“Modesty” Ordered for Atlantic City Cabarets
The Public Safety Director of Atlantic City it was reported on this day announced that “strict censorship” would be applied to all cabarets in the popular resort town. He particularly objected to “Hawaiian dancers” and other “scantily attired performers.” “Modesty has been thrown to the winds,” he declared.
There were many controversies over women’s dress in the first three decades of the 20th century. On July 28, 1920, for example, the police chief in Long Beach, New York, announced that women would be allowed to wear one-piece swimsuits without shoes or stockings. He added, however, there must be no “immorality.”
Learn more about the history of women’s swimwear: http://blog.lulus.com/fashion/fashion-era-the-evolution-of-swimsuits-over-the-years/
And learn more about women’s fashion in the 1920s: Catherine Horwood, Keeping Up Appearances: Fashion and Class Between the Wars (2005)