Suffragists would wear purple and gold or purple and green sashes over their white dress at public events.
These garments did not offer full physical mobility, highlighting the traditional ideas on femininity and a woman’s place in society. Instead of challenging and rebelling against the dress, the suffragettes decided to wear head-to-toe white, thus appropriating the visual indicators of their femininity to serve their own cause. By choosing to wear this dress during the movement, they were also able to redefine the meaning of the dress.