With her characteristic disregard for the unreasonable mandates of the prevailing fashion police hanging out for all to see, Elizabeth Hawes (1903–1971) scoffed with the deepest irreverence at the males of the species for being so thoughtless and blind in matters sartorial. Pointing out that men, who she compared to mice, don’t have to wear ties, hats, heavy leather shoes or anything else that makes them uncomfortable, but do so purposelessly out of fear:
“Once my heart bled for you. Now I am sick of the whole business… Once I spent long hours worrying about how your bosses insisted on keeping you ‘correctly’ dressed, because being correctly dressed is synonymous with keeping you in your place. It shows you have no radical ideas…”
Her ideal look in men’s fashion can be seen in the attached four color photos, and there isn’t a tie to be seen.
Click here to read more about men’s fashions in the 1940s…
Two years later, when the nation had been plunged into war, this shot was fired across the bow of the necktie industry:
(This article was cited by THE NY TIMES for their article on Elizabeth Hawes.)
