Annotated Bibliography: Women's Fashion in the 1920s

Melanie Klein
FCSE 3080
Portfolio Part 1


A Look at the 20s Fashion Imprint on The World of Dress

Introduction:
I want to know more about the 1920’s women’s fashion because it has always been a favorite of mine and I want to find out more about its role in shaping the history of fashion.

Annotated Bibliography

Cleave, K. V. (2009). Fashioning the college woman: Dress, gender, and sexuality at smith college in the 1920s. The Journal of American Culture, 32(1), 4-15.

This source shows how fashion can speak and make history. I like that because that is why I wanted to look at the 1920s. I especially like how it links it to girls in college, it makes me wonder what their college campus was like. I would use this article because it shows how the 1920s dress was one of the most important fashion movements in history.

Pender, A. (2007). 'Modernist madonnas': Dorothy todd, madge garland, and virginia woolf . Women's History Review, 16(4), 519-533.

This source isn’t as strong as the other sources. It does talk about the 20s fashion and women who stood out during it. However that is not what I am looking for in my portfolio. I am looking more at the fashion and why it is still around today not on certain people.

Roberts, M.L. (1993). Samson and delilah revisited: The politics of women’s fashion in 1920s france. American Historical Review, 98(3), 657-684.

Lots of useful information is found in the source especially the historical facts from fashion of the 1920s and the affect of it. It is important to understand people’s response and what role fashion played in it. It can teach others that fashion shouldn’t be judged, that fashion is a unique complex issue that everyone has a right to. I would use this source because it talks about what the fashion of 1920s went through.

Gronberg, T. (1997). Beware beautiful women: The 1920s shopwindow mannequin and a physiognomy of effacement. Art History, 20(3), 375-396.

Again this sources talks about the uniqueness of the 20s and the movements that this fashion made. It however mostly focuses on the mannequins and the role they played in marketing this fashion. This source is a weaker source that I wouldn’t use for my portfolio but I would use it if I was doing a report on the marketing movement of the 20s.

Poggi, J. (2008, August 15). Fall fashion's '20s-inspired looks. Forbes, Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/15/style-20s-fashion-forbeslife-cx_jp_0815style.html

This is a strong source in the fact that it describes the 20s fashion and points out how it can be found in today’s fashion which is why I wanted to look at the 1920s. It also talks how clothing can be fun and helps people escape which is a fact about dress. The article points out how dress builds on each other and that it is a complex process. It’s strong in the fact that it doesn’t underestimate dress and the power that it has on people. I would use this source.