpeople in the West were benefiting from the postwar industrial boom and Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix were seen as speaking
hadbegun to refashion themselves accordingly. The existing fashion business onbehalf of the younger generation—bothby
wasn’talways able or willing to deal with this shift in demand, so the youth young people themselves and by themedia, who
marketwould largely belong to a new generation of designers. Fashion split the sought out their views on anyand every issue.
agegroups.Extra cash in young people’s pockets meant extra freedom—freedom Often the starsthemselves were annoyed by
forthe imagination, freedom for creative and provocative ideas. The world thepressures they felt were being placed onthem
wasbecoming a smaller place as people began to take the idea of the global —"I’m not the leader of noorganization"
villagefor granted. The new freedom of youth made itself felt on both sides of commented an angry Dylan. Jagger and Hendrix,
theAtlantic, and it also began to make ripples farther afield—in Japan, Africa, among others, spenttime behind bars on drug
andEastern Europe. charges, andboth were considered to have
Pop Stars receivedharsher treatment from the
Pop music also went through enormous changes—people even began to take courtsbecause, as figures in the public eye, itwas
itseriously as an art form. The charts were virtually taken over by young, thought to be worth making anexample of them.
eventeenage artists, who were making the music young listeners most wanted
tohear. Biggest of all were the Beatles, four young men from Liverpool,
England,who had begun by playing to packed nightclubs in England and
Germany beforestorming the world stage in 1963. The Beatles’ clothes and
hairstyles becamethe most familiar symbols of the new youth culture.Although
the Beatles were the most popular group, they were stronglychallenged as
spokesmen for youth by two other figures: singer-songwriter BobDylan and Mick
Jagger of the Rolling Stones. Both Dylan and the Stones optedfor a rebellious
look, wearing outfits that recalled the outlaws of western organgster movies—and
in fact, both Dylan and Jagger have acted in such films.They gave form to Yves
Saint Laurent’s remark that “clothes were a form of protest,” and both acquired
a host of imitators.In the mid-sixties, Motown, a record company under African
Americanownership, began to take a dominant share of the singles charts.
Motownlaunched the careers of megastars like Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson,
MichaelJackson, and Stevie Wonder. Instead of taking a rebellious stance,
Motownpromoted a smart, stylish, and upwardly mobile image, insisting on
extensivegrooming and styling for its artists before public appearances. The
alliance of fashion with pop music has never been closer.All these artists created
their own distinctive styles of dress. Dylandeveloped from beatnik to hippie to
suede-jacketed country rocker. The Beatlesmoved from chic Pierre Cardin suits to
the spaced-out military uniforms of the
Sgt. Pepper
period. The Rolling Stones posed as threatening, deliberatelyunkempt
delinquents. Motown girl groups like the Supremes dressed themselves

Bob Dylan, the James Dean of hisgeneration, in fringed cowboy

jacketand jeans,somewhere between hippie androck star.

248
The Supremes, immaculately up in gloves, satins, and feather boas; male groups like the Temptations and

dressed infurs, arrive at London theFour Tops went for color-coordinated suits. Everything these artists

airport in 1965. Onstage or off, wereexpressing about their music and attitudes could be understood at a

they were never anything glancethrough their clothes. And the freedom that fashion allowed meant

lessthan elegant. that everyonecould dress up. All young people, in fact, could think of
themselves asperformers and “do their own thing.”

Out of the Fifties

But the sixties had begun in a very different mood. The year 1960 seemed
notso different from 1959, and the atmosphere of the late fifties lingered on
untilthe explosion of new energy around 1963. To understand this period, we
need tolook at what had gone before.Fifties fashion had been dominated by
two strands that completely failedto connect—the styles of the great haute
couture fashion houses and thesudden emergence of the teenager and teenage
fashions. The fifties were in

249
many ways also the heyday of the great Paris fashion houses like Dior, Givenchy,Lanvin, and
Balenciaga. They continued to dictate new styles of fashion seasonby season. Tailoring and
finishing were carried out to the very highest standards,as was the case with their fashion
rivals in New York, London, and Rome. Amore youthful approach was being taken by the
young French designer YvesSaint Laurent, who began designing under his own label in 1962.
Although SaintLaurent’s ideas might have been radical and new, he was seen at first as
simplythe latest in a long line of Paris masters of cut and style. And in the fifties, highfashion
remained largely the preserve of the wealthy, making relatively littleimpact on the dress of the
average office worker.

The movie version of West

Side Story. hitting the screen
in 1961, was a timelyreminder
that teenage street violence
and-racial tensions were still
high on theagenda.

Bare feet, “Sloppy Joe”

sweater, tightpants, and
outrageous behavior—in 1960,
itcould only spell beatnik.

250
The Rolling Stones, looking cool
butrebellious at the Mod Ball in 1964.
Poles apart from all this were the youth cults that sprang up, oftenconsidered
as dangerous breeding grounds for juvenile delinquency. Americanteenage
style and its dangers were reflected in the hit movie
West Side Story.
Standing apart from this were the beatniks, who jumped to prominence in
thelate fifties, particularly in California and New York. The beat culture was
primarilya movement of writers, with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and
LawrenceFerlinghetti some of its leading lights. Certain styles of dress (and a
leaningtoward hard-bop jazz) were a fixed part of the beatnik attitude:
handmadesandals, black turtleneck sweaters, black berets, and tight black
pants. Thebeatniks’ “outsider” or bohemian attitudes, mixing up popular
culture with “highart,” were a foretaste of what the sixties would offer. The
beatniks themselvesspilled over into the new decade—in fact, the beatnik
philosophy has neverreally gone away.
251
The couture look for the start of thedecade
can be seen in Dior’s wovenstraw hat, black
stiletto heels, blackbeads, and gauntlet gloves.
The formalityof the model’s pose matches
therestrained elegance of the setting.

252
Was this the most
exclusive suit of all?
AsBuzz Aldrin takes his
historic moonwalk onJuly
20 1969, Neil Armstrong
and the lunarmodule can
be seen reflected in his
facemask.

And this was how they did

it in the movies.The
Stanley Kubrick and
Arthur C. Clarkesci-fi
vision
2001: A Space Odyssey
pre-dated Aldrin’s real-life
adventure by a year.

SPACE RACE
In the early sixties, the Soviet Union seemed to be well ahead of the United States inthe race to
space. In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin completed one orbit ofthe earth in the spacecraft
Vostok 1. President Kennedy declared publicly that theUnited States would catch up, and in 1962,
John Glenn became the first USastronaut to orbit the earth, as part of the Mercury space program.
The UnitedStates followed up the Mercury flights with the two-man Gemini spacecraft andfinally
the three-man Apollo project. Apollo 8’s flight during Christmas 1968 placedmen for the first time
in orbit around the moon—by far the most spectacularspaceflight to date. This feat was surpassed
in July 1969, when Apollo 11 landedtwo of its crew on the surface of the moon, fulfilling Kennedy’s
pledge of a mannedmoon landing before the end of the decade. By contrast, the Soviet space
programseemed to have lost its way after its early successes, which had included the first"space
walk," by Aleksei Leonov in 1965.

