Fashion during the 1990’s.

The 1990’s were an anything-goes period that was defined all over the world by the slogan “Be yourself”. However, in Russia the need for self-realization was exacerbated by economic changes.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the switch to a market economy, a torrent of merchandise surged into the country from Turkey and Southeast Asia; these goods were not of the highest quality or most elegant appearance. Fashionistas acquired the ability to dress as they wanted, but the results were not entirely successful.

A careless ponytail, an over-sized T-shirt with a fun print and acid-washed jeans constituted the most subdued version of the female look. Then there were variations. For example, it was trendy to wear a lurid-coloured T-shirt whose lower edge, around 10–15 centimetres, was cut into vertical strips, each of which was decorated with a tiny coloured plastic clip.

Fashion during the 1980’s.

Russian style was limited in the 1980’s but they tried they’re best to look great. Women dressed very formally to impress their husbands and their company. In our eyes, their choice in clothing seems quite odd. However, this was all the rage in their country and in their time. Traditionally, women wore a three-piece ensemble consisting of a red or green sarafan (jumper), a long-sleeved peasant blouse, and an ornate kokoshnik (headdress).

Fashion during the 1960’s to 1970’s.

In the 1960’s to the 1970’s in Russia Ladies and girls still wore coats both summer and winter.  Women would generally own both a winter coat and also a summer coat for cooler evenings.  Shorter reefer jackets, car coats, suede or leather jackets, denim or swing jersey jackets had grown in popularity as more casual wear became usual.  By the late 70s shorter quilted padded jackets were an acceptable alternative to a tailored coat as car use increased.

Role of Women during the 1950’s.

Women’s roles were greatly changed in the 1950s, with the men coming back from war and taking their jobs back. During World War II,women had taken men’s jobs while they had been away at war. After the war, many women wanted to keep their jobs. Many became wives and mothers as the men came back from the war. In 1957, 70% of working women held clerical positions, assembly lines or service jobs. 12 % held a profession and 6% held management positions. Those that held professional jobs worked as nurses and teachers. They found themselves taking care of the house and of their children.

New appliances that were being made allowed women to spend less time in their house. Women could then explore other interests besides home and family, such as going to college.

The number of girls who entered college dropped during the 50s. Many women left college early to marry after the war and other women who did stay were not planning on working toward a job. Some people became worried that because the women weren’t at home all the time, they thought that children might be being deprived of a parent. Social commentators said that because of this, women were in fact endangering the family by not being there for their children and husbands. The husband wasn’t always at home all the time either because he might have been away in the city. Life went on regardless with the wives buying all the purchases at home and making all the family’s finances. The husbands bought the groceries and because he had the car he could also drive he children around as well. Since the husbands were away at work all the time the wives would have to do a lot of the manual work around the house. These changes in the home may not have been considered as positive but they were for the women.

Role of Women during the 1940’s.

During the 1940’s women’s roles and expectations in society were changing rapidly. Previously women had very little say in society and were stereotyped to stay home, make babies and to be a good housewife. The 1940’s were different, life for women was expanding, the men were at war and some one had to step up and take the men’s place. Not only men were going to war either, the war was so big that in 1942 The Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES) were established. After these organizations were accepted congress authorized women to serve in the U.S. Navy. Going back to state side roles women worked factory, labor intensive jobs and become the attention of society in the entertainment industry. 1943 The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was founded. In 1945 Eleanor Roosevelt became a U.S delegate for the newly established United Nations. Through out the 1940’s the amount of women in the workforce increased by 25-35 percent. This was a prosperous time in women’s history.

Fashion during the 1950’s.

The recovery of Parisian fashion houses and the triumphant return of women’s fashion clothing after the war was evident in the Soviet Union, but it was much smaller than anywhere in the world.  First of all, because USSR was severely damaged after the WWII. Secondly, because all foreign invasions in USSR were perceived unfriendly and even dangerously. 

Women in USSR usually copied their dresses from a few magazines about fashion, brought from abroad. They sewon the sewing machines at home. No high fashion was possible as the country was inspired to recover the damaged cities. 

Women’s Roles 1930’s.

A lot of women in the 1930’s were employed. They didn’t have very good jobs though. Most of the women who did have jobs were in working in factories or other low paying jobs. They also had to get a full education just to be equal with a man who only graduated from elementary school. Women could do the same job as a man and work just as hard but would still only get about half as much of a pay as a male.

After work. women were expected to come home and do everything that needs to be done in the house. They had to make sure that dinner was made for the whole family and that the house was clean.They had to make sure they looked presentable for their husband even after a long day at work, and were expected to be the perfect housewife.

During the 1930’s, or the Great Depression, women had very different behavioral expectancy than their male counterparts. While most men went to work, the women stayed home which was not much different than before, however, now it was up to the women to keep the family together more than ever. Women who would typically buy things or pay for things to be done for their family were reduced to having to do those things themselves. Women often felt as though their role in the home had been enhanced, and it typically did not negatively affect their feelings.

Not all women, however, were able to simply take care of their homes and families. Widows and single women had to fight to survive just as much as the men in this time period. Widows had a hard time keeping their families together and support them while still maintaining the proper role of a woman in the time.

In order to support their families at times, some women went in search of paid employment. This was frowned upon by society because it was seen that the women were taking away good paying jobs for the men that were trying to support their families. Widows now had to not only take care of the family, they also had to support them. Single women had less to worry about seeing as they typically had no children, however, in order to support themselves they still needed to have a decent paying job.

ROSIE THE RIVETER

American women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers during World War II, as widespread male enlistment left gaping holes in the industrial labor force. Between 1940 and 1945, the female percentage of the U.S. workforce increased from 27 percent to nearly 37 percent, and by 1945 nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home. “Rosie the Riveter,” star of a government campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for the munitions industry, became perhaps the most iconic image of working women during the war.

Fashion during the 1930’s to 1940’s.

War time significantly influenced fashion and style in the 1940s. World War II, which started in 1939, led to a partial and even complete halt in manufacturing civilian clothing.

Due to the war conditions, ‘military’ style came into fashion at the beginning of the 1940s. Athletic and work styles served as alternatives.

In the 1940s, wool, nylon, leather, and silk became strategic war materials. They were used to make parachutes and soldiers’ uniforms. For these reasons, their use for civilian purposes were restricted and even downright prohibited.

During the war, fancy dresses and undergarments were sewn out of silk for parachutes.

Harsh living conditions and the lack of essentials resulted in a more simplified version of suits, scrimping on materials, the appearance of multi functional clothing, and “self-made” fashion.

In these times, stockings were a rare luxury for which women were forced to find an alternative. So, they started to draw imitations of stockings on their legs using paint and pencils.

In war time, handkerchiefs doubled as head wear. They were even worn with evening gowns.

How World War 2 effected Womens Lives.

Women’s lives changed in many ways during World War II. As with most wars, many women found their roles and opportunities — and responsibilities — expanded. Husbands went to war or went to work in factories in other parts of the country, and the wives had to pick up their husbands’ responsibilities. With fewer men in the workforce, women filled more traditionally-male jobs. In the military, women were excluded from combat duty, so women were called on to fill some jobs that men had performed, to free men for combat duty.

Some of those jobs took women near or into combat zones, and sometimes combat came to civilian areas, so some women died.