Fashion 1930s-1940s

The lighthearted, forward-looking attitude and fashions of the late 1920s lingered through most of 1930, but by the end of that year the effects of the Great Depression began to affect the public, and a more conservative approach to fashion displaced that of the 1920s.

For women, skirts became longer and the waist-line was returned up to its normal position in an attempt to bring back the traditional "womanly" look.

Jean Patou, who had first raised hemlines to 18" off the floor with his "flapper" dresses of 1924, had begun lowering them again in 1927, using Vionnet's handkerchief hemline to disguise the change. By 1930, longer skirts and natural waists were shown everywhere.

Jean Patou

 Feminine curves were highlighted in the 1930s through the use of the bias-cut in dresses. Madeleine Vionnet was the innovator of the bias-cut and used this method to create sculptural dresses that molded and shaped over the body's contours as it draped the female form.

Bolero Jackets

Through the mid-1930s, the natural waistline was often accompanied by emphasis on an empire line. Short bolero jackets, capelets, and dresses cut with fitted midriffs or seams below the bust increased the focus on breadth at the shoulder.

Evening dresses with matching jackets were worn to the theatre, nightclubs, and elegant restaurants.

Full, gathered skirts, known as the dirndl skirt, became popular around 1945.

Gloves were "enormously important" in this period. Evening dresses were accompanied by elbow length gloves, and day costumes were worn with short or opera-length gloves of fabric or leather.

Fashion 1920's-1930's

Just before I start the 20's, I need to mention the all important year 1918, which was the end of WW1. Everyone seemed to have an attitude change. People began to look forward. Designers picked up on new youthfullness and contempory modernism that society was searching for..

Peoples behaviour also seemed to characterize the 1920's.. Manners were less formal, clothes were more casual and younger people were free to live away from there parents.

Then, the girls rebelled! They smoked in public places, cut off their hair, wore make up, skirts went shorter and they went to parties un chaperoned.. Sounds a lot like 2012 to me!

In my opinion, the next part is the best thing to ever happen in fashion history.. The FLAPPER GIRL!

Flapper in the 1920s was a term applied to a “new breed” of young western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. Flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking, treating sex in a casual manner, smoking, driving automobiles and otherwise flouting social and sexual norms.

Young men wore casual clothes too, they drank cocktails, the wealthier ones drove the best cars, sports clothing was a fashion statement.

Young women strived to be like the hollywood movie stars.. again, pretty similar to 2012. Then came the eye make up trend. The 'vamped' look, making the eyes the focal point of the face. They were dark and intensely dramatic.

Womens dresses were flowing and bias cut. The bias cut was originally introduced by Madeleine Vionnet.

The boyish figure for women?

Undergarments began to transform after World War I to conform to the ideals of a flatter chest and more boyish figure. The womens rights movement had a strong effect on women's fashions. Most importantly, the confining corset was discarded, replaced by a chemise or camisole and bloomers, later shortened to panties or knickers. During the mid-twenties all-in-one lingerie became popular.

 A more masculine look became popular, including flattened breasts and hips, short hairstyles such as the bob cut. The fashion was bohemian and forthcoming for its age.



Teenage girls in Minnesota wear breeches and riding boots with men's neckties, 1924.



Knee length pleated skirts and dropped waists were still popular as everyday clothes in 1929.


Menswear

In the early twenties, men's fashion was characterized by extremely high waisted jackets, often worn with belts. Trousers were relatively narrow and straight (never tapered) and they were worn rather short so that a man's socks often showed. Trousers also began to be worn cuffed at the bottom at this time.

By 1925, wider trousers commonly known as "Oxford Bags" came into fashion, while suit jackets returned to a normal waist and lapels became wider and were often worn peaked.



Man in 1927 wearing a Panama Hat and buttoned waistcoat.