253
 It was a weekend tradition that
largegroups of mods, dressed in sharp

MOD CULT suits,narrow ties, and "parka" anoraks,

and ridingshiny chrome-trimmed scooters,

The new decade had begun to show its true face by 1963. This was the year of worldwide wouldinvade the popular British seaside

Beatlemania, and it was also the year that the mod cult—short for“moderns”—erupted in resortof Brighton.

Britain. Mods personified the early years of the SwingingSixties—youth, mobility (mods lived
by their motor scooters), fashion (theyspared no expense on their clothes), and an intense
interest in soul and R & B,particularly Booker T. and Wilson Pickett. But by 1964 a series of
pitched battlesat British seaside resorts between groups of mods and rival rockers
—”greaser”motorcycle gangs—had given mods a bad name. By the mid-sixties, they hadbegun The typical American family at home
to fade out. infront of the TV. Although color
broadcastsbegan in 1954, there were far
fewerchannels than we have today.

Science and Technology

The "affluent society" of the West meant that more and more technological
gadgetsbecame commonplace during the sixties: color television, hi-fi record players,
bettercars, and more sophisticated washing machines. Cheaper jet air travel led to
anenormous boom in tourism. Giant strides were being made in computer
technology,bringing the first desktop computers in sight, and also in medicine, with the
firstheart transplant operations being performed. Scientific progress seemed to
beunstoppable: anything seemed possible in the years ahead.

254

Twiggy, undeniably the face of the sixties.
QUANT CULT
What didn’t fade away was the mod enthusiasm for young, stylish
fashions.The boy on the motor scooter was replaced by the girl in her
miniskirt—afashion breakthrough that was to maintain its importance until
the end of thedecade. The term “youth-quake” was widely heard. One of the
first designers totake advantage of this rapidly changing atmosphere was
Mary Quant.
.
255
 Twiggy, undeniably the face of the sixties.

Diana Rigg as hard-hitting

agent EmmaPeel in the cult
series
The Avengers.
Heroutrageous outfits—
especially the high,“kinky”
boots—quickly became
PVC(polyvinyl chloride), in its soft form, was a favorite of the mid-sixties fashion
mainstreetfashion spin-offs.
industry.Raincoats in bright primary colors or bold checks, paired with sou’wester hats, were a
jauntyresponse to the weather.The Avengers.

256
 CHANGING TIMES
FORWOMEN?
The postwar era of the late forties andfifties
had seen most women in theWest still tied—
or returning after warwork—to the roles of
wife andmother, although the new
availabilityof domestic gadgets did make
theseroles less physically demanding
thanbefore. But the turbulent
socialatmosphere of the sixties led to abelief
that anything was possible—even a complete
revolution in therelationships between men
andwomen. Easily available and
reliablecontraception offered women
fargreater control over their
personalrelationships. By the end of
thedecade, however, women had madeonly
modest progress in terms ofrepresentation in
politics, business, orthe professions. Indeed,
many of thefashions and values of the
sixtiestended to push young women into
avulnerable or passive "dumb blonde"role.
A pretty girl in a miniskirt wasn’texpected to
say anything intelligent.

Quant had been designing andmanufacturing her

Young fashions from Rive Gauche in 1967. own clothes
sincethe late fifties, but the young, funfashions she designed began to
takeoff in the atmosphere of the earlysixties. Her high point
wasundoubtedly the launch of theminiskirt—a fashionable skirt that
roseeight or nine inches above the kneeand stayed there, at least until the
arrival of maxi and midi lengths in 1969–70.Like Saint Laurent, Quant
moved away from the traditional role of the fashiondesigner, producing
her own collection of tights with open-mesh designs andoriginal lace
effects and starting her own range of cosmetics. Tights (in place of

257
“It is given to a fortunate few to be bornat the right time, in the right place, with theright talents. In recent fashion there arethree:
Chanel, Dior, and Mary Quant[pictured].” Ernestine Carter, in London’s
Sunday Times.

258
Yves Saint Laurent’s new Rive
Gaucheboutique on the Champs-
Elysées.

stockings) were essential with the miniskirt and, along with the softer, wirelessbra, pointed
the way for women’s underwear.Mary Quant was also closely involved with the sixties
revolution inshopping habits. From the mid-decade on, Europe and North America began
tofill up with boutiques—small clothing shops aimed at the teenage customer anddepending
on a rapid turnover of stock. Shopping for clothes became fun. MaryQuant’s Bazaar chain
in the United Kingdom, which opened in the late fifties,was described by Quant herself as
“a kind of permanently running cocktailparty.” Yves Saint Laurent was on the same
wavelength: his boutique chain RiveGauche, which opened in 1966, quickly expanded to
160 branches worldwide.Other designers soon followed suit.

Beach Boys (and Girls Too)

Many of the new, young British The Swinging Sixties/space-age mood caught on fast in the United States. BetseyJohnson

designerswere fresh out of college and attracted attention with her gangster-stripe pantsuits and clear-vinyldress with paste-on-

started outworking in surprisingly yourself stars, while Rudi Gernreich covered all the basesfirst by producing the world’s first

small quartersbefore their businesses topless swimsuit and then by pairing a strappybathing suit with thigh-high boots and a

took off. Here MaryQuant pins a new space-visor. Few actually went topless,but swimwear and the bikini in particular became

design on her model. briefer than ever. Established

259
 A polka-dot dress from Betsey Johnson,one
of the first American designers toabsorb the
Swinging Sixties style.

VIOLENT SOCIETIES
Despite all the talk of peace and love,the world
of the sixties seemed to beas violent as ever.
Full-scale warsraged in Southeast Asia, in the
MiddleEast, and on the Indian
subcontinent.Soviet tanks entered
Czechoslovakiato crush Prime Minister
Dubcek’sliberalizing government. British
troopswere on the streets of Northern
Irelandfrom August 1969. Riots flared up
inLos Angeles, Chicago, Paris, andBerlin.
Other people pointed toincreasing crime and
lawlessness:Richard Nixon found the law-and-
order ticket useful in gaining entry tothe White
designers Geoffrey Beene and Anne Fogarty also used the miniskirt to
House. Assassinations alsomade the headlines.
theiradvantage, Beene teaming up short skirts with long jackets and
The mostprominent public figures to be
Fogartyintroducing her “mini-culottes.”Mods were never much in evidence in
gunneddown were John F. Kennedy,
the United States: Americanyouth had been enjoying the cult of the
RobertKennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King,
automobile since the fifties. The earlysixties music of the Beach Boys and
Jr. Street crime began to be discussedas a
others tended to put cars first and girlssecond, as suggested by the Beach
serious problem in some of theworld’s major
Boys’ song “Little Deuce Coupe.” Surf musicfavored an easy, casual dressing
cities. The future mighthave arrived, but it
style suitable for California sunshine, and short-sleeved, open-neck striped
didn’t seem to bea peaceful one.
shirts were the favorite attire of the Beach Boysthemselves, along with
carefully waved hair. The flavor of this period is perfectlycaptured by the
costumes and sound track of the 1973 film American Graffiti ,which reflects a
teenager’s need to leave behind his comfortable small-town lifefor the bigger
world outside.

260
American Graffiti , directed by
GeorgeLucas (1973), brilliantly
re-created theatmosphere of
1960s small-town America.

The Beach Boys’ clean-cut,

casual imageperfectly matched
their bright, accessibleclose-
harmony songs, focusing on
sun,sand, and surfing.

