Fashion and Feminism

Fashion became feminist battleground. Dress reformers argued that fashion enslaved women through discomfort, expense, and time consumption. Conventional fashion supporters countered that beauty was feminine power, that fashion provided creative expression and economic opportunities.

Amelia Bloomer's 1850s costume reform failed, but Belle Époque feminists revived rational dress campaigns. The Ligue du Costume Féminin promoted practical clothing enabling active lives. Members wore shortened skirts, minimal corsets, and sensible shoes. Their appearance at suffrage demonstrations visually argued for female capability.

Yet many feminists embraced fashion. Marguerite Durand of La Fronde dressed elaborately, arguing that feminine appearance didn't negate intellectual capacity. Jane Dieulafoy wore complete male dress, legally authorized due to her archaeological work requiring practical clothing. These different strategies revealed feminism's internal debates about gender performance.

The grande couture's female workforce complicated feminist positions. Fashion houses employed thousands of women as seamstresses, embroiderers, and designers. These jobs, though demanding and poorly paid, offered alternatives to domestic service or factory work. Fashion provided rare opportunities for female entrepreneurship and creativity.

Fashion magazines addressed the "New Woman" emerging in the Belle Époque. Articles advised on professional dress, sporting attire, and travel clothing. The assumption that readers had active lives requiring varied wardrobes marked social change. Yet these magazines also reinforced beauty standards and consumption patterns that many feminists critiqued.