1910's Fashion | Fashion for Women

The Birth of the Modern.

At the turn of the century a growing middle class, composed primarily of men and women in management and service jobs, was gaining prominence in American life. With the rise of bigger, moreefficient businesses, the triumph of the automobile, and the growth of national magazines, the broad characteristics of twentieth-century America fell into place. Americans grew more prosperous, more mobile, and more alike in their tastes and habits—all of which seemed like progress. One reason for their growing similarity was the national magazine. Although there was a vast array of magazines in nineteenth-century America, none of them commanded a particularly large audience of readers. In the 1910s, however, thanks to a combination of innovations in printing, mailing, and advertising, some magazines began to approach circulations of one million or more. The most successful of these magazines was the Ladies' Home...