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Suits and frocks : Dressmakers and the making of feminine identity in postwar Australian society
Potter, Jenny-Lynn Reiger, Kerreen
Potter, Jenny-Lynn
Reiger, Kerreen
Abstract
In a context of heightened domestic ideology post–World War II, self-employed dressmakers contributed significantly to the making of the identity of Australian women. Through the skilled work of interacting with their clients and sewing their clothes, dressmakers both supported individual women’s presentation of “self” and operated at the intersection of gender and class relations. Working at home, they were not only making women’s clothes but also producing the social world. Drawing on interviews with thirteen women, this paper explores how such dressmakers’ work constructed a visual representation and interpretation of a feminine identity particular to their time, place, and local cultural context.
Keywords
dressmakers, identity, femininity, class, women’s work
Date
2017
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Australian Studies
Book
Volume
41
Issue
1
Page Range
113-130
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Arts and Humanities
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled