From Coveralls to Zoot Suits: The Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II Home Front

From Coveralls to Zoot Suits: The Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II Home Front By Elizabeth R. Escobedo (2013)

Reviewed by Vivian G. Baglien

Author Elizabeth Escobedo, a history professor, explores the work of Mexican American women during World War II. She tackles the issue of race and how Mexican American women gained some control over their lives in the home, workplace, and across the nation. Many of these women were citizens. Escobedo discusses the inequities that continued after the war for these pioneering women. Upon reading of this troubling time in United States history, I found I needed to understand clearly the meaning of Zoot Suit. A zoot suit entailed the following look: high pompadour hair style, dark lipstick, Vneck sweater or blouse, high socks with perhaps huaraches shoes, full skirt that falls at or above the knee, and a fingertip length coat (pp. 26-27). Coveralls...