WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.920 --> 00:00:06.520 On March eighth, twenty eighteen, Women's International Day, mind you, 2 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:09.799 I started getting ready for my shift at the Bloomingdal's 3 00:00:09.800 --> 00:00:13.000 in Beverly Hills, and I did what I always did. 4 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:17.480 I blew out my hair, contoured my face, and then 5 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:21.279 I sat at the corner of my bed, mustering the 6 00:00:21.320 --> 00:00:24.720 strength to pull out my black pantyhose and zip up 7 00:00:24.720 --> 00:00:29.840 what had become my work uniform, the Little Black dress. 8 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:38.559 And then something came over me. I opened up my 9 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:44.479 laptop and I started to furiously type out an email. Hello, 10 00:00:44.680 --> 00:00:46.360 this is money. Come on, I let's go se Yeah 11 00:00:46.400 --> 00:00:49.680 from the Bloomy SPEP Center location forty nine point fifty. 12 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:55.319 Because my manager has been on leave since October, I 13 00:00:55.360 --> 00:00:57.680 didn't know who to bring this up to, so I'm 14 00:00:57.720 --> 00:01:04.000 contacting HR directly. I have to unfortunately quit my position 15 00:01:04.160 --> 00:01:11.119 as a stylist immediately effective today, best Monica and then 16 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:15.160 I had sent That's how I quit working at bloomingdalf. 17 00:01:18.800 --> 00:01:23.160 From Fudro Media and PRX. It's Latino Usa. I'm mariena 18 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:36.119 Hosa today. The unknown history of the iconic little black dress. 19 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:45.920 The Little Black Dress aka the LBD has become synonymous 20 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:50.080 with the cocktail dress. The LBD can be any style, 21 00:01:50.440 --> 00:01:54.840 any fabric, but what it will always exude is confidence 22 00:01:55.200 --> 00:02:00.000 and style. The LBD has been worn by everyone from 23 00:02:00.240 --> 00:02:04.080 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Sonya Soto Mayor to 24 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:08.880 Princess Diana, and since the nineteen twenties it's gained the 25 00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:13.120 reputation as the garment of liberation and access to the 26 00:02:13.160 --> 00:02:19.600 modern world. Ever since then, the LBED has been reliably flattering, seductive, 27 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:24.240 and elegant. But it hasn't always been this way. For 28 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:28.040 many women, the Little Black Dress has and still is 29 00:02:28.480 --> 00:02:33.040 a symbol of servitude and of work, because before it 30 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:36.360 was the iconic symbol it is now, it was a 31 00:02:36.480 --> 00:02:41.440 dress only worn by working class white women employed in 32 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:45.519 department stores, as well as by black women who worked 33 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:50.400 as domestics in the homes of white Americans. In this episode, 34 00:02:50.480 --> 00:02:55.080 producer Monigat Moralis Garcia shares a lot of experiences that 35 00:02:55.160 --> 00:02:58.240 she's had with the Little Black Dress. They used to 36 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:01.720 wear them to serve mostly white customers when they worked 37 00:03:01.760 --> 00:03:05.880 at Bloomydale's, and then they ended up researching the origins 38 00:03:05.960 --> 00:03:10.000 of the Little Black Dress while Mornigatt was in graduate school. 39 00:03:10.760 --> 00:03:14.160 Don't get this twisted. This is not a Cinderella or 40 00:03:14.320 --> 00:03:17.160 rags to riches story for monicam morelos Garcia. 41 00:03:17.320 --> 00:03:19.600 No no, no, no, no, no no. This is a. 42 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:24.200 Story about the contradictions and the transformations of the little 43 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:29.240 black dress. Here's monicam moreles Garcia with the story that 44 00:03:29.320 --> 00:03:31.120 we first aired in twenty twenty two. 45 00:03:36.160 --> 00:03:38.720 I landed a job at Bloomingdale's in the summer of 46 00:03:38.720 --> 00:03:45.040 twenty seventeen. The song This bu See had just come out. 47 00:03:45.480 --> 00:03:48.800 It was that summer. I needed new clothes before my 48 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:51.480 first day of work, so I got myself two little 49 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:55.720 black dresses, some black tights, and some sensible yet style 50 00:03:55.760 --> 00:03:58.320 of shoes, ones that I can stand in all day. 51 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:03.960 I was now a stylist, which is just a fancy 52 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:09.240 way to say sales associate. But never mind that, and 53 00:04:09.320 --> 00:04:11.680 for the next eight months, that's all I would wear 54 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:15.760 to work. I have never worn so much black in 55 00:04:15.760 --> 00:04:18.919 my life. My hair would be pulled back or straightened. 