Papers by Jennifer Le Zotte
Winterthur Portfolio
Gilded Age Salvationists crafted appearances defying accepted religious comportment and secular l... more Gilded Age Salvationists crafted appearances defying accepted religious comportment and secular life while relying on the same economy and culture that they critiqued. For example, paramilitary uniforms expressed antimodern sentiments, branded the organization, and secured prodigious sales profits while depending on up-to-date manufacturing processes and contemporary style adaptations. Uniforms and slumwear allowed members, especially women, access to otherwise off-limits urban environments, prompting critics to question members’ motivations. Staged “cross-class” performances featuring ragged clothing illustrated humility and civic servitude by materializing spirituality. The Salvationists’ sartorial representations showcased several contradictory modernized identities.
Talks/Radio Appearances by Jennifer Le Zotte
Crazy Fur Real: Historian Jennifer Le Zotte takes us to a party in Greenwich Village that helped ... more Crazy Fur Real: Historian Jennifer Le Zotte takes us to a party in Greenwich Village that helped create a craze for vintage furs coats in the 1950s.
http://backstoryradio.org/shows/american-apparel-2/
Public History by Jennifer Le Zotte
A short history of the bikini's ties to the Cold War for Smithsonian.com
Book: From Goodwill to Grunge by Jennifer Le Zotte
In this surprising new look at how clothing, style, and commerce came together to change American... more In this surprising new look at how clothing, style, and commerce came together to change American culture, Jennifer Le Zotte examines how secondhand goods sold at thrift stores, flea markets, and garage sales came to be both profitable and culturally influential. Initially, selling used goods in the United States was seen as a questionable enterprise focused largely on the poor. But as the twentieth century progressed, multimillion-dollar businesses like Goodwill Industries developed, catering not only to the needy but increasingly to well-off customers looking to make a statement. Le Zotte traces the origins and meanings of “secondhand style” and explores how buying pre-owned goods went from a signifier of poverty to a declaration of rebellion.
Considering buyers and sellers from across the political and economic spectrum, Le Zotte shows how conservative and progressive social activists--from religious and business leaders to anti-Vietnam protesters and drag queens--shrewdly used the exchange of secondhand goods for economic and political ends. At the same time, artists and performers, from Marcel Duchamp and Fanny Brice to Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain, all helped make secondhand style a visual marker for youth in revolt.
Available for pre-order from UNC Press and Amazon (http://uncpress.unc.edu/books/13548.html)
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Papers by Jennifer Le Zotte
Talks/Radio Appearances by Jennifer Le Zotte
http://backstoryradio.org/shows/american-apparel-2/
Public History by Jennifer Le Zotte
Book: From Goodwill to Grunge by Jennifer Le Zotte
Considering buyers and sellers from across the political and economic spectrum, Le Zotte shows how conservative and progressive social activists--from religious and business leaders to anti-Vietnam protesters and drag queens--shrewdly used the exchange of secondhand goods for economic and political ends. At the same time, artists and performers, from Marcel Duchamp and Fanny Brice to Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain, all helped make secondhand style a visual marker for youth in revolt.
Available for pre-order from UNC Press and Amazon (http://uncpress.unc.edu/books/13548.html)
http://backstoryradio.org/shows/american-apparel-2/
Considering buyers and sellers from across the political and economic spectrum, Le Zotte shows how conservative and progressive social activists--from religious and business leaders to anti-Vietnam protesters and drag queens--shrewdly used the exchange of secondhand goods for economic and political ends. At the same time, artists and performers, from Marcel Duchamp and Fanny Brice to Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain, all helped make secondhand style a visual marker for youth in revolt.
Available for pre-order from UNC Press and Amazon (http://uncpress.unc.edu/books/13548.html)