For my paper I chose to explore the difference of 1940’s masculine war time fashion and 1950’s feminine post World War II fashion. My major is photography however I am extremely interested in fashion as well. I was adopted so using an old family photo was a bit difficult for me. My research started by browsing through the Vogue archive covers of issues during the 40’s. My favorite class was studying about Utility rules and the difference of silhouette when the New Look was introduced. The photo I chose was the cover of Vogue released on September 15th 1945. This particular image was striking to be because the dress the model is wearing is stunning and I really liked the candid aspect. I wanted to chose a photo that showed a wartime dress however one that had structure and style. Within my paper I wrote about the two decades and compared them. This photo was a starting point that introduced the idea of women during the war making their own dresses instead of buying them. The dress featured on the cover was not a brand name couture dress. It was a stylish home made dress. After writing about the background of what happened during the 40’s and the fashion that was worn during that time I wrote about the sudden change post war. I think Dior’s New Look is extremely important in fashion history and the starting point to the rise of the feminine mystique that took over the 1950’s. Overall my essay highlighted the expectations of women within the two decades and how fashion reflects the culture of what was happening during that time.
My research process started at the New York Public library where I went to the picture room and observed and took notes on the differences between the 1940’s and 50’s fashion. I then had a meeting with one of the librarians to make sure I was using all the sources provided correctly. I mostly used Bloomsbury, the Vogue Archive and JStor as my databases. During my research process I learned that the more specific you are with your searches the better results you get when looking for ideas and quotes to cite. My research process was extensive however I feel like I found good sources to add to my essay. I really enjoyed writing this paper and learned so much about my two favorite time periods in fashion history.
Image my final essay was based on:
