1 00:00:00,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: On March eighth, twenty eighteen, Women's International Day, mind you, 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:09,799 Speaker 1: I started getting ready for my shift at the Bloomingdal's 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 1: in Beverly Hills, and I did what I always did. 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: I blew out my hair, contoured my face, and then 5 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:21,279 Speaker 1: I sat at the corner of my bed, mustering the 6 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: strength to pull out my black pantyhose and zip up 7 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: what had become my work uniform, the little Black dress. 8 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:38,559 Speaker 1: And then something came over me. I opened up my 9 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 1: laptop and I started to furiously type out an email. Hello, 10 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: this is money. Come on, I let's go se Yeah 11 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: from the Bloomy SPEP Center location forty nine point fifty. 12 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:55,319 Speaker 1: Because my manager has been on leave since October, I 13 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: didn't know who to bring this up to, so I'm 14 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: contacting HR directly. I have to unfortunately quit my position 15 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:11,119 Speaker 1: as a stylist immediately effective today, Best Monica And then 16 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: I had said, that's how I quit working at bloomingdalf. 17 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 2: From Fudro Media and PRX, It's Latino USA. I'm Marieohosa today. 18 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 2: The unknown history of the iconic little black dress. The 19 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 2: little Black dress, also known as the lb D, has 20 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 2: become synonymous with the cocktail dress. Known best for its 21 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 2: titillating color. The Little Black Dress can be any style, 22 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 2: any fabric, but what it will always exude is confidence 23 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 2: and style. The lbed has been worn by everyone from 24 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 2: Chief Justice Sonia Sotomayor to Princess Diana, and since the 25 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 2: nineteen twenties it's gained the reputation as the garment of 26 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 2: liberation and the modern world. Ever since then, the lbed 27 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 2: has been reliably flattering, seductive, and elegant. But it hasn't 28 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 2: always been this way. For many women, the little Black 29 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 2: dress has and still is a symbol of servitude and 30 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:40,239 Speaker 2: work because before it was the iconic symbol it is now, 31 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 2: it was a dress only worn by working class white 32 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 2: women employed in department stores, as well as by black 33 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:54,359 Speaker 2: women who worked as domestics in white homes. In this episode, 34 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 2: producer Monica Morales Garcia has a lot of experiences with 35 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:03,080 Speaker 2: the Little Black Dress. They used to wear them to 36 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 2: serve mostly white customers when they worked at Bloomingdale's, and 37 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 2: then they ended up researching the origins of the Little 38 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 2: Black Dress while they were in graduate school. Don't get 39 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 2: this twisted. This is not a Cinderella or rags to 40 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 2: riches story. For Monica Morals Garcia. No no, no, no, no, 41 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 2: no no. This is a story about the contradictions and 42 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 2: the transformations of the little black dress. Here's Monica with 43 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 2: the rest of the story. 44 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: I landed a job at Bloomingdale's in the summer of 45 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: twenty seventeen. The song This bu See had just come out. 46 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: It was that summer. I needed new clothes before my 47 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: first day of work, so I got myself two little 48 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: black dresses, some black tights, and some sensible ye style 49 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: of shoes, ones that I can stand in all day. 50 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: I was now a stylist, which is just a fancy 51 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: way to say sales associate, but never mind that. And 52 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: for the next eight months, that's all I would wear 53 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: to work. I have never worn so much black in 54 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,919 Speaker 1: my life. My hair would be pulled back or straightened. 55 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: I would never wear my natural curls, and my makeup 56 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,600 Speaker 1: and nails were always done and neat. At the time, 57 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,840 Speaker 1: I thought working at Bloomingdale's was a match made in heaven. 58 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: I have a passion for fashion. I needed a job, 59 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: and they were hiring. It was kind of perfect. I'd 60 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: worked in retail before, but never a luxury so I 61 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: thought it'd be different from other retail work. I even 62 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: thought it'd be kind of glamorous. 63 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 2: Why is this store better than any other store? 64 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 3: I mean, what is this thing? 65 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 4: What on earth could she be talking about? A store, 66 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 4: a store that can reduce an intelligent woman to a slave. 67 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 4: The store is Bloomingdale's, known to its addicts as Bloomies. 68 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 1: The blooming Dolls in Beverly Hills is a luxurious place. 69 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 1: It has three floors. The bottom floor is dedicated to 70 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: the men's department. There's moody lighting, the ViBe's aging rock star, 71 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: and it smells like leather jackets. There's an escalator in 72 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: the middle of the store, so while you're going up 73 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: you get a bird's eye view of the layout and 74 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,360 Speaker 1: you can see the steamstress working on suit tailoring from above. 