Dress and Identity in America: The Baby Boom Years 1946-1964, Daniel Delis Hill

Dress and Identity in America examines the sharp turn towards conservatism and material aspiration in post-war America, revealing how clothing became both armour and identifier in the Baby Boom era. Daniel Delis Hill chronicles how men embraced the saccharine formality of grey flannel suits to reclaim patriarchal authority after wartime upheaval, while women—formerly munitions-workers—were drawn back into domesticity, buoyed by cinched waists and polished silhouettes that defined the New Look. Yet beneath this veneer of conformity, the Space Age generation stirred countercultural breezes: teenagers and Twenties youth rebelled through bold self-expression, signalling a new chapter in the cultural wardrobe.

Structured around clear thematic arcs, the book weaves together essays on gender, social transformation, and sartorial change—mapping television icons, miracle fabrics, and children’s clothing standards. Supported by 114 black-and-white illustrations, including archival images and garments, this volume offers a textured narrative of an era mediated by clothes—a world where fashion did more than clothe bodies; it choreographed identities.

About the Author
Daniel Delis Hill is an independent fashion historian and author of Peacock Revolution, a well-regarded study of masculine self-fashioning in the 1960s and 70s . His work brings keen historical insight to the everyday fabric of dress, exploring how wardrobes both reflect and reshape social roles. In Dress and Identity in America, Hill combines archival depth with cultural analysis, casting clothes as active agents of conformity, protest, and generational change.

Publication date: 2024
Publisher:Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Pages: 256
ISBN: 978135037391497813503739149781350373914