Women History Sexism Fashion Is Freedom
Feminism's Effect on Fashion
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August 28, 1977
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"If a woman came to my office 15 years ago wearing pants," says Dr. Mildred Newman, a well‐known psychoanalyst, "I regarded if, in true Freudian tradition , every bit behavior to be analyzed." In those faraway, pre‐feminist clays, a woman walking around in pants was considered to be "unfeminine," and the psychoanalyst'due south burrow could he the setting for an examination of her "identity problems."
No more. Today, women come to visit Dr. Newman dressed the aforementioned way t hey might get anywhere else — wearing pants, jeans, knickers, neckties and maybe even dresses. "And no one finds it odd," says Dr. Newman. "In fact, it'southward very concenter ive."
Bonny and—in the fullest sense of the word —liberated. "Until 15 years ago," Dr. Newman adds, "I lived the life of a liberated woman in every respect except dress. It would never have occurred to me to wear pants to the function." Most whatsoever adult female over the age of 35 has t he aforementioned sort of memories. Before the early sixties we used to dress to conform to the dictates of fashion and to wait "proper" for the occasion. If we did wear something out of the ordinary, it was considered very daring.
Manner was truly a dictator in those days and women accepted information technology. If our legs and ankles froze in the wintertime it was Is cause pants, thick stockings and boots were non "in." Our necks were exposed and nosotros defenseless colds considering mufflers and scarves were merely for school children. If we were expiring from the heat in the summer, we still wore our girdles and stockings and cinched in our waists — information technology was "the look." If we had no bust, we wore padded brassieres because every woman was supposed to take properly rounded, pointed‐up breasts. If nosotros had a lot of items to behave, we were lucky the stores provided paper shopping bags as there were no totes, no armfreeing shoulder numberless. Any woman who was unsure of herself on a manner level — and there were thousands and thousands of them — could he made to feel truly miserable if dressed I he wrong way for a chore, a cocktail party, a seated dinner.
We can thank the women's movement for changing all that By giving women the courage to limited their individuality, the move buried that old chestnut that "clothes brand the woman." From 1970 on, it became stylish for "the adult female to make the clothes." Gloria Steinem believes that that twelvemonth's rebellion against the midi‐brim was the crucial turning betoken in American fashion. "When we were told to surrender our mini‐skirts for midis," she says, "there was a semi‐witting boycott on the part of American women. We were fed up with being manipulated. We at present wanted to brand our own decisions on hundreds of things, non have them handed down from on loftier."
Not the to the lowest degree of the things almost which women wanted to make upward their own minds was what they wore. And since the debacle of the midi‐skirt, that is exactly what they take been doing. Gone forever are the days when "they" — whoever "they" were—dictated a colour, a await, a skirt length. The early 1970'south was the period that was referred to — erroneously, I believe — as the anti‐style time. The young wore blueish jeans and shirts with no bras, and women seeking to express their individuality wore pants. Information technology was the beginning of the great sportswear era. What women wanted and bought were separate items — sweaters, shirts, jackets — to put together themselves equally they saw fit.
Those "separates" went with pants. And dresses generally were considered past liberated women to he out ré Particularly in fashion‐conscious cities like New York, dresses languished on the racks during the first flush of the women'southward movement. It was considered "in" to he casual and unconcerned about manner. But, in fact, nigh women were, every bit always. fascinated with apparel. Simply they wanted them on their own terms.
Ii American designers who started their businesses in the tumultuous late sixties — and have catapulted to the top in the seventies — are Ralston and Calvin Klein. They understood exactly what American women wanted. "I don't know any woman who doesn't want to expect good," says Halston. "The anti‐manner is for people who can't get it together or are disinterested in themselves. Remember, we are all wearing signs; the way we dress lets people know where our caput is at, all the time. And the modern woman is smarter than nosotros call back. She thinks out her wearing apparel and she dresses fur what she wants. If she wants to look orderly, to blend in, during the solar day, she does. And at night, if she wants to expect bonny, available, provocative, she does. Never in history take there been more offerings at every price level for women to make their choices."