75 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: It's fabulous, and as the sound of her sewing machine 76 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: begins to fade, you're in a completely different part of 77 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: the store. The second floor. This is where the magic happens. 78 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: There's the makeup department, which to now why I sell 79 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: Tompford or all the expensive stuff. There's fine jewelry where 80 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: you could casually order diamonds at the counter and have 81 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: them delivered to your home. Same day. And then there 82 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: are the bags in the shoes, Gucci, Valentino, Burberry, Balenciaga. 83 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: It's truly a shopping paradise. The escalator takes you up 84 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: one more time, and you're greeted by what seems like 85 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: fifty perfectly styled mannequins, each bright white and shinier than 86 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: the next. And just behind that display was my station, 87 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:18,240 Speaker 1: about the size of a small bedroom. That's where I 88 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: would greet you and ask what brings you into the 89 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:23,679 Speaker 1: store today? Do you have any events coming up soon? 90 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 1: And while all of this is fabulous, that is all 91 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: for the customer, because behind all of the beautiful visual merchandising, 92 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: underneath this little black dress, I can feel beads of 93 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 1: sweat dripping down my back. My face hurts from smiling, 94 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:47,599 Speaker 1: my feed from staining all day. But providing service that 95 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 1: goes above and beyond is the job. And as soon 96 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: as the client is gone, the glamour fades, you go 97 00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: back into the fitting room and pick up after them. 98 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 1: There's Starbucks cups, empty hangers, the clothes have been all 99 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,720 Speaker 1: left on the floor, crumpled up. And let me tell you, 100 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: there has been nothing more humbling for me than having 101 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: to pick up someone's hot clothes off the floor. It 102 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: really made me think about the state of my life. 103 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: You shake out the clothes, re steem them, make sure 104 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: there's no makeup on the neckline, and then place them 105 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: back into the stock room, over and over again, no complaining. 106 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: You're on your feet the whole time. If you dare 107 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: to sit, security will see you on the cameras and 108 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: your phone overring, reminding you you're supposed to be standing. 109 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:46,160 Speaker 1: The job is constantly testing your patience. I'm quitting and 110 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 1: I'm never coming back. 111 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 5: This is it. 112 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: I'll do everything else but that. This is Natalie Garcia. 113 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: We met while working at Blooming Dells together. She used 114 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 1: to be the manager of BCBG. When we met. She 115 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: had been working and met for about a decade. When 116 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: I asked her one of her most memorable stories from 117 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: her time working in retail, she told me about this 118 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: one customer she was. 119 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 6: Probably like in her eighties, and she wanted leather leggings. 120 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: And so Natalie places the leather leggings in the fitting 121 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: room for the woman to try on, and as she's leaving, 122 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: to give this woman the space to try on those 123 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: leather leggings, the woman stops her and she says, no, no, no, 124 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: help me. So Natalie turns around because it's her job 125 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: to get this woman into those leggings, and so she 126 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: places each one of her legs into those legging holes. 127 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: And Natalie is pulling as hard as she can to 128 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: get this leather over this woman's thighs. 129 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 6: I was like lifted her and I was sweaty. 130 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,599 Speaker 1: And finally she's able to pull the leggings all the 131 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,080 Speaker 1: way up. And she didn't buy them. She was like, oh, 132 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:04,960 Speaker 1: I don't like them. She left them there. If you 133 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: talk to people who work in luxury retail, these types 134 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: of stories are plentiful, rich people behaving badly. Haha. The 135 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: stories are funny in retrospect, but it was shocking the 136 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:20,200 Speaker 1: first time something like this happened to me. Something about 137 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:25,199 Speaker 1: dressing rich, mostly white women is uncomfortable, especially while you're 138 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: wearing the little black dress your work uniform. You begin 139 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: to wonder, why do I look like I'm her maid? 140 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,319 Speaker 1: And then you're like, no, no, no, no, no, I'm overreacting. 