From Sleepwear to Sportswear: How Beach Pajamas Reshaped Women's Fashion

During the early 1920s, the silk pajama trouser suit gained popularity, symbolizing the image of the trousered woman. This trend, worn by celebrities like Jean Harlow and Marlene Dietrich, influenced fashion designers and impacted culture, promoting independence and the American Look.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 08 February 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Before the 1920s, it was uncommon to see women wearing pants in the Western world. However, the silk pajama trouser suit's transition from the boudoir to the beach in the early 1920s solidified the image of the trousered woman. Worn by Jean Harlow and Marlene Dietrich, painted by Raoul Dufy, and immortalized in F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night, pajamas became synonymous with more than sleepwear between the two world wars. This book explores how the pajama phenomenon was crucial to the careers of designers like Chanel, Patou, Poiret, and Schiaparelli. It also demonstrates how the versatile garment was intertwined with women's independence and influenced culture more broadly. Through meticulous research and never-before-seen images, the authors place pajama fashion in the context of the Golden Age of Travel, the rise of Hollywood, and the changing political climate of the early 20th century. They reveal how the rising trend in sleepwear influenced The American Look, modern sportswear, and the image of the trousered woman.

Dimension: 246 x 189 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350231931