Diversity of Daytime Clothing Styles as a Reflection of Women’s Social Role Ambivalence from 1873 through 1912

The symbolic interaction theory of fashion proposed by Kaiser, Nagasawa, and Hutton (1995) suggests that, in the instance of transitional societal contexts, an increase in cultural ambivalence is reflected by an increase in the heterogeneity of appearance-modifying commodities that are offered in a capitalistic marketplace. This paper describes research that tested this relationship in the context of women’s daytime clothing styles of the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At this time, society’s views on women’s roles became increasingly ambivalent as women challenged the confines of Victorian domesticity. A visual analysis instrument was used to code women’s daytime ensembles as represented in 252 fashion illustrations from Harper’s Bazar and The Delineator. Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to test for heterogeneity or diversity trends in the time series data. Results supported the proposed positive relationship between ambivalence and heterogeneity in dress; specifically, fabrics in general and several bodice features showed increasing stylistic diversity as ambivalence about women’s roles increased. In addition, data suggested that diversity was linked to ensemble layering and that shifting areas of diversity may have coincided with shifts in visual emphasis from the skirt to the bodice over the 40-year period.