An Analysis Of The Evolution Of Women’s Jeans Styles In America Under The Influence Of Feminist Thoughts

There is always a close relation between women and clothing. The activedevelopment of American women’s clothes reflects the development of women’sconsciousness. Jeans have always been considered as one of the symbols ofAmerican culture. From the very beginning when women’s jeans first becamepopular to its status as a closet staple for women, they have gone through manychanges in styles. The different periods when these changes occurred are explored.This thesis takes jeans as example and discusses American women’s fight against theinequality reflected in clothing and how the traditional masculine jeans are changedinto a highly-feminine outfit.Chapter one traces back to the World War Two period when women’s jeansbecame popular and analyzes the images of women wearing jeans in the war timemobilization propaganda. It reveals that women passively accepted this male outfitand failed to make them their own style. Chapter two discusses the special designchanges of women’s jeans from unisexual feature to feminine feature and explainsthese changes were influenced by the turn from sameness equality to equality indifference. Chapter three analyzes that female sexuality was connected withempowerment in the new era. The concept of sexuality and empowerment were soldto women consumers through advertisements. Jeans developed to an ultra-feminineitem.From the work clothes of miners, to cowboy wears, from symbolic outfit ofhippies to fashion items on the runway, jeans have rich cultural connotations. Yetwomen’s jeans have seldom been taken as topic of research. Adopting this freshperspective, this thesis explores how the different consciousness of women aboutequality reflected in clothing.