The Blouse: A Case Study in Innovation

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the Blouse Rebecca Horton, DMGT 702, 23 Apr. 2012 A case study of innovation through a look into the diffusion of two-piece women’s dress

Evening overblouse, 1910 via Artstor



Why Study the Blouse?

A CASE OF

heterogeneous engineering. Woman in a Green Blouse, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1913 via Artstor


Changing Times

1858

1910

Images: French Day Dress 1858; Women’s USA, 1910, via Life image archive


Spools of Innovation

1. The sewing machine Image: madeelinetosh via flickr

2.

3.

Novelty and Changing roles women’s dress for women


“…industrial innovation can be used as an explanatory device for the evolution of fashion trends, though only within the context of social and cultural determinants” -Breward, C. The Culture of Fashion: A New History of Fashionable Dress

Image: William Morris Black and White Textiles


Sewing machine as key innovation Singer Sewing Machines Print, 1868, via Life image archive


Crinoline, lace, starched collars, plain long-sleeved blouses for tennis, the tailor-made suit‌

Image: SCAD 2011 diagram of 19th century woman’s shirt


Novelty and Women’s Dress 1902 National Cloak Company Original advertisement, via Life image archive


“a form of clothing suitable for the pace and demands of urban, industrial life in capitalist societies� -Wilson, E. Through the Looking Glass

Image: Mulberry Bend Park, New York City, 1897


Gibson Girl Illustration from “Sketches and Cartoons” by Charles Dana Gibson


Innovation Timeline Rational dress society promotes dress reform Women gain the right to vote

Long-sleeved blouses with starched collars worn as tennis wear

Gibson Girl

Blouses are commonplace amongst young women

Many middle-aged women are now working Women’s suits and serge skirts come into fashion with middle- and upper-class women

Diffusion of the Sewing Machine 1830s

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

1890s

1900s

1910s

1920s

1930s


Sources Referenced Breward, C. The Culture of Fashion: A New History of Fashionable Dress.” Machester University Press, Manchester, 1995. pp. 156-157, 163 Cunningham, P. “Reforming Women’s Fashion, 1850-1920: Politics, Health, and Art Wilson, E. Through the Looking Glass. BBC Books, 1991. pp. 34-35, 36, 37, 48, 52, 52-53


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