Calvin Klein was instantly successful with dress that were influenced by menswear — pants, tailored coats and jackets. "10, years ago a woman wore pants every bit a way of showing daring and security in herself," he says. "Now, it's nu longer necessary. Women take the security and don't accept to display it. Now, women want to look very feminine and soft."
A twelvemonth ago, Klein, who has the power to sense what women want before they know it, designed a fall collection that, of course, had pants— plus a lot of longer, fuller skirts and looser tops. Everything was softer, less tailored. The collection was not understood by anybody, stores and printing included. "Simply it was the biggest autumn season we ever had," says Klein. "My job is to understand women, not stores." Klein'south autumn '77 dress have no traces of menswear tailoring. Jackets, blouses, skirts, shirts, and pants are all of soft fabrics, like cashmere, crepe‐de‐chine, charmeuse, brushed flannel, thin velvet.
Which brings u.s.a. to the dress. Dresses never completely disappeared, despite the fall off in sales. There are millions of American women who yet live a not‐liberated life and put themselves together just as they did in the fifty's. Simply the dress is at present making a improvement in the wardrobes of many of the women who discarded it for pants and separates. With less of a demand to display their liberated status, women take come up to realize that the right kind of a soft dress can make them feel feminine. In the summer, the sundress is not only cool, it'southward sexy, too. And young women like dresses because they are something new in their lives.
The renaissance of the apparel owes much to Diane von Furstenberg. 7 years ago she started her 7th Artery wholesale business concern based on an ingenuously simple printed jersey wrap clothes. Its practicality attracted the pants wearer, besides as the conservative. Today, that dress is an American archetype. "Women are working, are busy, their lives accept changed completely," she says. "I felt there was a demand for this daughter who worked. She needed something that reflected her, not the designer, something very pretty, easy, comfortable — sexy in a way. It didn't matter how many you saw on the streets, the individual personality of whoever put it on came through."
Some other element in the success of the Diane von Furstenberg dress was that it shows off the body —in a overnice way. Women want to emphasize their bodies, they want to show legs, bosoms. At that place is an element of wholesome sexuality about today'southward fashion; women are proud of their bodies. The boom in the dazzler business organization, exercise salons and health spas across the country is proof of it. Information technology is no accident that clothes made in crepe‐de‐chine, cashmere, jersey. thin satin — fabrics that fall naturally on the body and are soft and sensuous against the body— are immensely popular.
Even hair has been "liberated." Clean, healthy, well‐cut hair has become equally much of a statement as the clothes a woman puts on. The current fashion is to allow nature take its course and to let the hair hang, or kink, the way information technology wants. Many of us who admire everything else most women'due south liberation's upshot on fashion are balking at this one, but Diane von Furstenberg, in one case noted for her long, black, direct hair, is a catechumen. "Imagine, information technology took me 30 years of my life earlier I would permit people see its natural wave," she says. Now her thick hair is a mass of crinkles. "You lot tin't imagine the liberty of washing it in the shower, letting information technology dry on the way to work, and then never thinking nigh it once again. I feel wonderful."
Today, the manner revolution wrought by the women'southward movement seems complete. Women dress to please themselves, for their piece of work, their life, the weather condition, and, about of all, to express their ain inner beauty and sexuality. The truly well‐organized women accept worked out a sort of "uniform" manner of putting themselves together attractively but efficiently. For one woman it might be sweaters, shirts and skirts, a dress, pants plus a few sensational looks for evening. Very few women buy i thing to wear for but one occasion; that is considered conspicuous consumption.
The chances are that women over 35 probably look younger today than women of their age ever looked before. Certainly, and sadly, those who have let the fashion liberation motion pass them by, the ones who have stayed with their potent little dresses and teased‐up, bundled pilus, look older than their years. The proof is in photographs, of yourself if you are a liberated woman, or of famous personalities who accept moved with the times. in 15 years, Jacqueline Onassis, who epitomizes style to millions of American women, has moved from the cookie‐cutter paper-thin dresses and arranged bouffant hairdos of her White House days, to silk shirts, pants and flowing, straight hair. Recently, friends report, she has taken to wearing skirts and very loftier heeled, sexy sandals. At present, will she move on to letting her naturally curly hair show? Nosotros'll run across. ■
The chances are that women over 35 probably look younger today than women of their age ever looked before.
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