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Sending a Message: What Your Clothes
Reveal About You
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The
Archives' Fall 2003 exhibit prompted visitors to consider how humans
have used clothing as a means of communicating who and what they are
and how those themes relate to society in general. From a cursory
glance at a person's apparel, one can, for example, get a sense of
whether the wearer is an individualist or a social conformist and
insights into his or her social status and rules. Clothing can also
transmit unmistakable signals in regard to the wearer's sex, age,
marital status and religious beliefs, their national and political
affiliations, and their hierarchy in the workplace.
To
explore the historic role of clothing as messenger, we drew upon our
extensive mid-19th to late 20th century materials, which we
supplemented with articles loaned to us.
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The
elegant gown on the left (c1997, Scassi Collection) was created by the
world-renowned designer Arnold Scaasi. Mr. Scaasi is know for having
dressed famous women, such as Jacqueline Kennedy, former
first-lady Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Barbra Streisand. The gown is
made of heavily embroidered organza and gives the appearance of having
nothing underneath.
The
gown in the middle (c1961, Emilius Collection) is made of blue silk
shantung and is heavily embroidered and embellished with clear beads.
It would be available to a much larger group of women than the Scaasi.
The
dress on the right (c1895, William Penn Collection) displays the
signature silhouette of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Women
went through pains, both literally and figuratively speaking, to attain
the perfect hourglass figure. Utilizing hoop skirts, bustles
and corsets, they encased their bodies in pieces of metal and yards of
fabric. A woman with this sought-after figure was certainly not
expected to clean a house, scrub clothes or even pick up a child. She
was an idealized creature of privilege.
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This burgundy wool
two-piece woman's day suit (c1960's, Harten Collection) is classic Coco
Chanel. Ms. Chanel transformed women's clothing, giving women the
opportunity to wear nonrestrictive, comfortable outfits.
Men's suits in the
1940's (Cory Collection) spoke conservatism. Wartime restrictions on
materials such as wool reduced many fabrics to short supply. The owner
of this outfit, however, was fortunate to own a suit with cuffs since
even such small amounts of material were being eliminated from suits
during this period.
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 Status in
the workplace in the early 1900's could be determined by the type of
hat a man wore. The Black Beaver Top Hat (top, c1900, Russell
Collection) signifies an individual in the upper echelon of the
workplace. The Bowler or Derby Hat, (right, c1920, Thrush Collection)
would have been worn by a man who held an upper-level management
position. The Wool Tweed Cap, (lower left, c1920, Stewart Collection)
was the laborer's hat. |
Clothing has
long provided a way for us to single out others within a crowd.
Organizations have capitalized on this fact, by requiring members to
dress in certain colors or providing clothing with easily recognizable
logos or insignia.
Serving the
community has long been the mission of our local police departments.
This police officer's coat (left, c1940's, Cofforth Collection)
belonged to a police woman working in Indiana , PA.
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Established
in 1866, the Ku Klux Klan was a violent response to the enfranchisement
of former male slaves in the post-Civil War south. This Klan outfit
(Davis Collection) was worn in the 1920's during the second, and
largest, KKK movement.
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This navy enlisted
man's uniform (left, c1914, Nickles Collection) made of signature dark
blue wool was worn during World War I. Distinctive to the navy enlisted
personnel, the pant legs are wider at the bottom, hence the name
"bellbottom". This cut traces back to the sailors' job of "swabbing"
their ships' decks with mops. The extra material enabled them to roll
up the pant legs to keep them dry.
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| (Above, c1945, Thompson Collection). Founded in
1941, the Civil Air Patrol became an official auxiliary of the Army Air
force in 1943. The organization's main purpose was providing civilian
air support to the U.S. armed forces during the second World War. By
joining, men not enlisted in a branch of the military could help their
country by flying along the east and west coasts searching for enemy
submarines and vessels. |
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 In the 1960's, for many,
clothing became a means of expressing oneself and proclaiming defiance
of parents' wishes. Blue jeans, headbands, and Indian-influenced cotton
shirts became daily attire. As a means of self expression, the young
wanted clothing tight and their hair long. The green suede mini-dress
with matching purse (Barron Collection) is indicative of the new 1960's
style.
The 1970's
brought the age of disco; dance floors, flashing lights, and the now
infamous Studio 54 in New York. Disco became not only a way of dancing
but a life. Men's hair was permed and women's hair was curled and
sprayed, all in an attempt to attain that perfect disco look. This
light green polyester leisure suit (Bender Collection) with matching
silk print shirt (Taylor Collection) is typical of the style worn by a
very dapper man of the 1970's.
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