From Monitorul Oficial to Calea Victoriei

Romanian society between the two World Wars constantly moved between opening itself to Western modernity and closing itself to protect itself from anything foreign. Bucharest, Romania's capital, reflected this duality as a border space between East and West, modernity and tradition, austerity and glamour. This paper explores the dynamic negotiation between restriction (Monitorul Oficial, the Official Gazette of Romania) and expansion (Calea Victoriei, Bucharest's most famous boulevard, at the capital's heart, the best place for walking, shopping, having fun and, most of all, showing oneself to the world. Women's fashion is an important lens to filter the story of interwar Bucharest because it envelops everything connected to the fashion system, women's stories and aspirations, as well as social, economic, ideologic, cultural and artistic histories.