Portrait Photographs

Photograph of Katherine Iris Arnold, Class of 1895
    This Vassar graduate chose to wear a style, which includes lapels and a stand collar, very similar to the green taffeta dress.

Courtesy of Archives & Special Collections Library, Vassar College

Photograph of Fanny Simpson, Class of 1902
    Fanny Simpson, another bridesmaid in Clara Farewell Holt’s wedding and a Vassar graduate of 1902, was a social butterfly and fashion enthusiast who donned very feminine, fashionable dress.

Courtesy of Archives & Special Collections Library, Vassar College

Photograph of Helen M. Slade, Class of 1894
    This portrait, like several others from the mid-1890s and beyond, pictures a Vassar student wearing an assertive, menswear-inspired ensemble, a style adopted largely by the so-called emancipated women at the turn of the century, in which the man’s suit, shirt, and tie are adapted to the fashionable feminine silhouette. A conscious rejection of the most feminine and impractical styles of dress, this choice represents a deliberate assertion of women’s independence. However, this choice still exists within a social framework that values the masculine over the feminine: using masculine styles to claim legitimacy for women reinforces the idea that only the masculine is legitimate.

Courtesy of Archives & Special Collections Library, Vassar College