141 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 1: It's literally my job to wear all black, and I 142 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: can't show my tattoo on my foot with my grandma's name. 143 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 1: So the black tights are just practical, and plus it's 144 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 1: my job to help her. It's literally optics. It's fine, 145 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 1: but at the same time, you're feeling all of the 146 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: race and class dynamics playing out in that moment. So 147 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: nothing is happening, but there's all this subtexts that's like unacknowledged, 148 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: and the customer is probably not thinking about it, or 149 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 1: maybe she is and it's just more polite to say nothing, 150 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: or maybe if she just thinks this is the way 151 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: things are. Some people are meant to serve and others 152 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: are meant to be served. But whatever the case, the 153 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: air feels thick with what's left unsaid. Natalie never forgot 154 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:27,439 Speaker 1: the lady and the leather leggings. 155 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:30,319 Speaker 6: I think I went home and I cried that day too, 156 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 6: and I was just like, what does my life come to? 157 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: And I knew it couldn't just be me and Natalie 158 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:40,760 Speaker 1: that didn't like the dress code. So I dug through 159 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: dozens of reviews on glassdoor, the website dedicated to job reviews, 160 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:48,640 Speaker 1: and the results show that the dress code for sales 161 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:55,439 Speaker 1: associates is a popular complaint amongst blooming Bell's employees. Dress 162 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: Code restrictions are strict, very hectic. Customers are always right, 163 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:04,320 Speaker 1: even and they're absolutely wrong. Owned by Macy's, and it 164 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: shows certain departments will require initial investment, such as Sue's shirts, ties, blusses, etc. 165 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 1: Because the dress code is very strict and enforced. The 166 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:21,600 Speaker 1: single function HR successfully fulfills is monitoring dress code. Okay 167 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 1: for a summer job, but not the company for anyone 168 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 1: looking to build a long term career. And all of 169 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: these complaints about dress code makes sense to me because 170 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: part of the appeal of working at a place like 171 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: Bloomingdale's is the possibility of fashion and glamour. But as 172 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: a sales associate, you have to be able to fade 173 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:45,679 Speaker 1: into the background. 174 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 6: I remember asking like why do you always wear black, 175 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:53,920 Speaker 6: and somebody an uppermatch and said, well, we don't want 176 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:55,040 Speaker 6: to compete with the client. 177 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 1: But the list of rules on how to look went 178 00:11:58,440 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: on and on. 179 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:02,560 Speaker 6: From our makeup to how we get our nails. I 180 00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:05,199 Speaker 6: could have car legs, I could have had big hoops 181 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 6: on the third floor of Bloomingdal's. Each store had its 182 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 6: own look, and because Natalie worked at BCBG, it meant 183 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,560 Speaker 6: that not only did she need to embody the BCBG brand, 184 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 6: but she had to always remain within the Bloomingdale's dress 185 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 6: code of black and navy business casual I remember not 186 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 6: being able to wear dark lipstick because it made me 187 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:27,960 Speaker 6: look too much. 188 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:28,200 Speaker 4: You know. 189 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,640 Speaker 1: As a manager, Natalie remembers having to police her employees, 190 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: and that was hard because these were people she hired 191 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: and sometimes saw more than her own family. She cared 192 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 1: about them, so policing them over a dress code that 193 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: she didn't even care about herself was complicated. But the 194 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: dress code oft blooming Doll's was strict and not abiding 195 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 1: by it could mean getting sent home or being written up. 196 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 1: I reached out to Bloomingdll's to ask them about their 197 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 1: dress code policies and to get reaction about how former 198 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:06,040 Speaker 1: current employees feel about it, but I did not hear back. 199 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 1: Blooming Dell's was my last retail job, and in the 200 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: years since I quit, all of those little black dresses 201 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,959 Speaker 1: I used to wear to work have been donated, given away, 202 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 1: or cut up and used as scrap fabric. Natalie left 203 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:22,520 Speaker 1: blooming Dells a couple months after I did. She no 204 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: longer wears little black dresses either. 205 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 6: I can't even buy black clothes right now because it 206 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 6: reminds me so much of like, Okay, I have to 207 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:31,560 Speaker 6: go to work. 208 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:36,960 Speaker 1: You've heard me complain a lot, I know, but hear 209 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:41,840 Speaker 1: me out. There was a time when working retail was 210 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:46,640 Speaker 1: a coveted job. It was an art a skill. But 211 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 1: by the time Natalie and I were even born, that 212 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 1: time had long passed. But one thing has remained the same, 213 00:13:55,480 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: though sales girls have always presented the little black. 