A Brush with History: John Singer Sargent , Boston Public Library, August 1999.
Gowns from Collection of Quincy Historical Society, Quincy, MA.
Text and captions
by Kathleen McDermott, historian of fashion and society.
Dressing for Social Change: 1900 to 1925
In this exhibition, 14 dresses embody the history of fashion from 1900 to 1925,
and tell the larger story of changing social roles for American women. During
these first two decades, women's rights expanded, and their clothes reflected
their new activities and changing status. The women who wore these dresses began
the 20th century bound, for the most part, to their homes and families, then
worked in men's places during World War I and, finally, voted for the first
time as American citizens in the 1920s.
The earliest of the dresses on exhibit, as well as the two children's gowns,
are reminiscent of those worn by the girls in John Singer Sargent's 1885 painting
Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. Like dresses in the painting, these "Edwardian
whites" evoke a world of unhurried leisure in midsummer gardens. These
lacy, frilly, feminine garments--the standard summer uniforms of girls and younger
women--were called "lingerie" dresses because their decoration and
trimmings resembled women's undergarments of the period. However, women wore
their "lingerie" dresses over tight-fitting corsets that nipped their
waist and squeezed their bodies into exaggerated S-curves. Although some middle-class
women were already entering the workforce and others were devoting themselves
to good works and progressive causes, most were staying close to home.
The peaceful world evoked in Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose irrevocably changed
in April of 1917, when the United States entered the war against Germany. Women
began filling jobs that soldiers left behind, working in armaments factories,
directing traffic, operating elevators, and fixing automobiles. To fulfill these
functions, they adopted looser, practical clothes whose lines were more linear
and less frilly. Parisian couture, brought to a wider audience of American women
through wartime newsreels and national magazines, had already, by 1910, done
away with the corset and introduced freer styles based on Oriental, Russian,
and classical motifs. The later garments on exhibit, dating from 1914 to 1922,
show how the dress silhouette changed from an S-curve to a straighter, more
tunic-like shape.
In June 1919, after the war ended, Congress passed the 19th Amendment, giving
women the right to vote. During the next decade, they took to the road in Model
T Fords and to speakeasies in defiance of Prohibition. Fashion in the Roaring
Twenties--best exemplified by the short flapper sheath--vividly expressed the
new personal freedom of the modern woman.
Individual Dress Captions
1. 1905-1906. White lace dress with high, boned collar.
Beneath this dress, the woman of 1905 wore a corset that stretched from her
underarms to hipbone, a cotton corset cover, underdrawers, and a full-length
petticoat.
QHS 88.107.1
3. 1908. Pink cotton dress with white lace.
The corset pushed the bodice forward, so that it bloused over the tiny waistline.
The skirt gathered in the back over a slightly protruding rear end, all of which
combined to create a silhouette that resembled, in profile, the letter S.
QHS 78.375
5. 1909-1912. White dress with crochet decoration.
Washable "lingerie" dresses were the favored attire for summer and
resort wear. Women wore more lavish versions of these garments in the spring
and fall, decorated with ornate and varied trimmings.
QHS 76.46
7. 1909-1912. Cream cotton dress with crochet decoration.
At the same time that the pinched waist disappeared and dresses began to flow
in a more relaxed, straighter line, ornamentation grew less frilly and more
tailored and linear.
QHS 77.98
9. 1914-1915. White silk dress with black silk overlay, white floral patterns,
red silk rose.
The same Asian influences that inspired Impressionist painters at the end of
the 19th century deeply affected fashion in the early 20th century. In this
dress, the shape of the collar, the wide sleeves, the asymmetrical draping of
the tunic layer, and the wide belt placed higher than the natural waistline
all allude to the Japanese kimono.
QHS .1165
11. 1917-1920. Cream silk dress, with beadwork design and train.
The Empire revival of the early 20th century invoked the "chiton"
of classical Greece. In this wartime dress, probably a wedding gown, the waist
is gathered gently beneath the breast and the garment falls in a straight, narrow
column.
QHS 68.102.1
13. and 14. 1900-1910. Two children's smocks.
In first two decades of the 20th century, girls of all ages wore "lingerie"
dresses decorated with embroidery, smocking, and lace. Boys dressed identically
to girls until they reached three or four, when they changed to rompers and,
when a little older, to knickers.
QHS 74.193
2. 1905-07. Cream silk and lace dress with high, boned collar.
The turn-of-the-century American beauty was ample and curvaceous. Prevailing
wisdom also found her more marriageable-because of her sweeter nature and better
humor-than her thinner rivals.
QHS 75.430
4. 1909. Cream linen dress with filigree at neck and cuffs and embossed pattern
on body.
When the high, boned collar went out of style, religious leaders were outraged
that women showed their necks during the day, while health experts predicted
an increase in pneumonia and tuberculosis.
QHS 63.48E
6. 1909-1912. White cotton and lace dress with double skirt.
Women in "lingerie" dresses were a favorite subject of Impressionist
painters, such as Mary Cassatt, who loved to capture the effect of sunlight
on white fabric.
QHS 73.270
8. 1910. Cream silk dress with embossed floral pattern and peach-colored trim.
Net and beadwork neckline.
The Asian influences in early 20th century fashion derive from fine and decorative
art trends of the late 19th century. The fabric of this dress resembles Chinese
damasks, and the shape of the collar, the sleeves, and the overall line of the
dress alludes to Japanese kimonos.
QHS 65.01B2
10. 1914-1918. Dress of orchid colored silk with overhanging lace network.
Shoulder straps of beadwork.
In keeping with the Empire revival suggested by this dress, women abandoned
the high, wide, "pompadour" hairstyle for one gathered closer to the
head and curled into the new "permanent waves."
QHS 68.143D
12. 1922. Beige silk dress with lace net sleeves and decoration.
The 1920s fashion silhouette was thin and boyish. A flapper's undergarments
helped create this look and also underscored her freedom from convention: a
"bandeau" brassiere designed to flatten the breasts and a light rubber
girdle to slim the hips.
QHS
Special thanks to Nancy Rexford, Curator, Danvers Historical Society, for assistance
in dating garments.
Sources: Batterberry, Fashion: The Mirror of History (New York: Greenwich House, 1977); Milbank, New York Fashion: The Evolution of American Style (New York: Abrams, 1989); Tortora and Eubank, Survey of Historic Costume, 3rd Ed. (New York: Fairchild, 1998).