Original photo by Everett Collection Inc/ Alamy Stock Photo
Amelia Earhart is best known for breaking barriers in aviation, though the record-setting pilot also jump-started a trend that still hits runways today (albeit the fashion kind). In the 1930s, Earhart became one of the first celebrities to create and sell her own clothing line. Launched in 1933, four years before her final flight, Amelia Fashions included aviation clothing made specifically for women; at the time, all other pilots’ clothing was designed for men. Earhart’s line was marketed to “the woman who lives actively,” and included anti-wrinkle dresses, pants, and garments that could be worn both in the skies and on land.
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It's a factAmelia Earhart enrolled in pre-med classes at Columbia University in the fall of 1919 following a stint as a Red Cross nurse’s aide during World War I. She left the school one year later, and by January 1921 had taken her first flying lesson.
Earhart’s apparel came about as a way to finance her aviation adventures. After completing her solo trip across the Atlantic in 1932, the pilot was short on cash; with the help of her husband (and manager) George Palmer Putnam, Earhart turned to creating garments to drum up funds. The venture was initially small, relying on just one seamstress who worked from a New York City hotel. Amelia Fashions debuted with 25 budget-friendly pieces, using materials such as parachute silk and propeller-shaped buttons. Originally sold at Macy’s, the line spread to other stores, though the brand never took off in a big way. Even so, Earhart’s venture landed her another recognition in 1934: The Fashion Designers of America considered her one of the 10 best-dressed women in America.
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Amelia Earhart named her first aircraft, a yellow biplane, “______.”
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Amelia Earhart named her first aircraft, a yellow biplane, “The Canary.”
Some World War II brides made their wedding dresses from parachutes.
Amelia Earhart’s fashion line wasn’t the only aviation-inspired attire of the early 20th century — some women who married during World War II did so in silk dresses made from parachutes. Clothing and apparel fabrics were stringently rationed during the war effort, making large amounts of material difficult to come by and limiting hemlines, decorative elements, and even pockets on off-the-rack clothing. Meanwhile, parachute manufacturers implemented strict standards for their products, causing finished chutes to be rejected for a number of flaws. Resourceful brides-to-be occasionally got their hands on these discarded silks to use for gowns, though others got them from soldiers who sent home parachutes that had been deployed in combat. While clothing rationing ended in 1945, some brides continued to repurpose parachute silks for their wedding day attire, creating sentimental dresses from the same chutes that had saved their loved ones’ lives during the war. Today, some of those surviving dresses are on display in museums, like one sewn in 1947 that is housed at the Smithsonian.
Nicole Garner Meeker is a writer and editor based in St. Louis. Her history, nature, and food stories have also appeared at Mental Floss and Better Report.