56 00:04:19.520 --> 00:04:23.120 I would never wear my natural curls, and my makeup 57 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:26.600 and nails were always done and neat. At the time, 58 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:29.840 I thought working at Bloomingdale's was a match made in heaven. 59 00:04:30.080 --> 00:04:33.240 I have a passion for fashion. I needed a job 60 00:04:33.560 --> 00:04:37.240 and they were hiring. It was kind of perfect. I'd 61 00:04:37.400 --> 00:04:41.320 worked in retail before, but never a luxury, so I 62 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:44.680 thought it'd be different from other retail work. I even 63 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:46.960 thought it'd be kind of glamorous. 64 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:49.719 Why is this store better than any other store? 65 00:04:49.760 --> 00:04:50.960 I mean, what is this thing? 66 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:52.960 What on earth could she be talking about? 67 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:53.640 A store? 68 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:56.920 A store that can reduce an intelligent woman to a slave. 69 00:04:57.440 --> 00:05:00.520 The store is Bloomingdale's, known to its addicts as Bloomies. 70 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:06.720 The blooming Dolls in Beverly Hills is a luxurious place. 71 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:10.599 It has three floors. The bottom floor is dedicated to 72 00:05:10.640 --> 00:05:15.080 the men's department. There's moody lighting, the ViBe's aging rock Star, 73 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:18.520 and it smells like leather jackets. There's an escalator in 74 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:20.920 the middle of the store, so while you're going up, 75 00:05:20.960 --> 00:05:23.279 you get a bird's eye view of the layout and 76 00:05:23.320 --> 00:05:26.360 you can see the seamstress working on suit tailoring from above. 77 00:05:26.839 --> 00:05:30.320 It's fabulous, and as the sound of her sewing machine 78 00:05:30.360 --> 00:05:33.760 begins to fade, you're in a completely different part of 79 00:05:33.760 --> 00:05:38.200 the store. The second floor. This is where the magic happens. 80 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:41.880 There's the makeup department, which to now, why I sell 81 00:05:42.080 --> 00:05:46.839 Tumford or all the expensive stuff there's fine jewelry where 82 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:48.960 you could casually order diamonds at the counter and have 83 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:52.200 them delivered to your home same day. And then there 84 00:05:52.200 --> 00:05:58.240 are the bags in the shoes, Gucci, Valentino, Burberry, Balenciaga. 85 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:03.800 It's truly a shopping paradise. The escalator takes you up 86 00:06:04.080 --> 00:06:06.880 one more time, and you're greeted by what seems like 87 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:10.920 fifty perfectly styled mannequins, each bright white and shinier than 88 00:06:10.960 --> 00:06:14.440 the next. And just behind that display was my station, 89 00:06:14.960 --> 00:06:18.240 about the size of a small bedroom. That's where I 90 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:20.800 would greet you and ask what brings you into the 91 00:06:20.839 --> 00:06:23.679 store today? Do you have any events coming up soon? 92 00:06:24.880 --> 00:06:30.320 And while all of this is fabulous, that is all 93 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:34.800 for the customer, because behind all of the beautiful visual merchandising, 94 00:06:35.480 --> 00:06:39.279 underneath this little black dress, I can feel beads of 95 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:43.680 sweat dripping down my back. My face hurts from smiling, 96 00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:47.599 my feed from staining all day. But providing service that 97 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:53.040 goes above and beyond is the job. And as soon 98 00:06:53.080 --> 00:06:57.000 as the client is gone, the glamour fades. You go 99 00:06:57.080 --> 00:06:59.440 back into the fitting room and pick up after them. 100 00:07:00.080 --> 00:07:04.080 There's Starbucks, cups, empty hangers, the clothes have been all 101 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:07.720 left on the floor, crumpled up. And let me tell you, 102 00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:11.840 there has been nothing more humbling for me than having 103 00:07:11.880 --> 00:07:15.720 to pick up someone's hot clothes off the floor. It 104 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:18.000 really made me think about the state of my life. 105 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:23.040 You shake out the clothes, re steem them, make sure 106 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:26.240 there's no makeup on the neckline, and then place them 107 00:07:26.280 --> 00:07:29.960 back into the stock room, over and over again, no complaining. 