Old page wikitext, before the edit (old_wikitext) | '{{short description|Costume and fashion from the 1930s to the end of World War II}}
[[File:MaryPickfordHoover.gif|right|thumb|250px|Actress [[Mary Pickford]] with President [[Herbert Hoover]], 1931]]
The most characteristic North American '''fashion trend from the 1930s to 1945 ''' was attention at the shoulder, with butterfly sleeves and banjo sleeves, and exaggerated shoulder pads for both men and women by the 1940s. The period also saw the first widespread use of man-made fibers, especially [[rayon]] for dresses and [[viscose]] for [[lining (sewing)|linings]] and [[lingerie]], and synthetic [[nylon]] [[stocking]]s. The [[zipper]] became widely used. These essentially U.S. developments were echoed, in varying degrees, in Britain and Europe.
Suntans (called at the time "sunburns") became fashionable in the early 1930s, along with travel to the resorts along the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], in the [[Bahamas]], and on the east coast of [[Florida]] where one can acquire a tan, leading to new categories of clothes: white dinner jackets for men and beach pajamas, halter tops, and bare midriffs for women.<ref name="Mode" /><ref name="ModeW">Wilcox, R. Turner: ''The Mode in Fashion'', 1942; rev. 1958, pp. 379–84</ref>
Fashion trendsetters in the period included [[Edward VIII]] and his companion [[Wallis Simpson]], socialites like [[Nicolas de Gunzburg]], [[Daisy Fellowes]] and [[Mona von Bismarck]] and such [[Classical Hollywood cinema|Hollywood]] [[movie star]]s as [[Fred Astaire]], [[Carole Lombard]] and [[Joan Crawford]].
== Womenswear ==
===1930s ===
[[File:Dorothygish.jpg|thumb|left|Width at the shoulders was achieved by many means. In [[Dorothy Gish]]'s outfit of 1932, the width is in the sleeve cap, which is pleated into the [[armscye]].]]
[[File:Portrait, Budapest, City Park Fortepan 7735.jpg|thumb|right|Classic fashion in the Thirties in Europe (Hungary 1939).]]
[[File:Elizabeth Arden NYWTS.jpg|thumb|right|[[Elizabeth Arden]]'s coat features broad, rounded shoulders cut in one piece with the yoke, 1939.]]
[[File:Sweden Vaxholm 1938.jpg|thumb|right|Fashion in Sweden, 1938.]]
==== Overview ====
The lighthearted, forward-looking attitude
and fashions of the [[1920s in fashion|late 1920s]] lingered through most of 1930,<ref>[http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/07/28/wore-skirts-can-dance-charleston-sophisticated-glam-flapper-dress/ Flapper dresses]</ref> but by the end of that year the effects of the Great Depression began to affect the public, and a more conservative approach to fashion displaced that of the 1920s. For women, skirts became longer and the waist-line was returned up to its normal position. Other aspects of fashion from the 1920s took longer to phase out. [[Cloche hat]]s remained popular until about 1933 while short hair remained popular for many women until late in the 1930s and even in the early 1940s. The Great Depression took its toll on the 1930s womenswear due to World War II which dates from 1939-1945. This greatly affected the fashion of how women dressed during the 1940s era. According to Shrimpton "Committed to ensuring the fair distribution of scarce but essential resources, namely food, clothing, and furniture, the government introduced a comprehensive rationing scheme based on allocation of coupons - a system deriving, ironically, from the German rationing plan devised in November 1930."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fashion in the 1940s|last=Shrimpton|first=J|publisher=Shire Publications|year=2014|location=Oxford|pages=19}}</ref>
Because of the economic crash, designers were forced to slash prices for clothing in order to keep their business afloat, especially those working in couture houses. Designers were also forced to use cheaper fabric and materials, and dress patterns also grew in popularity as many women knew how to sew. Hence, clothing was made more accessible, and there was also a continuation of mass production, which was rising in popularity since the 1920s. The 1930s allowed women from all classes and socio backgrounds to be fashionable, regardless of wealth. With prices slashes on types of fabrics utilized for designing, new inventions such as the zip made garments quicker and cheaper to make. This was also influenced by the rise in women entering the workforce alongside the rise of the business girl, as they still were able to afford to dress well and stay in style. Daywear also had to be functional, but it never lost its touch of elegance or femininity, as the dresses would still naturally highlight the female or womanly shape with cinched waistlines, skirts fitted to the hip and fullness added to the hem with flared gores or pleats. Frilled rayon blouses also went with the cinched waist.<ref name="Twentieth-Century American Fashion">{{Cite book|title=Twentieth-Century American Fashion|date=2005-03-01|publisher=Berg Publishers|isbn=9781847882837|editor-last=Welters|editor-first=Linda|series=Dress, Body, Culture|editor-last2=Cunningham|editor-first2=Patricia|doi = 10.2752/9781847882837}}</ref>
Because clothes were rationed and fabric was scarcer, the hem lines of dresses rose to knee length. The main sort of dress in the 1940s included features such as an hour glass shape figure, broad shoulders, nipped in high waist tops and A line skirts that came down to just at the knee. Many different celebrities who embraced this type of style such as [[Joan Crawford]], [[Ginger Rogers]], [[Barbara Stanwyck]], and [[Ava Gardner]]. Even though daywear dresses were influenced by the war, evening dresses remained glamorous. Women's undergarments became the soul of fashion in the 1940s<ref name="What Did Women Wear in the 1940s">{{Cite web|url=http://vintagedancer.com/1940s/what-did-women-wear-in-the-1940s/|title=What Did Women Wear in the 1940s?|access-date=September 21, 2016}}</ref> because it maintained the critical hourglass shape with smooth lines. Clothes became utilitarian. Pants or trousers were considered a menswear item only until the 1940s.<ref name="What Did Women Wear in the 1940s" /> Women working in factories first wore men's pants but over time, factories began to make pants for women out of fabric such as cotton, [[denim]], or wool. Coats were long and down to the knee for warmth.
Major fashion magazines at the time including Vogue continued to cater to the fashionable and wealthy women of the 1930s to continue reporting and reflecting the most popular trends in that time period, despite the impact the economic crash had on them. The wealthiest still managed to afford and keep up with the most high-end or the most coveted designs and maintain their lifestyle.
==== Fashion and the movies ====
[[File:Maharani Ourmilla Of Jubbal.jpg|thumb|right|Indian [[saree]] made from [[chiffon (fabric)|chiffon]] fabric, inspired by the evening dresses of Hollywood starlets.]]
Throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, a second influence vied with Paris [[haute couture|couturiers]] as a wellspring for ideas: the [[Cinema of the United States|American cinema]].<ref>Ewing, Elizabeth: ''History of 20th Century Fashion'', London, 1974, p. 97, 1997 revised edition, {{ISBN|0-89676-219-X}}</ref> As Hollywood movies gained their popularities, general public idolized movie stars as their role models. Paris-based fashion houses were losing their power and influences in most major fashion trends during these years. Many American and European moviegoers were fascinated by and got interested in overall fashion including clothes and hairstyles of movie stars which led to various fashion trends.<ref name="www.fashionencyclopedia.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/fashion_costume_culture/Modern-World-1930-1945/Hollywood-Influences-Fashion.html|title=Hollywood Influences Fashion - Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages|website=www.fashionencyclopedia.com|access-date=2018-04-21}}</ref> After the movie ''Tarzan,'' animal prints became popular. On the other hand, different styles such as bias-cut, satin, Jean Harlow-style evening dresses and the casual look of Katharine Hepburn also became famous.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fashion : the definitive history of costume and style|date=2012|publisher=DK Publishing|others=Brown, Susan, 1965-, DK Publishing, Inc., Smithsonian Institution.|isbn=9780756698355|edition=1st American|location=New York, N.Y.|oclc=777654556}}</ref> Paris designers such as [[Elsa Schiaparelli]] and [[Lucien Lelong]] acknowledged the impact of film costumes on their work. LeLong said "We, the couturiers, can no longer live without the cinema any more than the cinema can live without us. We corroborate each others' instinct.<ref>Quoted in LaValley, "Hollywood and Seventh Avenue"</ref>
The [[1890s in fashion|1890s leg-o-mutton sleeves]] designed by [[Walter Plunkett]] for [[Irene Dunne]] in 1931's ''[[Cimarron (1931 film)|Cimarron]]'' helped to launch the broad-shouldered look,<ref name="Hwd">LaValley, "Hollywood and Seventh Avenue", in ''Hollywood and History: Costume Design in Film''</ref> and [[Adrian (costume designer)|Adrian]]'s little velvet hat worn tipped over one eye by [[Greta Garbo]] in ''[[Romance (1930 film)|Romance]]'' (1930) became the "Empress [[Eugénie hat]] ... Universally copied in a wide price range, it influenced how women wore their hats for the rest of the decade."<ref name="Hwd" /> During late 1920s to early 1940s, Gilbert Adrian was the head of the costume department at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the most prestigious and famous Hollywood movie studio. He produced numerous signature styles for the top actresses of the period, as well as countless fashion fads during those times. One of his popular dresses was gingham dress, a cotton dress with a checked or striped pattern, that he made for Judy Garland for the movie ''The Wizard of Oz'' in 1939, and for Katharine Hepburn for the movie ''The Philadelphia Story'' in 1940.<ref name="www.fashionencyclopedia.com" /> Movie costumes were covered not only in film [[fan magazine]]s, but in influential fashion magazines such as ''[[Women's Wear Daily]]'', ''[[Harper's Bazaar]]'', and ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]''.
Adrian's puff-sleeved gown for Joan Crawford ''[[Letty Lynton]]'' was copied by [[Macy's]] in 1932 and sold over 500,000 copies nationwide.<ref>Leese, Elizabeth: ''Costume Design in the Movies'', Dover Books, 1991, {{ISBN|0-486-26548-X}}, p. 18</ref> The dress was appraised as one of the most influential pieces in the era’s fashion, inspiring numerous designers to showcase similar styles in their own work.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Chung|first=So-Young|last2=Cho|first2=Kyu-Hwa|date=2006|title=A Study on the Fashion Style of Hollywood Star Marlene Dietrich in 1930s|url=https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART001036596|journal=Journal of Fashion Business|volume=10|pages=1–14}}</ref> One of Crawford’s widely influential pieces was a white organdy dress with ruffle adornments. With the use of shoulder pads, the dress made the movement freer, emphasizing the back by removing adornments previously popularized in the 1920s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Song|first=Young-Kyoung|last2=Lim|first2=Young-Ja|date=November 2007|title=The Study on the Hollywood Film Costume of Fashion image in 1930s|journal=Journal of the Korean Society of Costume|volume=57|pages=110–123}}</ref>
One of the most stylistically influential films of the 1930s was 1939's ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]''. The dresses in the movie were designed with simplified adornments and a mixture of different monotone hues as opposed to using a varied color palette. This was considered to be Plunkett's intentional design to utilize modernism, the emerging aesthetic of the 1930s. Plunkett received praise for producing costumes that adequately harmonized the era of the movie with the aesthetic sense of the late 1930s. The costumes brought back the Neo-Victorian style, as well as strong use of symbolic color.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kim|first=Hyun-Jung|last2=Cho|first2=Kyu-Hwa|date=2003|title=A Study o Costume and Color Symbolism of Gone with the Wind|journal=Journal of Fashion Business|volume=7|pages=1–12}}</ref> It inspired the Princess Ballgown, a Victorian style dress reduced to full A line skirts with petticoats underneath for fullness.<ref name="What Did Women Wear in the 1940s" /> It was the most popular style for teens going to prom.<ref name="What Did Women Wear in the 1940s" /> Plunkett's "barbecue dress" for [[Vivien Leigh]] as Scarlett O'Hara was the most widely copied dress after the Duchess of Windsor's wedding costume, and Vogue credited the "Scarlett O'Hara" look with bringing full skirts worn over [[crinoline]]s back into wedding fashion after a decade of sleek, figure-hugging styles.<ref name="Hwd" />
[[Lana Turner]]'s [[1937 in film|1937]] film ''[[They Won't Forget]]'' made her the first [[Sweater girl]], an informal look for young women relying on large breasts pushed up and out by [[bra]]s, which continued to be influential into the 1950s, and was arguably the first major style of youth fashion.
Travis Banton gained his fame by, after working at a couture house in New York, designing costumes for Marlene Dietrich as a head designer of Paramount. His style was softer and more alluring than Adrian's, embodying femininity by his sense of balance with the use of Vionnet's bias-cut, and was known for refined concepts of simple lines and classic styles. Many famous movie stars during the 1930s such as Magdalene Dietrich and Mae West at Paramount became the models of wit, intellect and beauty through Banton's elegant costumes. The costumes he made for Dietrich for various movies such as ''Shanghai Express'' 1932, and ''The Scarlet Empress'' 1934 portray her sharp regality.<ref name=":0" />
Retail clothing and accessories inspired by the period costumes of Adrian, Plunkett, [[Travis Banton]], [[Howard Greer]], and others influenced what women wore until war-time restrictions on fabric stopped the flow of lavish costumes from Hollywood.<ref name="Hwd" />
==== Hard chic and feminine flutters ====
[[File:ElizabethBowes-Lyon.jpg|right|thumb|175px|[[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]] wears [[long gloves]] with a short-sleeved dress and dramatic hat to visit the [[1939 New York World's Fair]].]]
[[Jean Patou]], who had first raised hemlines to 18" off the floor with his "flapper" dresses of 1924, had begun lowering them again in 1927, using [[Madeleine Vionnet|Vionnet's]] [[Handkerchief skirt|handkerchief hemline]] to disguise the change. By 1930, longer skirts and natural waists were shown everywhere.<ref name="Theory">Brockman, ''Theory of Fashion Design'', pp. 40–52</ref>
But it is [[Elsa Schiaparelli|Schiaparelli]] who is credited with "changing the outline of fashion from soft to hard, from vague to definite."<ref name="Theory" /> She introduced the [[zipper]], synthetic fabrics, simple suits with bold color accents, tailored evening gowns with matching jackets, wide shoulders, and the color [[Pink#Shocking pink|shocking pink]] to the fashion world. By 1933, the trend toward wide shoulders and narrow waists had eclipsed the emphasis on the hips of the later 1920s.<ref name="Theory" /> Wide shoulders would remain a staple of fashion until after World War II.
In contrast with the hard chic worn by the "international set".<ref name="Theory" /> designers such as Britain's [[Norman Hartnell]] made soft, pretty dresses with fluttering or puffed sleeves and loose calf-length skirts suited to a feminine figure. His "[[mourning#White mourning|white mourning]]"<ref>The Queen's [[Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne|mother]] had died in June 1938.</ref> wardrobe for the new [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]]'s 1938 state visit to Paris started a brief rage for all-white clothing.<ref name="Garland">Garland, Madge, in J. Anderson Black and Madge Garland, ''A History of Fashion'', pp. 324–239</ref>
Feminine curves were highlighted in the 1930s through the use of the bias-cut. [[Madeleine Vionnet]] was an early innovator of the bias-cut, using it to create clinging dresses that draped over the body's contours.<ref name="Bryant">Bryant, Nancy O. "The interrelationship between decorative and structural design in Madeleine Vionnet's Work", Costume 1991, V 25, pp. 73–88</ref>
[[File:Women's fashion at mcwhirters 1941.jpg|thumb|left|190px|Advertisement for women's fashion at McWhirters department store, Brisbane, Australia, 1941]]
Through the mid-1930s, the natural waistline was often accompanied by emphasis on an [[Empire waist|empire]] line. Short [[bolero jacket]]s, capelets, and dresses cut with fitted midriffs or seams below the bust increased the focus on breadth at the shoulder. By the late 1930s, emphasis was moving to the back, with [[halter neckline]]s and high-necked but backless evening gowns with sleeves.<ref name="ModeW" /><ref name="Theory" /> Evening gowns with matching jackets were worn to the theatre, nightclubs, and elegant restaurants.
