Dress and Identity in America: The Baby Boom Years 1946-1964

Dress and Identity in America explores the conservatism and materialism that swept across the country in the late 1940s through the 1950s, as American men sought to recapture a masculine identity and women were expected to stay at home as housewives and mothers.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 25 January 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Dress and Identity in America delves into the profound conservatism and materialism that swept across the nation during the late 1940s and early 1950s, serving as a response to the tumultuous wartime experiences, hardships, and social transformations of the Second World War. This comprehensive examination explores how American men endeavored to reclaim a masculine identity reminiscent of the stoic patriarch, breadwinner, and dutiful father of an earlier generation. Consequently, they emerged as the iconic figures adorned in gray flannel suits, embodying a complacent conventionalism and conformism.

Concurrently, the study also examines the evolving expectations placed upon American women, who, during the war, had taken on roles in wartime munitions factories or joined services like the WACS and WAVES. Suddenly, they were expected to return to their traditional roles as housewives and mothers, adorning themselves in cinched, ultra-feminine New Look fashions.

As the Space Age emerged, the baby boom children of this era rejected the conventions of their elders and embarked on a journey of self-exploration, experimenting with their ideas of identity and dress in the midst of emerging counterculture revolutions. This period marked a transformative era, where individuals sought to break free from societal norms and forge their own unique paths, shaping the cultural landscape of America in profound ways.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350373914