108 00:07:29.960 --> 00:07:32.760 You're on your feet the whole time. If you dare 109 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:34.640 to sit, security will see you on the cameras and 110 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:39.920 your phone overring, reminding you you're supposed to be standing. 111 00:07:40.880 --> 00:07:46.160 The job is constantly testing your patience. I'm quitting and 112 00:07:46.200 --> 00:07:47.480 I'm never coming back. 113 00:07:47.640 --> 00:07:48.360 This is it. 114 00:07:48.840 --> 00:07:52.480 I'll do everything else but that. This is Natalie Garcia. 115 00:07:52.960 --> 00:07:55.720 We met while working at Blooming Dells together. She used 116 00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:58.960 to be the manager of BCBG when we met. She 117 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:04.360 had been working and met for about a decade. When 118 00:08:04.400 --> 00:08:06.760 I asked her one of her most memorable stories from 119 00:08:06.760 --> 00:08:09.520 her time working in retail, she told me about this 120 00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:13.320 one customer she was probably like in her eighties, and 121 00:08:13.640 --> 00:08:18.400 she wanted leather biggings, And so Natalie places the leather 122 00:08:18.520 --> 00:08:20.960 leggings in the fitting room for the woman to try on. 123 00:08:22.880 --> 00:08:25.640 And as she's leaving to give this woman the space 124 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:29.480 to try on those leather leggings, the woman stops her 125 00:08:29.560 --> 00:08:32.600 and she says, no, no, no, help me. So Natalie 126 00:08:32.640 --> 00:08:36.439 turns around because it's her job to get this woman 127 00:08:36.640 --> 00:08:40.280 into those leggings, and so she places each one of 128 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:43.480 her legs into those legging holes and Natalie is pulling 129 00:08:43.520 --> 00:08:46.440 as hard as she can to get this leather over 130 00:08:46.520 --> 00:08:47.880 this woman's thighs. 131 00:08:48.160 --> 00:08:51.920 I was like, lifted her and I was sweaty. 132 00:08:51.960 --> 00:08:55.599 And finally she's able to pull the leggings all the 133 00:08:55.640 --> 00:08:59.080 way up. And she didn't buy them. She was like, well, 134 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:04.960 I don't like them. She left them there. If you 135 00:09:05.040 --> 00:09:08.480 talk to people who work in luxury retail, these types 136 00:09:08.520 --> 00:09:13.040 of stories are plentiful, rich people behaving badly. Haha. The 137 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:17.040 stories are funny in retrospect, but it was shocking the 138 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:20.200 first time something like this happened to me. Something about 139 00:09:20.280 --> 00:09:25.199 dressing rich, mostly white women is uncomfortable, especially while you're 140 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:28.760 wearing the little black dress your work uniform. You begin 141 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:31.760 to wonder, why do I look like I'm her maid? 142 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:35.319 And then you're like no, no, no, no, no, I'm overreacting. 143 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:38.160 It's literally my job to wear all black, and I 144 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:40.920 can't show my tattoo on my foot with my grandma's name, 145 00:09:41.280 --> 00:09:45.120 so the black tights are just practical, and plus it's 146 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:49.000 my job to help her. It's literally optics. It's fine, 147 00:09:49.280 --> 00:09:53.040 but at the same time, you're feeling all of the 148 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:56.280 race and class dynamics playing out in that moment. So 149 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:01.120 nothing is happening, but there's all this subtexts that's like unacknowledged, 150 00:10:01.640 --> 00:10:04.640 and the customer is probably not thinking about it, or 151 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:08.160 maybe she is and it's just more polite to say nothing, 152 00:10:08.800 --> 00:10:10.880 or maybe if she just thinks this is the way 153 00:10:10.920 --> 00:10:13.920 things are. Some people are meant to serve and others 154 00:10:13.920 --> 00:10:18.640 are meant to be served. But whatever the case, the 155 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:25.880 air feels thick with what's left unsaid. Natalie never forgot 156 00:10:25.880 --> 00:10:27.439 the lady and the leather leggings. 