"For Christmas 1930" (Weldon's Ladies' Journal, Christmas and New Year 1930 & 1931)

A year on from my last post, and my how the fashions have changed!  Fashion changes between 1920 and 1970 could best be summed up as "hemlines and waistlines" and both changed dramatically between 1929 and 1930.

The centre spread of this issue of Weldon's Ladies Journal depicts a wonderful selection of styles from 1930, both for day ("In the daytime—neatness in style and material—bright colours—demure little folded collars—fresh and crisp, white and gay") and for night ("Romantic evening frocks—clinging lines—subtle velvets—gleaming satins, thistledown chiffons, georgettes and nets").

 

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HERE is a new idea—a jacket suit of black marocain lined with chiffon.  The frilly collar and cuffs are soft and becoming.

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CHIFFON or printed rayon georgette in yellow and black would suit this new blouse which has a handkerchief collar.

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IDEAL for the red or fair-haired girl is this brown crêpe de chine frock, made on crossover lines tying unexpectedly at the right side.

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A GOOD idea for your Christmas dance frock, in turquoise blue Courgette.  The bolero, draped hips and floppy bows are becoming.

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THIS graceful white satin evening frock, made on classical lines, needs no trimming other than some well-chose jewellry.

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SHORT black or brightly coloured capes are worn with evening frocks.  This one is of black velveteen with white fur and lining.

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DEEP-SEA-BLUE satin combined with deep-sea-blue net makes this very lovely evening gown.

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WHY not try the Grecian style for a change?  This gown carried out in bright yellow georgette, is enhanced by its belt and drapery.

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A DRESS in which to pay your "Merry Xmas" calls.  It is of a festive green jersey with white georgette collar and jabot.

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RED wool crêpe for this frock with the folded collar and ends of white georgette.  The skirt has a novel shaped hip-yoke.

Fashionable clothing had suddenly grown more mature.  One of Vogue's less youthful correspondents had this to say about the changes in style:

Débutantes might be wearing similar clothes, but I was no longer competing with them.  Such a costume actually demanded that I walk more slowly to be in rhythm with the swing of the long, flaring coat, instead of with tired legs in beige coloured hose, tripping the measure of knee-length flapper skirts.  I could sit down with no thought of dragging my short skirt desperately and ineffectually over my knees every few seconds or else letting it go at that and appearing undressed and ridiculous.

"The Fashionable Forties" by Grace Hegger Lewis, Vogue, 8 December 1930

Vogue wrote for a well-to-do readership, of course.  I sometimes wonder how less prosperous women managed these extreme fashion changes at what was the beginning of the Depression.  Did they try to remodel their old "flapper" dresses?  Was there a desperate outburst of home dressmaking as women tried to replace their entire wardrobe economically?  Were their flapper dresses relegated to home wear as they tried to keep up with the Joneses in public?  Of course the really poor in the Depression weren't worried about keeping up with the fashions.  Having enough clothes to stay warm and decent would probably be all that they could hope for.

Myer Catalogue, Spring & Xmas 1929

 I had this picture in mind for 1929 ever since I started this project.  Here we have some fashionable, higher-end ready-to-wear garments sold by the Myer Emporium in Melbourne.

01—Smart SPUN SILK FROCK, in this semi-tailored style, pleated from yoke back and front; red, lemon, white, almond and beige.

02—ENSEMBLE SUIT, with full-length coat of woollen crepe-de-chine and frock of printed artificial silk; coat lined to match frock.

02—TAILORED COSTUME, of fine worsted suiting, in light brown, fawn, beige or grey tones; silk-lined coat, in single or double-breasted style; wrap skirt.

04—An elegant FROCK of printed silk crepe-de-chine, on black, navy and colored grounds; scarf collar, three slightly flared frills on skirt, buckled belt.  

 Short skirted and drop waisted, these fashions are still very much of the 1920s with only the tiniest hints of the decade to come.   

McCall Style News, May 1928

 McCall Style News simply describes this dress as "Ladies' and Misses' Dress; with scarves", but as it is illustrated by a picture of a young woman racing over a court to return a serve it was clearly most likely intended to be worn as a tennis dress.  Women had been playing (lawn) tennis since the game was invented in the 1870s, but it was only in the 1920s that they could move freely on the court, unencumbered by long skirts and corsets.

Fortunately for us, there were plenty of fashion experts in 1928, giving us advice on correct (tennis) court wear.  First we have Vogue who notes the newest innovation of sleeveless dresses:

The tennis dress is frequently sleeveless, a point of interest in so far as the fashion for sleeveless dresses has never, until this season, seemed quite chic or correct.  It may be that, with the growing practice of spending the summer in resorts famous for their winter sunshine, the smart woman has adopted a fashion that suggests greater comfort and ease.  In other words, like the sports mode in general, the sleeveless dress is the outcome of the sportswoman's necessities.

Vogue, April 15 1928

"For the Dancing Hours" (Weldon's Ladies' Journal, August 1927)

 How could I write about the fashions of the 1920s without including one post about dance dresses!  This was the Jazz Age—the era of the Charleston and the Shuffle, the Black Bottom and the foxtrot.  Weldon's produced the dress patterns below, suitable for the energetic dances of the 1920s.  Even a few years earlier, these designs would have been considered daringly immodest!

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The net tucker, small puff sleeves and the little bows give an old-world air to this charmingly youthful Dance Frock for taffeta.

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Cut on classical lines this graceful Evening Frock is suited to the tall slim girl.  It is of crépe romaine trimmed with pearl embroidery.

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Kilted frills trim the skirt of this Dance Frock for crépe de chine, and small kilted wings hang in cascades from each shoulder.

Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue Number 104, Spring and Summer 1926

 When I saw this page I knew at once that it was going to represent 1926.  These colourful, low-waisted dresses (with a bit of flare in the skirts) are the very epitome of 1920s fashion.

The straight, flat-chested silhouette wasn't easy for everyone to achieve and Montgomery Ward advertised some "slenderizing" fashions for larger-sized women on the bottom of the page.  While they tricked the eye of the beholder into seeing their wearers as smaller than they really were, it's probably worth noting that they also would have been wearing some of the extra-reinforced corsets available in later pages of the catalogue.

"Learning to Make Trimmings" by Jane Hedden Loewen (Modern Priscilla, November 1925)

 In the 1920s, no outfit was complete without a hat.  If you had clever fingers, you could save money by buying an untrimmed hat and making it up yourself.  Below are some suggestions for trimmings and instructions on how to make them from The Modern Priscilla in November 1925.

From top to bottom we have models 5135, 5137 and 5134.

Blouses (Miroir Des Modes, Aouet 1924)

 In the 1920s buttoned up, tucked in blouses were Out, and slip-over overblouses were In.  Butterick produced a number of patterns for blouses in 1924, some of which appear in this illustration from Miroir des Modes below.

All these patterns also appeared in various issues of The Delineator in 1924.  I've taken the descriptions in English from The Delineator, though in some cases the magazine published different pattern views than the ones on this page.  4993 and 5085 at the bottom left of the illustration appeared in winter issues of The Delineator and were described with long sleeves.