261
 COLD WAR?
The Cold War between the US
andUSSR. nearly became "hot" in
1962,when presidents Kennedy
andKhrushchev clashed over
theplacement of Soviet nuclear missilesin
Cuba, just ninety miles off theFlorida
coastline. With the twocountries sliding
towards the brink ofwar, Khrushchev
backed down andagreed to remove the
missiles. TheCuban Crisis also marked
the end ofKhrushchev’s political career.
A new,more cautious regime in
Moscow,headed by Prime Minister
AlexseiKosygin and Party Chairman
LeonidBrezhnev, seemed content to
watchand wait as the US entangled
itselfever more deeply in the Vietnam
War.Both superpowers, however,
watchedthe unfolding of China’s
CulturalRevolution with alarm: a new
andunpredictable superpower
suitedneither of them. And while neither
theUS nor USSR wanted war with
eachother, both continued throughout
thedecade to stockpile ever
morepowerful nuclear weapons.

Peace and War Culottes for spring 1967, from the

Relangcollection. Although they were much
For many small-town American youths, however, the bigger world outside
favoredby designers at this time, culottes
foundthem—in the shape of the draft and a year of duty in Vietnam. The
neverrivaled the popularity of the miniskirt.
average ageof the American soldiers killed in Vietnam was just nineteen, a
statistic that helpsexplain the increasingly political nature of American youth
culture from the mid-sixties on. Musicians like folk singers Joan Baez and
Pete Seeger spoke outpublicly against the war, and warned of even worse
catastrophe should anythinglike the Cuban missile crisis—when the United
States and the Soviet Union werein direct confrontation—be repeated in
Southeast Asia. While students

262
VIETNAM
The Reverend Martin Luther King
Jr.,assassinated in 1968, led the
civil rightsmovement throughout
In the fifties, fighting in Vietnam—then known as "French Indo-China"—hadinvolved
the sixties. At hugeoutdoor
French troops and the Vietcong nationalist forces. A cease-fire had dividedthe country in
gatherings, he held thousands
two. In the early sixties, the United States was drawn into renewedfighting on the side of the
ofAfrican-Americans spellbound
non-Communist south, with President Kennedy makingthe initial decision to send in troops.
by hisimpassioned rhetoric.
By the mid-sixties the United States founditself heavily committed to a costly war that was
unpopular both at home andabroad. Indeed, Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon Johnson, lost so
much support becauseof his commitment to the war that he elected not to run for office a
second time in1968. The Vietnam War was the cause of sharp divisions and unrest in
Americansociety, and it provided a strong political focus to many young people. The war
wasa particularly bitter experience for many African-Americans, with leaders likeEldridge
Cleaver and Huey Newton pointing to the contradiction of African-Americans being sent to
defend democracy in Southeast Asia while their battle forcivil rights was not yet won at
home.

263
 Muhammad Ali, world heavyweight
boxingchampion and perhaps the sixties’
mostfamous Black Muslim. Ali refused
theVietnam draft and was later stripped
of hisworld title.

Joan Baez was one of the

foremostprotest singers, appearing at
studentmeetings all over the country as
well asmaking records

demonstrated against the war and the draft, other Americans were horrified bythe live
images of fighting brought into their homes for the first time by television.By the end of
the decade, US forces were beginning to pull out of Vietnam.

HIPPIE POWER
The hippie ideals of peace and love have often been ridiculed in the years sincethe sixties,
but it is worth remembering that the movement grew up against abackdrop of compulsory
military service, at least in the United States, where thehippie movement had its roots.
Hippiedom was worldwide, and all you had to doto join was to let your hair grow.
Although members of what was at bottom a

264
 political and moral movement rejecting Western materialism and its
Demonstrations against the Vietnam
moneyhungry “rat race,” hippies set the tone for much of the fashion of the
Warspread throughout Europe. Many, like
late sixties.They set the seal on the “anything goes” attitude, which had been
thisone held in London in 1968,
building inforce for some time, happily mixing up ethnic and psychedelic
beganpeacefully but ended in violence.
influences. Infact, the hippies had such a widespread impact that by the early
seventies, longhair and ethnic wear had become just another way of dressing
up, with little orno political significance attached.Hippie dress fitted in with
the new “peacock” attitude to male dress,considered suitable for a society
moving toward greater equality between thesexes. Men either dressed up as a
form of self-expression or to attract women,

265
 In 1968, rioting students tore Paris
apart.The baton-swinging security
police, seenhere clearing the Boulevard
Saint Michel,showed little sympathy
with their demands.

Sly and the Family Stone’s afro

hairstyleswere as startling as the
unprecedentedfunkiness of their music,
which pointed theway forward to the
dance music of theseventies and

just as women had always dressed upto attract men. The declining eighties.
infantmortality rate meant that for the firsttime in history, there were more
menthan women to go around. Menneeded to compete with one anotherto
gain attention, while women weretaking advantage of the chance to
dress more simply, in practical
pantsuit—and especially jeans.
“You can’t tell the boys from
the girls thesedays” was a
frequent complaint.“Unisex”
dressing was the style:young
hippie men and women wore
their hair long, with
headbands, anddressed in
worn-out jeans. Anything,in
fact, that was not “neat.

A SHRINKING
WORLD
Another by-product of hippie
culturewas the general
acceptance of variedstyles of
“ethnic” dress, although the
primary movers in this area
were blackmusicians and the
Black Powerorganizations. African-American pop

266
A vaguely oriental ethnic
look combineswith the space-
age influence in this
1967Vancetti pantsuit. Note
the textured, quilted-look
fabric and the wildly
experimental hairstyling.

267
stars in particular began to drop the carefully groomed Caucasian style and
allowthemselves to project a much stronger black image: Sly and the Family
Stoneand Isaac Hayes are good examples. Established artists like Martha and
theVandellas altered their image, while hard-core soul artists like James
Brownbegan to attract a mainstream following. As the black ethnic look
Woodstock
became morepopular, “afro” hairstyles spread as far afield as Japan.The It began as the 1969 Woodstock FreeFestival
ethnic mood was also fueled by cheaper and more ambitious travel,with of Art and Music, and it ended asthe biggest
exotic places like Bali and Nepal suddenly becoming realistic event of its kind the worldhad ever seen, with
destinations.The focus of fashion was beginning to extend beyond Europe crowds estimated athalf a million. A movie
and NorthAmerica. The world might be getting smaller, but the fashion map and two doublealbums attempted to package
was becomingmore diverse all the time. theatmosphere of an event in which