157 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:30.319 I think I went home and I cried that day too, 158 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:33.400 and I was just like, what does my life come to? 159 00:10:35.280 --> 00:10:37.400 And I knew it couldn't just be me and Natalie 160 00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:40.760 that didn't like the dress code. So I dug through 161 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:45.160 dozens of reviews on glassdoor, the website dedicated to job reviews, 162 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:48.640 and the results show that the dress code for sales 163 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:55.439 associates is a popular complaint amongst blooming Bell's employees. Dress 164 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:59.559 code restrictions are strict, very hectic, customers are always right, 165 00:10:59.640 --> 00:11:04.320 even and they're absolutely wrong. Owned by Macy's, and it 166 00:11:04.440 --> 00:11:10.600 shows certain departments will require initial investment, such as Sue's shirts, ties, blusses, etc. 167 00:11:11.280 --> 00:11:15.120 Because the dress code is very strict and enforced. The 168 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:21.600 single function HR successfully fulfills is monitoring dress code. Okay 169 00:11:21.640 --> 00:11:24.520 for a summer job, but not the company for anyone 170 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:29.920 looking to build a long term career. And all of 171 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:33.800 these complaints about dress code makes sense to me because 172 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:36.120 part of the appeal of working at a place like 173 00:11:36.160 --> 00:11:41.520 Bloomingdale's is the possibility of fashion and glamour. But as 174 00:11:41.520 --> 00:11:44.800 a sales associate, you have to be able to fade 175 00:11:44.800 --> 00:11:45.679 into the background. 176 00:11:48.520 --> 00:11:50.760 I remember asking like why do you always wear black, 177 00:11:51.040 --> 00:11:53.920 and somebody an uppermatch and said, well, we don't want 178 00:11:53.960 --> 00:11:55.040 to compete with the client. 179 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:58.240 But the list of rules on how to look went 180 00:11:58.440 --> 00:11:59.920 on and on. 181 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:02.560 From our makeup to how we get our nails. I 182 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:05.199 could have car legs, I could have had big hoops. 183 00:12:05.520 --> 00:12:08.360 On the third floor of Bloomingdal's. Each store had its 184 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:12.640 own look and because Natalie worked at BCBG, it meant 185 00:12:12.640 --> 00:12:16.560 that not only did she need to embody the BCBG brand, 186 00:12:17.160 --> 00:12:20.400 but she had to always remain within the Bloomingdale's dress 187 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:24.120 code of black and navy business casual I remember not 188 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:27.080 being able to wear dark lipstick because it made me 189 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:27.960 look too much. 190 00:12:27.880 --> 00:12:31.880 You know. As a manager, Natalie remembers having to police 191 00:12:31.880 --> 00:12:36.200 her employees, and that was hard because these were people 192 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:39.200 she hired and sometimes saw more than her own family. 193 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:43.439 She cared about them, so policing them over a dress 194 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:46.600 code that she didn't even care about herself was complicated. 195 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:50.400 But the dress code oft blooming Doll's was strict and 196 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:54.040 not abiding by it could mean getting sent home or 197 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:57.360 being written up. I reached out to Bloomingdll's to ask 198 00:12:57.400 --> 00:13:00.600 them about their dress code policies and to get reaction 199 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:05.080 about how former current employees feel about it, but I 200 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:09.120 did not hear back. Blooming Dell's was my last retail job, 201 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:11.800 and in the years since I quit, all of those 202 00:13:11.800 --> 00:13:14.280 little black dresses I used to wear to work have 203 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:17.240 been donated, given away, or cut up and used as 204 00:13:17.280 --> 00:13:21.079 scrap fabric. Natalie left blooming Dells a couple months after 205 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:24.520 I did. She no longer wears little black dresses either. 