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1941: How Your Average College Woman Got Dressed

How many skirts? How many stockings? As the modern woman eschews clothing purchases for an entire year, The New York Public Library's blog...

Amanda M. Fairbanks
By Amanda M. FairbanksFeb 06, 2010
Amanda M. Fairbanks
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How many skirts? How many stockings?As the modern woman eschews clothing purchases for an entire year, The New York Public Library's blog reminds us of a simpler time-specifically a 1941 survey of college girls' wardrobe preferences-when boyfriends (as accessories) and street-length dresses ruled the day."Design for Living: The Magazine for Young Moderns," featured a campus poll of what the "Miss Average College Girls" owns and wears. An enlarged version of the nifty infographic can be found here.) It even acknowledges that its figures are based on a sample survey and not a balloting of the entire student body at schools like Smith, Vassar, and Sweet Briar.At the time, when "the sweater is still old faithful, and that a college girl spends 75% of her waking hours in the sweater skirt ensemble," an average woman spent about $240 each year on clothes. "The college girl, her sweater and her skirt are forever 'three comrades!'"Which are yours?
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