What Women Wore to the Revolution: 1930s-1960s
Sundays, November 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 2026
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.
Welcome to What Women Wore to the Revolution: 1930s to 1960s, taught by fashion historian Cassidy Zachary. This live, lecture course includes four 1 to 1.5 hour online classes covering women's fashions worn during the 1930s to the 1960s.
The class will meet at 9am PST/12pm EST on the following Sundays: November 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd, 2026. A free recommended reading/resource list will follow each class, as well as a link to the class recording should you not be able to attend the live session. International attendees are welcome! You do not have to attend the live class session to enjoy this course! Recordings of each session are available throughout the course and one month after its end.
The cost is $100 for all four classes. Classes cannot be taken individually.
This course is a companion to What Women Wore to the Revolution: 1850s-1920s. The recordings for that class are available for purchase here.
Class Details
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?
Class 1: November 1st, 2026
At War with Fashion: Women & WWII
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.
Class 2: November 8th, 2026
The Golden Age of Haute 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.
Class 3: November 15th, 2026
Youthquake Fashion Revolution!
IIn 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.