The slit skirt : fashion and empathy in the tango era

The slit skirt made a significant appearance in the European and American high fashion at the beginning of the 1910s, in conjunction with the diffusion of the modern social dances, and the new experience of seeing and showing women’s legs in motion. Among these dances, tango was the most sensual and controversial fleshly dance and, at the height of its fame, fashionable tango teas spread worldwide. The tango appropriated the slit skirt, which remains a provocative sign in its iconography. More than a century later, the slit skirt continues to be an emblem of sensuality and eroticism. Investigating the slit skirt helps to understand how the women’s body has been seen and constructed in the 1910s. As a single sartorial element, the skirt’s slit has played an active role as a visual apparatus and allows the exploration of the relationships between fashion history and the history of modern vision and looking.