A False Impression
JimiHendrix, Sly and the Family Stone,
TheWho, Santana, Janis Joplin, and
As the decade ended, American, French, and Italian designers— manyothers performed. The event
especiallyPucci, Vancetti, and Saint Laurent—were at the forefront of those becamebigger than the music and turned into
seeking totransform street fashions into designer collections. Bonnie Cashin’s asymbol of everything connected withhippies,
work hadused ethnic garments like the poncho as early as the late fifties, flower children, and the "lovegeneration." An
followed byBetsey Johnson, with her cowhide minidresses. The Italian attempt to repeat thesuccess of Woodstock on
designer Fioruccibegan establishing his own personal niche halfway between the West Coastat Altamont later in 1969 ended
boutique fashionand the designer label.Nevertheless, by the end of the sixties, indisaster when a spectator tried to fire ashot
it was clear that fashion had notchanged as completely as many had believed. at Mick Jagger while the RollingStones were
Some landmarks had gone,including Balenciaga, the last of the great “pure” performing on stage. Theman was killed by
couturiers, who retired in1968. But many of the old-guard fashion elite were members of a Hell’sAngels motorcycle gang,
still around, and big nameslike Chanel continued on their established course which the Stoneshad hired as a security force.
almost as if the SwingingSixties had never happened. The French had hardly
taken a back-seat duringthe decade, with Courrèges and Cardin cashing in on
both the space-age andOp Art fever and keeping only half a step behind the
London designers inpromoting the miniskirt. Paris might have been eclipsed
in the sixties, but thecity was set to make a big comeback in the seventies and
eighties.The Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 gave a timely end-of-decade
boostto all things space age, but the end of the sixties saw the first signs of a
newconservatism, both in fashion and in society. Richard Nixon was
electedpresident in 1968, promising to speak on behalf of the “silent
majority.” Franceturned away from radical politics after the student
uprisings of 1968, whileBritain elected a new Conservative government in
1970. And just as the 1960shad seen fashion reach forward into the future,
rushing to embrace new orexotic ideas, the seventies were to be gripped by a
very different mood: anostalgic yearning for the past.

268
August 1969. The Woodstock festival, inupstate New York, was the place to be thatsummer: camping out under the stars at thebiggest
rock concert ever conceived. Whatthe festival planners hadn’t anticipated was500,000 people.

269
COCKTAILS AND
BEEHIVES
We’ll Always Have Paris
John F. Kennedy became president in January 1960, and his fashionable
andglamorous wife, Jackie, became the new first lady. Much younger
than theirpredecessors, the Kennedys were seen by many as signs of a
new hope andoptimism for the new decade.Jackie Kennedy became a
prominent style-setter for the latest Frenchfashions. Yves Saint Laurent
opened his own fashion house in 1962 and quicklyenhanced his
reputation as the most innovative and brilliant of the youngerdesigners.
Coco Chanel, fifty years into her career, maintained her reputation
forshunning all extremes, although she did promote a shorter-length
lacy cocktaildress and went along with the trend for leaner, narrower
cuts.Still going strong from the fifties was the “bouffant” look, with
skirtssupported by underlayers of stiff petticoats. This style was
developed into the“suspense-jupe ,” with the ballooning fullness of the
skirt constricted at the knee.

Another ChristianDior cocktail/eveninglook for 1962.

There is a touch of the"suspense-jupe " in the cut of
the skirt,which is gathered tightly at the waist
andtapers to the hem.

First lady Jackie Kennedy, wearing one ofher famous

pillbox hats and a wool bouclésuit. Her charm and chic
sophisticationconquered world leaders and
charmeddiplomats wherever she and the presidentwent.

270
 Girl-next-door Doris Day maintained
herown brand of sophistication
offscreen.

For some years, it had beenfashionable to

pull the hair back off the face. Suddenly,
hair came alivewith back combing (teasing)
and thearrival of the “beehive,” a fuller
shapekept in place with plenty of hair
spray.Women enjoyed the new
freedom,wearing their hair loose, or piled
ontop of the head in a bun. Those
withshort hair achieved the same effectwith
hair pieces.

MOVE OVER, DARLING

Men’s styles at this time were
This 1960 cocktail dress, Italian style, looks like the last gasp of fifties fashion. Note stronglyinfluenced by Italian
alsothe overall formality, seen in the model, the setting, and the spectators alongside designers.Formality was still the
thecatwalk.

keynote, evenfor leisure wear. Suits were singlebreasted, featuring short jackets
withnarrow lapels, worn over narrow-collarshirts and slim ties. Pants were narrower,
especially for the young andfashionable, with the tapering effect finished off with
pointed “winkle-picker”shoes. Longer hair for men was beginning to replace the short
back and sides

271
but was still firmly slicked back with oil andgel. As
facial hair became more acceptable,men of all ages
grew lavish mustaches andbeards, and many let their
sideburns growfuller and longer.Many teenage girls,
especially inEurope, were still wearing clothes
almostidentical to their mothers’. The big revolutionin
teenage fashion still lay in the future. Manycopied the
look projected by Hollywood starDoris Day, a pretty,
feminine image thatappealed to women of all ages.
Doris Daycombined a girl-next-door appearance with
aglamorous and stylish movie-star image, andin movies
like The Thrill of It All and Move Over, Darling
, she became the biggest boxoffice draw of the period.
The music and styleof these films is often used to re-
create theatmosphere of the early sixties.

LET’S TWIST AGAIN!

Elsewhere, music still rocked and rolled, andcouples
jived and danced the latest crazeslike the Mashed
Potato or the Twist. Youneeded to know the right
steps, which were

Custom-made tailoring for men remained a strong tradition, but styling

wentthrough rapid change. This 1964 suit by Hector Powe would look good on
sixtiesfictional heroes like James Bond or Napoleon Solo from The Man from
U.N.C.L.E. Typical details include draped shoulders, wide lapels, button-down
collar, andcrocodile zip boots.

Top girl group the Ronettes pose in all-blue

formaloutfits and carefully back-combed
beehivehairstyles.

272
 all mapped out in magazines, ready to be copied on Saturday night. And if couples weren’t
twisting to Chubby Checker, they might well be smooching toballads by Gene Pitney, Helen
Shapiro, or even former rocker Elvis Presley, whoreturned from army service with a new,
clean-cut image and romantic songs like“It’s Now or Never,” a reworking of the Italian
ballad “O sole mio.”The sixties looked set to continue very much in the vein of the
previousdecade: new faces, new fashions, but little change in the underlying mood.But no
one writing in, say, 1960 could have foreseen the enormous changesand reversals that lay in
the years ahead.

A wool day wear suit by Dior,

from 1963.Blouse and jacket
feature a typically wide,rounded
collar line, and the outfit
iscompleted by the still-
obligatory hat andgloves.

273
THE BEATNIK GENERATION
Left Bank Paris
Under their calm and conservative surface, the fifties had been a period
of enormous change for artists and designers. By the end of the decade,
some of this energy was beginning to show itself in the changing moods
of jazz, cinema,and fashion.In the Saint Germain quarter of Paris, the
Left Bank movement hademerged as long ago as the forties, led by a
group of writers and artists who triedto live their daily lives according to
their radical new ideas, challengingestablished values and conventions.
Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and feministSimone de Beauvoir were at
the center of a circle that attracted a wider group of “bohemians,”
including film directors François Truffaut and Roger Vadim and jazz
singer Juliette Greco.Juliette Greco was a Left Bank fashion symbol,
whether dressed in slacksand black beret or her black Balmain evening The jacket for Donald Byrd’s Byrd in Hand album,
dress. The bohemians of SaintGermain gathered together to see Greco released in 1959 but selling well intothe next decade,
and visiting American jazz stars atnotorious nightclubs like Le Tabou shows the trumpeter intypical jazz-man’s casual
and Le Rose Rouge—notorious, that is, tonon-bohemians. Another Left turtleneck.
Bank style model was Brigitte Bardot, dressed in atight-fitting black-
and-white T-shirt or pouting from behind a tangle of curls.

Juliette Greco, jazz heroine of the ParisLeft Bank,

caught in a self-reflective pose.

