Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1990 - 22

rhe '50s marerniry c10rhes became fashion irems. Wirh a large percenrage of
American women pregnanr and pregnanr
repearedly, manufacrurers capiralized on
rhe marker by making rhe pregnanr silhouerre fashionable, again reinforcing rhe
desirabiliry of morherhood.
Bur rhe values and ideals of rhe
Fifries were summarily rejecred by rhe
very babies rhe "happy heroine housewives" had reared.

The Late 60s
and Early 70s:
Rebellion & Change
By rhe lare I%Os rhe baby boomers had
become a srrong social force. The yourh
of rhe period rebelled againsr whar rhey
co nsidered rhe u p- righ r, co nservari ve,
hypocrirical esrablishmenr. They rejecred
rhe premises upon which rhe sociery of
rhe '50s had been based. "Do your own

who wore blue jeans. Rarher rhan following a carefully prescribed dress code for
every conceivable occasion, blue jeans (or
almosr anyrhing else) were deemed
appropriare for any occasion, formal or
informal. In addirion, c10rhing became
far more unisexual. This approach was
nor an efforr ro oblirerare rhe sexes;
rarher, ir proclaimed a rriumphanr independence and freedom from former consrrainrs and expecrarions. Women were
no longer looking prerry in rheir lirrle
house dresses and men were nor wearing
greybusiness suirs.
Female bodies rook on a new shape.
The padding and wiring of rhe braziers of
rhe Fifries were replaced by rhin elasric
bands or norhing ar all. The girdles were
replaced by diers, exercise and rhe erernal
quesr for yourhfullean muscles. The slim
yourhful nearly flesh less figure of Twiggy
became rhe ideal. Clorhing was designed
ro accenruare rhe new ideal bodies. Mini
skirrs, hor panrs and a
wide variery of ingenious
crearions revealed rhe
body in revolurionary
ways. Midriffs were bared,
as were backs and someri mes bosoms.
While fashions of rhe
recenr pasr were rejecred,
c10rhing from rhe more
disranr pasr or from disranr
culrures
was
embraced. Young women
rummaged rhrough relarives' arrics looking for old
pemcoars, granny gowns
and granny glasses. The
empire waisrline, in vogue
during apoleon's reign,
rerurned again in a considerably shorrer version.
Clorhing from mid-easrern bazaars was very popular. Sociery
became a cosrume parry.

There is a distinct
correlation in given
periods between the
fashionable female
silhouette and the
prevalent ideal image of
women-their appropriate
relationship to men,
children and
SOCiety.

rhing" became a popular slogan.
College women of rhis period
dreamed nor so much of hope chesrs and
rrousseaus as of rravel and new advenrure.
Housewives, roo, were encouraged ro
quesrion rhe values of rhe '50s. Insread of
romanricizing marriage and morherhood,
magazines such as The Ladies HOllie
journal published arricles such as "How
ro be a Good Working Morher," "Advice
on Divorce," "When Couples Fighr
Abour Mariral Sex," and "\,((har ro do
\,((hen Your Boss Discriminares Againsr
You."
Rarher rhan using c10rhing as a billboard for wealrh as had been done 100
years earlier, rhe yourh culr deemed ir
"cool" ro idenrify wirh rhe common man

1990 FAll

TD&T

Some Implications
and Questions
Fashion, even rhar of rhe lare 19GOs and
early 1970s, is nor gender- neurral. When
an acrress purs on a cosrume, consciously
or nor, she is borh lirerally and figurarively purring on a gender ideology. Choices
abour which ideology is pur on and how
rhe characrer feels abou r rhar ideology
should be made by rhe direcror, acrress
and designer.
Some quesrions which could be
asked are: Whar was rhe ideal image of
women when rhe play was wrirren? (If rhe

aurhor has ser rhe play in a period differenr rhan her own, rhe ideals of rhar period
should also be examined.) Does rhe
aurhor embody any of rhese ideals in his
characrers? How does each characrer feel
abour rhe prescribed gender ideology?
Does she revel in ir, fighr ir, or remain
unconscious of irs impacr on her life?
How would rhis characrer choose ro represenr herself in rerms of gender role ro
rhe world and ro herselP How can cosrumes reinforce rhese choices made by rhe
direcror and rhe acrress?
For insrance, in Miller's Death ofa
Salesman (1949), a Linda who is conscious rhar she would funcrion berrer in
rhe work world rhan her husband, bur
due ro socieral pressures is sraying ar
home, would wear differenr c10rhing rhan
a Linda who views herself as a nurrurer
and wanrs only ro be a guardian of her
home and family. Anorher alrernarive
would be a Linda who had nor made a
choice, or even really rhoughr abour why
she is living her life rhe way she is. This
lack of self-perceprion could be visually
reinforced by lack of a clear personal sryle
in dress.
Differences in rhe gender ideologies
ro which characrers adhere can also be
emphasized rhrough cosrume. In
Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire
(1947) Srella, rhough passionare abour
her man, srill gives rhe impression rhar
she could funcrion wirhour him. In facr,
she was asserrive enough ro leave her family and Belle Reve ro creare a life of her
own. Blanche, however, depended far
more on rhe parriarchal sysrem of rhe
sourhem planrarion life. When forced ro
earn a living she was unable ro funcrion
effecrively. She conrinues ro look ro marriage as her only hope of salvarion. To
reinforce rhese gender ideologies one
mighr choose ro pur Srella in rhe srronger,
more asserrive silhouerre of rhe Forries,
while purring Blanche in rhe sofrer more
submissively feminine look of rhe
Thirries. Nor only would rhe conrrasr
highlighr Blanche's longing for rhe securiry of rhe pasr and inabiliry ro funcrion in
rhe present, ir would visually underline
rheir differenr views of rhemselves as
women.
Awareness of gender role implicarions in fashion also brings an addirional
dimension ro period rransfer. Recenrly I
direcred The Tall/illg of the Shrew. I
wished ro modernize rhe producrion and
explore rhe relarionship of Kare and
Bianca ro each orher and ro rhe parriarchal world rhey inhabir. Bianca was porrrayed as a manipularive Daddy's girl,

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1990