From Counterculture to Mass Consumption: Crochet Garments from 1964–1974
Anna Muller
Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice
About this Item
- Title
- From Counterculture to Mass Consumption: Crochet Garments from 1964–1974
- Contributor Names
-
Muller, Anna (Author)
-
Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice (Degree granting institution)
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Jumper Matheson, Rebecca (Thesis advisor)
- Date
- 2020
- Degree Information
- M.A. Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York 2020.
- Department: Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice.
- Advisors: Jumper Matheson, Rebecca.
- Abstract
- The 1960s saw major fashion innovation for women's styles. Increasingly young people made deliberate choices to convey their stances on political, economic, and social issues through dress. The counterculture adopted crochet along with vintage and do-it-yourself styles. They formulated an individualistic way of dressing while also denouncing the excesses of the established fashion industry. Originally brought to the United States in 1964 by way of traveling fashionistas, the crochet swimsuit was an avenue through which some women could explore their newfound sexual liberation. This will be further explored through the object analysis of two crochet swimsuits from the 1960s. The motivations of the wearers of crocheted swimsuits are contrasted with the differing intentions behind the creation of a crochet vest by a schoolteacher demonstrating that crochet garments served different purposes depending on the maker's intention. Crochet is intrinsically personal as the stitch cannot be replicated by machine, the connection of maker and craft was only one reason it appealed to so many. Additionally, it was portable, cheap, and easy to learn. This led to its mass market success that was achieved by the coverage of crochet garment patterns in various popular women's magazines and the emergence of craft encyclopedias. The versatility of the craft allowed the maker to adapt one's crochet practice to one's personal tastes while simultaneously exuding the sentiments of a generation that was determined to change the world around them by creating something.
- Subject
- Bathing suits
- Crocheting
- Fashion
- Clothing and dress
- Counterculture
- Nineteen sixties
- Nineteen seventies
- Rights
- In Copyright
- The copyright for this work is held by its author/creator(s). Usage of this material beyond what is permitted by copyright law must first be cleared with the rights-holder(s). This work has been made available online by the Fashion Institute of Technology Gladys Marcus Library strictly for research and educational purposes. If you are the copyright holder for this work and have any objections to this work being made available online, please notify us immediately at [email protected].
- This item must not be sold to any third party vendors.
- Identifier
- FIT Repository ID: etd_000206
- pqdiss: 27956762
- ISBN: 9798641804569
- Related Materials
- Also available from ProQuest
- Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 81-11.
- Language
- eng
- Publisher
- Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
Citation
Muller, A. (2020). From Counterculture to Mass Consumption: Crochet Garments from 1964–1974 [Master's thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York]. FIT Institutional Repository. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/524
Muller, Anna. From Counterculture to Mass Consumption: Crochet Garments from 1964–1974. 2020. Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, Master's thesis. FIT Institutional Repository, https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/524
Muller, Anna. "From Counterculture to Mass Consumption: Crochet Garments from 1964–1974." Master's thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, 2020. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/524