Exhibition Statement

Introduction

Fashion has changed so much in the last 170 years, especially for American women. From the introduction of pants to the elimination of the corset, ever-changing societal views of women and their responses to society have influenced what they should and shouldn’t wear. It is essential to call attention to those viewpoints and the changes that stemmed from them. This will be done through the design of an interactive website, to showcase how and why fashion has changed so much for American women in the last 170 years.

Literature Review

Throughout the past 170 years, society has influenced what was deemed “acceptable” for women to wear. From the progressive era to more modern times, changes were constant, and women had to adapt. In the 1890s, women began spending more time outside, so athletic clothes for women became more popular. Although “athletic” clothes were acceptable by societal standards, those clothes still included skirts for women (Strickling, 2021). Fashion relies on society as much as society relies on fashion. In fact, the suffragettes at the end of the 19th century (Singer, 2020) were able to make their impact on society. With no prior experience in website design, the artist needed something to lay the basics out for me. The artist had to consider what type of site she wanted to create, and how to best show that information (Haan, 2023). She was able to select a platform, select templates, and make decisions easily with minimal assistance thanks to easy-to-navigate templates and layout designs.

Methods

Organization has been crucial to this project, as well as website design. Website design was a new skill, but Google Sites had plenty of pre-constructed templates to choose from. The final website is organized into 5 different pages and those pages follow the same color scheme. Lots of images have been included in the site to help illustrate the central points. Images are aligned with the different sections in the site so that it is clear to the audience what fashion pieces go with what section. The basis of the project has been research and all research and images were gathered from books, scholarly articles, blogs, and websites. The organization and aesthetics of the website allow all of the desired information and images to be conveyed without overwhelming the audience.

Audience and Impact

This project is for people with an interest in fashion or women’s studies. The artist chose that audience because knowing how clothing changed is one thing, but understanding the causes of those changes is just as important. The exhibit's intent is for the audience to learn something new and walk away more conscious of the treatment of women. As a psychology major, the artist is  constantly wondering why people do the things they do. The artist is trying to find an answer to why society and fashion have remained intertwined and how they motivated changes in each other.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the Arts Scholars faculty: Heather Bremenstuhl, Harold Burgess, and Gabi Tillenburg for all of their guidance, advice, and support throughout the course of this project, as well as during my time in Arts Scholars. I would also like to thank my peers in my CPSA250 class for all of their amazing ideas and input. Thank you all so much!

References

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Bott, Alicia C. The Art of Display: Permissive and Restrictive Women’s Fashion of the Progressive Era, The Pennsylvania State University, Ann Arbor, 2021. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/art-display-permissive-restrictive-women-s/docview/2649764048/se-2/ .

Dajska, Emma. “Collaging for Beginners.” Rookie, 5 Mar. 2012, https://www.rookiemag.com/2012/03/collaging-for-beginners/ .

Franklin, Harper. “1850-1859.” Fashion History Timeline, 19 Feb. 2020,

         https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1850-1859/.

Greb, Verena, and Kevin Tschierse. “'Dressed: 7 Women- 200 Years of Fashion'.” DW.COM, Deutsche Welle, 25 Feb. 2022, https://www.dw.com/en/dressed-7-women-200-years-   of-fashion/a-60885963/

Haan, Kathy, and Cassie Bottorff. “The Best Web Design Software 2023.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 13 Mar. 2023, www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/best-web-design-software/.

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McDowell, Erin. “The Most Iconic Fashion Designers of the Last 100 Years.” Insider, Insider, 15 Sept. 2020, https://www.insider.com/most-iconic-fashion-designers-of-the-last-century 

Morton, Sunny Jane. “1900s Fashion: Clothing Styles in the Edwardian Era • Familysearch.” 1900s Fashion: Clothing Styles in the Edwardian Era, FamilySearch, 17 July 2020, https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/1900s-fashion-edwardian-era/ 

Ozturk, Naz. “Socio-Economic Fashion.” The Standard, 7 June 2017, https://standard.asl.org/9351/culture/socio-economic-fashion/. 

Picard, Liza. “The Working Classes and the Poor .” British Library, 14 Oct. 2009, https://www.bl.uk/victorian-britain/articles/the-working-classes-and-the-poor/. 

Singer, Maya. “Power Dressing: Charting the Influence of Politics on Fashion.” Vogue, Vogue Magazine, 17 Sept. 2020, https://www.vogue.com/article/charting-the-influence-of-politics-on-fashion/

Strickling, Lydia. “Gilded Age Fashion.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior,12 May 2021, https://www.nps.gov/elro/blogs/gilded-age-fashion.htm 

Vilaca, Julia, and Manuel Lopez. “5 Signs That Will Help You to Understand How Fashion Reflects Social Changes.” FashInnovation, FashInnovation, 20 Apr. 2022, https://fashinnovation.nyc/fashion-reflects-social-changes/.