Rudi Gernreich on the Cover of "Time" (1 December 1967)

In 1967 the times they were a-changing, and this was especially true for the world of fashion.  The Old Guard was not happy—as shown by the following quotes in Time.  “Those show-offs who wear dresses up to their bottoms know nothing about fashion,” fumes one expert.  “Elegance is out,” sighs "the master of elegance", Norman Norell.

What upset traditionalists the most was the miniskirt:

In the three years since it made its first real appearance in small, offbeat boutiques, it has surged onto the campuses, into offices, out on the avenue—anywhere at all that youth defiantly chooses to show its colors…. “Now, notes one San Francisco designer, “there is the micro-mini, the micro-micro, the ‘Oh, My God’ and the ‘Hello, officer.”

This is where Rudi Gernreich comes in.  Born in Vienna and working in California, Rudi Gernreich was one of the more innovative and avant-garde designers of the 1960.   He had a background in modern dance and was influenced by the Bauhaus movement on the one hand, and American designer Claire McCardell on the other.

He also had a gift for self-publicity: 

Life, 10 July 1964

No designer these days reveals more than California’s Rudi Gernreich, 45, the man who shocked the world in 1964 with his topless bathing suit.

(Life, in 1964, described it as an “absurd garment”:

The suit is no good for swimming, because it falls off, and it is no good for sunning, because it leaves disastrous strap marks.  It is no good for getting your picture in the papers any more, because too many people have tried that, and anyhow the cameraman is likely to turn timid and photograph you from the back.  As for the front view of the suit, it proves only that, whatever else she may be, a bare-breasted woman in broad daylight is chiefly unnerving.  

…Nonetheless, he managed to sell around 3,000 copies at $25 each!)

But back to 1967, and our article in Time: 

Gernreich .. made his mark by being not only the first U.S. designer to raise skirts well above the knee but also the first with such trend-setting styles as colored stockings, now so overwhelmingly popular, which he called “the total look”, with dress, stockings and sometimes a hood—all matching.  Along the way he has introduced vinyl clothes developed out of a material that looks completely “today” and a series of freeing designs aimed at giving back the female body its natural look and curves, including his knit tank suits, his No-Bra bra, and sheer, see-through nylon blouses.

In other words, he pioneered many things seen as typically sixties today.  Looking ahead a bit, he was also an enthusiastic promoter of unisex clothing (popular from around 1968 to the early seventies).

 As fashion grows steadily freer and less inhibited, he hops that whole costumes will become inexpensive enough to be worn briefly, then thrown away on a whim.  Nudity?  "I think a great deal more if it is going to be around—yes, including the topless."  Skirts, he believes, are finished and will soon be replaced by tunics combined with tights into two-piece garments.  But most of all what Gernreich insists upon is that the dress should never again dominate the woman.  "Clothes are just not that important," says he.  They're not status symbols any longer.  They're for fun."

 Time concludes its article with Gernreich looking ahead.  His predictions are a bit hit and miss—as predictions usually are.  He seems to anticipate fast fashion (without foreseeing the social and economic problems it would cause).  On the other hand, status dressing came roaring back in the 1980s, never to quite go away again.  "Nudity" comes and goes, with bare flesh being more fashionable in some eras than others.  (It should be noted, however, that Gernreich disliked sexualised nudity, seeing it as the flip side of viewing the body as shameful.) 

Gernreich epitomised the "space age" fashions of the 1960s, so it's not surprising that though he kept designing until his death in 1985 he was never quite as newsworthy again as he was in that decade.   By the 1970s fashion was starting to take its inspiration from the past instead of the future.  In 1975 however, Gernreich designed the costumes for the British TV series Space 1999.  Now that's futuristic!

"Up, Up & Away".  Time, 1 December 1967
Shana Alexander "Fashion's best joke on itself in years".  Life, 10 July 1964

Wedding Fashions from the 1930s

Weddings have always been an excuse for dressing up, but it wasn't until the nineteenth century that it became customary for brides to wear white.   It wasn't until the 1930s that the custom of wearing floor or evening length dresses for formal weddings became established—before then bridal gowns were hemmed at whatever length was fashionable for day wear at the time.

Weldon's Ladies' Journal, December 1930

Delineator, June 1933

McCall's, June 1935

Weldon's Ladies' Journal, June 1936

Pictorial Review Fashion Book, 1936

Wakes, Summer 1939-1940

Australian Home Journal, June 1939

"What to Wear: Chit-Chat on Dress" (Cassell's Family Magazine, December 1887)

As luck would have it, I found a bound volume of Cassell's Family Magazine at a charity book fair last week.  Magazines like this were the television of their age: chock full of fiction, "how-to" articles, items of general and scientific interest and for the ladies... a monthly fashion column.

So come with me and explore what the fashion-conscious middle class woman was wearing in 1887.

