Photo Observations
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Question one:
Two photos stand out to me when considering restricted and controlling fashion. The “Family at home, 1890s,” is one, and “men and women in business attire, 1950s ,” the other. The former photo shows the women covered from the top of their necks to the bottom of their toes! Their faces are the only skin observable. The womens hair is so tightly pulled back into conservatively taut buns. Their faces are so stretched tight from the yanking of their hair, it looks like they have face-lifts. The expressions on the womens faces are almost vacant, as they are expected to have little or no emotion. It appears as though the only expectations of these women were to clean the house, cook, and raise children. It wasnt acceptable for women to participate in much else around this time period.
In the latter photo, men and women were dressed in suits and long business skirts. This one also seems to represent a restricted fashion image because everyone dressed uniformly. Back in the fifties, society didnt want individualization in the workplace. People always dressed in one formal style and behaved in a generally similar fashion as well.
Five images show people wearing liberating fashions. The most blatantly obvious is the woman in the flapper outfit. Though, her attire is extremely tacky in our time period, in the twenties this woman was the epitome of wild and risquй. Society then, was just beginning to see women show a little skin, let alone flaunt it with feathers and red heels.
Question two:
I agree totally with Tannen than womens clothes have more “markers.” This is why men and womens clothing, no matter what time period, are different. A woman always has more choices to choose from than man does. Women now days have more markers than men just as they did in 1950. If a husband and wife were preparing to go out on a date, the wife would most likely take the longest time to get ready. She would have to decide how to put her hair for starters. There was and still is not one standard style a woman can wear her hair. Men could just take a comb to theirs and be done. The women would then have to choose an outfit. She could choose from conservative, to a little sexy. The man would wear a standard button up shirt and slacks, possibly with a jacket. He would wear closed-toes shoes. The wife would have to choose between makeup and no make-up, earrings and no earrings. The man wouldnt have to fuss with all these fashion markers. He wouldnt have to choose which earrings to wear, or to wear them at all.
Question three:
Fashion accessories worn in these photos tell you what the people want to convey to those who see them. The color, size and shape of accessory can determine the essential meaning behind its use and the situation it which it is worn. The flapper in the photo wore a ton of loud accessories. Each one is a symbol to her and the men and women who view her. The red shoes say “flirty” and “sexy.” The feathers represent her ability or desire to tease and seduce men. She might have worn the beads to make sure people know she values money and quality. The body language, winking of her eye, also shows her ability to accessorize. She winked to establish personal interest in the men.
The absence or minimalization of accessories reflects the social situation or the simplicity of the character. The photo of the hippie couple in the late sixties exemplifies the absence of accessories for the reason of character simplicity. The girl had her hair long, and loose. This is as close to no particular style a girl could accomplish at any given time period. The hippie girl represents this simplification because she, as any average hippie, was into nature and peace. Nature is simple, and peace is quiet and unspoken like the absence of her accessories.
In a social situation like the profession of nursing, men and women would not wear large or dangling jewelry. They would keep jewelry to a minimum.
Question four:
The womens hairstyles in these photos give us an insight into their personalities and attitudes. The woman in the photo of the “man and woman disco dancing,” had her hair in sexy yet short curls. Her personality was probably fun and practical at the same time. She proves she knows how to have fun dancing, and look great doing it.
In the “punk rocker” photo, the girl wore her hair dark-dyed, disheveled, and unevenly cut. She surely wanted everyone to know she had an independent mind. She also wanted to exaggerate her opposition to society by going against wearing her hair like most women. She made a point to look as though she didnt take the time to syle it. What is acceptable to others is not acceptable to her.
Question five:
The photo of the girl with the transistor radio is one that shows conformation to a dominant style. Ive heard from my parents that most high-school age girls in the fifties wore these poodle-skirts. The “men and women in business attire” are also conforming to the dominant style of their time period. In the workplace in the fifties, men wore suits and women wore similar long skirts.
Question six:
Tattoos and body art are etched on peoples skin for a few different reasons that I am aware. The first reason is to tell