WOMEN ON THE VERGE

"Indeed, I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman."
                                                --- Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

I am no scholar in women's studies, so the following are merely foolish observations.


My recent readings seem to be set in periods of great change for women. And so, my thoughts have been inching along that timeline, from the late 19th through the early 20th century:  a rather progressive period for women.  In part, propelled by men (thanks to Charles Dana Gibson's satirical illustrations).  And of course, in part, by women.

Where do we go from here?
Dress: Sugarlips

The 19th century Gibson Girls were a plucky bunch:  educated, athletic, dominant.  I could learn a thing or two!  The next generation did, and went beyond. Corsets were discarded. Victorian mores were questioned.  The movement for women's suffrage intensified.  By the 1920s, Flapper ladies had bared their limbs and declared: if men can do it, women can do it too.  (Quite to the horror of the traditional population.)

What are we reaching for now?
Dress: Sugarlips

So I was thrilled when Sugarlips sent me this delicate, crocheted dress above, reminiscent of a Jazz Age tea dress.  It seemed ready to step into a Gatsby garden party.  My hat is of the '70s floppy variety, but I had in mind the big, flowered hats from La Belle Époque, sliding time's ruler back on the outfit, if only in thought.  (I could have stretched it centuries forward with a Balenciaga Darth Vader hat if I had one.)

House of Lanvin
"Roseraie" dress
1923
Photo: The Met Museum

As I was trawling the web, I came upon this lovely "Roseraie" dress from the House of Lanvin in 1923.  It was inspired by Art Nouveau and the Paris Exposition latticework.  What better way to show that Change does not occur in isolation.  Historic developments are accompanied by tectonic shifts in art, architecture, literature, science, and so on.  This time span was seismically driven on various fronts by women such as Gertrude Stein, Virginia Woolf, Marie Curie, or Jeanne Lanvin and Coco Chanel ...  along with the great men who orbited their worlds.  

I can see now what Woolf meant about the prolific Anonymous being, perhaps, female throughout time.  What do you think?

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Thank you to Sugarlips for the lovely gift.

Note to readers: I stand by the independence of this blog.  Any outfits featured are present because they somehow connect with me and my taste, not because I am paid to promote them.