Issue 6-Final

Features 11
How Fashion during a
Pandemic Has Evolved
throughout History
Did people also wear sweatpants all day during the Spanish flu pandemic?
By MAREN COHEN ‘24 and KAITLYN O’MALLEY ‘22
Design and graphics by Elva Chen ‘22
Anyone who watched the
Grammys this year noticed
a new accessory included
in all the vivid and exciting
outfits: a mask. This addition, required
for health and safety reasons, did not
initially have aesthetic value but will
be remembered in future years for embodying
the chaos of 2020 and 2021.
Throughout history, people have
responded with creativity when public
health has mandated particular fashion
choices. For example, in 1918,
the highly contagious Spanish flu
took the world by storm. According
to the CDC, around 500 million people
worldwide were infected, and 50
million people died from it (675,000
of whom were in the United States).
Though the contagion and death
rates of the Spanish flu were more significant
than COVID-19, the two viruses
had similar influences on peoples’ lifestyles.
For example, one of the many
changes that COVID brought with it was
a relaxation in clothing expectations. On
Zoom, for instance, you can wear pajama
pants without anyone realizing it.
To compensate for the cooler temperature
inside due to running fans and open
windows, Baldwin has allowed its Upper
School students to wear sweatpants.
Given these conditions, it’s not
surprising that athletic clothing and
athleisure sales are on the rise. During
the second quarter, Nike experienced
an overall sales increase of 9%, with
online sales increasing by 84%. Athleisure
allows for a “put-together” look
while still feeling comfortable and
has become an increasingly appealing
choice throughout the pandemic.
Similarly, during the Spanish flu
pandemic, there were also significant
increases in sales of comfortable clothing.
Women’s Wear Daily reported on
October 16, 1918: “Departments carrying
such lines as blankets, house
robes, comforters, flannel goods, and
woolen underwear are benefitting.”
And of course, just like today, face
masks were a must. During the height
of the Spanish flu pandemic, people
transformed the disadvantage of hiding
one’s facial expressions into an opportunity
to present themselves to the world
differently.
Some bought or sewed masks
called “flu veils,” which Women’s Wear
Daily described as “a mesh veil with
a chiffon border, in harem effect…
Many novel and bizarre effects may
be evolved from various combinations
of colors as well as from variations
in shape of the chiffon section.”
Others chose to wear masks mocking
the situation through painted-on skulls
and bones. Mask fashion during this
time indeed was about personalization.
Interestingly, some masks from 100
years ago resemble the ones we wear today.
The Daily Telegraph described one
mask during the Spanish Flu pandemic
as, “The smartest woman’s mask yet seen
had for its outer covering a pink floral
voile [sheer fabric], tied with pink ribbons
... at the corners on the cheeks there were
tiny pink rosettes; another pink rosette
hovered on the tip of the wearer’s nose.”
Comparing this description to popular
contemporary designs, such as Love-
ShackFancy’s frilly and floral masks,
highlights the similarities between the
two eras, despite the 100-year difference.
Like today, do-it-yourself instructions
for making masks from household
items and designing masks based on
face shape, occupation, or characteristics
were the subjects of numerous magazine
articles a century ago in Brigham Young
University’s newspaper White and Blue.
Thankfully for all of us, we’ll soon
be able to shed our masks. However, if
the past teaches us anything, we’ll meet
masks again… and creativity will follow.
SPANISH FLU
covid-19
1918
flu veil: “a mesh
veil with a chiffon
border, in harem effect”
2021