274
A typical beatnik house in Liverpool in1960: perhaps not that different from theaverage student room.

275
SAN FRANCISCO, HEART OF THE BEATS
Far away in California, something similar had been going on, taking its cue fromyoung,
experimental writers like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Their style of writing was
fast and spontaneous. Kerouac described his books On the Road (1957) and The
Subterraneans
(1958) as having been “written on the run,”while beat poet Ginsberg believed in live
performances to “capture anaudience.”Beatniks were “hip,” “cool,” and “groovy” and
considered themselves inrebellion against the “square” world of the establishment.
“Hip” could beanything from be-bop jazz to Buddhism to just walking in a particular
way,defined as “a catlike walk from the hips.” “Hip” also meant turning away fromthe
dress and even the speech of the white middle class toward the music andculture of black
America.Paris and San Francisco remained the twin centers of the beatnikuniverse, but
groups of beatniks or beatnik imitators sprang up in towns acrossthe world. The beat
style included black berets, black slacks, and dark glasses.Flat shoes for women and
sandals for men were the popular footwear. Beatnikgirls were recognizable by their all-
black outfits and lavish use of elaborate eyemakeup. Black skirts, black leotard tops,
and black tights were the beat girl’sfashion choice, although wearing the clothes was as
close as some would get tothe beatnik way of life. Brigitte Bardot: with her
smolderingteenage sexuality she was, for
Americans inparticular, the romance of the

PLAYING IT COOL Paris LeftBank personified.

The beatnik message was, “Be

cool.”This meant a completely
newapproach to fashion, and the
“right”thing to wear definitely
wasn’tsomething from an expensive
fashionhouse. “Being cool” meant
being inthe know—a very attractive
idea forthose with limited money to
spend.The beatniks’ biggest impact
onfashion was in this new way of
thinking about clothes. As the
sixtiesunfolded, some beatnik
attitudesworked their way into the
heart of thefashion industry through
the boutiqueand flower power or
psychedelicrevolutions. These later
and muchmore startling styles of
dress were tomake the once
outrageous beatniksseem almost
respectable.

A meeting of giants: Bob Dylan with beatpoets Michael McLure and Allen Ginsberg.

276
A slightly more refined
beatnik look forthe
uptown girl, with
tapered pants
andoversized shirt.

277
THE BEATLES: POP GOESFASHION
The Mersey Sound
Like all port cities, the Beatles’ home town of Liverpool, at the mouth of
theMersey River, had its fair share of visitors, including American seamen,
whobrought the latest soul and R & B records from the United States.
Theseinfluences combined with the home-grown “Mersey” sound to produce
a musicsensation that swept the world in 1963 and lasted for the rest of the
The Beatles in their Pierre Cardin suits.This was
decade. Atone point, the Beatles held the top four positions in the U.S.
the look that inspired arevolution—a single-
singles charts. Thiswas the beginning of the “British Invasion,” as groups like
breasted collarlessjacket with flapless pockets and
the Rolling Stones,the Kinks, Manfred Mann, Herman’s Hermits, and The
pants cutlean, short, and without cuffs. Zip
Who quickly followed theBeatles’ breakthrough. Successful though these
ankleboots and—for 1963—dangerously longhair
bands were, they couldn’tmatch the popularity of the Beatles, whose concerts
complete the effect.
could barely be heardabove the screams and cries of hysterical girls.
.

278
The effect of this mid-sixties Op Art outfit,with
its huge hat and hood, must have beendazzling.
Black and white were the simplestand most
popular combination of thedecade.
POP GOES FASHION: FASHION GOES
POP
The Beatles took care to keep themselves in the forefront of men’s fashion.
Aswith their music, they knew how to move on, changing their style and
appealwith each successive record release. Initially, they dressed like typical
youngmen of the sixties, in narrow black trousers and narrow-lapel jackets,
and theyhad cropped hair. But by the time of their breakthrough in 1963,
they hadadopted the distinctive collarless Cardin suits and collar-length hair
that servedto make them so instantly recognizable. As the sixties progressed,
the Beatlesmoved on to the psychedelic outfits seen on the jacket of the
Sgt. Pepper
album(1967), ending the decade in the casual hippie look seen on the jacket of
Abbey Road
(1969).The Beatles also began to attract attention from “serious” music
critics.Other musicians who received similar attention included Bob Dylan,
Joan Baezand the Rolling Stones. The narrowing of the gap between classical
(“serious”)
279
 Emanuel Ungaro, a relative newcomer toParis
fashion, proved himself the master ofbright,
conflicting colors, as this day dressand jacket in
striped wool gabardine show

280

One of Helmut Newton’s Pop Art/Op Artfashion

shots for
Queen magazine, Spring1966. A new generation of
fashionphotographers was reshaping the ways
inwhich fashion was presented to the public.
music and pop was mirrored by some of the changes hitting the world of fashion.
As artists like Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton, and Andy Warhol weredesigning
record jackets, Paris designers began to concentrate on their lesscostly ready-to-
wear collections. Images from modern art began to appear oneverything from
dresses to grocery packaging. Fashion was part of an excitingrevolution
embracing all the arts.

POP, OP AND BEYOND

Op Art and Pop Art were quite different, although equally popular. The Pop
Artmovement had begun in the fifties, spearheaded by artists like
RobertRauschenberg, Andy Warhol, and Peter Blake. The key was the use of
mass-produced, commercial images—from cartoon strips or Warhol’s famous A group put together especially for theirown TV
soupcan—often repeated or enlarged to focus attention on their “deeper” series, The Monkees were theAmerican answer to
meaning.Pop Art became part and parcel of fashion, its influence continuing the Beatles. Here theyare shown wearing their
oneverything from T-shirts to Fiorucci dresses.Op Art was a separate movement. "uniform" ofdouble-breasted, wine-red shirts,
Painters like Victor Vasarely and BridgetRiley set out to explore and exploit the grayslacks, and wide black leather belt
dramatic, trick-optic effects of line and

280
 This 1965 suit by Paris designerCourrèges is heavily
influenced by Op Art inits dramatic use of checks. The
trademarkwhite boots not only complete the look buteasily
identify the designer.

This 1966 Young Jaeger outfit of black-and-white mini

dress, clear PVC coat, andboots typifies the mid to late
1960s,combining the influence of Op and Pop artwith a hint
of space age travel. The visoredhelmet was a little extreme
for daily wear,however, even in the sixties.

contrasting areas of color. Designerslike Courrèges and

Ungaro producedgarments heavily influenced by Op
Art,while chain stores cashed in on thebold “black-and-
white” theme withboots, coats and hats, usually made
invinyl or other artificial fabrics. BridgetRiley’s Op Art
paintings were used as abasis for a series of textile designs
byJulian Tomchin.The public, however, cheerfullymixed up
Op and Pop—to theconsiderable annoyance of those
whohad started the movements. Bothbecame just one more
set of ideas tobe used in the “anything goes”atmosphere of
the mid-sixties.
39

281
MOTOWN, MODS AND
MINIS
Motown Calling
The early sixties saw the Western world enjoying the benefits of the
postwarindustrial boom. Teenagers had few problems finding well-paid work.
Theteenage revolution had been a subject of conversation in the fifties, but
now itgathered pace. Young people had become big spenders and were a
force to bereckoned with in the fashion business.In Detroit, Smokey
Robinson was spearheading the Motown recordcompany and the new Detroit
soul sound. Motown artists were slicker, both inmusic and in fashion, than
the rhythm-and-blues background from which theyhad emerged. Smokey
Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes,Martha and the
Vandellas—all the top Motown acts had an individual style tomatch their
fresh musical approach. Motown became known as “the home of the hits.” It Smokey Robinson and the Miracles in1964, looking
stood for a new, sophisticated black style that turned its back on themore elegant in ruffled shirtsand pearls. Motown
rough-and-ready image of the city blues performers like Howling Wolf management decreedthat all their performers had to
orMuddy Waters. beimmaculately dressed, whether inperformance or
off stage.

