"Wake's" Catalogue (Summer 1939-1940)

There is a new way to buy clothes—clothes that always look smart and expensive—and that is the "Wake's Mail Orders" way.

Following the example set by mail order fashion houses of America, the firm of Wake's Mail Orders has designed and printed a most delightful and intriguing catalogue, reproducing from actual photography 1938's choicest styles, fabrics and ideas.  What with beautiful colour printing, and samples of materials attached, the thrill of city shopping is brought to the country home.  Because all their garments are produced under the direction of their overseas buyers, in their own workrooms, and are sent direct to the purchasers, the prices at which they are offered are claimed to be remarkably low.  Other factors which contributed to bring about this happy position are that no big city rents have to be met by the firm, there are no sales people's salaries, no laybys, no credits, no discounts, and no window displays.

(From Weekly Times (Melbourne) Saturday 21 May 1938) 

I haven't been able to find a copy of that first "Wake's" catalogue, but I do own a copy published a year later.  So since a picture paints a thousand words, let's see what was available to the woman shopper in the Southern summer of 1939-40:

"Elle" (1951) and "Shocking Life" by Elsa Schiaparelli

The 23 Juillet 1951 issue of Elle featured a blouse from Boutique de Schiaparelli on its cover:

The Schiaparelli Boutique opened in 1935:

The Schiap Boutique, the very first of its kind, has since been copied not only by all the great Paris couturiers but the idea has spread all over the world, especially in Italy. 

It became instantaneously famous because of the formula of 'ready to be taken away immediately'.  There were useful and amusing gadgets afire with youth.  There were evening sweaters, skirts, blouses and accessories previously scorned by the haute couture.

(From Shocking Life: The Autobiography of Elsa Schiaparelli)

Shocking Life is the unconventional autobiography of an unconventional woman.  It's full of  anecdotes and stories (including a rather hectic account of Schiaparelli's wartime adventures!)  On the flip side Shocking Life is a bit lacking in dates and details—so you mostly get Schiaparelli's impressions of events, not the whens, wheres and whys they happened.  (Schiaparelli also has a rather confusing habit of dropping in and out of the third person in the course of her narrative, typically referring to herself as 'Schiap'!)

 Because of this, it's not the best book to read if you're looking for an insider's view of the fashion industry.  However, it does contain plenty about Schiaparelli's approach to fashion, including her account of creating her original trompe l'oeil jumper, and descriptions of  her disagreements with the Chambre syndicale de la haute couture parisienne.  (Surprisingly, she agreed with her arch-rival Chanel about the positive benefits of being copied, and the futility of trying to prevent design piracy.) On the whole this is a fast-paced and entertaining read, if not a deep and analytical piece of writing.


Shocking Life: The Autobiography of Elsa Schiaparelli
ISBN: 9781851775156
V&A Publications, 2007
First published by J.M. Dent & Sons in 1954

"Dress Over Pants" from Roaman's catalog (1970)

A couple of months ago I posted an entry describing how I either love or hate 1970s fashions.  Well, I think it is time I posted a picture of one of the fashions I hate:

"Dress over pants" sets—a truly deplorable (but fortunately short-lived) fashion of the early seventies that made the wearers' look as if they'd put all their clothes on at once in a fit of indecisiveness.  

To be fair the entire fashion era was indecisive, especially for those who were neither young nor groovy.  Pants were only just becoming acceptable for women's wear in many situations, and there were still places—workplaces, churches, restaurants—where they were not allowed.  This is clearly an attempt at compromise, albeit an unsuccessful one!

Skirts were another area of contention, with women caught between the mini-skirt (unflattering to older legs) and manufacturers trying to push the calf-length "midi".  Evelyn Roaman nails it in the introduction to this catalogue:

I know you are wondering about the new lengths, and I hope my opinion may be of help.

I am confident that most Roaman's customers this season will want to wear their daytime dresses at or slightly below the knee.  This may be an inch or two longer than you wore them before, so we're cutting our garments accordingly. 

Wherever possible we are providing ample hems... to shorten or lengthen... so you can have it your own way.  And ... your own way is right! 

Many younger women will wear shorter lengths.  Many, of all ages, will want "midi"," down to the mid-calf—especially smart for coats, and many skirts.  Mix the long and short in one look (split level) or in "layers", or wear both separately (as in this catalog). 

This season you can choose, and be right, with the length that suits you best,

A far cry from the era when skirt lengths were dictated by designers!

"War on Waste!" McCall Style News, 1944

  

"McCall 1064.  Here's a pattern especially designed for restyling the tops of your "tired" dresses with new contrast fabric for the popular "two-tone" effect"!  If you have a dress whose skirt is still good, but whose top is outmoded, faded under the arms, split or faded across the shoulders, you can restyle it with this smart pattern.  Pattern includes two complete master patterns for blouse fronts and backs, from which you can cut any any of the yokes or lower waist sections shown."

"Restyling"—a nearly forgotten art in the era of fast fashion!  During World War II thrift was both patriotic and necessary on the "Home Front".

Elle (9 Mai 1955)

On the cover of Elle: A "sweet" and "charming" shirt dress designed by Gattegno, made up in material from the firm of Boussac and available for around 10,000 francs.   (As a side note, Marcel Boussac was the cotton manufacturer who bankrolled Christian Dior, making him a important player in the history of twentieth century fashion!)

Plate from "Graham's Magazine" (1846)

Graham's Magazine published this plate (originally engraved for Le Follet) in 1846, but alas! they didn't print the description that must have accompanied the original plate.  That means we can only guess at the details of the garments depicted—we get the general picture, but we have no idea how they were constructed or of what materials they were made.

At first glance these dresses appear to be a study on contrasts.  The costume on the left is clearly an evening dress (probably a ball gown) while the one on the right is as clearly a day dress (possibly a visiting dress?)   The ball gown is decorated with (what I assume to be) artificial roses, and appears to be made in light, fragile materials.  The day dress appears to be made of darker, sturdier fabrics, and it is definitely more modest.  While the ball gown bares the wearer's arms and shoulders, the model in the day dress is entirely covered except for her neck and the front of her face!

A second look, however, shows us how much the two garments have in common, particularly their underlying structure and shape.  Both dresses, for example, have long pointed waists, a look achieved by the wearing of corsets that moulded the figure from armpits to hips.  (You can see the ridge created by the upper edge of the corset quite clearly on the figure on the right.)  Then there are the bell-shaped skirts, fashionable from the mid-1830s through to the mid-1850s.  At this stage the skirts weren't held out by hoops: instead they were given bulk by the many layers of petticoats worn underneath them.  One was usually made from horsehair, hence the word "crinoline"—from the French crin, meaning horsehair—later applied to the hooped petticoat that replaced it!