Olivetti and the missing third: fashion, working women and images of the mechanical-flâneuse in the 1920s and 1930s

Authors

Jonathan P. Cockburn, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

102537

Publication Details

Cockburn, J. P. "Olivetti and the missing third: fashion, working women and images of the mechanical-flâneuse in the 1920s and 1930s." Fashion Theory 19 .5 (2015): 637-686.

Additional Publication Information

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

Abstract

This paper addresses images of the mechanical-flâneuse as the efficient modern woman at work in the 1920s and 1930s. To do so the characteristics of flânerie, traveling theory, and concepts of self-presentation are explored in relationship to the concurrent and transcultural influence on occupation and fashionable appearance of interest in Taylorism in the USA, USSR and Italy.