How World War I and World War II influenced womens fashions
Pictures of women in World War I and World War II. How early feminism and wars influenced women’s fashions.
Pictures of women in World War I and World War II. How early feminism and wars influenced women’s fashions.
This is a very interesting article in the 1950s pinup magazine about the history of how politics and politicians shaped women’s fashions during the first half of the 20th century. The early feminist movement asked for many changes, among them suffrage, easy divorce, property laws, and equal education. This resulted in a fashion trends that were mannish, including the no-curves, flat chested, flapper girl of the 1920s. This article goes on to call Victoria Claflin Woodhull a “political freak” (who ran for presidency in 1872), and pacifist Jeanette Rankin whose only winning two terms in congress corresponded with declarations of war (1917 and 1941). The caption under Woodhull says that she ran on a free love ticket.
Zizi V. totally owned the WWII WAC uniform. She was my third and last model to wear it. My first retro shoot with Anita had all the awkwardness of a first-time (everything), which made for very authentic emotions. With this third shoot in the WAC uniform, I was more confident and explored beyond the studio to the front room and outdoors (where the natural light was perfect). We played more with the set, even in the studio, and the pictures just turned out different. I think that the outdoor and natural light photos turned out looking like 1940s era snapshots and candids.
Back in 2011, I got to borrow this World War II Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC and later WAC) uniform with matching garrison cap from a local historical society.
This was my first shoot for the Carondelet Historical Society, and the first picture from this first shoot is my favorite.