206 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:28.040 I can't even buy black clothes right now because it 207 00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:31.120 reminds me so much of like, Okay, I have to 208 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:31.560 go to work. 209 00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:36.960 You've heard me complain a lot, I know, but hear 210 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:41.840 me out. There was a time when working retail was 211 00:13:41.880 --> 00:13:46.640 a coveted job. It was an art a skill. But 212 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:50.360 by the time Natalie and I were even born, that 213 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:55.400 time had long passed. But one thing has remained the same, 214 00:13:55.480 --> 00:14:01.920 though sales girls have always presented the little black. 215 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:05.560 Dress coming up on Latino USA. 216 00:14:06.920 --> 00:14:10.800 In terms of fashion, the little black dress was revolutionary, 217 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:14.720 as the acceptance of black unto a woman's wardrobe meant 218 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:17.360 that there was a loosening of the strict moral codes. 219 00:14:17.800 --> 00:14:19.960 The world was changing, and women with. 220 00:14:19.920 --> 00:14:47.040 It stay with us, not by yes. 221 00:14:41.040 --> 00:14:44.600 Hey, we're back, and let's keep digging. Now into the 222 00:14:44.640 --> 00:14:51.840 history of the iconic little black dress. The department store 223 00:14:51.880 --> 00:14:54.840 was the place where the little black dress went from 224 00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:58.920 a symbol of service to being a fabulous frock. But 225 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:04.880 how When Monica Moreles Garcia researched the lbed and its history, 226 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:07.920 they found out that the roots of the black dress 227 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:12.480 were in working class women laboring in department stores, and 228 00:15:12.560 --> 00:15:16.000 it was pretty unbelievable. How is it that women who 229 00:15:16.040 --> 00:15:18.640 lived more than one hundred years ago had had the 230 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:23.880 same experiences? How had so much changed and yet so 231 00:15:24.040 --> 00:15:29.080 much stayed the same. Here's Monica again with the rest 232 00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:29.680 of the story. 233 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:40.600 Two weeks after I quit Bloomingdale's, I found out that 234 00:15:40.680 --> 00:15:43.840 I got into an American Studies graduate program. And it 235 00:15:43.880 --> 00:15:46.560 was during my time there, while I was writing my 236 00:15:46.640 --> 00:15:50.160 thesis that I came upon the hidden origins of the 237 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:55.160 little black dress. And finding out that history surprised me, 238 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:58.000 and it took me back to my time working at 239 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:02.480 Bloomingdale's and how I fit into all that history and 240 00:16:02.560 --> 00:16:05.200 what I found may surprise you too. 241 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.640 In this country, the theory that all our by right 242 00:16:10.800 --> 00:16:14.560 equal has taken deeply, and the notion of making actual 243 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:18.960 inequality evident by distinctions of attire is repugnant to many persons. 244 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:24.960 This was reported in an eighteen ninety four Pennsylvania newspaper 245 00:16:25.680 --> 00:16:30.800 After shop Girls, the stylists of their time, protested against 246 00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:34.240 the need for black uniforms, claiming the black dresses were 247 00:16:34.280 --> 00:16:38.600 a mark of servitude, not of a quote. Business woman. 248 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:43.120 Uniforms are really important, particularly from the eighteen eighties to 249 00:16:43.160 --> 00:16:47.080 about the nineteen thirties because they would mark people as 250 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:47.920 the sales worker. 