"Short skirts show the feet; and shoes are so much worn, that stockings become a consideration; they continue to be very elaborately embroidered and woven in a variety of patterns in open-work.  Moreover, they are dyed to match every tone of colour..."

Stockings ca. 1880-99, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

(As you can see from the illustrations accompanying this article "short skirts" just skimmed the floor!  They were, however, short compared to the dresses of the 1870s and early 1880s, which trailled on the ground.

Women's stockings were surprisingly colourful and ornamental in the nineteenth century.  Decoration included stripes (very popular) and patterns, open-work, embroidery and lace insertions.  They could cost up to 5 guineas a pair—very much above the price the average reader of Cassell's Family Magazine could afford to pay.   Thrifty women who still wanted to be in fashion would buy stockings that had plain tops and decorated bottoms.  In other words, they would only spend money on decoration where it was likely to be seen!)

"Jerseys have become an institution for winter wear; they have been brought out in a thicker make of material, and there is plenty of variety in the make.  Yokes, belts, piped runnings, Norfolk pleats, revers and military braidings ring many changes, and there is plenty of choice in colours.  A new material—stockingnette and crape lisse combined—makes acceptable jerseys for evening wear. "

(I'm not sure if the writer is referring here to "jerseys" as in the knitted upper garment, or "jerseys" as in a type of finely knitted cloth (usually made of silk or wool in the nineteenth century).  Either way it meant their garments had a certainly amount of "give", while still retaining their shapes.  Since bodices were extremely tight and and molded to the figure throughout the decade this would give women some freedom of movement, while still allowing them to be fashionable.

Incidentally, many fashion historians attribute the introduction of jersey as outerwear to Coco Chanel in the 1920s—clearly not the truth as this article shows!  Perhaps this is a problem with treating fashion history as the story of the Great Designers, without looking at what people actually wore.)

Jersey jacket ca. 1880, V&A

There is a large choice in all these durable sorts of collars and cuffs, and many are made of silk covered with black lace, with a bow in front, in form like a linen collar... At some of the milliners' and drapers' ready-made bows are sold, which almost trim a bonnet or form a head-dress in themselves.

(Cassell's suggested that women who were "clever with the needle" save money by making their own.)

"Our Paris Correspondent" chimes in to tell her readers about the latest trends in France:

....There is no doubt that the one leading idea just now is the Incroyable period in Paris—square double collars, double-breasted gowns cut in one with the skirt, are introduced in the redingote for out-door wear, and on the tea-gowns for in-doors.

(In other words, a nostalgic harking back to the 1790s!  She goes into some detail about the latest styles, no doubt for her readers wishing to reproduce them at home.)

"Quite works of art and very beautiful are the trimmings of the season... Very pretty floral trimmings are to be seen on evening dresses ; the square and V-shaped bodices are outlined with ruches of of rose-leaves, of poppies, or laburnum, a tuft of flowers on the side ; these are continued to the point of the gown in front like a stomacher.

"... A great many women in France would seem to be wearing the coloured and printed percale underclothing, but there is nothing new in the making to chronicle.   A very objectionable folly is gaining ground, viz, the wearing the minimum of clothes in order to reduce the bulk of the figure, with the result of laying the foundations of all sorts of illnesses and weaknesses.

"The petticoats for winter are made in pretty checks of silk or wool, as well as in the old stripes.  The flannel petticoats, too, are of striped soft woolly materials with broad lace flounces."

Wartime Fashion in Australian Home Journal Part III (1942)

1942!  That was the year that the War was really brought home to Australian civilians.  Having attacked Pearl Harbor, the Japanese moved southwards, striking towards Australia.  In May of that year the Japanese even got close enough to Australian waters to launch an attack on Sydney Harbour in midget submarines.   Suddenly the war wasn't "over there" anymore—it was right on Australia's doorstep.

And Australia's housewives started to gear up for another battle on the home front...

January 1942

Mixing and Matching

Hollywood has has become practical.  The once-upon-a-time actress who turned up her expensive nose at an inexpensive frock (and often got herself into a state of penury in consequence) is passe.  A favourite pastime to-day among film actresses is to mix, match and two time in such a charming way that even a best friend doesn't suspect the deception.  Tricks employed suggest much to the girl who is forced to live on a budget.

The lovely wardrobe of Bette Davis always begins with basic black, brown, navy or green.  From here Bette branches out.  A simple black crepe frock takes a pillbox in yellow feathers with matching suede bag, a green crepe turban with black veiling, or a blue and black felt fez.  Not to speak of the presto change qualities to be found in the various fancy jewellery that Bette is so keen about. 

Once again, Hollywood sets an example!  And on a more serious note:

Soldiers' Knitting Book
Get a copy of our "Soldiers' Knitting Book" now.  Owing to paper restrictions the edition is a very limited one.

February 1942

Royalty sets an example!