Skirts remained at mid-calf length for day, but the end of the 1930s Paris designers were showing fuller skirts reaching just below the knee;<ref>{{cite news|last=United Press|title=Hemline Changes Mild Now|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19540401&id=ey0eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=N5gEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4871,3624456|access-date=1 March 2014|newspaper=Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News|date=1 April 1954}}</ref> this practical length (without the wasteful fullness) would remain in style for day dresses through the war years.
Other notable fashion trends in this period include the introduction of the ensemble (matching dresses or skirts and coats) and the handkerchief skirt, which had many panels, insets, pleats or gathers. The [[clutch coat]] was fashionable in this period as well; it had to be held shut as there was no fastening. By 1945, adolescents began wearing loose, poncho-like sweaters called sloppy joes. Full, gathered skirts, known as the [[dirndl]] skirt, became popular around 1945.<ref name="Tortora, P. 2005 pp 400-450">Tortora, P., & Eubank, K. (2005). A survey of historic costume. pp 400–450. New York: Fairchild</ref>
[[File:Flickr - The Library of Congress - Woman putting on her lipstick in a park with Union Station behind her, Washington, D.C. (LOC) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Accessories were vital components of an outfit, this 1943 black business suit was accessorized with a [[halo hat]], black gloves and pink [[Handbag|clutch bag]]]]
==== Accessories ====
Gloves were "enormously important" in this period.<ref name="Garland" /> They were a type of accessory that came to be seen as more of a comfort rather than for style. The elaborate trim was removed and was replaced by plain gloves. Evening gowns were accompanied by elbow length gloves, and day costumes were worn with short or [[opera gloves|opera-length gloves]] of fabric or leather.
Manufacturers and retailers introduced coordinating ensembles of hat, gloves and shoes, or gloves and scarf, or hat and bag, often in striking colours.<ref name="Garland" /> For spring 1936, [[Chicago]]'s [[Marshall Field]]'s department store offered a black hat by [[Lilly Daché]] trimmed with an antelope leather bow in "Pernod green, apple blossom pink, mimosa yellow or carnation blush" and suggested a handbag to match the bow.<ref>Marshall Field & Company, ''Fashions of the Hour'', Spring 1936, p. 2</ref>
When war broke out in 1939, many women purchased handbags with a [[respirator]] pouch due to fear of [[poison gas]] attacks.<ref>[http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/07/13/fashion-ration-2-2/ Rationed fashion]</ref>
==== Sportswear ====
During the mid to late 1930s, swimsuits became more revealing than those of the 1920s, and often featured lower necklines and no sleeves. These were made from [[nylon]] and [[rayon]] instead of the traditional wool, and no longer included a short modesty skirt.<ref>[http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/07/01/what-they-wore-on-the-beach-back-in-the-30s/ 1930s beachwear]</ref> Experimental swimsuits made from [[spruce]] [[wood veneer]] were a fad in the early 1930s, but did not catch on among the mainstream.<ref>[http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/09/09/priority-spruce-girls-ladies-wearing-spruce-veneer-bathing-suits-1929/ Spruce bathing suit]</ref>
==== Marriage of Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII (from January 1936 until his [[Edward VIII abdication crisis|abdication]]) ====
Notable American socialite was Wallis Simpson and her marriage to Prince Edward was also seen as influential trendsetters during the 1930s period of fashion. Their marriage was historical, been called “The Greatest Love Story of the 20th Century” by some, due to the fact that Prince Edward was royalty and in line for the throne. However, his love affair with Wallis Simpson is what attracted attention and made headlines.
Simpson was not only a socialite, but she was American and a divorcee, both of which were deal breakers for the royal family at the time. As Prince Edward found he could not marry Simpson on these circumstances, he did the unthinkable by giving up the throne to marry her. As the two wed in 1937, their marriage marked a more progressive mindset that people slowly began to adopt, as people already wanted to ditch old traditions and trade it for new ones, especially for those in the royal family.
Their wedding and marriage was well chronicled by ''Vogue'', including a spread of Wallis Simpson before her wedding day, captured by iconic fashion photographer, [[Cecil Beaton]], which included the iconic [[Lobster dress]] by [[Elsa Schiaparelli]], which included a hand-painted lobster by [[Salvador Dalí]], a significant surrealist artist and painter in the 1930s.<ref name="Twentieth-Century American Fashion"/>
=== War years ===
Wartime austerity led to restrictions on the number of new clothes that people bought and the amount of fabric that clothing manufacturers could use. Women working on war service adopted trousers as a practical necessity. The United States government requisitioned all silk supplies, forcing the hosiery industry to completely switch to [[nylon]]. In March 1942 the government then requisitioned all nylon for parachutes and other war uses, leaving only the unpopular cotton and rayon stockings. The industry feared that not wearing stockings would become a fad, and advised stores to increase hosiery advertising.{{r|kennett1985}} When nylon stockings reappeared in the shops there were "[[nylon riots]]" as customers fought over the first deliveries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orgsites.com/oh/nylon-stocking-society/ |title=Nylon Stocking society |publisher=Orgsites.com |date=1940-05-15 |access-date=2012-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816005951/http://www.orgsites.com/oh/nylon-stocking-society/ |archive-date=2012-08-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In Britain, clothing was strictly [[Rationing in the United Kingdom during and after World War II#Non-food rations|rationed]], with a system of "points", and the [[Board of Trade]] issued regulations for "Utility Clothes" in 1941.<ref name="Garland" /> In America the [[War Production Board]] issued its Regulation L85 on March 8, 1942, specifying restrictions for every item of women's clothing.<ref>[http://www.costumes.org/history/20thcent/1940s/sews4victory/WPByardstick.JPG WPB "Yardstick"] {{Webarchive|url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091226113416/http://www.costumes.org/history/20thcent/1940s/sews4victory/WPByardstick.JPG |date=2009-12-26 }} and discussion of L85 regulations at [http://www.costumes.org/classes/fashiondress/WW1toWW2.htm Costumes.org] {{Webarchive|url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090716062714/http://www.costumes.org/classes/fashiondress/WW1toWW2.htm |date=2009-07-16 }}, retrieved 21 October 2007</ref> Because the military used so much green and brown dye, manufacturers used more red dye in clothing.<ref name="kennett1985">{{cite book | title=For the duration... : the United States goes to war, Pearl Harbor-1942 | publisher=Scribner | author=Kennett, Lee | year=1985 | location=New York | pages=[https://archive.org/details/fordurationunite00kenn/page/127 127–129] | isbn=978-0-684-18239-1 | url=https://archive.org/details/fordurationunite00kenn/page/127 }}</ref> Easily laddered stockings were a particular concern in Britain; women were forced to either paint them on (including the back seam) or to join the [[Women's Royal Naval Service|WRNS]], who continued to issue them, in a cunning aid to recruitment. Later in the war, American soldiers became a source of the new [[nylon]] stockings.