214 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,640 Speaker 2: Dress coming up on Latino USA. 215 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: In terms of fashion, the little black dress was revolutionary, 216 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,720 Speaker 1: as the acceptance of black unto a woman's wardrobe meant 217 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 1: that there was a loosening of the strict moral codes. 218 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 1: The world was changing, and women with. 219 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,880 Speaker 7: It stay with us. 220 00:14:23,640 --> 00:15:12,080 Speaker 5: Yes, hey, we're back. 221 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 2: The department store was the place where the little black 222 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 2: dress went from a symbol of service to being a 223 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 2: fabulous frock. But how When Monica Mores Garcia researched the 224 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 2: lbed and its history, they found out that the roots 225 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,960 Speaker 2: of the black dress were in working class women laboring 226 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 2: in department stores. 227 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 5: And it was pretty unbelievable. 228 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 2: How is it that women who lived more than one 229 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 2: hundred years ago had had the same experiences? How had 230 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,360 Speaker 2: so much changed and yet so much stayed the same. 231 00:15:51,920 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 5: Here's Monica again with the rest of the story. 232 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: Two weeks after I quit Bloomingdale's, I found out that 233 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,840 Speaker 1: I got into an American Studies graduate program. And it 234 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: was during my time there, while I was writing my 235 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: thesis that I came upon the hidden origins of the 236 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: little black dress. And finding out that history surprised me, 237 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: and it took me back to my time working at 238 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: Bloomingdale's and how I fit into all that history and 239 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 1: what I found may surprise you too. 240 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 4: In this country, the theory that all our by right 241 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:39,560 Speaker 4: equal has taken deeply and the notion of making actual 242 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 4: inequality evident by distinctions of attire is repugnant to many persons. 243 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: This was reported in an eighteen ninety four Pennsylvania newspaper 244 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:55,840 Speaker 1: after shop girls, the stylists of their time, protested against 245 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: the need for black uniforms, claiming the black dresses were 246 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: a mark of startude, not of a quote. Business woman. 247 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,119 Speaker 3: Uniforms are really important, particularly from the eighteen eighties to 248 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 3: about to nineteen thirties, because they would mark people as 249 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:12,919 Speaker 3: the sales worker. 250 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:17,000 Speaker 1: This is doctor Tracy Parker. She's an associate professor of 251 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: Afro American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and 252 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,879 Speaker 1: author of Department Stores and the Black Freedom Movement. 253 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 3: And oftentimes the uniform is going to be dark, it's 254 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 3: going to be inconspicuous. It provided uniformity for the store appearance. 255 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:36,199 Speaker 3: According to managers, it could minimalize workers poor taste and 256 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:39,160 Speaker 3: lack of background because many of the workers who worked 257 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 3: in department stores were going to be white women of 258 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 3: the working class. 259 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: And these were young women who were in cities with 260 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,199 Speaker 1: a new found sense of freedom and a little bit 261 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:53,440 Speaker 1: of disposable income. They could create passable imitation society dresses 262 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:57,919 Speaker 1: with nothing but a paper pattern fabric and a sewing machine. 263 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: But this created an issue at many department stores. Shop 264 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: girls were too successfully blending in with the store's client tell, 265 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:12,680 Speaker 1: causing class distinctions to blur, and in response, many department 266 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,960 Speaker 1: stores began requiring their employees to dress in a simple 267 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:18,400 Speaker 1: black dress. 268 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,120 Speaker 3: It does a lot of work vuniform. It controls workers' behaviors, 269 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 3: It makes customers feel more comfortable talking to workers. There's 270 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 3: this belief that when a worker had nicer clothes on 271 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 3: than the customer, this could read conflict. What they wanted 272 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:35,919 Speaker 3: workers to do was sort of blend in and at 273 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 3: least look sharp enough. There's something about dark clothes that 274 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:41,879 Speaker 3: we all know, like black clothes, navy clothes look classy 275 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 3: where you could still convince people to buy the type 276 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:47,120 Speaker 3: of lifestyle that you're. 277 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: Selling, meaning that part of the job is to look 278 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:55,520 Speaker 1: good and sound right. But what that also means is 279 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 1: that there is a wrong way to look and a 280 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 1: wrong way to speak. I have different voices and looks 281 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:06,240 Speaker 1: that I've learned to use throughout my life. You probably 282 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:10,920 Speaker 1: have them too. My academic voice when I want to 283 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:16,200 Speaker 1: sound smart and use words like epistemology, my head to 284 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:20,679 Speaker 1: toe Lululemon fit so I don't scare the suburban moms 285 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,360 Speaker 1: a sprouts. They're all me, but they have a purpose, 286 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: a way to change the perception of me, to downplay 287 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 1: or play up parts of myself for the comfort of others. 