The Queen's Clothes

The Queen has altered her style to suit the times.  Gone are the days when she wore frilled dresses with bouffant skirts of sequinned net.  Now she wears simple woollen dinner dresses in pastel pinks and blues, but still keeps the Victorian neckline which becomes her so well.  In the daytime she favours straight skirts; short jackets standing away from the skirt, and occasionally, in the coldest weather, a soft fur fox collar and fur-lined boots.  Realising she is small, she wears high heels, and chooses pastel shades, with the express purpose of making it easy for the crowd to see her.

And the (Australian) government exhorts:

No Extremes

The Government departments are urging us to save all we can in dress materials and make what we have do; but just the same there is no necessity to go to extremes and be shabby.

April 1942

British Fashions

England is coming into her own for fashions.  London dress designers are being sent out to North and South America with collections of displays.  These designs are finding much favour with American women, to whom everything British is "the goods."

Everywhere in America the slogan is "Britain and America at war and we support each other all the way."

Khaki yellow is one of the new winter colours.  Others are winter-green, a deep blue green, and yellow and gold.

All overcoats have despatch pockets and a military cut.

July 1942

The Public Can Help

The public can help the war effort very materially by refusing to be stampeded, and only buying in a normal fashion.

The person who buys dress materials far in excess of normal requirement may find herself in an awkward position if inspectors come along and ration some of her panic-bought fabrics. 

Also, the Government welcomes and encourages the frugal habit of “making over” dresses. 

That is, instead of buying new dresses and materials, you help the war effort if you readjust and smarten up an old dress with handy accessories.

July 1942

The Rationing Racket

The Government started out to ration the stock in the stores, and requested the big retailers to reduce their selling of goods by 25 percent.  Unfortunately, the public took alarm and there were unseemly stampedes of shoppers anxious to buy all kinds of goods.  It was an unholy spectacle.  Many people bought far in excess of their normal requirements, and others were disappointed altogether.  The early shopper got the goods, and people living at a distance, or in business, got nothing.  This is to be altered by the issue of coupons which will entitle each holder to a reasonable amount of clothing and shoeware, etc.

Coupon Cure

Coupons are the only fair way of handling the situation.  They have been quite a success in Britain.  Everyone is treated alike, irrespective of their social standing.  Why the Government didn’t copy what has been a success elsewhere is beyond understanding.  However, the awkward position has now been rectified, and providing the public cooperates harmoniously and cheerfully there should be no trouble.  It has been emphasized by manufacturers and those in charge of the big stores and warehouses that there is plenty of food and clothing for everyone in Australia.  No one need go short.  Bearing that in mind, the next item to observe is “don’t panic”.  That’s the very thing the fifth columnists are hoping for.

December 1942

The Needle for War!

The slogan for the Federal Government to the womenfolk is still “save on dresses”.  Mr Curtin, the Prime Minister, has asked all women who can make their own dresses to do so, and so release men and women from the clothing factories, in order that their energies may be employed in the war effort.  This is something the womenfolk of Australia will gladly do.  The needle and thread are still potent items of warfare which women can wage good and strong.

 No Universal Design

No attempt whatever has been made to dictate the design of women’s clothes, so don’t allow yourself to be stampeded by some “know-all” who may tell you different.  In brief, buttons and buttonholes must be for use, not for ornament, no extra pockets and an absence of frills. Thirty-six square inches of all types of embroideries only are allowed on any one frock.  Frocks cannot be made with matching jackets, boleros, scarves or handkerchiefs.

 Clothes Control

To my mind, the chief thing about utility or Styling Commission clothesd is that they are smart, attractive and varied in style—vital points with women.  The second is that they are inexpensive.  You see, all profits are Government controlled throughout from the yarn to the made-up article; from the wholesaler to the retailer, and also to the public.  Which cuts out completely all big “middleman” profits that add up so considerably.

"Newest Beach Outfit" (Australian Home Budget 1929)

 

Beach pyjamas!

Pyjamas first made their way into Western wardrobes as men's sleepwear in the late nineteenth century.  (Before then men as well as women wore nightshirts for sleeping.)  By the 1910s some daring women also adopted them for sleeping, and then as the 1920s progressed, for lounging in.  By 1925 they had been adopted as promenade wear in some of the most fashionable resorts of the French Riviera, but beach pyjamas didn't percolate into the wardrobes of ordinary women until later in the decade.  And that brings us to this magazine in 1929, where a pattern for a set of beach pyjamas is offered to home dressmakers.

This version consists of a loose jacket and slacks, worn over a tank top (or might it be a bathing suit?)   Very often, beach pyjamas were worn without the jacket, allowing for a maximum exposure of tanned skin.  Judging by the amount of times they are mentioned in fashion and women's magazines, beach pyjamas reached their peak in popularity in the early 1930s.

 

And from the same magazine... more fashionable beachwear for 1929.  At the top a reasonable modest bathing suit, at the top right a beach wrap, and down the bottom, three designs for a beach coat.