Most women wore skirts at or near knee-length, with simply-cut blouses or shirts and square-shouldered jackets. Popular magazines and pattern companies advised women on how to remake men's suits into smart outfits, since the men were in uniform and the cloth would otherwise sit unused. Eisenhower jackets became popular in this period. Influenced by the military, these jackets were bloused at the chest and fitted at the waist with a belt.<ref name="Tortora, P. 2005 pp 400-450" /> The combination of neat blouses and sensibly tailored suits became the distinctive attire of the working woman, college girl, and young society matron.<ref name="Kemper, Rachel H 1992 pg. 144">Kemper, Rachel H: "Costume" (1992) pg. 144</ref>
The [[shirtdress|shirtwaist dress]], an all-purpose garment, also emerged during the 1930s. The shirtwaist dress was worn for all occasions, besides those that were extremely formal, and were modest in design. The dress could either have long or short sleeves, a modest neckline and skirt that fell below the knee. The bust was rounded but not particularly emphasized and the waistline was often belted in its normal position. Pockets were both functional and used for decoration and were accompanied by buttons down the front, around the sides or up the back of the dress. These dresses often were accompanied by coordination coats, which were made out of contrasting fabric but lined with the dress fabric. The jacket was often constructed in a boxy fashion and had wide lapels, wide shoulders and numerous pockets. The dress and coat combination created an overall effect of sensibility, modesty and girl next door lifestyle that contrasted the very popular, second-skin like style of the bias-cut evening gown.<ref name="Kemper, Rachel H 1992 pg. 144"/>
[[File:Women workers in snoods 1942.gif|left|thumb|Women wearing snoods in a factory]]
[[File:Colorful, portrait, woman Fortepan 26076.jpg|left|thumb|Women's fashion in vacation in [[Lake Balaton]] in Hungary (1939).]]
==== Headwear ====
[[File:How a British Woman Dresses in Wartime- Utility Clothing in Britain, 1943 D14784.jpg|thumb|Woman wearing a turban during wartime with all the fashionable accessories.]]
The 1940s was a period marked by iconic headwear. Because of the war, current European fashion was no longer available to women in the United States. In 1941, hatmakers failed to popularize Chinese and American Indian-based designs, causing one [[milliner]] to lament "How different when Paris was the fountainhead of style". As with hosiery hatmakers feared that bareheadness would become popular, and introduced new designs such as "Winged Victory Turbans" and "Commando Caps" in "Victory Gold".{{r|kennett1985}} American designers, who were often overlooked, became more popular as American women began to wear their designs. American designers of ready-to-wear contributed in other ways too. They made improvements to sizing standards and began to use fiber content and care labels in clothing.<ref>Harris, Kristina, Vintage Fashions for Women, 1920s-1940s, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1996, p. 137.</ref> Hats were one of the few pieces of clothing that was not rationed during WWII, therefore there was a lot of attention paid to these headpieces. Styles ranged from turbans to [[straw hat]]s.<ref>{{cite book|title=Fashion Accessories Since 1500|url=https://archive.org/details/fashionaccessori00warr|url-access=registration|last=Warren|first=Geoffrey|publisher=Drama Book Publishers|year=1987|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fashionaccessori00warr/page/146 146–147]}}</ref> The [[Snood (headgear)|snood]] was an important accessory to a woman working in the factory. Snoods were fashionable and functional at the same time, they enabled factory women who were wearing pants and [[jumpsuit]]s to still look feminine. Snoods pulled hair out of the face by containing it all at the back of the head in a hanging net. With all the long hair hanging in the net, the front of the hair was left out and could be curled and styled to glamourize the factory uniforms. Other popular headpieces were variations of [[Headscarf|headscarves]], such as the [[Kerchief|bandana]] [[Rosie the Riveter]] is pictured wearing in the recruitment posters. Another variation of the headscarf was simply tying a square scarf folded in half under the chin. Later in the 1950s and 60s these headscarves became highly glamorized by celebrities like [[Audrey Hepburn]], [[Brigitte Bardot]], and [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis|Jacqueline Kennedy]]. This glamorized look came from women in the 1940s who wore headscarves over their [[victory rolls]] in order to make their simple clothes look dressed up. [[Draped turban]]s – sometimes fashioned from headscarves – also made an appearance in fashion, representing the working woman of the period. These were worn by women of all classes.This type of headwear could be glamorous or practical. Turbans were the most functional for the working woman because she was able to have all her hair out of her face and skip washing her hair by covering it with the turban. Both turbans and headscarves were useful for hiding curlers so when a woman got off work all she had to do was take out her curlers and her hair would be set for a night out.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fashion in the 1940s|last=Shrimpton|first=Jayne|publisher=Shire Publications|year=2014|location=Great Britain|pages=42–49}}</ref> All these alternative options to hats were popular, not only for function and glamour, but also because the look could be achieved quite inexpensively.
==== Swimwear ====
[[File:Olvasó nő. Fortepan 714.jpg|left|thumb|Woman wearing a swimsuit in swimming pool in Hungary in 1938.]]
[[File:Gene Tierney - AAFPOABrief.jpg|left|thumb|Typical 1945 two-piece swimsuit worn by Gene Tierney]]
An important style that became popular due to the war was the two-piece swimsuit which later led to the [[Bikini]]. In 1942, the [[War Production Board]] passed a law called the L-85 which put restrictions on clothing production.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://amhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/printable/section.asp?id=9&sub=3|title=Price of Freedom: Dressing for War|website=The Price of Freedom: World War II|publisher=National Museum of American History, Behring Center|access-date=April 4, 2016}}</ref> For swimwear companies the L-85 meant they had to use 10 percent less fabric in all their designs, as a result swimsuits became smaller. Swimsuits had been becoming more minimal for a while but in 1944 [[Tina Leser]] debuted one of the first two-piece swimsuits. Even though the bottoms were high waisted, cut low on the legs, and paired with a modest [[bandeau]], Lesers’ two piece was still considered a daring style for the era. According to Sarah Kennedy, author of ''The Swimsuit: A History of Twentieth-Century Fashion'', unlike the bikini the two-piece was created out of necessity and was not meant to be shocking. Apparently there was an unspoken rule that [[Midriff|bellybuttons must never show]] which accounts for the high waisted bottoms.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Swimsuit: A History of Twentieth-Century Fashions|url=https://archive.org/details/swimsuithistoryo0000kenn|url-access=registration|last=Kennedy|first=Sarah|publisher=Carlton Books Limited|year=2010|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/swimsuithistoryo0000kenn/page/114 114]}}</ref> Despite it being scandalous to some, the two-piece was eventually accepted because there really wasn't another option. The L-85 did not only make swimsuits smaller, but it also pushed designers to become more creative with their designs, this led to suits that accentuated and drew attention to women's bodies. This was done by putting boning in the swimwear. Two years after Leser debuted one of the first two-pieces, the bikini was invented in 1946 by a French engineer named [[Louis Réard]]. It was apparently named after the [[Bikini Atoll]], which was the site of a nuclear bomb test in 1946, because Réard hoped its impact would be explosive in the fashion world.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fifty Fashion Looks That Changed The 1950s|last=Reed|first=Paula|publisher=Conran Octopus|year=2012|location=London|pages=34}}</ref> The bikini was even more daring than the two-piece, thus it did not become popular until 1953 when [[Brigitte Bardot]] was photographed in one at the [[Cannes Film Festival]]. Although the bikini did become popular in Europe in 1953 it did not become popular in the United States until the 1960s.
