A Decade of Dresses, Part 2 - 1930s

 Here we go again!  The 1930s, a decade that began with a depression, and ended with a war.  On a much lighter note, it was also the Golden Age of Hollywood.   I'm going to be talking a bit more about that below, as film fashions were a major influence on what women wore in the 1930s.

Coming Fashions, April 1930

To start the decade: a dress that is noticeably more feminine and more grown-up than the flapper dresses of the 1920s.  The waist is back in its normal position and the gently flared skirt hangs to well below the knees.  The whole look is very soft and fluid.

Butterick Fashion News, August 1931

These dresses from 1931 look very similar to the dress above.  Though the waist is still in its natural place, the skirt is attached to the bodice by a very low hip yoke—a common device on dresses made in the early 1930s!   I can't be sure, but I think this is a holdover from the very low waists of the 1920s.

Australian Home Journal, November 1932

1932, and what I think we have here is an example of film-influenced fashion.  In 1932 Joan Crawford appeared in a film called "Letty Lynton" in a frothy white gown with frilly puffed sleeves.  The dress was a hit, and manufacturers rushed to produce cheap copies.  Women who didn't want to wear exact copies of the "Letty Lynton" dress incorporated design elements into their own clothes—the most popular, shown here, being puffed sleeves.

Most of these dresses still have dropped hip yokes, and the skirts now fall to the lower calf.

Butterick Fashion News, June 1933

These comparatively simple dresses from 1933 include two of the most popular style trends of the mid-thirties: detailing around the neck (in the form of ruffles and bows) and widening shoulders.

There is some dispute as to who first introduced padded shoulders in the 1930s: Schiaparelli in Paris or Adrian in Hollywood?

Australian Home Journal, October 1934

Wide shoulders are very much in evidence in these dresses from 1934—emphasised with ruffles, collars and bows.  Skirts are still long, and the hip yoke is well and truly gone.

Good Needlework and Knitting Magazine, August 1935

Here are some more examples of the classic 1930s silhouette.  The two dresses on the right seem plain and businesslike compared to my selection for 1934, but make no mistake—there were still plenty of frills for women who wanted to wear them. The next few years see hardly changes to the fashion silhouette.  Shoulders remained broad, hips narrow, waists were worn in their natural position and skirts fell to around the calf.

The slow evolution of mid-1930s fashion must have been a blessing for women trying to look stylish on a small budget.  The women's magazines of the time are full of articles making suggestions for brightening an old outfit up by the use of accessories or changing a detail or two.

McCall Style News, August 1936

Remember how I said that Hollywood was a major influence on 1930s fashion?  Well Hollywood was well aware of the fact—as was the fashion industry and the general public:

When I said that Bernie Newman was allowed 250,000 dollars for dresses for "Roberta", that was no exaggeration.  Of course Roberta was an individual picture, inasmuch as most of its story hinged around beautiful frocks.  But, nevertheless, it's a heck of a lot of money to spend on dresses, the color of which you can't even seen in the finished picture, unless, of course, it's technicolor, which "Roberta" wasn't.  But Bernie is that kind of guy!  He has long suffered with a phobia against impractical ginger-bread picture clothes which are wished on some of our nicest actresses.  He thinks the raiment worn on the screen has such a profound influence on the fashions of the world that it must be practical and in impeccable taste.  "Why steer 'em wrong?" asks Bernie, and why, indeed?  We have never known!

Which reminds me that it's not only Mrs General Public that's swayed by screen fashions.  The big-wigs of that so-called city of feminine clothing cultre, gay Paree also admit that the "alive, alert, romantic, beautifully groomed women of the screen" cannot help but influence them in their creations...  The same thing you feel when you see your favorite movie star and decide to adopt her style is influencing the Parisian dictators of fashion.  So be true to your feminine hunches and "go" Crawford or Rogers, if it suits you.  You won't be out of style!

Australian Women's Weekly, February 22, 1936

You can read the full article here ("There's Gold in Them Thar Frills".) 

Petit Echo de la Mode, May 9, 1937

This May 1937 cover from Le Petit Echo de la Mode shows a group of women (and teenagers?) wearing light summer sheers with puff sleeves—which we first noted in 1932.  The main difference between these dresses and fashion from earlier in the decade is in the details around the neck and shoulder lines.  

McDowells catalogue, Spring-Summer 1938-39

Pleats and gores give these skirts a definite "A Line" shape, while sleeves are gathered in almost leg o' mutton style.  All these dresses are made up in floral prints, a most popular fabric choice in the 1930s.  If you check out all my illustrations for this post, you notice that there is at least one model wearing a floral frock in each one!  Dress 066 is described as a "peasant frock", and is vaguely inspired by folk dress from Central or Eastern Europe.

Australian Home Journal, October 1939

To round off the 1930s a selection of dresses that retain the leg o' mutton sleeves of 1938 and the A-line skirts.  However, as if in anticipation of the war years, skirts now fall only a little below the knee, and the dresses have fewer and less fussy trimmings than were fashionable through most of the decade.

Next: onto the 1940s, rationing and the New Look!