Suffragettes colours
Continuing on from last week’s exploration into the suffragette’s style driven methods, this week will consider how colour choice became a political tool for the suffragette cause. In 1908 Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, co-editor of Votes for Women, devised a colour scheme for the WSPU (Women’s Suffrage Political Union). The three colours chosen were purple, green, and white; purple for loyalty, green for hope and white for purity. Ascribing a set of value to colours meant any woman in society could get involved. The Votes for Women quote ‘You may think that this is a small and trivial matter but there is no service that can be considered as small or trivial in this movement’ written by Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence plays a key role in this week’s article. Unstitching these small matters will illuminate how colour developed into political armour for the WSPU. Here at House of Gharats, we celebrate past, present, and future of design and the suffragettes provide the perfect opportunity for us to embrace all three. The Stylist magazine recently published a praiseworthy suffragette issue and when we read their article How to Dress an Uprising one comment particularly stood out: ‘Little did they [suffragettes] know they would remain the ultimate example of sartorial branding a century later’.
Colour Symbolism
Suffragettes adopted colour symbolism for everything from clothing and jewellery, to sashes, hat ribbons, and greeting cards. Ahead of ‘Women’s Sunday’ on the 21st June 1908 Votes For Women included a piece on what to wear at the march saying “Be guided by the colours in your choice of dress… we have seven hundred banners in purple, white and green.’ Sylvia Pankhurst noted that Chelsea Embankment ‘was thronged with people’ and ‘hawkers selling badges and programmes in the purple, white and green.’ She explains there were women ‘wearing white dresses and scarfs of purple, white and green, and carrying banners in the same colours’. The frequent sight of these colours played a part in convincing the Parliament that there was a groundswell of support. In a sea of purple, white and green the language of protest sang out. Standing in solidarity, men and females dedicated their bodies to the cause. By harnessing the concept of dress uniformity the suffragettes fostered comradeship and belonging to the group.
Just like the suffragettes, tailored jackets are a key feature of House of Gharats ready to wear collections. Like the Suffragettes this jacket contends the stereotypical feminine style with a masculine language. In the picture, you can see a Suffragette motoring scarf in the key colours. HOG Your Style the suffragette way with House Of Gharats tailored jackets.
Ernestine Mills
One could show their allegiance by wearing small accessories and jewellery in the suffragette colours. Ernestine Mills, artist, metalworker, and enameller crafted intricate beautiful pieces of jewellery for members of the WSPU. At the Museum of London, other accessories are also displayed, such as the suffragette sash – one of the most famous suffragette sources. There was also a silk WSPU motoring scarf. The scarf and sashes were canvases on which women could express their activism and challenge the frameworks of political rule. These were accessories that never went out of style and never lost their political meaning. A synergy between style and power, the small accessories often held the biggest punch. Wrapping and draping, pinning and stitching, they crafted a sophisticated and layered look that on closer inspection spoke a momentous message.
Although the pattern of this House of Gharats dotted teal-green woven silk jacket is conservative and masculine when worn with the empowering female attitude the art of power dressing is achieved. In the bottom right-hand corner you can see the Votes for Women sash that was commonly worn on marches and worn with the powerful female attitude we depict. HOG Your Style the suffragette way with House Of Gharats tailored jackets.
Suffragettes
When suffragettes were arrested and sent to prison the WSPU would award them with a badge in the three key colours on their release to thank them for their commitment to the cause. This powerful accessory not only commemorated them as heroes but also served as a visual reminder to the parliament that they were determined to fight on. Wearing the badge renewed the momentum. Those who experienced the torturous practices inflicted on suffragettes in prison used the badge to steer their anger into a relevant and meaningful rebellion. The WSPU in 1908 had begun to make such wearable items directly from its offices, established in 1907 at Clement’s Inn in London. They merchandised “woven ribbon badges” along with “button badges” and “Boadicea brooches” in Votes for Women.
“Be it suffragettes juxtaposing feminine attire against a backdrop of fighting for equal rights, or 80s power dressing which saw women assert their authority in a male-dominated society with shoulder pads, to today’s modern 21st century where Muslim women are reclaiming their bodies and rights by choosing to cover up and wear a head garment. In all instances, it’s about a woman’s freedom of choice. Fashion is as much about the trend as it is a political statement and a reflection of the mood of society as a whole. We study history to understand or make sense of the present.” Comedian, writer and winner of the AWA Asian Woman of Achievement Award for Arts & Culture and the Argus Angel Award for Artistic Excellence, Sajeela Kershi.
Colour Meaning
Fashion and textiles had a powerful role in removing the traditional division between the ‘home’ and the ‘public’. Wearing the three colours ‘allowed women to construct practices of conventional femininity as political and to understand themselves as political subjects whether in the home, shopping, or protesting on the streets. In this way, apparently fixed demarcations between politics, fashion and consumption were unsettled and reconfigured by the suffragettes’ says Wendy Parkins.
The House of Gharats sack-weave pristine-white Nehru collar jacket redefines smart dressing. Exuding elegance this jacket embodies sophistication and a sense of authority. Featured in the photo is an example of a Votes For Women badge. HOG Your Style the suffragette way with House Of Gharats tailored jackets.
End Message
The use of particular textiles and sewing techniques also proves that conscious style played a political role. Using silk and velvet, commonly associated with the drawing room, and using embroidery, associated with the feminine, the suffragettes successfully used amateur craft to build a political challenge that sought to redefine stereotypes that said the woman’s place was at home. Long-term social change was the aim.
Conveying their message across a colour palette the suffragettes made style politically significant. White, green and purple helped build and maintain a brand for the suffragettes and in the process recognise and unite those women in society who were fighting too. The colours helped forge an identity; the civic body for the suffragette cause had been trademarked and in turn, introduced into the sphere of political communication.
by Lily Rimmer
Click here to read the first week of our Suffragette style series.