History of American & European Fashion

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This seminar examines the rise of the modern fashion and garment industries in Europe and North America during the 20th century. We will trace the movement away from custom-made clothing to ready-to-wear and the invention of the department store. We will read early reformers who criticized women's dress as deadly and later home economists who taught how to dress according to standards of efficiency and beauty. Along the way, we will notice the significance of changing styles, and how they affected the lives of modern men and women of different classes and races through the decades. We will pay particular attention to the dress revolutions of the 1920s and 1960s. Students will be introduced to several on-line databases including HEARTH, the Vogue archives, and the Ebony archives.