Fashion Inspires American Femininity

Presenter: Julie Edwards

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 21-22

Semester: Fall

Faculty Mentor: Rim Zahra

Department: English

Funding Source/Sponsor: Class Project, SYRCE Symposium

President's Strategic Plan Goal: Diversity and Social Justice

Screenshot URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1N0I1kBhyhb97lOMUXLZLDPKynhKUlzQs

Abstract:
These crocheted dresses demonstrate different fashion trends, along with lifestyle changes that women made throughout the 1920s. The handcrafted blue dress imitates the type of clothing that a Victorian woman wore, along with her representation in society. She lived a modest life by wearing a dress, along with layers of clothing covering most of her body. This type of clothing suggests that she was told to conceal her body, and oppose sexuality in women. She was known to enter marriage and become responsible for household and motherly duties. This woman was unequal from men, and faced sexual repression. Her concealed body made it extremely difficult for new women to create new fashion quotas in the twenties. Despite this, interest in new fashion trends emerged when the flapper woman and belly dancer were created. While flapper women and belly dancers wore more revealing clothing, the lifestyles associated with them is what people desired. The creation of the red beaded dress illustrates a typical flapper woman from this time period. She began to move away from strict Victorian ideas and practiced sexual freedoms, danced to jazz music, and began taking part in gaining rights for women. Her clothing was the gateway to living this free lifestyle because it was revealing and loose fitting, which gave her body confidence along with motivation to become the independent woman she desired. In addition to this, Europeans often imagined the idea of the belly dancer through paintings and the media. People were drawn to these stereotypes because it represented that the belly dancer was mysterious and exotic. Her fashion was represented with beaded bra tops, fitted belts, and long skirts. She was sexualized by the media, and increased American femininity through her boldness and free lifestyle.