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April Hughes

October 16, 2006

Research Paper Outline

Methods

1. Abstract:

A)

1. Knowledge: Define the term stiletto heel? Identify the time of its creation.

What purpose did these shoes fulfill? Who was wearing them during the 1950s? How

much did high heels cost?

2. Comprehension: Identify where women were looking for fashion. Where could

they buy stilettos? Differentiate between teenage and adult fashion. Differentiate between

styles based on social status. Explain the stiletto’s emergence and expansion into

American fashion.

3. Application: Show how actresses, the media, and advertising influenced the

emergence of the high heel. Illustrate the effect television had on women’s fashion. Apply

knowledge and data about social class to determine the effects of the high heel in each

category. Examine the role of women as consumer.

4. Analysis: Examine the difference between teen and adult fashion, as well as

the difference between European and American fashion. Analyze the media’s influence

into the trend of the Stiletto, and women’s buying of them. Analyze the average number

of stilettos women owned in comparison to their family income, and social class status.

Separate the ideal fashion image of magazines and the media from the reality of real-life
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women’s fashion.Compare the women of fashion magazines and television to the average

American woman.

5. Synthesis: Combine the images conveyed from the television, magazines,

movies, and advertising. From this image re-create America’s theoretical “ideal woman”

and analyze her fashion. Ask your self if this woman was really the norm in 1950s

society. Using your knowledge of the 1950s, design a model of the “average” women and

analyze her wardrobe and fashion.

6. Evaluation: Measure the effects of the high-heel upon women in the 1950’s.

Assess the extent of its effects culturally, psychologically, aesthetically. Explain the

media’s role in influencing women and fashion.

B) The topic of my paper is the high heel shoe and its emergence in the 1950s. I will

examine the idea of women as the primary consumers, and explore how their fashions

were influenced and targeted by the media. I will analyze to what extent the stiletto heel

influence women in American society. My argument it that while the majority of stiletto

wearers were members of the upper-class, the effects and influence of the shoe is

apparent throughout society, regardless of class.

2. Time:

a. 1952: The creation of Italian Designer, Dior’s “New Look” in women’s fashion

and the first appearance of the Stiletto.

b. 1950s America
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c. The Stiletto, American women, Social Culture and Fashion, 1950s

d. Chronology, the chain of linear events, denotes and measures periods of time

e. My topic is the effects of the Stiletto on women, and I am framing it around the

time period of the 1950s.

3. Documents and Testimony:

a. Deloris Layne, “1950s Fashion Questionnaire,” typescript, October 3, 2006.

i. See above

ii. I created the questions and allowed each woman to complete them

on their own to the best of their own memory. It was written to

shed light on the fashion of the 1950’s from a woman who lived in

the era.

iii. The document has not been archived and I the owner of the

original copy.

Loretta Dubois, “1950s Fashion Questionnaire,” typescript, September 20,

2006.

i. See above

ii. I created the questions and allowed each woman to complete them

on their own to the best of their own memory. It was written to

shed light on the fashion of the 1950’s from a woman who lived in

the era.

iii. The document has not been archived and I the owner of the original

copy.
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Faye Hughes, “1950s Fashion Questionnaire,” typescript, September 26,

2006.

i. See above

iii. I created the questions and allowed each woman to complete them

on their own to the best of their own memory. It was written to

shed light on the fashion of the 1950’s from a woman who lived in

the era.

iii. The document has not been archived and I the owner of the original

copy.

****I also have primary document from Vogue and McCalls Magazines from the 1950s,

however, all my copied information has been lost and I am in the process of getting the

source back from out of storage in the warehouse and recopying that data. Sorry for the

inconvenience, but you can imagine how upset I am about this as well!!!

4. Outline:

1. Intro
a. Introduction to topic
b. thesis
2. Background of the High heel
a. Appreance of the first high heel in history
b. Dior’s “New Look”
c. Identify the Stiletto
3. Stilettos spread to America
a. Identify the medium of transfer
b. Describe the extent and rate of its spread

4. Separation of women and teen fashions

a. Why the separation
b. What were the differences-Questionnaire
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c. What were stereotypical “women fashions”

5. Sources for women’s fashion:
a. Magazines-Primary Vogue and McCalls Magazines
b. Advertising-Primary doc advertisements
c. Movies
d. TV

6. The woman consumer

a. Explain the woman’s role in household economics
b. Woman’s role as primary consumer-Primary doc. Advertisements
c. Advertising targeting women
d. Shop at home catalogs-Sears catalog document
e. Effects of this role

7. Define Americas image of the “ideal woman” as depicted in the media

a. Movies
b. Magazines-primary Vogue and McCalls magazines
c. Television-Questionnaire
d. Advertising-Primary doc Advertisements
8. Give examples of women in the public eye who personified this image
a. “Ozzie and Harriet”-Questionnaire
b. “Leave it to Beaver”-Questionnaire
c. Betty Crocker
d. Another example
e. Another example
9. Identify the number of women who owned/ wore stilettos and describe them-
Questionnaire
a. Use data about min wage
b. Give the average cost of a pair of stilettos in comparison with the average
household income
10. Examine the effects of the stiletto heel on women
a. Psychological-Questionnaire
b. Physical-Questionnaire
c. Societal-Questionnaire
11. Conclusion

5. Annotated Bibliography of Secondary Sources

Young, William H, and Nancy K. Young. The 1950s. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood
Press, 2004.
o This book is a chronology and in it the author gives an overview of life in the
1950s. The book has a chapter on women and advertising as well as fashion trends
and popular culture and the media.
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MacDonell Smith, Nancy. The Classic Ten: the True Story of the Little Black Dress and
Nine Other Fashion Favorites. New York, Penguin Books, 2003.
o This book is a chronography in that it mixes past and present trends and examines
the ten timeless classics of fashion. One of these is the high heel and the main
area of focus for my research in this source.

Skinner, Tina. Fashionable Clothing From the Sears Catalogs. Atglen, Pennsylvania:
Schiffer Publishing, 2002.
o This source I guess is a chronology in that it displays the fashion of the 1950s
from the pages of the shop at home catalog, known as the Sears Catalog. This
book was very interesting to me in that it shows the clothing for sale in the sears
catalog and provides the prices for each item.

Woloch, Nancy. Women and the American Experience. New York: McGraw Hill
Companies, 2002.
o This book is a chronology in that it describes the role of women in each era of
American History. There is a particular chapter pertaining to the 1950s which
discusses suburban housewives and working mothers.

Caovilla, Paola Buratto. Shoes: Objects of Art and Seduction. New York: Abbeville Press,
1998.
o This source is a chronography in that it mixes past and present examples of shoe
styles to show their art, craftsmanship, and allure. This book is interesting to me
in that it showcases and identified the high heel as part of universal culture.

Coontz, Stephanie. The Way We Never Were. New York: Basic Books, 1992.

o This source is a chronography in that it identifies past images of family life in

America and analyses them from a historical standpoint. This book is useful to me

in that it talks about the image of t.v. moms that are seen on “Ozzie and Harriet,”

and “Leave it to Beaver.”

Probert, Christina. Shoes in Vogue Since 1910. New York: Abbeville Press, 1981

o This source is a chronology in that it displays the types of shoe styles in Vogue

fashion magazine from 1910-1970. There is a chapter that I have focused on of

the 1950s and it has been useful to me.

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