251 00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:52.000 This is doctor Tracy Parker. She's an associate professor of 252 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:56.560 Afro American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and 253 00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:59.880 author of Department Stores and the Black Freedom Movement. 254 00:17:00.560 --> 00:17:02.800 And oftentimes the uniform is going to be dark, it's 255 00:17:02.800 --> 00:17:06.960 going to be inconspicuous. It provided uniformity for the store appearance. 256 00:17:07.080 --> 00:17:11.239 According to managers. It could minimalize workers poor taste and 257 00:17:11.320 --> 00:17:14.160 lack of background. Because many of the workers who worked 258 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:16.280 in department stores were going to be white women of 259 00:17:16.320 --> 00:17:17.560 the working class. 260 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:20.320 And these were young women who were in cities with 261 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:23.199 a new found sense of freedom and a little bit 262 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:28.400 of disposable income. They could create passable imitation society dresses 263 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:32.919 with nothing but a paper pattern fabric and a sewing machine. 264 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:37.760 But this created an issue at many department stores. Shop 265 00:17:37.800 --> 00:17:41.040 girls were too successfully blending in with the store's client 266 00:17:41.080 --> 00:17:47.119 tell causing class distinctions to blur, and in response, many 267 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:51.399 department stores began requiring their employees to dress in a 268 00:17:51.560 --> 00:17:53.359 simple black dress. 269 00:17:54.040 --> 00:17:56.400 It does a lot of work the uniform. It controls workers' 270 00:17:56.400 --> 00:18:01.000 behaviors it makes customers feel more comfortable talking to workers. 271 00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:04.479 There's this belief that when a worker had nicer clothes 272 00:18:04.520 --> 00:18:08.240 on than the customer, this could read conflict. What they 273 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:10.720 wanted workers to do was sort of blend in and 274 00:18:10.800 --> 00:18:13.720 at least look sharp enough. There's something about dark clothes 275 00:18:13.760 --> 00:18:16.879 that we all know, like black clothes, navy clothes, look classy, 276 00:18:17.320 --> 00:18:20.840 where you could still convince people to buy the type 277 00:18:20.840 --> 00:18:22.120 of lifestyle that you're. 278 00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:25.800 Selling, meaning that part of the job is to look 279 00:18:25.840 --> 00:18:30.520 good and sound right. But what that also means is 280 00:18:30.560 --> 00:18:33.000 that there is a wrong way to look and a 281 00:18:33.280 --> 00:18:37.800 wrong way to speak. I have different voices and looks 282 00:18:37.840 --> 00:18:41.240 that I've learned to use throughout my life. You probably 283 00:18:41.280 --> 00:18:45.920 have them too. My academic voice when I want to 284 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:51.200 sound smart and use words like epistemology, my head to 285 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:55.360 toe lulu lemon fit so I don't scare the suburban 286 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:59.360 moms that sprouts. They're all me, but they have a purpose, 287 00:18:59.800 --> 00:19:03.480 a way to change the perception of me, to downplay 288 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:07.080 or play up parts of myself for the comfort of others. 289 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:12.439 And working in retail, I developed my customer service voice. 290 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:16.800 It sounds like this, and it helps me sound helpful 291 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:20.719 and enthusiastic and enthusiastic to help you. 292 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:26.120 Some stores actually encouraged women workers to learn a couple 293 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:28.600 of words of French so they could use this while 294 00:19:28.600 --> 00:19:31.200 they were selling. But the idea back then selling was 295 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:34.879 still an art. You were selling people not only a lifestyle, 296 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:38.400 a way of life, a way of looking, a way 297 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:42.080 of behaving. But those workers, the way they were dressed, 298 00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:45.159 the type of words they used, their affect had to 299 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:48.440 convince white middle class women that they knew what they 300 00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:51.400 were talking