Fashion may seem to be concerned entirely with pop culture, but the way people choose to dress can make a statement about their politics, and feminists over the 20th century have made ample use of this fact.
You’d think it should be obvious, with how “the personal is political,” but it was definitely eye-opening to see how deeply fashion and feminism have been entwined, used by both those for and against it to make their point.
Despite the cliches about the ‘ugly, man-hating feminist,’ many feminists were aware of how they were perceived and made use of fashion to gain respectability and popularity for their ideas. Equally interesting to me was how fashion trends that started with feminists were often co-opted by mainstream society, even if the ideas that accompanied them had more limited reach. I also appreciated the plentiful photographs to show us exactly what the author’s talking about – when it comes to clothing, a picture is really worth a thousand words.
I did think the writing was a bit dry though, even for an academic text. I would have also appreciated if the author cast her net a bit wider with the demographics covered – I appreciated that she gave plenty of weight to both how Black and white feminists used fashion to push their cause, but especially with sheer number of immigrants pouring into the country during this time I would have liked to see more about how women of different ethnicities who were involved in the movement used fashion too.
Also, the cover led me to believe there would be a section about swimsuits, but alas, this was not the case.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.