This week we read chapter three of Lynn Peril’s book College Girls, “The Collegiate Look”. Peril describes the importance of dressing right for the college girl of the past in this chapter. Looking the part is not a new idea for women on college campuses. Ever since women arrived on college campuses across America, the idea of fitting the perfect college image has been a must for all students. Peril explains that “clothing marks the passage from schoolgirl to adult, when we don the ritual outfit of graduate’s gown and cap. Long before manufacturers sold a ready-to-wear college girl look, new clothing and new endeavors were firmly entwined.” (College Girls, page 106)
Unlike today where it’s almost impossible to avoid marketing campaigns of the perfect look for school, college girls of the early twentieth century were encouraged to write to their schools and find out! Peril describes this process; “lacking the guidance of mid-twentieth-century teen magazines and their back to school issues stuffed with copious pages of fashion advertising and editorial, the best way for the turn of the century college girl to find out the clothing fads and necessities at her campus of choice was to simply write ahead and ask. “Be sure to write such a letter of inquiry before purchasing your fabrics unless you are perfectly certain of what to wear and when and how to wear it” New York Times” (College Girls, page 107) The pressure of looking the part was intense for students, particularly females since they were just beginning to make their mark on developments of higher education along with their male students.
There were often consequences with not dressing the part of the perfect college girl in the early years of the university. Any girl who so desired to dress ‘mannish’ was termed with the name “Freak” and was feverishly tried to change by her fellow classmates to fit in better as a girl. Peril gives an example of this from Ladies Home Journal essay titled “How a Case of ‘Mannishness’ Was Cured” in the series “College Girls’ Larks and Pranks” in 1990: “The ‘Freak’ was enough to handicap any self-respecting Freshman class. What were the girls to do with a girl who set about in bloomers, had her hair cut short, and who doffed her fore-and-aft cap like a man when she met her classmates? “Something must be done,” said the President of the Freshmen.” (College Girls, page 115) There was an obvious difference between wearing a couple of male items to create the ‘collegiate’ look for a stylish outfit, but severe consequences existed for the girls who took it too far as to identify themselves as ‘too mannish’. The desire to fit in was huge and the appropriate clothes were essential.
This idea of the perfect look continued well into the mid twentieth century when slacks became more and more popular on college campuses as attire for women. This was called the “slob” look and was often discouraged by society. Peril reports the consequences for women dressing in comfortable slacks on school grounds; “outside criticism of dress standards nonetheless sometimes stung. In 1940, the same year it ushered in the “boyish” look with such great fanfare, Mademoiselle reported that the undergraduates at what was then the all-female Skidmore College…had undertaken a campaign to reverse their status as the “worst-dressed college in the East”” (College Girls, page 126) all due to the fact that slacks were popular on their campus for females.
The pressure to look right didn’t subside by any means. “Appearance even played a role in whether a girl got into school or not. Girls were instructed to “make sure your nails, hair, and complexion reflected good grooming at their college interviews.” (College Girls, page 127) This intense influence to be the perfect college girl took away from the whole movement of women in higher education. Where once women fought for education to free themselves from the “Pink Think” ideals of keeping them in the house, raising children, and uneducated, society’s standard for the perfect woman was not erased when women were allowed to be educated at institutions of higher learning. Many women felt empowerment by being able to achieve the same knowledge status as men and work side-by-side in fellow jobs, but they still let society hold them back with the idea that they were still supposed to represent themselves as ‘women students’ in the way they dressed instead of just ‘students’. If women did not look the part of idea of the traditional, properly dressed college girl, then they were shunned just from these premises of outwardly looks. These women were even being denied admission into the universities that were supposed to be freeing them from the ideals of “Pink Think’s” uneducated woman, just on the basis of their appearances.
The idea to look right has not stopped. The perfectly dressed school girl is revealed every mid-summer in endless of advertising campaigns by every major and minor clothing store in the country. These ads feature pretty girls dressed in the most stylish, expensive clothing and becoming popular, getting A’s, and getting the attention of the boys all due to dressing the right way. Companies advertise these “Pink Think” messages on TV, in magazines, movies, music videos (see Vanessa Hugdens) and mall across America, trying to influence girls on how to look perfect with their “Back to School Sales.” Unfortunately, these ads work and is what fuels the billion dollar industry each year. But not only do companies win by being able to take girl’s dollars in return for the best looking clothing, they also win by selling “Pink Think” look. Back to school sale? Back to school “Pink Think” sold.
(Vanessa Hudgen's back to school music video = PINK THINK)
-Laura Condyles
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