1941. World War II is in its second year, but it only seems to be peripheral in the
Australian Home Journal's fashion pages.
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| March 1941 |
Continental Fashions
Most folk will be glad to know that continental fashions are now a thing of the past. Both Britain and America are quite capable of designing their own fashions, and the resultant effect of a combined arrangement between British and American design-experts is delightfully satisfactory.
Golf Fashions
Do you golf? For tennis, swimming and riding, we generally conform to standard apparel, and for golf it used to be 'the thing' to wear browns and fawns, but with the current trend for bright colours, our courses have become dotted with gay young things dashing across the fairways. Formerly it was customary to wear 'jumpers and skirts' but nowadays a smartly tailored frock is quite in keeping.
Many players prefer frocks when golfing. They believe dresses provide more freedom for movement.
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| April 1941 |
Victorian Dresses
Our London correspondent informs us that collapsible hoops have been seen in Bond Street shops. They are intended for evening dresses and make the getting in-and-out of a car easy.
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| June 1941 |
The Frugal Stars!
If you think that all the film stars are carelessly extravagant, you are wildly mistaken says a correspondent.
Quite a number of them, especially the younger ones, are particularly thrifty and careful, even going to the extent of renovating their clothes.
Betty Furness is known as one of the best dressmakers in Hollywood. She designs practically all her clothes and makes a great many of them.
Carole Landis is a knitting enthusiast. And she has a pet economy in this direction.
When she has tired of a garment, she unravels it and knits it up into something quite different.
Lucille Ball has the bolero craze. She has made half-a-dozen in different ones in various shades to wear with one dark frock—making a total of seven different ensembles. She rummages the shops for the gayest and most unusual remnants.
Joan Fontaine has an affection for flower necklaces—real and artificial.
In the summer months she delights in stringing real flowers on cords and wearing them as necklace and bracelet with a plain black linen dress.
Thus does she give variation to her dresses.
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| July 1941 |
Some Fashion Points
These are new fashion points England and America have in common: —Straight skirts; many narrow, but even those with boxy or unpressed pleats hang straight in repose. Jackets sometimes wrist-length; always fastened high. Pockets galore; emphasised by fur, by embroidery, by buttons. Beads, beads, beads; and jewel embroidery; and gold thread; and sequins. The family jewels in the bank vaults will never be missed.
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| September 1941 |
Saluting Symbols
Why not be all military and dashing? Take all salutes with a service symbol worn on your lapel, pocket or sleeve. The V for Victory now takes first place; it looks unusual and smart if worked on top of left sleeve or lapel.
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| November 1941 |
That Shirt Dress
The shirt dress is always popular. It really has become the foundation of every good wardrobe—a capital good fail-me-never dress that can be used for many occasions. It is equally useful for work as for sport. For business this type of dress looks neat and trim, and for daily duties, indoor or local shopping it is ideal.
The Useful Cotton
If you are wise you will give cotton your whole-hearted attention this year. It's going to help you over many a dress difficulty, financially as well as fashionably. Higher and higher soars the price of woollens, scarcer and scarcer do they become. Women are still discriminating enough to want something pleasing when they pay high prices. Cotton prices have gone up, of course, but they are still within the limits of the average purse. Besides cotton fabrics have so many advantages over silk and wool. They are hardy, they wash easily and well, they keep their colour and their shape. And they are cheap!
So in summary: fashion marches on, in spite of the war. Military insignia make cool dress ornaments, some materials have become expensive (gone to to make uniforms, perhaps?) and Hollywood stars set an example of thrift. I find it amusing however, if not entirely believable, imagining women wearing hooped evening dresses in the middle of the London Blitz!
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