Design piracy in the United States women's ready-to-wear apparel industry: 1910-1941

188 Pages·2015·4.08 MB·English

Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and
Retrospective Theses and Dissertations
Dissertations
2005
Design piracy in the United States women's ready-
to-wear apparel industry: 1910-1941
Sara Beth Marcketti
Iowa State University
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Recommended Citation
Marcketti, Sara Beth, "Design piracy in the United States women's ready-to-wear apparel industry: 1910-1941 " (2005).Retrospective
Theses and Dissertations. 1756.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/1756
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Design piracy in the United States women's ready-to-wear apparel industry: 1910-1941
by
Sara Beth Marcketti
A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Major: Textiles and Clothing
Program of Study Committee:
Jean L. Parsons, Major Professor
Amy S. Bix
Larry Ebbers
Jane Farrell-Beck
Linda S. Niehm
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
2005
Copyright © Sara Beth Marcketti, 2005. All rights reserved.
UMI Number: 3200443
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ii
Graduate College
Iowa State University
This is to certify that the doctoral dissertation of
Sara Beth Marcketti
has met the dissertation requirements of Iowa State University
Signature was redacted for privacy.
Major Professor
Signature was redacted for privacy.
the Major Progra
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES v
LIST OF FIGURES vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
ABSTRACT . viii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
Research Questions 5
Methods 5
Organization of the Dissertation 7
Definition of Terms 8
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 11
Development of the Women's Ready-to-Wear Apparel Industry 11
Changes in the Need and Availability of Ready-to-Wear Apparel 12
Technical Advancements 15
Structure of the Women's Ready-to-Wear Apparel Industry 18
Rapid Growth 20
The Emergence of the Dress Industry 22
Importance of Style and Fashion Change 29
Originals and Adaptations 33
Fashion, Class, and Social Status 37
Dress and Fashion as Status Symbols in Open Class Systems 38
Theories of Fashion Diffusion 39
The Inherent Similarity of Fashion 42
Style and Design Piracy 43
Style and Design Piracy from the U.S. Apparel Industry Perspective 45
Style and Design Piracy from the Legal Perspective 48
Summary 54
CHAPTER THREE: AMERICAN FASHIONS FOR AMERICAN WOMEN 56
The Need and Desire for an American Art of Dressing 56
The Copying of Paris for Style Inspiration 58
Identification of Paris with Fashion Creation 59
Demand for Parisian Goods 61
Methods of Copying Parisian Styles 63
Developments that Encouraged American Style Independence 67
Tariffs 69
Rising Wholesale and Retail Prices 70
Disappointment in Paris 71
False Parisian Labels 74
iv
Development of a U.S. Design Presence 79
What are American Fashions? 79
Encouragement, Education, and Promotion of the U.S. Designer 84
Museums and Style Libraries 85
Education 86
Advertising 89
Summary 92
CHAPTER FOUR: AMERICAN STYLE PROTECTION ARGUMENTS 95
Style and Design Piracy 95
Style Protection Arguments 98
Arguments in Support of Style Protection 99
The manufacturers' interest 100
The retailers' interest 101
The consumers' interest 103
The interest of labor 104
Arguments Against Style Protection 105
The manufacturers' interest 105
The retailers' interest 106
The consumers' interest 106
The interest of labor 107
Regulating Piracy 107
Legal Attempts to Regulate Piracy 112
Trade Association Attempts to Regulate Piracy 115
Summary 123
CHAPTER FIVE: THE FASHION ORIGINATORS GUILD OF AMERICA 125
The FOGA 125
New Regulations and Controversial Policies 137
The National Recovery Administration Hearing: The Design Piracy Debate 144
Competition and Regulation of Originality 145
Originality and Adaptations 146
Entitlement to Fashion 148
Style and Economic Issues 152
The Debate over Labor and Employment Issues 153
Quality Considerations 156
Did the FOGA Monopolize the Industry? 158
Summary 160
CHAPTER SIX: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 161
Summary 161
REFERENCES CITED 168
V
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Number and value of dress establishments, 1929 27
Table 2.2 Number and value of dress production, 1929, 1931, 1937 28
vi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1 M&H Rentner advertisement 36
Figure 3.1 The dishonest Paris label 76
Figure 4.1 Dress with copyrighted number 110
Figure 4.2 Design in patent dispute 112
Figure 4.3 Dress Creators League of America inaugural announcement 121
Figure 5.1 Fashion Originators Guild of American inaugural announcement 127
Figure 5.2 FOGA mid-season showing announcement 129
Figure 5.3 FOGA dress manufacturer member advertisement 132
Figure 5.4 Herbert Sondheim registered sketch 134
Figure 5.5 FOGA label 135
Figure 5.6 Popular Price Dress Manufacturers announcement 139
vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The idea for this dissertation was a result of a dress purchased with an FOGA label by
my advisor, Jean L. Parsons. Jean, you have been most supportive throughout the Ph.D.
