Client Analysis with 1940s Historical Context

CLIENT ANALYSIS: 1940s Historical Context My client is a seventeen-­‐year-­‐old female, a straight-­‐A student at her rigorous, all-­‐ girls, college-­‐prep school, and she is a player on the varsity lacrosse team. She takes AP Calculus, AP Government, AP French, as well as other impressive classes. She has applied to several colleges on the East Coast, such as Bucknell University, Syracuse University, and her top choice, The University of Virginia. She was born and raised Catholic, but does not always go to church. Each Saturday, she volunteers for a few hours at a nursing home.

There, she talks and plays games with the elderly, who always love it when she visits them.

Although she is not old enough to vote, she considers herself to be more of a democrat than a republican. She is also a member of the Politics Club. She drives each day to school her navy blue Honda CR-­‐V. Her schedule is so busy during the school-­‐week, so she spends her weekends doing fun activities, such as going shopping at the mall or hanging out with friends at a party. She also has a black kitten named Coco. Her bedroom walls are painted aqua and her furniture, which is from Pottery Barn Teen, is white. She decorated her room herself.

My client has many favorites. Her favorite colors are pink and blue, her favorite

movie is The Notebook, and her favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird. She also loves reading Allure, Elle, and Cosmopolitan, as fun magazines are her guilty pleasure. Her favorite restaurant is Petit Louis, an expensive, but delicious, French restaurant. Each spring break, she goes to her beach house located in Palm Beach, Florida. She always brings as least two of her friends with her. After sunbathing out on the sand, her strawberry blonde hair always gets even more blonde, and her freckles intensify. When she’s living in Baltimore during the school years, she enjoys going to sporting events with her friends.

Whether it’s watching a Raven’s game or an Oriole’s game, she really enjoys supporting her home teams. Being a lacrosse player, she also thinks it important to keep in shape. She belongs to her local gym, and goes there twice a week. Her family owns a beach house in Ocean City, Maryland, and they spend every summer there. My client loves the lazy days of going to the beach, walking on the boardwalk, and, of course, enjoying the signature Maryland crabs.

My client comes from a wealthy family, and that can be seen through some of the

clothes she wears. She does not necessarily wear high fashion, but she does wear nice clothes that many would consider to be expensive. Her favorite store is J.Crew. My client adores the classic, yet fashionable items of clothing that J.Crew offers. She owns many J.Crew sundresses, shorts, bikinis, flip-­‐flops, and tops. These articles of clothing, depending on their status of being on sale or not, range in price anywhere from $19.99 to $120.00 (J.Crew, 2009). My client is very preppy: she loves madras, pink, cute and preppy prints such as palm trees or margarita glasses, etc. My client also shops at Polo Ralph Lauren, as it is the only place where she buys her large variety of colored polo shirts, which range in price from $40.00 to $150.00 (Ralph Lauren, 2009). My client also owns many dresses from Lilly Pulitzer. Whenever she goes to Palm Beach, many of her Lilly dresses go with her. Lilly Pulitzer dresses range anywhere from $80.00 to $350.00 (Lilly Pulitzer, 2009). My client always carries a navy blue Longchamp purse, and always has one pearl earring in each ear.

Her hair is always straightened, and the three shoes that she wears the most, depending on the season, are Rainbow flip flips, Sperry Top Siders, or UGGs, all of which she bought at Nordstrom (Nordstrom, 2009). Although her style seems very proper and put-­‐together, my client does enjoy staying home some weekends, lounging around the house in comfortable

sweatpants. Many of her sweatpants and sweatshirts are from her school store. Her favorite sweatshirt is a crewneck, heather gray, team sweatshirt that says “Lacrosse” in light blue print. When at lacrosse practice or at the gym, she loves to wear Nike or Under Armor. My client’s style changes depending on her location or activity, and can be considered sporty, preppy, classy, or cute. No matter what my client wears, she always looks good and confident.

The 1940s was a changing time for women in America. World War II had started

and women went from being a housewife to working in the workforce. Though women were encouraged to work or volunteer to help the troops, the roles of children and teenagers remained almost the same. However, during the forties, the idea of a college education for women became more accepted by society, but the majority of women continued to do what was expected of them, which was to marry and bear children (Murdock, 2008). Teens were encouraged to help America in the war in any possible way.

To do this, many helped by recycling newspapers, tin cans, rubbers, rags, and other scrap materials. Teenagers also purchased war bonds and war stamps in an effort to help the U.S. economy, which had plummeted due to World War II (Murdock, 2008). During the forties, teens went to high school, an afterwards, the boys either went to college, enlisted in the military, or got a job. The girls, however, met a husband and had children, or they could go to college. Also the high school curriculum varied depending on what sex one was. Boys were taught more of the academic courses, such as math, science, and English, while girls were taught more home economics courses than academic ones, although many did learn some math, science, and English (Murdock, 2008).