about and not to sort of read any 301 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:53.040 type of conflict between the two. 302 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:59.359 But then in nineteen twenty six, something unexpected happened. Vogue 303 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:03.000 magazine featured a black Chanel dress. It was deemed the 304 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:07.520 uniform of all chic women, but to many working class 305 00:20:07.520 --> 00:20:12.000 women and girls, the declaration was nonsensible had they not 306 00:20:12.080 --> 00:20:15.800 been wearing black this whole time. Inspired by shop girls 307 00:20:15.800 --> 00:20:19.560 in their little black dresses seen in theaters, amusement parks, 308 00:20:19.560 --> 00:20:23.679 and even speakeasy's, Chanel's aim for its little black dress 309 00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:27.040 was to make rich girls look like any old girl 310 00:20:27.080 --> 00:20:30.600 on the street. It was part of Chanell's poor look, 311 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:36.960 simple clothes made with luxe fabrics. Slowly, the little black 312 00:20:37.040 --> 00:20:41.280 dress became associated with youthfulness and rebellion, and now a 313 00:20:41.280 --> 00:20:45.920 big fashion house was declaring the little black dress elegant, sophisticated, 314 00:20:46.320 --> 00:20:51.199 even chic. Soon other fashion designers like Juvant She and 315 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:58.280 Dior followed suit. In terms of fashion, the little black 316 00:20:58.320 --> 00:21:02.359 dress was revolutionary, as the acceptance of black into a 317 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:05.399 woman's wardrobe meant that there was a loosening of the 318 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:09.280 strict moral codes. The world was changing and women with it. 319 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:13.200 Unmarried women began pouring into cities to work in these 320 00:21:13.320 --> 00:21:20.760 new glamorous spaces the department store. For many women, department 321 00:21:20.840 --> 00:21:24.639 store work was a good, respectable job and worked that 322 00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:26.639 you could leave at the end of the day and 323 00:21:26.840 --> 00:21:29.480 enjoy leisure time that the big city had to offer. 324 00:21:29.800 --> 00:21:32.440 There's a moment when sales work is considered to be glamorous. 325 00:21:32.520 --> 00:21:35.480 So there's all these movies about white working class women 326 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:38.120 working in a department store and it's how she meets 327 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:40.879 her husband. It's like the Cinderella fantasy of working in 328 00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:41.840 a department store. 329 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:45.760 In nineteen thirty nine, Joan Crawford started The Women, a 330 00:21:45.800 --> 00:21:48.960 film about the social lives of society women and the 331 00:21:49.080 --> 00:21:52.280 social climbing shop girls who were sleeping with their husbands. 332 00:21:53.040 --> 00:21:57.240 Crawford plays the shop girl and she dons the LBD 333 00:21:57.840 --> 00:22:01.680 behind the perfume counter. Pretty girl like you. With all 334 00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:05.040 the rich men that float in here, I have afraid 335 00:22:05.040 --> 00:22:06.879 when they come to discount and they have other women 336 00:22:06.920 --> 00:22:07.480 on their mind. 337 00:22:08.560 --> 00:22:10.320 I shouldn't think you'd let that disturb you. 338 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:13.800 And it didn't disturb her, And in the end, Joan 339 00:22:13.840 --> 00:22:18.960 Crawford's character's social climbing was her demise and after shutting 340 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:20.640 her little black dress. 341 00:22:21.600 --> 00:22:25.160 Well, girls, looks like it's back to the perfume kind. 342 00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:25.240 Of for me. 343 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:29.359 The shop girls, a pop culture archetype, still shows up today, 344 00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:33.760 and it's actually so apt in a society driven by consumption, 345 00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:37.359 because the department store is a place teeming, you know, 346 00:22:37.480 --> 00:22:42.719 with temptations, deals and steals and least not sales, girls 347 00:22:42.760 --> 00:22:46.520 looking to climb the social ladder at any cost. But 348 00:22:47.160 --> 00:22:51.040 that is just a Hollywood story. It is made up 349 00:22:52.359 --> 00:22:55.800 because the reality of working in a department store was 350 00:22:55.840 --> 00:23:00.919 that everything was all concocted by retaillers to make upper 351 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:03.240 class white women more comfortable. 