;
=== Style gallery ===
==== 1930–1935 ====
<gallery>
File:1930 - Paris Dress Shoppe - 27 Jun MC - Allentown PA.jpg|1 - 1930
File:LADIES HOME JOURNAL, SWIMSUIT LAYOUT.jpg|2 - 1932
File:Cissy van Bennekom en Eva Waldschmidt (1932).jpg|3 - 1932
File:"Phèdre" MET 84.30 view1 bw.jpeg|4 - 1933
File:Mae West NYWTS detail.jpg|5 – 1933
File:Portrait_of_Nan,_by_Grant_WoodFXD.jpg|6 – 1933
File:Bonnie Parker BC10.jpg|7 – 1934
File:Girl in Dallas 1934.jpg|8 – 1934
File:Annette Hanshaw modelling 04.jpg|9 - 1934
File:Girl in Dallas 1930s.jpg|10 – 1935
File:Elisabeth Bergner cropped.jpg|11 – 1935
</gallery>
#Newspaper advertisement for women's dresses, Paris Dress Shoppe, Allentown PA, 1930.
#A collection of swimwear, [[Ladies' Home Journal|Ladies Home Journal]], 1932.
#Dutch actress [[Cissy van Bennekom]] and model Eva Waldschmidt, 1932.
#[[:File:"Phèdre" MET 84.30 view1 bw.jpeg|Models wearing evening dresses]] by [[Jeanne Lanvin]], 1933.
#[[:Image:Mae West NYWTS detail.jpg|Actress]] [[Mae West]] wears a fur coat and a small asymmetric hat, 1933.
#[[:File:Portrait_of_Nan,_by_Grant_WoodFXD.jpg|Portrait of]] [[Nan Wood Graham]] by [[Grant Wood]], wearing a polka dot blouse and Marcel wave hair, 1933
#Outlaw [[Bonnie and Clyde|Bonnie Parker]] standing in front of a [[1932 Ford|Ford Model 18]], 1934.
#Girl in [[Dallas]], Texas wears a sweater and mid-calf length skirt with [[pleats]], 1934.
#Singer [[Annette Hanshaw]] models an evening dress designed by [[Gladys Parker]], 1934
#Young woman wearing a long, form-fitting dress with puffed [[sleeves]], 1935.
#[[:Image:Elisabeth Bergner cropped.jpg|Actress]] [[Elisabeth Bergner]] wears a fashionably tilted hat and a leopard fur coat, 1935.
==== 1936–1939 ====
<gallery>
File:Young woman in 1936.jpg|1 – 1936
File:Young Woman Learning to Sew 1936.gif|2 – 1936
File:Carole Lombard in a gown Travis Banton designed for her personal wardrobe, 1936.jpg|3 - 1936
File:Alfonsina Storni Mar del Plata.jpg|4 – 1936
File:StateLibQld 1 121004 Roy Parkinson and his pupils at the Gainsborough Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland, 1937.jpg|5 - 1937
File:Window shopping at Simpsons 2.jpg|6-1937
File:Zora Neale Hurston (1938).jpg|7- 1938
File:HarryAnaJuly1938B.jpg|8-1938
File:Face protection from snowstorms.jpg|9-1939
File:Cyclone - Lanvin.jpg|10-1939
</gallery>
# Young woman wears her hair in short, hard curls framing her face, but smooth at the crown to accommodate her small hat, 1936.
#[[:Image:Young Woman Learning to Sew 1936.gif|Young woman]] wears a printed dress fitted through the midriff with short puffed sleeves, Minnesota, 1936.
#[[Carole Lombard]] in a gown [[Travis Banton]] designed for her personal wardrobe, 1936
# Writer [[Alfonsina Storni]] at the [[Balneario|beach resort]] city of [[Mar del Plata]], 1936.
#[[:File:StateLibQld 1 121004 Roy Parkinson and his pupils at the Gainsborough Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland, 1937.jpg|Art exhibit]] of artist [[Roy Parkinson]] and his pupils, [[Brisbane]], Queensland, Australia, 1937.
#[[Window shopping|Window shoppers]] outside [[Simpsons (department store)|Simpsons]] department store in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]], 1937.
#Portrait of writer [[Zora Neale Hurston]], 1938
#[[:File:HarryAnaJuly1938B.jpg|Middle aged couple, USA, July, 1938]]
#[[:File:Face protection from snowstorms.jpg|Plastic face protection from snowstorms. Canada, Montreal, 1939]]
#"Cyclone" evening dress by [[Jeanne Lanvin]], 1939.
==== 1940–1945 ====
<gallery>
Image:Ilona Massey fsa 8b01038.jpg|1 – 1941
Image:Lana Turner fsa 8b01037.jpg|2 – 1941
Image:Rita Hayworth fsa 8b01035.jpg|3 – 1941
Image:Clerk_1942_detail_hairstyle.png|4 – 1942
Image:Bathing suit, women, tableau, paddle, boat, colorful Fortepan 61665.jpg|5 – 1942
Image:George Beurling signing autograph 1943.jpg|6 – 1943
Image:Colorful, portrait, woman, glasses, shades, sunbathe Fortepan 4123.jpg|7 – 1943
Image:PeggyLeeStageDoorCanteen.jpg|8 – 1943
Image:Nő és gyerek, 1943 Budapest. Fortepan 25806.jpg|9 – 1943
Image:Lillian Eugenia Smith NYWTS.jpg|10 – 1944
Image:Women in Bathing Suits North Africa 1944.gif|11 – 1944
Image:Luis Saslavsky y Mirtha Legrand.jpg|12 – 1945
</gallery>
#[[:Image:Ilona Massey fsa 8b01038.jpg|Sportswear]] of 1941 featured square shoulders and flared shorts.
#[[:Image:Lana Turner fsa 8b01037.jpg|Actress]] [[Lana Turner]] examines cotton stockings, wearing a smart knee-length suit with square shoulders, in this [[Farm Security Administration]] photo of 1941
#[[:Image:Rita Hayworth fsa 8b01035.jpg|Actress]] [[Rita Hayworth]] in a pink and silver [[lamé (fabric)|lamé]] evening gown by Howard Greer, 1941.
#[[:Image:Clerk 1942 detail hairstyle.gif|Clerk]] at [[North American Aviation]] in California wears a [[pompadour (hairstyle)|pompadour]] hairstyle with back hair confined in a floral snood tied with a bow, 1942.
#Girls wearing swimsuits in Hungary, 1942.
#[[:Image:George Beurling signing autograph 1943.jpg|Women employees]] of the Aluminum Co. of [[Kingston, Ontario]] wear knee-length skirts with blouses or sweaters (often with a string of graduated [[pearl]]s), 1943.
#Women's fashion in Europe (Hungary, 1943).
#[[:Image:PeggyLeeStageDoorCanteen.jpg|Singer]] [[Peggy Lee]] wears a pompadour hairstyle and an evening gown with a "sweetheart" neckline in the film ''[[Stage Door Canteen (film)|Stage Door Canteen]]'', 1943.
#Typical women's and kids' fashion in Europe during the Forties, Hungary in 1943, during the [[Second World War]].
#[[:Image:Lillian Eugenia Smith NYWTS.jpg|Writer]] [[Lillian Smith (author)|Lillian Smith]] wears a dark suit with an open-collared blouse, 1944.
#[[:Image:Women in Bathing Suits North Africa 1944.gif|Bathing suits]] worn by members of the [[Women's Army Corps|WACs]] in North Africa, 1944.
#Argentine actress [[Mirtha Legrand]] with director [[Luis Saslavsky]], 1945.
==Menswear==
[[File:Leonard Bernstein NYWTS 1945.jpg|right|thumb|Conductor [[Leonard Bernstein]] in sportswear of 1945: open-collared shirt, striped blazer, and wide-legged pleated slacks]]
[[File:Man in 1944.jpg|thumb|right|Men's [[necktie]]s often had bold, geometric patterns as can be seen in this photograph taken in 1944]]
=== Overview ===
For men, the most noticeable effect of the general sobering associated with the Great Depression was that the range of colors became more subdued. The bright colors popular in the 1920s fell out of fashion.
