The Power of the Power Suit : How do the representations of women’s work in American Vogue reflect the changes in the female labour force participation rate from 1900 to 2020?

Abstract: The increase in female labour force participation rate can be considered as the most significant labour market trend taken place over the last 120 years in the United States. However, despite the drastic increase, women’s labour participation has stagnated since the mid-1990s. There is a lack of research about the social aspects of FLFP including how anti-egalitarian views reinforced by media representations affect women’s labour participation behaviour. Thus, in order to further understand a possible relationship between dress, social norms, and labour market trends, this paper will compare, and contrast theory and previous literature from the fields of labour market economics, fashion history and sociology. The paper aims to investigate how the representations of women’s labour market positions presented in fashion magazines mirror the shifts taking place in the labour market in the United States during the twentieth century. To explore the portrayals of women’s work over the last century, a content analysis of American Vogue magazines has been conducted.