During this time, women were beginning to assert themselves within the society. Urbanization brought forth new jobs as well as more leisure time for women, which meant women needed new types of clothes. They needed practical work clothes as well as nice clothes to go out to the movies or the amusement parks. New jobs and wages for women, new merchandising techniques, and an increase of mass consumption caused a lot more women to become concerned with their own personal style. Fashion used to be a luxury to only the upper class, but now with all of this availability coming from department stores, catalogues, and other urban resources the middle class could take part in distinctive styles. Now almost every home was built with clothes closets, not just the rich ones.
How did they dress? In the 1870s they wore very high neck lines, with layered blouses, dresses that touched the floor, and their hair up. They dressed this way because it was though of "generally unhealthy and unvirtuous"(Source 7) for women to show their chests and bodies. This conservative style ties back to The Free Love Movement that was going on during the 1870s. This was a movement that women were trying to get rid of the discriminating sexual laws, marriage laws, and anti-birth control measures (Source 6). They dressed this way because in this society they did not own their bodies, their husbands did. It continued to be this way, but got a little better year by year. In the 1880s women began wearing corsets to emphasize an hour glass figure, but they still had high neck lines with puffy sleeves that "limited close contact"(Source 7). They began to break away from these norms in the 1890s, they no longer wore a bustle, and showed their toes. The progress is minor, but it represents that as time went on women became more and more independent.
Women followed many trends at this time, because magazines and catalogues were becoming available. Fashion was always changing, but they stayed on top of it and made frequent purchases. They knew what was popular because they could read about it, and they could go get it because department stores were everywhere. Shopping was becoming a lot easier, and so was following fashion. The Ladies' Home Journal was a very influential and popular journal during this time. It influenced them to do what they wanted and "promoted women's interest in beauty and fashion, home decoration, sewing and cooking"(Source 5). Another very influential part of women's lives during this time that they found in magazines was the "Gibson Girl". This woman was "an artist's idealized concept of American womanhood"(Source 1). She was drawn on many different advertisement and was a huge role model for fashion within women. She was always very well dressed, skinny, and beautiful, and every woman wanted to be like her. The exposure of urban life aspects such as magazines and catalogues allowed women to follow trends from around the world and inspired them to be fashionable.
Women played a major role in consumerism during urbanization because they were the main consumers of the family. Also, innovations such as apartment buildings, sewing machines, and department stores allowed them more time for themselves because it sped up the consumer process. Women who lived in apartment buildings had "easy access to urban transportation and proximity to such attractions as department stores and restaurants"(Source 3). Sometimes apartments even came with a maid service, so women could spend less time cleaning and more time making clothes and shopping. Women were the ones using the new sewing machines, and they were the ones that went to the department stores that had anything and everything. I think that clothing was where women of this time felt a sense of power and department stores were a place where they could feel free. Their new found leisure time thanks to urbanization allowed them to become more and more involved in the clothing world. New jobs such as mass producing clothes, being store clerks and running department stores(and how much women shopped) led to the creation of the National Consumers League. This league tried to "mobilize the power of women as consumers to force retailers and manufacturers to improve wages and working conditions for women"(Source 2). Women used urbanization to their advantage and worked hard to establish themselves in society through their importance in consumerism.
All of the advancements during this time allowed women to have a lot more access to the outside world. They found jobs other than being a mother and a wife, found pride being a consumer, and were able to follow many fashion trends thanks to the introduction of the city life. They might not have had a lot of power, but choosing outfits was a step to gaining more rights.Women desired to dress nice and look pretty, it was their way of exercising their agencies within their constraints. Clothing was their way of expressing themselves, and they found many ways within the industry to make themselves important. Urbanization was a time for advancement in both women's rights and women's fashion. Without all of these innovations and movements from 1870-1814, there is no telling what I would be wearing or what rights I would have as a woman.
All of the advancements during this time allowed women to have a lot more access to the outside world. They found jobs other than being a mother and a wife, found pride being a consumer, and were able to follow many fashion trends thanks to the introduction of the city life. They might not have had a lot of power, but choosing outfits was a step to gaining more rights.Women desired to dress nice and look pretty, it was their way of exercising their agencies within their constraints. Clothing was their way of expressing themselves, and they found many ways within the industry to make themselves important. Urbanization was a time for advancement in both women's rights and women's fashion. Without all of these innovations and movements from 1870-1814, there is no telling what I would be wearing or what rights I would have as a woman.
Gibson Girl- Picture of Gibson Girl and a description of who she was.
January 1895 issue of Ladies' Home Journal - A popular and influential magazine during this time period for women.
A woman and her daughter board a streetcar on Manhattan's Broadway line in 1913 - Showed me how women were dressed, and implied the responsibilities of a woman to take care of their children.
Woman wearing a corset
1873 Peterson’s Fashion Plate - Women wearing bustles and hats (1870s)
Sources:
1. The Fabulous Century 1900-1910 A book about these years that I learned the expectations and styles of women.
2. History Textbook Chapter 18 Gave me a basic knowledge of the urbanization going on, and the impact on women’s lifestyle.
3. Apartment Buildings An article about apartment buildings, said how they affected women’s lifetsyle.
5. Ladies' Home Journal - Informed me about an impacting journal on women during this time.
6.Free Love Movement Told me about the women’s rights movements going on during the time of urbanization.
7.Everyday Life: Fashion An overview of the fashion of women from the 1870s to the 1900s.
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