288 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 1: And working in retail, I developed my customer service voice. 289 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:41,800 Speaker 1: It sounds like this, and it helps me sound helpful 290 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,719 Speaker 1: and enthusiastic and enthusiastic to help you. 291 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:51,120 Speaker 3: Some stores actually encouraged women workers to learn a couple 292 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 3: of words of French so they could use this while 293 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,200 Speaker 3: they were selling, But the idea back then selling was 294 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:59,879 Speaker 3: still an art. You were selling people not only a lifestyle, 295 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:03,400 Speaker 3: a way of life, a way of looking, a way 296 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:07,080 Speaker 3: of behaving. But those workers, the way they were dressed, 297 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:10,159 Speaker 3: the type of words they used, Their affect had to 298 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:13,440 Speaker 3: convince white middle class women that they knew what they 299 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:16,400 Speaker 3: were talking about and not to sort of read any 300 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 3: type of conflict between the two. 301 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:24,359 Speaker 1: But then in nineteen twenty six, something unexpected happened. Vogue 302 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: magazine featured a black Chanel dress. It was deemed the 303 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: uniform of all chic women, but to many working class 304 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: women and girls, the declaration was nonsensible had they not 305 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:40,800 Speaker 1: been wearing black this whole time. Inspired by shop girls 306 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: in their little black dresses seen in theaters, amusement parks, 307 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:48,679 Speaker 1: and even speakeasys, Chanel's aim for its little black dress 308 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:52,040 Speaker 1: was to make rich girls look like any old girl 309 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 1: in the street. It was part of Chanel's poor look, 310 00:20:56,359 --> 00:21:01,960 Speaker 1: simple clothes made with luxe fabrics. Slowly, the little black 311 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 1: dress became associated with youthfulness and rebellion, and now a 312 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:10,920 Speaker 1: big fashion house was declaring the little black dress elegant, sophisticated, 313 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:16,159 Speaker 1: even Chit Soon other fashion designers like Jubont, She and 314 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: Dior followed suit. In terms of fashion, the little black 315 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:27,359 Speaker 1: dress was revolutionary, as the acceptance of black into a 316 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,399 Speaker 1: woman's wardrobe meant that there was a loosening of the 317 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 1: strict moral codes. The world was changing and women with it. 318 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:38,200 Speaker 1: Unmarried women began pouring into cities to work in these 319 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: new glamorous spaces the department store. For many women, department 320 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:49,639 Speaker 1: store work was a good, respectable job and worked that 321 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:51,639 Speaker 1: you could leave at the end of the day and 322 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: enjoy leisure time that the big city had to offer. 323 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 3: There's a moment when sales work is considered to be glamorous. 324 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 3: So there's all these movies about white working class woman 325 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,120 Speaker 3: working in a department store, and it's how she meets 326 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:05,879 Speaker 3: her husband. It's like the Cinderella fantasy of working in 327 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 3: a department store. 328 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 1: In nineteen thirty nine, Joan Crawford started The Women, a 329 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,000 Speaker 1: film about the social lives of society women and the 330 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: social climbing shop girls who are sleeping with their husbands. 331 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 1: Crawford plays the shop girl and she dons the LBD 332 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:26,199 Speaker 1: behind the perfume counter, pretty girl like you. 333 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 6: With all the rich men that float in here, I 334 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 6: have afraid when they come to discount and they have 335 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:34,560 Speaker 6: other women on their mind. I shouldn't think you'd let 336 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:35,680 Speaker 6: that disturb. 337 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,320 Speaker 1: You, And it didn't disturb her. And in the end, 338 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: Joan Crawford's character's social climbing was her demise and after 339 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: shutting her little black dress, well, girls, looks like it's 340 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 1: back to the perfume. 341 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 6: Kind of for me. 342 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 1: The shop girl is a pop culture archetype still shows 343 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:57,640 Speaker 1: up today, and it's actually so apt in a society 344 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: driven by consumption, because the department store is a place teeming, 345 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 1: you know, with temptations, deals and steals and least not sales, 346 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:10,480 Speaker 1: girls looking to climb the social ladder at any cost. 347 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: But that is just a Hollywood story. It is made 348 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:20,240 Speaker 1: up because the reality of working in a department store 349 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:25,440 Speaker 1: was that everything was all concocted by retailers to make 350 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 1: upper class white women more comfortable. 