A Perfect Fit: Clothes, Character, and the Promise of America [Hardcover]

Jenna Weissman Joselit (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2001 | ISBN-10: 080505488X | ISBN-13: 978-0805054880 | Edition: 1st

A striking and inventive social history of the role of clothing in the making of modern Americans.

While fashions of the rich and famous have been lessly chronicled, little attention has been paid to the meaning of clothes for everyone else. Yet between 1890 and the outbreak of World War II, as ready-to-wear came into its own, the clothes of ordinary Americans claimed the nation's attention. Allied with civic virtue, fashion now played an increasingly important role in shaping the national character.

Drawing on a wealth of sources -- from advertisements, trade journals, and health manuals to sermons, science, and songs -- acclaimed historian Jenna Weissman Joselit shows how the length of a woman's skirt, the shape of a man's hat, and the height of a pair of heels enabled Americans of every faith, color, and class to feel part of the modern nation. As moral arbiters warned that extravagant attire might undermine equality, and gentlemen worried that wearing colored shirts rered them less manly, the newly arrived and newly emancipated -- immigrants and African-Americans -- wondered just how much jewelry was appropriate to their new status as citizens. Engaging, imaginative, and original, A Perfect Fit uncovers a time in American history when getting dressed was more about fitting in than standing out and vividly shows how clothes expressed the spirit of democracy and the promise of America.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the 1890s to the 1930s, social historian Joselit (The Wonders of America) argues in this enticingly illustrated volume, fashion was "the most literal expression of who we were as a nation." In an increasingly diverse society, fashion was billed as a unifying force, she argues; its arbiters promised that anyone, from Jewish ghetto girls to ex-slaves, could blend in by wearing the right clothes. To make her case, Joselit quotes from the Ladies' Home Journal, Vogue and other magazines, on everything from women's hemlines to men's suits, shoes to hats, furs to jewelry. Though she also quotes rabbis, popes and advice columnists, as well as merchants like Henri Bendel, she doesn't include many working girls or sales figures from Sears or Woolworth's. More research is needed to prove that ordinary Americans believed fashion's promises. Still, Joselit's book is enjoyable a fluffy history lite, with a liberal smattering of turn-of-the-century advertisements for corsets and collars. Joselit is stronger as a museum curator than a historian, yielding a book that's far more stimulating visually than intellectually. Indeed, there's nothing new here the "democratization of style" has been well documented by other fashion historians for years. Readers interested in this particular subject would be better served by Claudia Kidwell's works, or even Kennedy Frazier's. Illus.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Broad changes in social attitudes have a corresponding impact in the way we dress the cultural upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s, for example, showed itself in tie-dyed shirts, bell-bottoms, platform shoes, and long hair for both sexes. Joselit (American studies, Princeton Univ.) looks back at an earlier, particularly important period in American history, considering significant changes in both dress and social attitudes from about 1890 to 1925. Broadly speaking, conformity in dress declined, reflecting greater wealth, personal freedom, and social mobility. Women abandoned heavy corsetry and voluminous dresses, for instance, just as they were gaining suffrage. Attentive to the experiences of immigrants and African Americans, the author studies the attitudes of the people, their media, and those in authority toward changes in dress. While Joselit happily does not neglect men's dress, which changed greatly during the period, shifts in children's dress, which reflected transformations in child-rearing attitudes, are omitted from discussion. Well written and researched, this study will reward casual and scholarly readers equally. Recommended for both public and academic libraries. James F. DeRoche, Alexandria, VA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Metropolitan Books; 1st edition (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080505488X
• ISBN-13: 978-0805054880
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #987,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Clothes as a Social Statement in the United States, September 18, 2001

By 

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This review is from: A Perfect Fit: Clothes, Character, and the Promise of America (Hardcover)

When immigrants first came to the United States, they were free of the tyranny of the place they were born into in their native country. But American society often pegged them by the clothes they wore, just as harshly as their birth did in the native land.
The good news was that clothes can be changed, and millions of people did just that . . . changed their appearance to look like the native-born Americans. People wanted to fit in, as part of their desire to live the free life. Is it so different now? Even the most extreme teenage styles conform to a sense of fashion that indicates that you fit in.

A Perfect Fit focuses on the period of peak immigration, from around 1890 through the 1920s. Women's and men's wear get equal emphasis, although the women's wear is vastly more interesting. You will follow hemlines up (for style and hygiene reasons), the subtleties of the right hat (not too showy), shoes into sizes (but women insisted on appearance anyway), furs (in as a sign of arriving and out as a sign of cruelty to animals), and jewelry (moderation in all things is a virtue, but a diamond does last longer than flowers). Along the way you will enjoy many fine illustrations that display the styles, advertisements, and the way these were worn by people.

A strength of the book is that it covers how people from different backgrounds responded to fashion. There is extensive coverage of what immigrant Jews favored, and a focus on African American preferences. There's even a section on the advent of the Zoot suit. The author also does a nice job of considering the tension between restrained good taste and flamboyance.

It was fascinating to think about the shock that the flapper style with bobbed hair must have been. The miniskirt and the no-bra look of the 1960s was a minor shift by comparison from what went before.

Over time, clothes have gone from formal and being a badge of status, to informal, healthy, and comfortable. Let's hope that trend continues. I like my sneakers!

A Perfect Fit also has some interesting facts in it that I did not know before. For example, the Audubon Society was formed to help stop the slaughter of herons whose feathers were prized for very showy hats. Ostrich feathers can be harvested without killing the bird, which is why you will see so many more ostrich feathers in display uses today.

As far as the book goes, it is very fine. I was disappointed that the investigation of social character did not include selections from important social thinkers of the times. It would also have been interesting to know about more types of social groups. What did Hispanic people do during this time? How were Irish-American styles different from Italian-American ones? I was also curious about what the most famous people of the time wore. And Edward Bernays is famous for his work in creating fashion during this time through color. Little is said on that subject. So think of this book as an appetizer on the subject, rather than as the whole meal. I graded the book down accordingly.

After you read this book, think about how healthful your choice of clothes is. How could you improve your selections and still feel good about yourself? How about a new hat for the holidays?

Always improve the person wearing the clothes at least as much as you improve the clothes that are worn!

1 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She's an awesome prof..., November 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Perfect Fit: Clothes, Character, and the Promise of America (Hardcover)

I'm sure the book's great too. The other review is inane. JWJ can write well and she's cool.