TITLE:
Women’s Taste and Fashion Consumption: Modern Life in Chinese Elite Families in the 1930s
AUTHORS:
Qing Zhao, Pengfei Xing
KEYWORDS:
Fashion Consumption, Domestic Aesthetics, Elite Women, National Products Promotion, Shanghai 1930s
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Applied Sociology,
Vol.14 No.11,
November
22,
2024
ABSTRACT: This article investigates 1930s home design in Shanghai through magazines and newspapers, highlighting changes in gender roles and domestic tastes. It analyzes how middle-class families balanced luxury and affordability by examining the styles and possessions showcased in Star Families. Using the Shanghai YWCA’s “Special Issue of National Products Exhibition” as a case study, the article explains how the “Model House Exhibition” promoted national products through furniture displays, product trials, and speeches. Elite women played a crucial role in shaping their homes and daily lives, despite bourgeois standards indicating social hierarchies. The article argues that ethnic interests redefined middle-class aesthetics, creating a blend of local and Western influences. By emphasizing home aesthetics, individuals expressed their cultivation and identity, reflecting their aspirations for modern life.