=== Suits ===
By the early 1930s, the "[[drape suit|drape cut]]" or "London Drape" suit championed by [[Frederick Scholte]], [[tailor]] to the Prince of Wales, was taking the world of men's fashion by storm. The new suit was softer and more flexible in construction than the suits of the previous generation; extra fabric in the shoulder and armscye, light padding, a slightly nipped waist, and fuller sleeves tapered at the wrist resulted in a cut with flattering folds or drapes front and back that enhanced a man's figure. The straight leg wide-trousers (the standard size was 23 inches at the cuff) that men had worn in the 1920s also became tapered at the bottom for the first time around 1935. The new suit was adopted enthusiastically by Hollywood stars including [[Fred Astaire]], [[Cary Grant]], and [[Gary Cooper]], who became the new fashion trendsetters after the Prince's abdication and exile. By the early 1940s, Hollywood tailors had exaggerated the drape to the point of caricature, outfitting [[film noir]] mobsters and private eyes in suits with heavily padded chests, enormous shoulders, and wide flowing trousers. Musicians and other fashion experimenters adopted the most extreme form of the drape, the [[zoot suit]], with very high waists, pegged trousers, and long coats.<ref>Boyer (1990).</ref><ref>Walker, Richard: ''The Savile Row Story'', Prion, 1988, {{ISBN|1-85375-000-X}}</ref>
=== Formal wear ===
In the early 1930s, new forms of summer evening clothes were introduced as appropriate for the popular seaside resorts. The waist-length white mess jacket, worn with a [[cummerbund]] rather than a waistcoat, was modeled after formal clothing of British officers in tropical climates. This was followed by a white dinner jacket, single or double-breasted. Both white jackets were worn with black bow ties and black trousers trimmed with braid down the side seams.
=== Sportswear ===
By 1933, [[knickerbockers (clothing)|knickerbocker]]s and [[plus-fours]], which had been commonly worn as sports-clothes in the 1920s had lost favor to casual trousers among the fashionable. In Britain and South Africa, brightly striped [[blazer]]s in red, white and blue were often worn in the summer both as informal wear, and for sports such as tennis, rowing or cricket. This continued until wartime rationing rendered the distinctive fabric unobtainable.<ref>[http://www.stgeorgespark.nmmu.ac.za/content/urbanlegends/displayarticle.asp?artid=urb_006 South African blazer]</ref>
=== Accessories ===
The most common hat of this period was the [[fedora (hat)|fedora]], often worn tipped down over one eye at a rakish angle. The more conservative [[Homburg (hat)|Homburg]] also remained popular, especially among older people and even began to be worn with [[semi-formal]] evening clothes in place of the [[tophat]], which in turn became confined to wear with [[Formal wear|formal]]. [[Necktie]]s were wide, and bold geometric designs were popular, including stripes, and quadrilateral designs.
=== Wartime restrictions ===
Many things affected the style of clothes that people wore. Austerity also affected men's civilian clothes during the war years. The British "Utility Suit" and American "Victory Suit" were both made of wool-synthetic blend yarns, without pleats, cuffs (turn-ups), sleeve buttons or patch pockets; jackets were shorter, trousers were narrower, and double-breasted suits were made without vests (waistcoats).<ref name="Mode">Wilcox, R. Turner: ''The Mode in Fashion'', 1942; rev. 1958, p. 328–36</ref> Men who were not in uniform could, of course, continue to wear pre-war suits they already owned, and many did so.
=== Style gallery 1930s ===
<gallery>
Image:Babe Ruth Gov.jpg|1 – 1930
Image:FDR on Train 1934.gif|2 – 1934
Image:Men's and women's fashion, Sydney Cup, Randwick, 1937, March 1937 Sam Hood.jpg|3 - 1937
Image:Walt Disney NYWTS.jpg|4 – 1938
</gallery>
#[[:Image:Babe Ruth Gov.jpg|Golfing attire]] of 1930, worn by [[Babe Ruth]] and former New York governor [[Al Smith]] - <small>State Archive of Florida</small>.
#[[:Image:FDR on Train 1934.gif|Double-breasted]] suits have pocket flaps and functional buttonholes in both lapels. [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], 1934.
#[[:Image:Men's and women's fashion, Sydney Cup, Randwick, 1937, March 1937 Sam Hood.jpg|Photo]] of Sydney Cup, Randwick, 1937.
#[[:Image:Walt Disney NYWTS.jpg|Photo]] of [[Walt Disney]] shows the padded shoulder and widening lapels of 1938.
;Style gallery 1940–45
<gallery>
Image:Charles S. Johnson.jpg|1 – c. 1940
File:Stark Young NYWTS.jpg|2 – 1940
Image:William Saroyan.jpg|3 – 1940
Image:Wendell Willkie with Thorne and Cowles NYWTS detail.jpg|4 – 1941
Image:Tiny Bradshaw.jpg|5 – 1942
File:Walter Pidgeon cph 3b24937.jpg|6 – 1942
Image:Zootsuit2.jpg|7 – 1942
Image:Colorful, skiing, winter Fortepan 27216.jpg|8 – 1943
</gallery>
#[[:Image:Charles S. Johnson.jpg|Photo]] of [[Charles Spurgeon Johnson]] wearing a wide-lapelled suit with a striped necktie, c. 1940.
#[[:File:Stark Young NYWTS.jpg|Photo]] of Stark Young in a [[herringbone (cloth)|herringbone]] tweed suit, 1940.
#[[:Image:William Saroyan.jpg|Writer]] [[William Saroyan]] wears the wide, patterned necktie fashionable in 1940.
#[[:Image:Wendell Willkie with Thorne and Cowles NYWTS detail.jpg|Overcoats]] of Wendell Willkie, Thorne and Cowles
#[[:Image:Tiny Bradshaw.jpg|Jazz bandleader]] [[Tiny Bradshaw]] wears a double-breasted suit with wide lapels and tapered trousers, accessorized with a large [[pocket square]] (handkerchief) and a patterned necktie, 1942
#[[:File:Walter Pidgeon cph 3b24937.jpg|Actor]] [[Walter Pidgeon]] wears a [[houndstooth check]] jacket, 1942.
#[[:Image:Zootsuit2.jpg|Extreme]] [[zoot suit]]s of 1942
#Man skiing in Hungary, 1943.
{{clear}}
==Working clothes==
Both men and women working on war service wore practical [[trousers]] or [[overalls]]. Women bundled their hair up in [[cap]]s, [[scarf|scarves]], and [[snood (headgear)|snood]]s.
<gallery>
Image:FSA, CCC, "CCC boys at work", Prince George Co., V.A - NARA - 195829.tif|1 – c. 1933
Image:American shepherd3.jpg|2 – 1942
Image:Women workers in snoods 1942.gif|3 – 1942
Image:Aircraft workers on lunch break 1942.gif|4 – 1942
Image:African American worker Richmond Shipyards.jpg|5 – 1943
</gallery>
#[[:Image:FSA, CCC, "CCC boys at work", Prince George Co., V.A - NARA - 195829.tif|Young men]] of the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] working in loose-cut trousers and brimmed hats, Virginia, c. 1933.
#[[:Image:American shepherd3.jpg|Shepherd]], Montana, 1942.
#[[:Image:Women workers in snoods 1942.gif|Women]] working on war service in Texas wear their hair in snoods, 1942.
#[[:Image:Aircraft workers on lunch break 1942.gif|Men and women]] of [[North American Aviation]] on lunch break wear short-sleeved shirts and trousers, 1942.
#[[:Image:African American worker Richmond Shipyards.jpg|Woman]] working in the [[Richmond, California|Richmond]] shipyards wears practical overalls and a cap, 1943.
