Nancy Nelson Hodges: Women’s Wear in a Woman’s Own Words: Jane Cunningham Croly and the Late 19th Century Fashion Magazine.
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA
As women began to collectively question their subordinate status within late 19th century American society, the topic of reform made its way into several popular fashion magazines (MacDonald, 1995; Shevelow, 1989). Due to the progressive thinking of the period, questions as to the implications of fashion for women’s health and well-being were raised (Endres & Lueck, 1995). A woman with views ahead of her time, Jane Cunningham Croly served as the editor of one such US periodical—Demorest’s Monthly Magazine. One of the most popular fashion-oriented women’s magazines of the late 1800s, Demorest’s was especially known for its reports on the latest European fashions, as well as the tissue paper dress pattern that came with each monthly issue (Ross, 1963). In this paper, selected writings by Croly about women and dress for Demorest’s Monthly Magazine are examined.
A journalist and women’s rights advocate, Croly wrote in support of women’s advancement and tied these issues to those of fashion and appearance. Born in England in 1829, Jane’s family moved to New York in 1849. She embarked on a career in journalism in her early twenties, soon to marry another journalist, David Goodman Croly, at age 27. Jane lectured on journalism at the Rutger’s Women’s College at ColumbiaUniversity, where she would earn an honorary doctorate and become the first to hold the prestigious Chair of Journalism and Literature (Blair, 1980). After taking over as editor of Demorest’s, Croly contributed a monthly column titled “Talks With Women,” which, in this paper, functions as a specific site for an exploration of her views on women and fashion.
In this paper, Croly’s professional life is explored alongside her personal interests in order to provide a foundation for the interpretation of her widely read and respected views. Croly utilized Demorest’s as a forum for making her perspective public, thereby establishing herself as an example of a successful, educated, professional female, and consequently becoming a role model for women of her day. In the spirit of reform that characterized her time, Croly presented her opinions on the need for change to the masses through a popular fashion magazine. These opinions were both idealistic and practical, often appearing contradictory, and gave voice to the complexity of Croly’s own persona by integrating the directness of a social reform newsletter with the subtlety of a model parlor magazine.
As this paper will illustrate, Croly called upon women to be rational in their choices regarding fashion, and while remaining fashion conscious, to resist the temptation to slavishly follow its whims. Yet, because Demorest’s purpose was to sell its female readers on the latest ideals in feminine fashion and beauty, Croly’s writings were tempered by its consumption-driven focus. Moreover, though Croly sought to alter perceptions of women in society, evidence in the form of her own writing points to a tension between what she expected of herself and what she believed society expected from her. Consequently, a great deal of ambivalence surfaces throughout the pages of Demorest’s. How such ambivalence continues to be at the root of fashion magazine journalism in contemporary society and the ways that this ambivalence reflects an on-going tension inherent in the relationship between women and fashion will be discussed.