351 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:30,440 Speaker 3: Because this is supposed to be sort of their club 352 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 3: of sort. They could spend all day there they do it. 353 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:36,600 Speaker 3: You'd go early in the morning, you could drop your 354 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 3: kids off at the nursery, you go listen to a 355 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:41,960 Speaker 3: little piano, have a couple of coffee, meetups with some friends, 356 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,399 Speaker 3: buy a bunch of stuff, and then go home. 357 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:47,840 Speaker 1: And you wouldn't be carrying your bags either. They would 358 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,160 Speaker 1: be personally delivered to your home. 359 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 3: You could walk into these departments stores and they were 360 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 3: just gorgeous. You know, this was new technology. This was 361 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 3: electric lighting when they could get it. This was escalators. 362 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 3: This was you would walk in and in Marshall Field 363 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,760 Speaker 3: that was in downtown Chicago. The ceiling of Marshall Field 364 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,959 Speaker 3: was actually done by Tiffany and Company, the jeweler. So 365 00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:12,760 Speaker 3: everything about the store when you walked in made you 366 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:16,080 Speaker 3: feel made you feel like you were somebody. It made 367 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:18,719 Speaker 3: you feel special. And then to have someone cater to 368 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 3: you hand and foot made. 369 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:21,640 Speaker 1: You feel special. 370 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 3: That was just the type of it was just lavish, 371 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:26,720 Speaker 3: stylish merchandise and services. 372 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,440 Speaker 1: That's what they offered. But as more and more Black 373 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:33,479 Speaker 1: Southerners were moving up to these large, bustling cities like 374 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: New York and Chicago, luxury department stores had to make 375 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,159 Speaker 1: some decisions who was allowed to enter and who was 376 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 1: allowed to work there. 377 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 3: It's not until the nineteen fifties and sixties with the 378 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 3: civil rights movement that you see the racial dimensions of 379 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 3: sales work really change. But if you're a black customer too, 380 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,399 Speaker 3: you could go and shop. Maybe some stores would say 381 00:24:57,440 --> 00:24:59,640 Speaker 3: you can only shop in the bargain basement. They would 382 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 3: find that they couldn't get service at a lunch counter 383 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 3: or the restaurants or the beauty stores, and they were 384 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 3: certainly prohibited from trying on and returning clothes, and they 385 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 3: weren't allowed to get credit. And there's cases where even 386 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 3: when one day they could enter the store, maybe next 387 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:18,239 Speaker 3: week arbitrarily they're not allowed to. 388 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 1: In her book, Doctor Parker tells the story about Dorothea Davis, 389 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,080 Speaker 1: a black woman who, with the help of young black 390 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:29,520 Speaker 1: activists of the sit in movement in Charlotte, North Carolina, 391 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 1: was able to get hired as a salesperson at a 392 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,440 Speaker 1: department store. But even then, the store wants to keep 393 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:38,959 Speaker 1: it quiet, hush, hidden. 394 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:43,439 Speaker 3: They don't want their white clientele, they're preferred clientele, to 395 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 3: know that they've done this, and so they put her 396 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:49,960 Speaker 3: in the basement of the store and a department way 397 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:54,000 Speaker 3: in the back where she's selling furniture. But African Americans 398 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,359 Speaker 3: are coming down to the basement with like their purchases 399 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:58,360 Speaker 3: like a little lipstick and saying, I'm going to check 400 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,320 Speaker 3: out with you. I want the store to know that 401 00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 3: you're important, that you make a difference, and that they 402 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:05,560 Speaker 3: should hire more. 403 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: And as the work became increasingly integrated, a clash of 404 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:12,959 Speaker 1: events and reactions began to happen. 405 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,600 Speaker 3: By the late nineteen sixties, you have more and more 406 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:21,320 Speaker 3: racial upheavals. The King assassination certainly unleashes a lot of 407 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:25,439 Speaker 3: anger and frustration, and what you see is that some 408 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 3: of these department stores close as a result. They don't 409 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 3: want to be bothered, and increasingly they're putting all of 410 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:34,240 Speaker 3: their energies into the suburban branches, not the downtown branches, 411 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:36,480 Speaker 3: which is key because at this point in time, in 412 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,919 Speaker 3: the sixties and seventies, public transportation doesn't go out to 413 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,040 Speaker 3: the suburbs in many places, and that's on purpose. The 414 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:46,240 Speaker 3: idea is that you keep black and brown people in 415 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,479 Speaker 3: urban centers and you leave the white middle class to 416 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 3: live in a fairyland of whiteness. 