1930s fashion

    The end of WWII helped spark a creative time in fashion. This time era was when the butterfly and banjo sleeves and shoulder pad trend was created. The world, then, was deep into the grip of the Great Depression. It was a terrible time with a 25 % unemployment rate. People who did work often had their hours and pay reduced. Others worked harder for less pay. Tent cities and shanty towns grew in areas around the country where refugees looked for work. Nearly half the banks in the United States failed, and withdrawals even at safe banks were often restricted due to the fear of bank runs.

    Fashion design moved toward simpler lines to reflect the simpler lives of the public. However, there was a great interest in the glamor of the wealthy as well as in the glamor portrayed by Hollywood. People dreamed of the luxurious past, but lived with a new economic severity.

    Women's fashion design had taken a turn toward cleaner, simpler lines that reflected the new austerity of a bad economy. Notice the limited color featured in the pictures. Magazine ads of the Great Depression showed far less color than they do today as ink was expensive. Most fashion illustrations in magazines showed the clothing in sketch form rather than photographs.

Although the 1930’s was the era of the Great Depression, it was also a fascinating time for women's fashion. Designers made sure to make every small element in their clothing perfect because they knew the smallest aseptic is what makes the clothes.

Here is a look at a number of famous female personalities in the 1930’s and their unique 

wardrobes.  These special portraits and quotes are from the book Fashion in Photographs

Nancy Mitford, author of The Pursuit of Love.

“The main appeal of the dress…lies in the flower-printed silk.  Designs ranged from the essentially English hedgerow or cottage garden to more exotic oriental blooms.  The use of  bright colours with a large amount of white on the popular black or dark ground gave the crispness and clarity which enabled the smart woman to be both feminine and chic.”

Rene Ray (the Countess of Midleton) - British film actress who starred in more than 40 films.

“The early years of the 1930s saw the hems of evening dresses and very smart summer afternoon dresses drop to full length.  After many years of wearing short skirts, the ordinary woman, struggling to keep abreast of new styles, fond that all her existing even dresses suddenly looked dowdy… [but] by the end of the decade such an impractically long garment, already becoming old fashioned and likend to fancy dress, was finally rendered obsolete by the Second World War.”

Madge Titheradge and Edna Best – both actresses.

“In just a few years the fashionable hat had changed radically from the deep-crowned cloche and helmet shape and had become small and shallow, perched on one side and to the front of the head, exposing the hair at the back.”

Gertrude Lawrence, actress, 1932.

“This outfit of long-sleeved dress and jacket worn by Gertrude Lawrence, the celebrated actress who was particularly associated with Noel Coward as his leading lady, is a good example of the extraordinary popularity of narrow stripes in the early to middle years of the decade.”

Ann Todd, actress, and Lady Dick, 1935.

The dresses worn by Anne Todd (actress) and Lady Dick emphasize the top half of the torso, a common feature of dresses throughout the 1930’s.

Up above is a fashion show from the 1930s to get a feel and look of the fashion in the 1930s.