282
In 1966, Carnaby Street was at the heartof The military look was everywhere: a whole generation of young men who had never
swinging London, and Lord John’s was beenthreatened by the draft were suddenly buying up second-hand uniforms.
oneof its hippest stores.

The March of the Mods

The Motown sound caught on fast in Britain, where the Beatles were its mostfamous fans,
and a new group of teenagers emerged in Britain with a style alltheir own. The mods took
their inspiration from the beatniks and also studiedAmerican college fashion for fresh
ideas. The results were turtlenecks andbrightly colored shirts and ties or, for a more
relaxed look, boxy blazers andnarrow pants. Mods also favored mohair suits (as worn by
the Motown artists)and liked to cover these with a green parka or anorak when out on
their Vespaor Lambretta motor scooters, on which they rode around in packs. The
Beatleslooked a little like mods but always denied any connection with the
movement.They wanted to appeal to everyone.By the mid-sixties, youth culture was
enjoying a heyday. Fashion wasbeing made by the young for the young. Small high-
fashion shops known asboutiques popped up all over North America and Europe,
constantly filled withfresh ideas and new styles. The sales assistants were often teenagers
as well,happy to help their contemporaries put together a new look.Mary Quant
understood these trends. She and her husband, AlexanderPlunkett-Greene, had been
building their design-and-boutique empire since thelate fifties, despite having no formal
training in business. Quant thrived in the“do-it-yourself” atmosphere of the time. Her
clothes were highly original butinexpensive. Although her fabrics weren’t always the most
practical and thestitching was not the best, young girls could afford to buy one of her
outfitsalmost every week, and the next week they could move on to something new.In the
United States, Betsey Johnson’s designs were making a similarimpact. Wilder than Quant
in some ways, her mid-sixties innovations includedclinging T-shirt dresses, silvery
motorcycle suits, and a “noise” dress made of jersey with loose grommets attached to the
hem for built-in sound effects.

283
The Mini Makes It Big
Mary Quant played a key role in launching the miniskirt. As a fashion, the
miniwas worn most effectively by the very young. Teamed up with
geometric black-and-white Op Art patterns, the mini became an essential
part of the developingmod girl image and quickly spread around the world.
While some were shockedby skirts cut eight or nine inches above the knee,
others saw the mini as a signof greater freedom and relaxation in
dress.Models like Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, and Penelope Tree became

Three outfits from 1967 that manage tocombine

the rebellious schoolgirl look withthe essential
boyishness of the decade.

The image of the sixties: Twiggy’s boyishlooks

and stick-thin figure made her thenumber-one
model for the miniskirt.

284
personifications of the new look. Wafer thin, with hair hanging loose or Jean Shrimpton, the other face of thesixties, graduated
cropped short in the newest Vidal Sassoon cut and youthful, even boyish from the famous LucyClayton modeling school in 1960,
features, theywere very different from most older models, but they fit in aged justseventeen. She was nicknamed “TheShrimp.”
perfectly with the newmood. Mary Quant used “Twiggy” mannequins in her
chain of boutiques. Younggirls tried to copy the “Twiggy look,” with huge,
heavily made-up eyes, or the“Shrimp look,” copying Jean Shrimpton’s bangs.
Everywhere, old ideas aboutfashion were being turned upside down. Youth
seemed to be taking overcompletely.

285
THE SPACE AGE
Space Race
Space and space travel had an enormous impact on
people’sthinking throughout the sixties. Unmanned
space missions toVenus and Mars were expanding our
knowledge of the solarsystem, and the USSR and
USA were engaged in a race toland the first man on
the moon—a race to which theAmerican Apollo 11
mission put a conclusive end on July20, 1969. In the
meantime, space travel had become amajor source of
inspiration for both the fashion andentertainment
industries.

Space Style
Barbarella (1967), starring Jane Fonda, was perhaps
the mostfashion conscious of space fantasies. Based
on a futuristic comicstrip, the movie featured bizarre
and minimalist outfits inplastic and vinyl, particularly
for the women—see-through garments, high boots,
and catsuits, with orwithout leggings. A watered-
down form of this lookremained high fashion for
several years after themovie’s release.TV’s Star Trek
and Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001 took a more sober
view of the future, a moodreflected by the wardrobe
department. The outfitsworn by the crews of both the
starship Enterprise and 2001’s Discovery were
actually based onsketches and ideas supplied by
NASAscientists, but this didn’t stop fansfrom writing
in to ask where theycould buy copies of the outfitsfor
themselves.

Space-AgeHeroes
Space-age fever caught onat ground level too,
withheroes like Batman andJames Bond fitting the
Rudi Gernreich’s collection of see-through blouses from 1965
high-tech mood well. Batman andRobin drove their
onwardswas considered very daring. Moremodest variations simply had
futuristic Batmobile and dressed infashionable
see-through, chiffon sleeves.
bodysuits, while arch-villain Catwoman (Eartha
Kitt)sported a catsuit—which was only natural. Items
like Batman’s

286
 Space-age minis from Courrèges, complete with bobby sox and wigs.

Pierre Cardin dresses from 1967, withtypically eccentric headgear loosely

basedon space helmets.

The unruffled and ultra-charismatic James Bond: proof that “cool” was not
the monopoly ofthe twenty-somethings.

287
cape and utility belt also seemed morefashion
accessories than serious crime-fighting
equipment.Classic James Bond films of
thesixties included Dr. No, Goldfinger, and
You Only Live Twice, all starring
SeanConnery and all placing a strongemphasis
on gadgetry, style and humor.Goldfinger, for
example, opens with twominutes of organized
mayhem, fromwhich James Bond emerges
unscathed,with a clean tuxedo beneath his
rubberwet suit. Bond’s stylish adoption of
traditional men’s garments—dinner jacket,
tuxedo, bow tie—created animage for the
slightly older man thatwas both modern and
dashing, yetsuitable for formal occasions.

Space-Age Haute Couture

However, it was in Europe rather thanthe USA
that the space race made thebiggest high-
fashion impact. PacoRabanne, a Spanish-
trained architectturned fashion designer,
createdstartling new styles that were
widelyseen as being “space age” in
theirapproach. Instead of using
traditionalfabrics, Rabanne used disks cut
frommetal or plastic, linked by wire.
Metallicor neon colors were another
keyelement in his collections.French designer
Pierre Cardinwas one of several others to go
thespace-age route in 1967. Cardin’s newstyles
were much more comfortable andwearable
than Rabanne’s, even if his catsuits worn with
helmets and visors didlook like

Barbarella starring Jane Fonda (1967),was a hit

on a galactic scale. Her spacesuitis considerably
more comfortable and moreappealing than
something straight out of the twenty-first century.Other designers picked up on the
astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s, andunlike Aldrin, she’s
“transparent” aspect of the space-agelook, made possible by new synthetic fabrics.
carrying a weapon. Notethe Buddhist "yin-yang"
Rudi Gernreich, originally knownas a swimwear designer, produced collections of
symbol on her belt.
see-through blouses anddresses in 1968, while in the same year, Courrèges showed
plastic dresses withpunched holes and Yves Saint Laurent a see-through blouse
under a maxi-length coat. The fashion space race was pushing back the boundaries
of whatwas considered acceptable to wear on the street.

