Carly Eck

In 1938 Life reported that the estimated sales figures for the Californian playwear industry was worth $25,000,000. Despite this contribution to the American economy, and since the term ‘play-clothes’ is no longer in contemporary parlance, this historical genre of clothing remains ambiguous and overlooked. With reference to primary-source material of surviving dress and media representation this dissertation explores Southern Californian women’s play-clothes between 1936 and 1959.

Play-clothes embodied the aspirations of the ‘good’ life promoted by the media and booster industries as an idealised conceptualisation of the Southern California leisured, sun-laden and al fresco lifestyle. The argument of the dissertation suggests that play-clothes were a metaphor for the California dream. The dissertation situates play-clothes in three different locales: the beach, backyard and beyond California. It looks at how play-clothes worn by women enabled them to negotiate between the ludic spaces of the beach, the swimming pool and the home. From the late 1940s play-clothes increasingly shifted from a regional identity and embodied an international identity in a growing globalised fashion industry. This is illustrated in the collaborations between Southern Californian play-clothes designers and European fashion designers. Also addressed is how the design and media representation of play-clothes acted as an ‘imagined community’ and created a desire for otherness. Finally, play-clothes are explored in Britain to consider the influence of Californian, later more generally American, playwear design.