The fashion during the 1940s changed due to the new roles that women started to fill in American society. First and foremost, the fabrics that clothing was made from changed drastically due to new rules and regulations regarding not using expensive or excessive fabrics in an attempt to save money in during a difficult time (The People’s History, 2009). During the forties, women “discontinued their usage of silks and wools and started to wear viscose and rayon” (Stratford, 2009). Nylon was also worn during the forties. Clothing was not the only aspect of fashion that had fabric changes, as heels were also starting to be made out of less expensive materials, such as cork or wood. Sometimes, women even used existing fabrics or materials that they already owned. For example, nightgowns could be turned into wedding dresses, and sheets could be worn as skirts (Stratford, 2009). Dresses in general became much simpler since most Americans were trying to save their money. The styles of clothing also changed. Dresses hems were shortened to knee-­‐length, and many had shoulder pads, which gave a triangular silhouette (Olian, 1992). Baby-­‐doll dresses also became popular, and the halter-­‐top was created during this time. Sportswear became common, and women would mix and match their separates in an attempt to give their simple outfits a little more oomph. Hats became popular, and were diverse because they were made from existing fabrics that one owned.

Along with homemade hats, homemade accessories and the usage of curlers enabled women to add flair to their outfits in a low-­‐cost manner. Lipstick was worn on most women, as it displayed the femininity of their looks (The People’s History, 2009).

While helping out during the war, women wore overalls or trousers and boots, which were new for women in a way, as they had never been accepted by society before.

Women had always been accustomed to wearing dresses and heels before this time. The

war clothes did not flatter the women’s silhouette, but their curled hair, which was held back by a scarf, and lipstick enabled them to continue to look good (Arns, 2009). Rosie the Riveter modeled the women worker during the war. An inspiration to many women, she helped women realize their worth in helping out, which then increased the amount of women who left their usual homemaker job to help the troops. Women knew that when volunteering, they efforts were more important than how were they were perceived physically. Women’s priorities went “from beautifying oneself to helping America succeed in the war” (Murdock, 2008).

For women during the forties, eveningwear was rarely worn. However, if one did own an evening gown, the gown was long, but not as elaborate as the previous decades.

Cocktail dresses became more common during this time. When women went dancing, knee-­‐length rayon dresses were usually worn, and if one did not own stockings, she would paint seams down her legs to make it appear that she was in fact wearing them (Arns, 2009).

The cultural events during the forties influenced women by helping them realize their importance to society. Trousers started to become socially acceptable, although most women still wore dresses when they were not working. More women started to attend college to educate themselves, and more women sought jobs, although many women decided to go back to being a housewife. The forties sparked new roles for women that continue to be filled even today.

If my client lived in the forties, she would definitely fit. Because she volunteers each Saturday, she would postpone her dream of going to college to help out during the war by working to ensure America’s success. At first, she may be hesitant to wear such manly

clothes, but she will soon understand that helping others is more important than looking pretty. That being said, she will still do her hair nicely, although this time it would be curly, not straight, and she would paint her nails, wax her eyebrows, and wear lipstick. As mentioned earlier, she looks good no matter what she wears. Although she would help the troops, she would still have fun being a seventeen-­‐year old. She and her friends would not go to the mall, but they would buy stamps and war bonds instead. Although her school requires their students to wear a uniform, she would wear rayon dresses on the weekends.

She would not wear evening gowns, but if she were invited to an evening party, she would wear a cocktail dress, heels, and stockings. In school, my client would try to take as many academic classes as possible, while also taking her required home economics classes. Being the ambitious young lady that my client is, she would go to college after the war was over to get the most out of her education. She would still read books, and would read magazines such as Life, since today’s popular magazines did not yet exist. On the weekends, my client would go dancing with her friends, as she is social and has many friends. Her clothing would be of acceptable quality, even though her family may have money, most people were not as fortunate, and my client would not want to show off any expensive articles of clothing that she may own. My client would be just as confident, successful, and happy living in the forties as she does in the 2000s.

Works Cited: 1. The People’s History. (2009). More Than Seventy Years of History of Fashion.

Retrieved November 30, 2009, from

http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/fashions.html.

2. Stratford, S.J. (2009). Women’s Fashions 1940s. Retrieved November 30, 2009,

from http://womens-­‐

fashion.lovetoknow.com/Women's_Fashion_1940's.

3. Arns, Dave. (2009). Guide to 1940s Dance Fashion. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from http://arnspub.com/dance/LindyClothes/.

4. Olian, JoAnne. (1992). Everyday Fashions of the Forties. New York. New York Press.

5. Murdock, Theresa. (2008). History: USA: 1940-­‐1950. Retrieved November 30,

2009, from http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/history/vl/1940s/.

6. J.Crew. (2009). The Women’s Shop. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from

http://www.jcrew.com/AST/Navigation/Women.jsp.

7. Nordstrom. (2009). Nordstrom. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from

www.nordstrom.com.

8. Ralph Lauren. (2009). Ralph Lauren. Retrieved December 2, 2009, from

www.ralphlauren.com.

9. Lilly Pulitzer. (2009). Lilly Pulitzer. Retrieved December 2, 2009, from www.lillypulitzer.com.

10. Flickr. (2009). Original 1940s Photos. Retrieved December 2, 2009, from

http://www.flickr.com/groups/36236446@N00/.

11. Flickr. (2009). Elderly Photos. Retrieved December 2, 2009, from

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=elderly.

12. Stuff 4 The Beach. (2009). Beach Chairs. Retrieved December 2, 2009, from

http://www.stuff4thebeach.com/beachchairs.html.

Laura Schneider AMID-­‐R 100 Client Dual Period Wardrobe Project Seat # E-­‐5 December 8, 2009