BANANAS in the media

COSTUMES AND VISUAL CULTURE Two cases

By the first half of the 20th Century, two well-known women performed dances with bananas on their bodies. Their costumes marked and changed their lives but were also the signs of the time's sociopolitical and cultural status quo and transformations.

JOSÉPHINE BAKER (USA 1906 - France 1975)

Baker was an American-French dancer, singer, and actress whose career was primarily established in France. She became famous for her dance performance “Danse Sauvage” in Paris in 1927. In this sensational act, her costume consisted solely of a banana skirt and a pearl necklace, which made her an icon of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties.

The Exposition des Arts Décoratifs of 1925 sparked an interest in non-Western art. Baker symbolized many aspects of this fashion trend. Later, she was often seen on stage with her cheetah, Chiquita.

CARMEN MIRANDA (1909 Portugal - 1955 USA)

Miranda was a well-known Brazilian samba dancer and Hollywood actress. She gained worldwide fame, among other things, for her extravagant Tutti-Frutti hat, which she wore in the 1943 film “The Gang’s All

Here,” earning her the nickname “The Lady with the Tutti-Frutti Hat.” The United Fruit Company took inspiration from this hat for their Chiquita Banana logo. Her rise to Hollywood stardom coincided with the “Good Neighbors policy” of F.D. Roosevelt, following the so-called Banana Wars, which aimed to improve the United States strained relations with Central and South America.