From Dance Halls to Dorm Rooms

Written by Sophia G.

Community question: What is one item of clothing that you would never feel is appropriate to wear to class? What about a party? (Please answer in the Google Form below)

Some archival pictures give us a glimpse into the everyday style of Wellesley students. Interestingly, though their clothes are strikingly different, students in 1916 seem to sport the same hairdos when socializing with friends in the dorm as when taking formal pictures - the same loose bun typical in the early 1910s, as described on the main gender and style page. The students above and below, in the 1919 photos of students in a dorm and at the traditional hoop rolling illustrate an interesting trend in which students wore white or other light colors to formal events, but otherwise wore a wider variety of colors and patterns. Perhaps this had something to do with the Christian-based construction and reconstruction of young women as “pure,” or perhaps it was a way of conveying status, in that the students could either afford new light garments or otherwise afford to keep them clean. 

Style, especially formal dress was also certainly one way in which young women away at college could express their growing independence and the final steps of coming into adulthood. As one student, Jane W. Cary, wrote to her mother in 1914: “I felt dreadfully grown up, clothes do influence one’s feelings, don’t they? I mean - now I never would feel anything but sort of dignified with a train.”

Community question: Do you express your gender differently in different circumstances at Wellesley? (Please answer in the Google Form below)

Another aspect of style that is all but lost in the narrative told by formal photos of students is the ways in which style was used in the early 1900s to express personality and individuality. To the modern eye, the long, white gowns donned by Wellesley students are more or less the same, but the plaids, stripes, and sweaters worn by students during more casual “hangouts” clearly display some individuality. To one Wellesley student, Mary Rosa, individual expression was imperative when shopping for new garments: “Finally I found just what I wanted, - a dress of the color blue like on my pink coat, - satin or charmeuse or something, trimmed with lovely white lace going over the shoulders and a tunic of it. I wanted that color, and this is not so extreme in style as to not look like me. It is simply made. There is an orange-colored rose on the front.”

Lastly, Wellesley students’ fashion choices were certainly also guided by convenience when going to informal events. In a letter to her mother, Janet E. Davison describes her disheveled appearance during a class, after she ran late and had to rush to class, similar to how a Wellesley student today might resort to wearing their pajamas to an 8:30am class after oversleeping.

Community question: Are there "dress codes" or guidelines at any events you participate in? (Please answer in the Google Form below)