{{clear}}
==Children's clothes==
<gallery>
Image:Queen Mary with Princess Elizabeth and Margaret.jpg|1 – 1939
Image:Dorothea Lange, The Arnold children, Michigan Hill, Washington, 1939.jpg|2-1939
</gallery>
#[[:Image:Queen Mary with Princess Elizabeth and Margaret.jpg|Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret]] with their grandmother wearing matching coats and hats.
#[[:Image:Dorothea Lange, The Arnold children, Michigan Hill, Washington, 1939.jpg|Children]] in Michigan Hill, Washington.
==See also==
* [[Interwar period]]
* [[Home front during World War II]]
** [[United States home front during World War II]]
** [[United Kingdom home front during World War II]]
** [[Australian home front during World War II]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==References and further reading==
* [[Janet Arnold|Arnold, Janet]]: ''Patterns of Fashion 2: Englishwomen's Dresses and Their Construction c. 1860–1940'', Wace 1966, Macmillan 1972. Revised metric edition, Drama Books 1977. {{ISBN|0-89676-027-8}}
* Black, J. Anderson, and Madge Garland, ''A History of Fashion'', New York, Morrow, 1975
* Boyer, G. Bruce, ''Eminently Suitable'', New York: W. W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1990, {{ISBN|978-0-393-02877-5}}
* Brockman, Helen, ''The Theory of Fashion Design'', New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1965 {{ISBN|0-471-10586-4}}
* Bryant, Nancy O. "The interrelationship between decorative and structural design in Madeleine Vionnet's Work", Costume 1991, V 25, pp. 73–88
* Hawes, Elizabeth: ''Fashion is Spinach'', New York: Random House, 1938
* Hunt, Marsha: ''The Way We Wore: Styles of the 1930s and '40s and Our World Since Then'', Fallbrook Pub. Ltd., 1993, {{ISBN|1-882747-00-3}}
* LaValley, Satch: "Hollywood and Seventh Avenue: The Impact of Historical Films on Fashion", in ''Hollywood and History: Costume Design in Film'', Los Angeles County Museum of Art/Thames and Hudson, 1987, {{ISBN|0-500-01422-1}}
* Laver, James: ''The Concise History of Costume and Fashion'', Abrams, 1979.
* Leese, Elizabeth: ''Costume Design in the Movies'', Dover Books, 1991, {{ISBN|0-486-26548-X}}
* Steele, Valerie: ''Paris Fashion: A Cultural History'', Oxford University Press, 1988, {{ISBN|0-19-504465-7}}
* Steele, Valerie: ''The Corset'', Yale University Press, 2001
* Walker, Richard: ''The Savile Row Story'', Prion, 1988, {{ISBN|1-85375-000-X}}
* Wilcox, R. Turner: ''The Mode in Fashion'', 1942; 2nd expanded edition New York: Scribners, 1958.
==External links==
* [https://www.fashion-era.com/stylish_thirties.htm 1930s Fashion History]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071024174357/http://www.costumes.org/history/100pages/1937chicagowool.htm Chicago Woolen Mills catalog for 1937]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071014131249/http://costumes.org/HISTORY/100pages/1934sears.htm Fashions from the Sears Catalog, 1934]
* [http://www.1930s-fashions.co.uk/ Picture galleries of 1930s fashions (UK)]
* {{cite web|publisher= [[Victoria and Albert Museum]]|url= http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/f/fashion-drawing-and-illustration-1930s/|title= 1930s - 20th Century Fashion Drawing and Illustration|work= Fashion, Jewellery & Accessories|access-date= 2011-04-03|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110802025522/http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/f/fashion-drawing-and-illustration-1930s/|archive-date= 2011-08-02|url-status= dead}}
*[http://cdm16028.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p15324coll12/searchterm/193*/field/title/mode/all/conn/and/order/nosort 1930s Fashion Plates of men, women, and children's fashion] from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
{{Timeline of clothing and fashion}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:1930-1945 In Fashion}}
[[Category:1930s fashion]]
[[Category:1940s fashion]]
[[Category:Home front during World War II]]' |
New page wikitext, after the edit (new_wikitext) | '{{short description|Costume and fashion from the 1930s to the end of World War II}}
[[File:MaryPickfordHoover.gif|right|thumb|250px|Actress [[Mary Pickford]] with President [[Herbert Hoover]], 1931]]
The most characteristic North American '''fashion trend from the 1930s to 1945 ''' was attention at the shoulder, with butterfly sleeves and banjo sleeves, and exaggerated shoulder pads for both men and women by the 1940s. The period also saw the first widespread use of man-made fibers, especially [[rayon]] for dresses and [[viscose]] for [[lining (sewing)|linings]] and [[lingerie]], and synthetic [[nylon]] [[stocking]]s. The [[zipper]] became widely used. These essentially U.S. developments were echoed, in varying degrees, in Britain and Europe.
Suntans (called at the time "sunburns") became fashionable in the early 1930s, along with travel to the resorts along the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], in the [[Bahamas]], and on the east coast of [[Florida]] where one can acquire a tan, leading to new categories of clothes: white dinner jackets for men and beach pajamas, halter tops, and bare midriffs for women.<ref name="Mode" /><ref name="ModeW">Wilcox, R. Turner: ''The Mode in Fashion'', 1942; rev. 1958, pp. 379–84</ref>
Fashion trendsetters in the period included [[Edward VIII]] and his companion [[Wallis Simpson]], socialites like [[Nicolas de Gunzburg]], [[Daisy Fellowes]] and [[Mona von Bismarck]] and such [[Classical Hollywood cinema|Hollywood]] [[movie star]]s as [[Fred Astaire]], [[Carole Lombard]] and [[Joan Crawford]].
== Womenswear ==
===1930s ===
[[File:Dorothygish.jpg|thumb|left|Width at the shoulders was achieved by many means. In [[Dorothy Gish]]'s outfit of 1932, the width is in the sleeve cap, which is pleated into the [[armscye]].]]
[[File:Portrait, Budapest, City Park Fortepan 7735.jpg|thumb|right|Classic fashion in the Thirties in Europe (Hungary 1939).]]
[[File:Elizabeth Arden NYWTS.jpg|thumb|right|[[Elizabeth Arden]]'s coat features broad, rounded shoulders cut in one piece with the yoke, 1939.]]
[[File:Sweden Vaxholm 1938.jpg|thumb|right|Fashion in Sweden, 1938.]]