417 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:58,360 Speaker 1: Fairyland of whiteness. I don't think that's changed. The thirteen 418 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 1: mile drive from South Ella where I lived, to Beverly Hills, 419 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:07,000 Speaker 1: where the Bloomingdals was it could easily take over an 420 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:10,120 Speaker 1: hour in traffic, and that's because there's no easy way 421 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,399 Speaker 1: to get there, and if you ever learn anything about 422 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:17,920 Speaker 1: Los Angeles freeways, you'd know that that was on purpose too. 423 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:21,600 Speaker 1: I used to drive to work in my little black dress, 424 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,680 Speaker 1: weaving in and out of traffic, trying to use different roots, 425 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:28,400 Speaker 1: always trying to beat traffic. And I always wondered how 426 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 1: many of us were there trying to figure out the 427 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:33,920 Speaker 1: fastest ways from the poorer areas to the rich ones, 428 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:42,320 Speaker 1: wearing these antiquated symbols of service. Anyhow, back to doctor. 429 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:47,360 Speaker 3: Parker, Camart becomes the number one retailer by the late 430 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:51,840 Speaker 3: nineteen eighties. So you've got suburbanization, you've got the rise 431 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 3: of major discount apartment stores, and so department store merchants 432 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 3: retailers decide, we're gonna model ourselves after this discount model. 433 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:03,439 Speaker 3: We don't have to put that much money into what 434 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,120 Speaker 3: it looks like. We don't have to train our sales 435 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:07,200 Speaker 3: workers in the same way. 436 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:11,199 Speaker 1: And in the eighties and nineties, trickle down economics and 437 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:18,560 Speaker 1: globalization profoundly changed the way fashion was produced, marketed, sold, bought, worn, 438 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:26,679 Speaker 1: and thrown away. Fast fashion was born. My first retail 439 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:28,919 Speaker 1: job was in two thousand and eight, and when I 440 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:32,919 Speaker 1: started blooming Dell's in twenty seventeen. I had had nine 441 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:36,719 Speaker 1: years of work experience under my belt, and I had 442 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: did everything from working at an Amazon warehouse to selling 443 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:43,800 Speaker 1: timeshares to working at Sephora. So when I got the 444 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 1: job at Bloomingdale's, it definitely wasn't the worst job I'd 445 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: ever had, but it was the one where I got 446 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 1: screamed at the most by customers. Why would someone not 447 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: one of our performan bills? 448 00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:58,719 Speaker 3: It's fun, I mean, I think every day. 449 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:02,800 Speaker 1: According to the Bureau of Statistics, the most common occupations 450 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: for Hispanic women are maids, housekeepers, cashiers, secretaries, administrative assistants, 451 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:14,120 Speaker 1: and retail salespersons. So it didn't feel like an accident 452 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,080 Speaker 1: that I had done four out of these six jobs. 453 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: So when I would catch a glimpse of myself dressing 454 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 1: someone in the fitting room mirror, I would think, why, 455 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 1: why is this my job? And why is it that 456 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:33,440 Speaker 1: I have to dress this woman? What about certain people 457 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,240 Speaker 1: do we think makes them more suitable for certain types 458 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: of work? The little black dress let customers know that 459 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:43,800 Speaker 1: I'm the sales girl. I'm not their equal. It was 460 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,040 Speaker 1: my job to make them feel catered to. But at 461 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: fourteen dollars an hour. It just didn't feel worth it 462 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:52,560 Speaker 1: to me to be reminded of how people saw me. 463 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:57,480 Speaker 1: Here's Natalie again, my former coworker at Bloomingdale's who we 464 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,000 Speaker 1: heard from in the first part of the show. 465 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:04,600 Speaker 6: That whole the customer is Always right is very embedded 466 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 6: in retail culture. So because the customer I'd always right, 467 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 6: they can talk to you any type of way, but 468 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 6: it is very degrading. 469 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:16,320 Speaker 1: Both Natalie and I fell into working in retail. It's 470 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:18,560 Speaker 1: a really easy job to get when you need a 471 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:22,480 Speaker 1: job fast, so it wasn't a goal of mine. It 472 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:24,600 Speaker 1: kind of just happened to be the first place that 473 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 1: hired me, and the same for Natalie. 474 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 6: I need money, I need to pay vale. 475 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:34,720 Speaker 1: Compared to the total workforce, retail workers are more likely 476 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,880 Speaker 1: to be women and less likely to have bachelor's degrees. 477 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,240 Speaker 1: They're more likely to live in poverty, and while overall 478 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:47,320 Speaker 1: most retail workers are white, Hispanic and Black workers are overrepresented. 479 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 6: I come from an immigrant home where my dad worked 480 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:53,840 Speaker 6: on the field and my mom working sweatshop, so working 481 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:56,320 Speaker 6: at retail was an upgrade from that. 482 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,520 Speaker 1: When I was eleven, my mom went back to school 483 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:03,160 Speaker 1: and became a medical assistant, and I remember feeling really 484 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,680 Speaker 1: proud of her, and from that point on our lives 485 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 1: became much more stable. She used to tell me three things. 