process. Thank you for helping to build my confidence in the art of history writing. I thank
Jane Farrell-Beck for her dedication to the subject of historic costumes. Thank you to Amy
Bix for encouraging me to present this topic to a wider historical audience. To Linda Niehm,
I owe a great deal of gratitude for teaching me to view topics from a "so-what" perspective.
Thank you to Larry Ebbers for encouraging me to pursue a minor in higher education, a
subject I have greatly enjoyed. Thank you also to Sara Kadolph for her example of master
teaching and her willingness to assist me in my pursuit of becoming a great teacher. I also
thank the College of Human Science at Iowa State University, the American Association of
Family and Consumer Sciences, the Costume Society of America, and the Kappa Omicron
Nu Association for their financial support.
The process of receiving a Ph.D. was difficult and at times disheartening. I thank my
parents, Ted and Margaret Brubacher for their love, support, and constant encouragement.
Their examples of hard work and dedication buoyed me throughout this process. I am
grateful for my decision to attend Iowa State University. It is here that I found my life's
work and life partner. I thank my husband, Mike Marcketti, for the reminder that receiving a
Ph.D. is only one of my life-goals. This dissertation is dedicated in memory of my
grandparents, Ted and Dorothy Brubacher and Harold and Esther Maxwell, for their
examples of everyday leadership and faith.
viii
ABSTRACT
This research investigates the economic conditions of the American apparel industry, as well
as the complex interactions of apparel industry members, trade organizations, and the U. S.
government to better understand the reasons cited for supporters of apparel style protection
versus those who accepted design piracy. The purpose is to examine the concept of piracy
within the historical context of the American ready-to-wear apparel industry. Through an
analysis of journalistic coverage in trade and popular fashion periodicals, pertinent legal
records, economic and census data, governmental hearings, archival sources, and the case
study of the Fashion Originators Guild of America, this research analyzes the
interrelationships among American access to fashion, the ready-to-wear industry, and design
piracy. The precise time boundaries of this research are 1910 though 1941. These years
encompassed the rise of the American ready-to-wear industry and coincided with the
beginning of the trade publication Women's Wear Daily. The year 1941 marked the end of
the Fashion Originators Guild of America's program of self-regulation against piracy.
Protection of women's apparel against piracy was controversial and difficult. First, protection
of styles against piracy was contradictory to the concept of fashion. Without the social
process of imitation, the lucrative business of the women's ready-to-wear apparel industry
could not exist. Second, an objective criterion for determining product originality was
difficult. These problems were multiplied in the women' ready-to-wear apparel industry
which placed thousands of different styles in production each season, each conforming to the
prevailing fashion in varying price and quality levels. While the apparel industry continues to
debate the rubric of "referencing," the FOGA was an important early case highlighting the
ethical, economic, and social considerations of a program of industry-wide self-regulation.