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Cultural Shift: The Canvas of Female Identity and Expression in the Evolution of the Shift Dress / JOANNE WONG

Swansea University Author: JOANNE WONG

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DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.57629

Abstract

This study explores, for the first time, an in-depth analysis of the social and cultural history of the shift dress. It provides a multidisciplinary approach which focuses on the significance of the shift dress in the changing context of women’s work, education and their place in contemporary societ...

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Published: Swansea 2021
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: McVeigh, Stephen ; Youngs, Deborah ; Miller, Susan
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa57629
first_indexed 2021-08-17T15:14:11Z
last_indexed 2021-08-18T03:22:18Z
id cronfa57629
recordtype RisThesis
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spelling 2021-08-17T17:32:26.3581257 v2 57629 2021-08-17 Cultural Shift: The Canvas of Female Identity and Expression in the Evolution of the Shift Dress a720386e3608faaf1f2ca75a94be729e JOANNE WONG JOANNE WONG true false 2021-08-17 This study explores, for the first time, an in-depth analysis of the social and cultural history of the shift dress. It provides a multidisciplinary approach which focuses on the significance of the shift dress in the changing context of women’s work, education and their place in contemporary society in the twentieth century. It also locates the dress’s contribution to elements and processes of modern fashion and beyond, into the broader contexts of American popular culture. From its origins, theshift dress evoked modern ideals. Its simple construction means it was an economical, versatile, and expressive garment. The shift dress’s versatility afforded women the opportunity to move effortlessly between sport, work, and leisure. This thesis argues that its simple form is a blank canvas, which allowed women to express themselves individually and freely while propelling fashion forward in terms of innovation. Throughout the twentieth century, it has been reinterpreted, redesigned andreimagined, with the 1920s and the 1960s especially significant periods for this study. Its adaptability across time periods advanced women in the public sphere and in previously male dominated environments and workplaces. The shift dress allowed women to move away from societal expectations to create their own identity. The thesis contends that as a consequence of its attributes, the shift dress was an important vehicle for the evolving expression of women’s strength and empowerment. It was the first dress to provide women freedom of choice, to allow freer movement, physically and socially, and to express self- identity. It is more than a garment clothing a woman’s body, it provided women a new liberation and a way to be modern. The movement that the dress permitted aligned to the changing place of women in American society. This concept of movement is central to the thesis: the shift dress defines movement on multiple levels. It has moved women forward, it has moved fashion forward, and because of this, it is one of the most significant garments in fashion history. E-Thesis Swansea Shift dress, American Culture, Fashion, Flapper, Women’s work and education, Tracking Methodology 17 8 2021 2021-08-17 10.23889/SUthesis.57629 A selection of third party content is redacted from this thesis due to copyright restrictions.The images (pages 241-291) are available upon request for research and private study purposes. Please email the repository via openaccess@swansea.ac.uk for access to the redacted content. COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University McVeigh, Stephen ; Youngs, Deborah ; Miller, Susan Doctoral Ph.D Swansea University 2021-08-17T17:32:26.3581257 2021-08-17T16:06:45.3724691 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - History JOANNE WONG 1 57629__20650__1eac0eb24af14be8911af6af394022db.pdf Wong_Joanne_PhD_Thesis_Final_Redacted.pdf 2021-08-17T17:10:24.1198901 Output 2739453 application/pdf Redacted version - open access true Copyright: The author, Joanne G. Wong, 2021. Third party images redacted. true eng
title Cultural Shift: The Canvas of Female Identity and Expression in the Evolution of the Shift Dress
spellingShingle Cultural Shift: The Canvas of Female Identity and Expression in the Evolution of the Shift Dress
JOANNE WONG
title_short Cultural Shift: The Canvas of Female Identity and Expression in the Evolution of the Shift Dress
title_full Cultural Shift: The Canvas of Female Identity and Expression in the Evolution of the Shift Dress
title_fullStr Cultural Shift: The Canvas of Female Identity and Expression in the Evolution of the Shift Dress
title_full_unstemmed Cultural Shift: The Canvas of Female Identity and Expression in the Evolution of the Shift Dress
title_sort Cultural Shift: The Canvas of Female Identity and Expression in the Evolution of the Shift Dress
author_id_str_mv a720386e3608faaf1f2ca75a94be729e
author_id_fullname_str_mv a720386e3608faaf1f2ca75a94be729e_***_JOANNE WONG
author JOANNE WONG
author2 JOANNE WONG
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2021
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.23889/SUthesis.57629
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - History{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - History
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description This study explores, for the first time, an in-depth analysis of the social and cultural history of the shift dress. It provides a multidisciplinary approach which focuses on the significance of the shift dress in the changing context of women’s work, education and their place in contemporary society in the twentieth century. It also locates the dress’s contribution to elements and processes of modern fashion and beyond, into the broader contexts of American popular culture. From its origins, theshift dress evoked modern ideals. Its simple construction means it was an economical, versatile, and expressive garment. The shift dress’s versatility afforded women the opportunity to move effortlessly between sport, work, and leisure. This thesis argues that its simple form is a blank canvas, which allowed women to express themselves individually and freely while propelling fashion forward in terms of innovation. Throughout the twentieth century, it has been reinterpreted, redesigned andreimagined, with the 1920s and the 1960s especially significant periods for this study. Its adaptability across time periods advanced women in the public sphere and in previously male dominated environments and workplaces. The shift dress allowed women to move away from societal expectations to create their own identity. The thesis contends that as a consequence of its attributes, the shift dress was an important vehicle for the evolving expression of women’s strength and empowerment. It was the first dress to provide women freedom of choice, to allow freer movement, physically and socially, and to express self- identity. It is more than a garment clothing a woman’s body, it provided women a new liberation and a way to be modern. The movement that the dress permitted aligned to the changing place of women in American society. This concept of movement is central to the thesis: the shift dress defines movement on multiple levels. It has moved women forward, it has moved fashion forward, and because of this, it is one of the most significant garments in fashion history.
published_date 2021-08-17T02:20:19Z
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score 11.04748

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