486 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:15,720 Speaker 1: One don't get pregnant. Two, get as much schooling as 487 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:21,640 Speaker 1: you can, and three never depend on a man. So 488 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:24,240 Speaker 1: when I left my mother's house at eighteen, I felt 489 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:28,920 Speaker 1: really lucky. She wasn't financially dependent on me, and I 490 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 1: know some of my cousins and my friends didn't and 491 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:34,959 Speaker 1: don't have that same privilege. I was able to go 492 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:36,720 Speaker 1: out in the world and be like, I want to 493 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:39,640 Speaker 1: be a writer. How can I make that happen? And 494 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 1: so I worked a bunch of low wage, unfulfilling jobs. 495 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: I dropped in and out of community college. I moved 496 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 1: to la and, just like the women at the turn 497 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:51,200 Speaker 1: of the century, I found myself working at a luxury 498 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:54,920 Speaker 1: department store in the big city. So working in retail 499 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:57,920 Speaker 1: as a means to an end felt like an upgrade 500 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 1: from the life my mother had lived. 501 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 6: When I see women of color, especially in these settings, 502 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:09,800 Speaker 6: I know that of necessity. It's not something that. 503 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 1: They're like, oh, I'm dreaming of working in a luxury story. 504 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:13,840 Speaker 1: You know, it's a necessity. 505 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:16,280 Speaker 6: And I know they probably have bigger goals because I 506 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:18,719 Speaker 6: kind of see myself in that. At bigger goals, I 507 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,480 Speaker 6: was dreaming constantly, But that's. 508 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:26,040 Speaker 1: A whole journey. In May of twenty twenty, Macy's Ink, 509 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:30,840 Speaker 1: who owns blooming Dill's and Macy's, established a minimum wage 510 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:34,800 Speaker 1: of fifteen dollars an hour throughout the company, one more 511 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:37,920 Speaker 1: dollar than I was making five years ago. And now 512 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:43,520 Speaker 1: that I'm a quote unquote respectable college educated person, i'ven't 513 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: had to wear a uniform and I probably never will again. 514 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:54,280 Speaker 1: And I think about that a lot respectability. Sixty three 515 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:57,320 Speaker 1: percent of hourly workers at Macy's Ink are non white, 516 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:01,640 Speaker 1: almost half of them are black and LATINX. The customers, 517 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:05,000 Speaker 1: on the other hand, are mostly white, over fifty percent 518 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 1: at Macy's and sixty one percent at Bloomingdale's. Today, the 519 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:15,280 Speaker 1: lbed has become shorthand for glamour, promising to make us 520 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:19,800 Speaker 1: look thinner, more glamorous, and for most women it has 521 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:22,960 Speaker 1: crossed over. Women wear the little black dress to feel 522 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:27,680 Speaker 1: more like Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn or supermodel Linda Evangelista. 523 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:33,400 Speaker 1: But we cannot forget the origins of the little black dress, 524 00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:36,920 Speaker 1: because wearing the Little Black dress not only conjures up 525 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,960 Speaker 1: all of the fabulousness it has become, it also conjures 526 00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:44,040 Speaker 1: up all of the working class women who had worn 527 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:47,840 Speaker 1: the dress before them, and all of the people who 528 00:33:47,880 --> 00:34:00,120 Speaker 1: still have to wear the dress today. 529 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:13,879 Speaker 2: This episode was produced by Monicamrealis Garcia and edited by 530 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:18,800 Speaker 2: Andrea Lopez Grussado. It was mixed by Julia Caruso and Jjkrubin. 531 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:23,800 Speaker 2: The Latino USA team includes Marta Martinez, Asi Contreras, Mike Sargent, 532 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:30,840 Speaker 2: Julieta Martinelli, Victoria Estrada, Rinaldo Leanos Junior, Alejandra Salasad, Patricia Sulbaran, 533 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:34,560 Speaker 2: and Julia Rocha, with help from Raoul Perez. Our editorial 534 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:38,680 Speaker 2: director is Fernando Santos. Our director of Engineering is Stephanie LAbau. 535 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:42,640 Speaker 2: Our associate engineer is gabriel A Bias. Our marketing manager 536 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:46,680 Speaker 2: is Luis Luna. Listen to all of our Latino USA 537 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:51,920 Speaker 2: Podcast episodes on Amazon Music. Our theme music was composed 538 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:55,560 Speaker 2: by Zanja Rubinos, I'm your host and executive producer Mariano Josa. 539 00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:57,960 Speaker 2: Join us again on our next episode in the meantime 540 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:00,160 Speaker 2: book for us on all of your social media and 541 00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:02,600 Speaker 2: remember Yes Choo. 542 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:08,000 Speaker 7: Latino USA is made possible in part by New York 543 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:12,720 Speaker 7: Women's Foundation. The New York Women's Foundation, funding women leaders 544 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:16,800 Speaker 7: that build solutions in their communities, and celebrating thirty years 545 00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:21,400 Speaker 7: of radical generosity, the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 546 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:26,719 Speaker 7: and the Ford Foundation, working with visionaries on the front 547 00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:28,680 Speaker 7: lines of social change worldwide. 548 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:34,520 Speaker 2: I'm about to get rid of a bunch because I'm like, 549 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:38,759 Speaker 2: there's no way that I can wear this many lbeds 550 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:39,760 Speaker 2: ever again.