288
Space-age suits for him and
her inCardin’s 1968
autumn/winter show.
Gilles’sblack leather coverall
with zips and silverstrips
closely resembles
motorcycling gear,while
Therese wears a black felt
tunic overa white turtleneck
pullover, with long bootsand a
black leather helmet.

X-Men, one of Marvel

Comics’ mostpopular titles,
was proof that
superheroeshad been wearing
space-age bodysuits
sinceSuperman burst on the
scene in 1938.

289
THE ETHNIC LOOK
Go East
By the later years of the sixties, many young people in the West had begun
totake a serious interest in what was happening in the developing world.
Chinahad been going through its Cultural Revolution, and many French and
Britishcolonies had gained their independence. The “winds of change” were
blowingeverywhere. The Vietnam War received worldwide media coverage,
and it wasseen by many young people as senseless killing. There were mass
demonstrationsagainst the American government, both within the United
States and elsewhere.The culture of the East impressed the young to the
extent that manybegan to adopt its religions, particularly Buddhism and the
beliefs of the HareKrishna sect—anti-materialist philosophies personified by
monks draped inlinen. As travel became cheaper, many young people took
time out of study forthe first time to discover India, Afghanistan, or
Indonesia first hand, embarkingon the “hippie trail” to the East.
New and Old Roots
Young African Americans were caught up in this mood and began to develop
astronger identity for themselves, with the help of black leaders Dr.
MartinLuther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Huey P. Newton. The political The black berets, shades, and leatherjackets of the
leadership of these men encouraged African Americans to take more pride in Black Panthers, here seenprotesting against the
their Africanheritage and to seek to attain a better social standing in a murder trial of theirleader Huey Newton, were much
predominantly whitesociety. imitated byyoung African Americans.
.

290
 Cardin chose the Far East as his inspiration for
this sequinedankle-length silk dress.

The ethnic origins of this bead dress are finely complemented by themodel’s
"cornrowed" hair, tightly braided into long strips.

Fashionable clothing reflected all these movements, and manydesigns

had a heavy ethnic influence. Afghans led to caftans. AfricanAmericans
favored the unisex “dashiki,” based on the loose-fitting, vividlycolored
and printed African tunic. Transparent silks in bold prints weredraped
freely around the body, flaunting their contrast to traditionalWestern
cut and shape.Beaded accessories were on sale in even the most elegant
stores.Fringe and tassel dresses, worn with a headband and reminiscent
of native American dress, were shown at fashion shows and sold
inexclusive stores. Youngsters carried brightly colored woven bags
importedfrom Morocco and Turkey and wore flat leather sandals, also
imported.Ethnic fashion was fanciful and unselfconscious: it left plenty
of room forindividual interpretation and did not bother too much about
which part of the world each piece of exotica might have come from.

291
FASHION FOR
PHARAOHS
Courrèges devised an ethnic look that took its ideas from the ancient
Egyptians.Outfits made from heavily sequined bands held together by transparent
silksuggested the wrappings of mummified pharaohs, and to finish off the New Mexico hippies in 1968, wrapped

look,Courrèges gave his models squared-off bobbed wigs in metallic colors.The inblankets or ponchos that suggest an

phrase “black is beautiful” was first coined in 1968, when youngAfrican Americans originsouth of the border.

were developing their own style of revolutionary fashion. Theystopped using

chemicals to straighten their natural curls, resulting in the “afro”hairstyle—
traditional African hair grown to its maximum length and shaped

Yves Saint Laurent was certainly

underthe influence of Africa when he
designedthis collection, as the jewelry and
thehairstyles confirm.

The ever-changing face of Diana Ross:

in1968, she was sporting a fashionable
afro.

292
evenly. This was to catch on far andwide,
with white contemporariesfrizzing their
locks in imitation. Evenyoung Japanese
raced to hairdressersto acquire an afro.
Some even woreafro wigs in bright colors
to join in withthis new, exotic image. The
leaders of the trend had been African
Americanpop and soul stars, with some—
likeSylvester Stewart, "Sly" of Sly and
theFamily Stone—sporting the
mostspectacular hairstyles of all.

Olympic Protest
Che Guevara, the Argentine-bornCuban
revolutionary hero, became amodel for
thousands of radicalstudents, while many
young African-Americans were influenced
by themilitary-style clothing and
trademarkblack berets of the Black
Panthers.When winning athletes stood on
thepodium at the 1968 Mexico
Olympicsand gave the Panthers’ clenched
fistsalute instead of saluting the Starsand
Stripes, the popularity of themovement
was given a further boost.

The photograph of Che Guevara Athletes give the Black Power salute in
byAlberto Korda became the most ademonstration at the 1968 Olympic
famousimage in the world. An Games.
international symbolof the struggle for
freedom, it appeared onposters and on T-
shirts worn by students allover the world.

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PSYCHEDELIC
EXPLOSION
The "Underground"
Music was the main force behind the psychedelic explosion of the
late sixties, aburst of activity in music, fashion, art—and other
events and “happenings”—never seen before.Many of the ideas
underlying this movement had first surfaced in SanFrancisco, but
the mood of the times was international, and ideas seemed to
sweepalong an invisible grapevine—the “underground.”
Underground magazines, groupsand festivals sprang up all over
America and Europe during 1966 and 1967.

Cream’s Disraeli Gears from 1968 was

theultimate in psychedelia.

Striped pants, waistcoat, T-

shirt,“granny” glasses, love-beads,
droopymustache, and long hair–almost a
uniformfor musicians and their hangers-
on in thelate sixties.

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 The T-shirt, another mili
tary garment thatquickly
gained a place in the
wardrobes of
returning GIs, was
given a huge boost

Fabric designed by Emilio Pucci in thelate atthe turn of theA number of

sixties. Sharp, brilliantly glowing "acid"colors young talents diedtragically at the

became a trademark of Italy’s noteddesigner. pinnacle of theircareers,including JanisJoplin, OtisRedding, Jimi

Hendrix, andBrian Jones. For the first time,marijuana and

Jimi Hendrix, psychedelic standard-bearerand hallucinogens like LSD, previouslylimited to a small circle of

probably the best electric guitarist inthe world, artists and musicians, were beingmore widely used. It was a time of

died at the height of his famein 1970. boundless experimentation in the arts,lifestyle, and fashion—
epitomized by Bob Dylan’s album Blonde on Blonde.

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 Oz was one of the most famous of theunderground
magazines of the late sixties,featuring psychedelic
graphics coupled withthe early writings of

Bold as Love
Germaine Greer, CliveJames, and others.

