In the 20th century, women usually were only allowed to work in the textile or clothing industry where they would be paid lower wages than men. However, during World War 2, women were allowed to work in the labor-force and fill in men’s jobs during wartime. This unfortunately changed when men came back from the war and resumed their jobs. Women were disrespected and were forced to go back home and resume their domestic housewife activities of baking and sewing. This in turn sparked the start of the Women’s liberation movement in order to change the traditional culture.
At the FIT Museum, Food and Fashion exhibit, women’s roles in society were portrayed through the usage of a food, most commonly the cake, to demonstrate how women were expected to be seen as girly and sweet. Examples of this are seen through Nancy Haggerty’s, “Embellished pumps” (1932), Balenciaga’s “Organdy and lace hat with pink roses” (1955), and Bergdorf Goodman’s “Lace pillbox hat with pink bow” (1965) where all three decorate accessories with ruffles, beading, and embroidery. The decorations represent piping designs and frothy layers that resemble a cake that connected women to being sweet, dainty, and cute. This perception was fueled by the roles women were expected to have during that century and used sewing techniques and pastries, common activities of women who had to stay at home. These pieces show the evolution of formality and femininity pre-war and how women made a breakthrough in the fashion industry despite mens callousness.
Cultural representation can be expressed in fashion in various ways. Through these pieces at the museum, I was able to interpret the breakthrough of women’s role and presence in the 20th century where women branched away from traditional values of being a stay at home wife/mom and decided to fight for equality in the work industry and society. These pieces used traditional colors and aspects of women, like pink and cake, to show the generalization of women and what they were expected to be. Additionally, these pieces used traditional activities of women, like sewing and baking, to make a complex creation that would be unexpected of a woman to do in a mens view.
In different languages, there even exists feminine and masculine foods, which is interesting to analyze as well. I wonder if some of the artists drew from their own languages and cultures to depict foods in these different ways on their clothing and fashion. I would definitely be inspired to create my own line using this concept!
I also found this theme in the exhibit really thought-provoking, and I really liked how you were able to discuss the history of war and how the role of men and women were maintained in some ways. It’s interesting how these role are visible through things like fashion and food.
I adored the way you mentioned the history and how it relates to the women. It was kind of interesting and sad to see how women were portrayed in that time and society has treated them as tempting. Your writing has shown a lot of interesting points and I enjoyed it while reading it.