Amelia Earhart wore many hats in her life: woman, wife advertiser, speaker, pilot, and she even attempted the title of clothes designer. Earhart was a woman who took a solitary journey, and defied the odds in a male dominated world. She was a woman who was ahead of her time, but is still remembered today for her deeds and ideas for the betterment of the female gender, whether she knew it or not. What is not known about her as much as her piloting career, and her own fashion sense, is her attempt at a fashion line for all of American women.
Earhart the Entrepreneur
Earhart was known for her masculine attire and her daring piloting expeditions. Her first flight was from Newfoundland to Wales, a flight that took her and her crew twenty one hours to complete. As time went on, Earhart realized she needed money to support her life as a pilot, so she decided to market her image with companies in return for money. She used her image to sell things that she didn’t even use, such as Lucky Strike cigarettes. But what remains obscure about the life of Earhart was her hand at and failure at a clothing line for everyday women centered on the pilot fashions that catered to women, made by women. Her style, as well as the clothes she chose to manufacture was for ease and handiness. The main articles of attire were trousers, button down shirts, and pilot jackets. Although she didn’t mind what she wore, Amelia Earhart became obsessed with what her mother said and did, and she sent her mother boxes of clothes and letters of what to say in situations. It was clear that Amelia Earhart felt that her mother’s life would reflect badly back on her. Little did she know that her own sense of style would cause such a large rift in society.
Married Life and Earhart Clothing
Earhart’s life altered when she married George Palmer Putnam, due to the fact that he became fixated with Earhart’s career and promoted her vigorously. It was during this time that she made her solo flight of which she became famous for. Her fashion line was being promoted in magazines and movies, where the genderless (appearance or aspect) of the clothes were softened and feminine touches were made. After the movie Christopher Strong, which had Katharine Hepburn as the lead mimicking Earhart’s life with a feminine touch, Earhart tried her own hand at promoting her clothing line, and it ended up that her name was the only selling point. She tried hard to fit into American society, and it seemed important to her that her image was not to show she was infiltrating the patriarch, but that she was an American girl. In retrospect, her clothing wasn’t original, but reiterations of the time’s fashion. Her idea of the clothing line was good, but her timing was during the American Depression, which lead to the failure and death of her labeled fashion line.
Earhart defied the odds in her androgynous style, and by adding female allure to it, marketed the look to American women. She tried to advertise her fashion, but it fell short. She did wonders for fellow female pilots in coming up with ideas to make flying smoother without having to focus on bodily functions as much, with her inclusion of the flap on the back of the flight suit. Amelia Earhart dared to defy the open skies, but she couldn’t seem to soar with her clothing designs. Despite her “failure”, Earhart did manage to make a permanent name for herself in American society through advertising and daredevil stunts. Her world renowned flight made her a household name during her life. Her image was everywhere, reminding women that they only needed to try at life to make it interesting. What made her legendary was the symbolism of a more independent woman. What made her a mystery was her final flight where she disappeared. She has not been remembered for her clothing line, which faded into obscurity.
Sources:
Butler, Sue, Kristen Lubben & Amelia Earhart. (2007). Amelia Earhart: Image and Icon. London, England: Steidl Publishing.
Frankau, Gilbert & Zoe Akins. (1933). Christopher Strong. RKO Radio Pictures.
Jay, Karla. (1994). “Karla Jay, No Bumps, No Excrescences: Amelia Earhart’s Failed Flight Into Fashions.” On Fashion. Ed. Shari Benstock. Newark, NJ: Rutgers UP.
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