@ jim - actually you are wrong about the colors of clothing back then. I am getting my masters in fashion history so have been studying this sort of thing quite a bit. The clothes of the turn of the century were extraordinarily colored. The discovery of aniline dyes came about in the late 1850s and revolutionized the textile industry. Bright greens, pinks, purples blues - you name it were everywhere. One of the reasons why people tend to think everything was so drab then is that for the most part all we have to look at is old black and white pictures that don't hint at the brightness of the colors, or the existent clothes that the average person comes across are horribly faded from time.

Now onto the women in the street thing. 1908 was the beginning of a transitory period where women were just starting to be allowed on the street without a man accompanying them. To be clear, this was only the case in Europe. In America women had been walking around outside on their own for some time. So this video is a great example of the starts of Modernism and the freedom of movement for women.

Sorry to be so long winded, i'm writing a paper about this sort of stuff today so it is definitely on the mind :)