352 00:23:03.520 --> 00:23:05.440 Because this is supposed to be sort of their club 353 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:09.600 of sort. They could spend all day there they is 354 00:23:09.640 --> 00:23:11.480 it you'd go early in the morning. You could drop 355 00:23:11.520 --> 00:23:14.120 your kids off at the nursery. You could go listen 356 00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:16.120 to a little piano, have a couple of coffee, meet 357 00:23:16.200 --> 00:23:18.399 ups with some friends, buy a bunch of stuff, and 358 00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:19.119 then go home. 359 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:22.840 And you wouldn't be carrying your bags either. They would 360 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:25.160 be personally delivered to your home. 361 00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:28.080 You could walk into these departments ores and they were 362 00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:31.480 just gorgeous. You know, this was new technology. This was 363 00:23:31.560 --> 00:23:34.840 electric lighting when they could get it. This was escalators. 364 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:37.359 This was you would walk in and in Marshall Fields 365 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:40.720 that was in downtown Chicago. The ceiling of Marshall Field 366 00:23:40.840 --> 00:23:44.959 was actually done by Tiffany and Company, the jeweler. So 367 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:47.760 everything about the store when you walked in made you 368 00:23:48.040 --> 00:23:51.080 feel made you feel like you were somebody. It made 369 00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:53.719 you feel special. And then to have someone cater to 370 00:23:53.800 --> 00:23:57.239 you hand and foot made you feel special. That was 371 00:23:57.280 --> 00:24:01.000 just the type of It was just lavish sky merchandise 372 00:24:01.040 --> 00:24:02.720 and services. That's what they offered. 373 00:24:03.080 --> 00:24:06.120 But as more and more black Southerners were moving up 374 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:09.760 to these large, bustling cities like New York and Chicago, 375 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:14.399 luxury department stores had to make some decisions who was 376 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:17.200 allowed to enter and who was allowed to work there. 377 00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:20.720 It's not until the nineteen fifties and sixties with the 378 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:24.320 civil rights movement that you see the racial dimensions of 379 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:28.600 sales work really change. But if you're a black customer too, 380 00:24:29.040 --> 00:24:32.399 you could go and shop. Maybe some stores would say 381 00:24:32.440 --> 00:24:34.640 you can only shop in the bargain basement. They would 382 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:37.639 find that they couldn't get service at a lunch counter 383 00:24:37.760 --> 00:24:40.040 or the restaurants or the beauty stores, and they were 384 00:24:40.040 --> 00:24:43.560 certainly prohibited from trying on and returning clothes, and they 385 00:24:43.600 --> 00:24:47.560 weren't allowed to get credit. And there's cases where even 386 00:24:47.600 --> 00:24:51.280 when one day they could enter the store, maybe next week, 387 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:53.239 arbitrarily they're not allowed to. 388 00:24:54.080 --> 00:24:58.040 In her book, Doctor Parker tells the story about Dorothea Davis, 389 00:24:58.520 --> 00:25:01.080 a black woman who would the help of young black 390 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:04.520 activists of the sit in movement in Charlotte, North Carolina, 391 00:25:05.040 --> 00:25:07.720 was able to get hired as a salesperson at a 392 00:25:07.760 --> 00:25:11.440 department store. But even then the store wants to keep 393 00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:13.959 it quiet, hush, hidden. 394 00:25:14.760 --> 00:25:18.439 They don't want their white clientele, theyre preferred clientele, to 395 00:25:18.600 --> 00:25:21.040 know that they've done this, and so they put her 396 00:25:21.080 --> 00:25:24.960 in the basement of the store and a department way 397 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.000 in the back where she's selling furniture, but African Americans 398 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:31.440 are coming down to the basement with their purchases like 399 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:33.520 a little lipstick and saying, I'm going to check out 400 00:25:33.560 --> 00:25:37.119 with you. I want the store to know that you're important, 401 00:25:38.040 --> 00:25:40.560