Perfect Fit : Clothes, Character, and the Promise of America

A social history of the role of clothing in the making of modern Americans. Little attention has been paid to the meaning of clothes for the common man. Yet between 1890 & the outbreak of WW2, as ready-to-wear came into its own, the clothes of ordinary Americans claimed the nation's attention & dominated public discussion. Fashion played an important role in shaping the national character. This book draws from ads, trade journals, & health manuals to sermons, science, & songs, to show how the length of a woman's skirt, the shape of a man's hat, & the height of a pair of heels enabled Americans of every faith, color, & class to feel part of a unified modern nation. Clothes came to express the spirit of democracy & the promise of America. B&W photos.Joselit, Jenna Weissman is the author of 'Perfect Fit : Clothes, Character, and the Promise of America', published 2004 under ISBN 9780756771669 and ISBN 0756771668.