What Women Wore to the Revolution: 1930s to the 1960s
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October 19th to November 9th, 2025
Throughout the 20th century, women’s lives changed dramatically—and so too did the clothing they wore. In this class we will explore the innovators and innovations responsible for the revolutionary changes sweeping through women’s dress during some of the most beloved and iconic eras in the history of Euro-American fashion: the 1930s to the 1960s. From Depression-era fashion fantasies to the "Make Do and Mend" of WW2, from Dior's "New Look" to the liberating micro-minis and blue jeans of the 1960s, we will meet the women--and the clothes--that continue to captivate our imaginations and shape the way we wear to this very day.
Class Descriptions
October 21st, 2025: Fashion Fantasies and Realities in the Great Depression Era
Hemlines were low but fashion fantasies were high at the dawn of the 1930s which ushered in more than the Great Depression. A hyper feminine, body hugging silhouette emerged in sharp contrast to the shapeless, "boyish" shift dresses of the previous decade. The new aesthetic was immortalized within both the pages of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar where Parisian haute couturiers inspired women to dream and also on the silver screen where Hollywood costume designers dressed star style icons to perfection. But where high fashion and film offered women a glamorous respite from their day to day lives, a new generation of American ready to wear designers catered to women's lived experiences and economic realities with chic, affordable and practical sportswear that came to be known as "The American Look." In this class, we will decipher fashion fantasy from reality, asking the question: what did women wear and dream of wearing during an era of great financial hardship?
October 28th, 2025: At War with Fashion: Women and WW2
In this class, we meet the women who worked, wore, and rebelled during World War 2, a contentious and heartbreaking period marked by struggle, but also great courage and style. Just like the First World War, women went to work for the WW2 effort in the millions, many occupying jobs previously the exclusive domain of their male counterparts and requiring their male-coded clothing to do it. At home, government clothing restrictions fostered a "Make Do and Mend Mentality," while forcing designers and manufacturers to get creative with materials and silhouettes. Under the auspices of war, dress took on new meanings as an incredibly powerful medium of both expression and subversion. Be it Parisians under Nazi occupation, pachuca Zoot Suiters or Japanese-Americans interned in U.S. concentration camps, women used their clothing to defy repressive gender norms, institutions, and government regimes. All without saying a word.
November 5th, 2025: Behind the Seams of the Golden Age of Couture
In the post WW2 era, many women were eager to forget the trauma--and fashions--of the war years and willingly embraced a corseted, highly artificial and structured version of femininity not seen since the dawn of the 20th century. And if the onslaught of targeted advertising is to be believed, the many working women of WW2 also returned to the domestic sphere and their societally sanctioned roles of wife and mother. But the world of fashion presents a very different lived reality. In this class, we go behind the seams of the "Golden Age of Couture" to meet the many working women at its heart: models and muses, designers and photographers, editors and journalists, all of whom changed the face and shape of fashion as they wore it.
November 12th, 2025: Youthquake Fashion Revolution
In our fourth and final class, we immerse ourselves in the Youthquake fashion revolution of the 1960s, one of the most exciting and rebellious periods in the history of women's (and men's!) fashion. In an era defined by sweeping political, societal, and cultural change, so too were established sartorial conventions shattered at the hands of young people hoping to transform the world. The 1960s witnessed the rise of hemlines, fast fashion, boutique culture, and radical self expression. The hippie counter culture defied the dressed gender binary, Black models and designers redefined the face of fashion, and a new generation of young ready-to-wear designers overthrew the century long reign of the Parisian haute couture. By the end of the decade the world was changed and so too was women's fashion.
About Cassidy Zachary
Cassidy Zachary is a fashion historian, published author and professional podcaster. She is co-founder, creator and host of the podcast Dressed: The History of Fashion. She is also the founder of the popular blog turned Instagram account @The_Art_of_Dress where every week she shares her passion for fashion history with over 350,000 followers around the globe. In addition to co-authoring the book Fashion and the Art of Pochoir, she has contributed to numerous publications on fashion history and has lectured on the topic throughout the United States. Her work is cited in Vogue, The New York Times, and WWD among many publications.