John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
Signed into law by President John F. Kennedy on June 10, 1963, the Equal Pay Act legislated that women receive equal pay to men for equal work. Too bad it couldn’t happen with the stroke of a pen. Sixty years later we still aren’t there yet, but there has been progress. In 1963, women’s pay was 60% of men’s; today it is estimated to be around 83%.
But politics aside, it was the fashion that caught my eye in this photo. In the early sixties, styles were changing from the shirtwaists and slim suits of the fifties to the boxier sixties shape. You can see that transition at work here. I’m primarily interested in the four older women on the left. Certainly the one with the most “fifties” look is Dorothy Height (born 1912), far left, president of the National Council of Negro Women. She wears a dressy flowered shirtwaist, a flowered hat, pearls, and gloves. Next to her, barely visible, is Mary Anderson (born 1872), former Director of the Women’s Bureau in the Department of Labor. Her flowered hat, gloves, and matching handbag also could have fit into an earlier decade.
Third from the left is Representative Elizabeth Kee of West Virginia (born 1895), wearing what might be a transitional style. It is hard to see the shape of her dark suit, but the jacket might follow the curve of her waist, a more fifties silhouette. But Representative Edith Green of Oregon (born 1910), in the light colored suit, leaves the earlier decade behind. She is hatless and her jacket has the straight lines and big buttons of the early sixties.
As we move from left to right, you can really see fashion shifting—more geometric prints, fewer hats, boxier cuts. But look at all the gloves! Apparently, they were still de rigueur for a special event at the White House.
Also au courant: the woman in the back right (dark dress) has an au courant coif and arched eyebrows.
Thanks for the post and photo. I’m a long-time member of AAUW which is a strong advocate for equal pay.
sorry for the repetition (I’ve had only one cup of coffee!)
The 60s, even now, has always been touted as being a fashion decade so focused on youth or being a young adult or teenager. It is interesting how clothing of epople outside of that age range absorbed and changed trends to forms that society back then deemed “appropriate” for them.
It is interesting to also see that these kinds of suits would continue long after the 60s so much so that they would be later be associated as “grandmother or old lady” clothes by people and even the media like tv shows, movies or advertisements