Psychedelic music took its inspiration from everywhere—the blues, jazz, Janis Joplin, one of the troubledcasualties of

rock,electronic music, Indian music and even the classical tradition. One of 1960s free-wheelingpermissiveness, at the

the era’siconic figures was guitarist and singer Jimi Hendrix.Hendrix had Woodstock festivalin 1969.

begun his career as a backup musician for rhythm and bluessingers like Little
Richard. He found stardom after he moved to London in 1966,capturing the
hearts and minds of London’s underground club circuit. He laterreturned to
the United States, causing a sensation at the Monterey Pop Festivalwith his
onstage guitar-burning routine.

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 Also a trendsetter in his dress, Hendrix’s colorful andexotic shirts
and vests, boots, wide-brimmed hats andelaborate jewelry were
frequently photographed by fashionmagazines. But many saw
Hendrix as a “wild man” and adangerous Pied Piper, whose
appearance alone was enoughto start teenagers on a rampage of
drugs, long hair, and loudmusic. Hendrix was to die under
mysterious circumstancesin 1970.Janis Joplin, with her own brand
of raw energy and astrong, gutsy voice influenced by early blues
singers, was thefemale personification of the psychedelic period.
Just asoutrageous as Jimi Hendrix in

her lifestyle, she seemed on theverge of international stardom at the time of her
Four bright young things of the late sixtieson a
death in 1970.Graphic artists like Peter Max also acquired a taste for psychedelia.
country weekend, all printed velvet,embroidery,
Therewas a broad turning away from self-conscious minimalism and Op Art
and floppy scarves.
towardfantasies that used vivid “acid” colors and cartoon imagery. Posters and,
aboveall, album covers reflected this trend.
The Beatles meet their cardboard alteregos in a
Sgt. Pepper
publicity shot for the movie Yellow Submarine
Male dress was becoming increasingly fancy and feminine, with flouncy shirts
(1968), which cleverly packagedthe psychedelic
influorescent colors, brightly printed neck scarves, and beaded belts. The
mood for the mass market.Although they
Beatles’costumes on the
began their flower powerphase in these
Sgt. Pepper
designer outfits, by thefollowing year the
album jacket (1967) are a classic example of psychedelic dress for men—brightly
Beatles were dressingmore like the average
colored old-style military uniforms, in whichthe band posed like flower-power
hippie next door.
Napoleons. In making even these kinds of clothes into a psychedelic statement, the
Beatles undercut a stronghold of masculine conformity. Appearing at the height of
the Vietnam War, thesignificance of these freaked-out uniforms would not have been
lost on fans.Fashion designers responded to the psychedelic mood by
strengtheningtheir colors. Bright and bold purpleand orange flower prints on
velvetfabrics were made into tight-fittingtrousers for men. The trend wascompletely i

nternational. Italiandesigner Emilio

Pucci gave his clothesboth a richness
of color and brilliantpatterns, making
use of newly devisedstretch fabrics in
his tight-fittingdresses and
trousers.Fiorucci developed an
equallyyouthful approach to fashion,
usingpop styles to create his own
particularbrand of chic. Bright colors
andanimal prints on dresses and
skirtsremained his hallmark even in
theeighties. Psychedelia lives on.

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FLOWER POWER
GOES HIGHFASHION
The Hippie Dream
The original hippies living in San Francisco in the mid-sixties could not
haveimagined that by the end of the decade, their crazy style of dressing
would havebecome high fashion. Theirs was an “anti-style,” which rejected
the whole workethic of Western society along with its conformist clothing.
Hippies had shockedand intrigued with their communal lifestyles, belief in
free love, and experimentswith drugs. Tourists flocked to San Francisco’s
Haight-Ashbury neighborhood tosee these strange beings in sandals and
caftans, handing out flowers as symbolsof peace and love. Others talked of an
alternative society and of establishing self-supporting rural communities of
like-minded people.In complete contrast to the clean, geometric lines of the
“space-age” look,hippies decorated everything, even painting their bodies. A happy hippie wedding, 1968.

The psychedelic, theethnic, and a romanticized view of the past all jostled
together. The hippie Members of Hog Farm Commune, El Rito,New
Mexico taking part in the Fourthof July Parade
in 1969.

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 woman would not wear a teasing miniskirt, but a floor-length skirt
Shopping at the Apple boutique in early1969 was a new
accessorizedwith love beads and bells. The hippie man, with flowing robe and
experience, but it proved tobe a fleeting retail
long, loosehair, presented much the same outline, challenging society’s ideas
revolution.
aboutmasculinity. “You can’t tell the boys from the girls!” was the outraged
response.But it wasn’t necessary to be a full-time hippie. By 1967—the
“Summerof Love”—the fashionable youth of America and Europe had taken
up the hippielook, although not always the hippie way of life. In an era of
increasing affluence,they could afford to show contempt for money while
continuing to work.Hair, the“tribal love-rock musical,” opened on Broadway
in April 1968 and then went onto London, proving a smash hit everywhere.

Hair and Hemlines

Everyone started to grow their hair long. By 1969, even the well-groomed
Twiggywanted hers to her waist. Long hair on boys, however, was often
discouraged orbanned in schools. The Beatles continued to grow their hair
still longer, and theyadopted not only hippie fashions but much of the hippie
philosophy. In January1968, they set up Apple Corps Ltd., an attempt to
organize business on terms of complete trust. The Apple boutique in London
opened to great fanfare and thefashions were featured in
Vogue, but it closed before the end of the year withhuge losses.

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The long maxi-skirt, a hippie spin-off, aroused much the
same anger asthe mini. Many girls cashed in on this by
flaunting both fashions, wearing theshortest of skirts under
the longest of coats.

The Designer Hippie

Paris designers flung themselves into the new mood
withenthusiasm. The hippies’ cheap, flamboyant clothes
weretransformed into expensive designer wear embraced by
theestablishment. The ready-to-wear collections of
January1967 were full of oriental touches—striped
djellabas, haremdresses, tent dresses, rajah coats, and
Nehru jackets, all infine wools and exotic silks.Jewelry
collections for men were launched for wearover loose,
billowing shirts and wide-bottomed velvettrousers. The
look was soft and feminine. For women, YvesSaint Laurent
produced long highwayman coats. Everyonecould dress up Those who couldn’t afford a Bentley likeJohn Lennon’s

in the style of another country, another age,another sex. just repainted their VWBeetle.

Anti-fashion had become the biggest fashion of all.By 1969,

hard-and-fast rules no longer seemed to

exist. Some designers,notably

Courrèges, persevered with the short,
sharp mini, and the “space-age”look
was given a new lease on life when
Apollo 11 landed men on the moon.
Butmost people began to subscribe to
the hippie ideal of “doing your own
thing.”“The length of your skirt is how
you feel this moment,” reported
Vogue
. Thedesigners agreed, and the
New York’s Velvet Underground
finalcollections of the sixties embraced
gainedpop culture’s ultimate seal of
themicro-skirt and the maxi, along
approval withthis album cover by artist
with thecompromise midi. Anti-fashion
and style guruAndy Warhol.
hadtriumphed in a roundabout way,
andnothing would ever be quite the
sameagain.

The inspiration for this caftan, designedby Vancetti for

spring 1969, may have beenTurkey, but the hairstyle is
undeniablyAfrican.

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To enjoy the best of both worlds, a girlwent for the shortest of minis under one ofthe new-length maxi-coats.

301