==== Overview ====
The lighthearted, forward-looking attitude
and fashions of the [[1920s in fashion|late 1920s]] lingered through most of 1930,<ref>[http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/07/28/wore-skirts-can-dance-charleston-sophisticated-glam-flapper-dress/ Flapper dresses]</ref> but by the end of that year the effects of the Great Depression began to affect the public, and a more conservative approach to fashion displaced that of the 1920s. For women, skirts became longer and the waist-line was returned up to its normal position. Other aspects of fashion from the 1920s took longer to phase out. [[Cloche hat]]s remained popular until about 1933 while short hair remained popular for many women until late in the 1930s and even in the early 1940s. The Great Depression took its toll on the 1930s womenswear due to World War II which dates from 1939-1945. This greatly affected the fashion of how women dressed during the 1940s era. According to Shrimpton "Committed to ensuring the fair distribution of scarce but essential resources, namely food, clothing, and furniture, the government introduced a comprehensive rationing scheme based on allocation of coupons - a system deriving, ironically, from the German rationing plan devised in November 1930."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fashion in the 1940s|last=Shrimpton|first=J|publisher=Shire Publications|year=2014|location=Oxford|pages=19}}</ref>
Because of the economic crash, designers were forced to slash prices for clothing in order to keep their business afloat, especially those working in couture houses. Designers were also forced to use cheaper fabric and materials, and dress patterns also grew in popularity as many women knew how to sew. Hence, clothing was made more accessible, and there was also a continuation of mass production, which was rising in popularity since the 1920s. The 1930s allowed women from all classes and socio backgrounds to be fashionable, regardless of wealth. With prices slashes on types of fabrics utilized for designing, new inventions such as the zip made garments quicker and cheaper to make. This was also influenced by the rise in women entering the workforce alongside the rise of the business girl, as they still were able to afford to dress well and stay in style. Daywear also had to be functional, but it never lost its touch of elegance or femininity, as the dresses would still naturally highlight the female or womanly shape with cinched waistlines, skirts fitted to the hip and fullness added to the hem with flared gores or pleats. Frilled rayon blouses also went with the cinched waist.<ref name="Twentieth-Century American Fashion">{{Cite book|title=Twentieth-Century American Fashion|date=2005-03-01|publisher=Berg Publishers|isbn=9781847882837|editor-last=Welters|editor-first=Linda|series=Dress, Body, Culture|editor-last2=Cunningham|editor-first2=Patricia|doi = 10.2752/9781847882837}}</ref>
Because clothes were rationed and fabric was scarcer, the hem lines of dresses rose to knee length. The main sort of dress in the 1940s included features such as an hour glass shape figure, broad shoulders, nipped in high waist tops and A line skirts that came down to just at the knee. Many different celebrities who embraced this type of style such as [[Joan Crawford]], [[Ginger Rogers]], [[Barbara Stanwyck]], and [[Ava Gardner]]. Even though daywear dresses were influenced by the war, evening dresses remained glamorous. Women's undergarments became the soul of fashion in the 1940s<ref name="What Did Women Wear in the 1940s">{{Cite web|url=http://vintagedancer.com/1940s/what-did-women-wear-in-the-1940s/|title=What Did Women Wear in the 1940s?|access-date=September 21, 2016}}</ref> because it maintained the critical hourglass shape with smooth lines. Clothes became utilitarian. Pants or trousers were considered a menswear item only until the 1940s.<ref name="What Did Women Wear in the 1940s" /> Women working in factories first wore men's pants but over time, factories began to make pants for women out of fabric such as cotton, [[denim]], or wool. Coats were long and down to the knee for warmth.
Major fashion magazines at the time including Vogue continued to cater to the fashionable and wealthy women of the 1930s to continue reporting and reflecting the most popular trends in that time period, despite the impact the economic crash had on them. The wealthiest still managed to afford and keep up with the most high-end or the most coveted designs and maintain their lifestyle.
==== Fashion and the movies ====
[[File:Maharani Ourmilla Of Jubbal.jpg|thumb|right|Indian [[saree]] made from [[chiffon (fabric)|chiffon]] fabric, inspired by the evening dresses of Hollywood starlets.]]
Throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, a second influence vied with Paris [[haute couture|couturiers]] as a wellspring for ideas: the [[Cinema of the United States|American cinema]].<ref>Ewing, Elizabeth: ''History of 20th Century Fashion'', London, 1974, p. 97, 1997 revised edition, {{ISBN|0-89676-219-X}}</ref> As Hollywood movies gained their popularities, general public idolized movie stars as their role models. Paris-based fashion houses were losing their power and influences in most major fashion trends during these years. Many American and European moviegoers were fascinated by and got interested in overall fashion including clothes and hairstyles of movie stars which led to various fashion trends.<ref name="www.fashionencyclopedia.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/fashion_costume_culture/Modern-World-1930-1945/Hollywood-Influences-Fashion.html|title=Hollywood Influences Fashion - Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages|website=www.fashionencyclopedia.com|access-date=2018-04-21}}</ref> After the movie ''Tarzan,'' animal prints became popular. On the other hand, different styles such as bias-cut, satin, Jean Harlow-style evening dresses and the casual look of Katharine Hepburn also became famous.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fashion : the definitive history of costume and style|date=2012|publisher=DK Publishing|others=Brown, Susan, 1965-, DK Publishing, Inc., Smithsonian Institution.|isbn=9780756698355|edition=1st American|location=New York, N.Y.|oclc=777654556}}</ref> Paris designers such as [[Elsa Schiaparelli]] and [[Lucien Lelong]] acknowledged the impact of film costumes on their work. LeLong said "We, the couturiers, can no longer live without the cinema any more than the cinema can live without us. We corroborate each others' instinct.<ref>Quoted in LaValley, "Hollywood and Seventh Avenue"</ref>
The [[1890s in fashion|1890s leg-o-mutton sleeves]] designed by [[Walter Plunkett]] for [[Irene Dunne]] in 1931's ''[[Cimarron (1931 film)|Cimarron]]'' helped to launch the broad-shouldered look,<ref name="Hwd">LaValley, "Hollywood and Seventh Avenue", in ''Hollywood and History: Costume Design in Film''</ref> and [[Adrian (costume designer)|Adrian]]'s little velvet hat worn tipped over one eye by [[Greta Garbo]] in ''[[Romance (1930 film)|Romance]]'' (1930) became the "Empress [[Eugénie hat]] ... Universally copied in a wide price range, it influenced how women wore their hats for the rest of the decade."<ref name="Hwd" /> During late 1920s to early 1940s, Gilbert Adrian was the head of the costume department at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the most prestigious and famous Hollywood movie studio. He produced numerous signature styles for the top actresses of the period, as well as countless fashion fads during those times. One of his popular dresses was gingham dress, a cotton dress with a checked or striped pattern, that he made for Judy Garland for the movie ''The Wizard of Oz'' in 1939, and for Katharine Hepburn for the movie ''The Philadelphia Story'' in 1940.<ref name="www.fashionencyclopedia.com" /> Movie costumes were covered not only in film [[fan magazine]]s, but in influential fashion magazines such as ''[[Women's Wear Daily]]'', ''[[Harper's Bazaar]]'', and ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]''.
Adrian's puff-sleeved gown for Joan Crawford ''[[Letty Lynton]]'' was copied by [[Macy's]] in 1932 and sold over 500,000 copies nationwide.<ref>Leese, Elizabeth: ''Costume Design in the Movies'', Dover Books, 1991, {{ISBN|0-486-26548-X}}, p. 18</ref> The dress was appraised as one of the most influential pieces in the era’s fashion, inspiring numerous designers to showcase similar styles in their own work.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Chung|first=So-Young|last2=Cho|first2=Kyu-Hwa|date=2006|title=A Study on the Fashion Style of Hollywood Star Marlene Dietrich in 1930s|url=https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART001036596|journal=Journal of Fashion Business|volume=10|pages=1–14}}</ref> One of Crawford’s widely influential pieces was a white organdy dress with ruffle adornments. With the use of shoulder pads, the dress made the movement freer, emphasizing the back by removing adornments previously popularized in the 1920s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Song|first=Young-Kyoung|last2=Lim|first2=Young-Ja|date=November 2007|title=The Study on the Hollywood Film Costume of Fashion image in 1930s|journal=Journal of the Korean Society of Costume|volume=57|pages=110–123}}</ref>
One of the most stylistically influential films of the 1930s was 1939's ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]''. The dresses in the movie were designed with simplified adornments and a mixture of different monotone hues as opposed to using a varied color palette. This was considered to be Plunkett's intentional design to utilize modernism, the emerging aesthetic of the 1930s. Plunkett received praise for producing costumes that adequately harmonized the era of the movie with the aesthetic sense of the late 1930s. The costumes brought back the Neo-Victorian style, as well as strong use of symbolic color.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kim|first=Hyun-Jung|last2=Cho|first2=Kyu-Hwa|date=2003|title=A Study o Costume and Color Symbolism of Gone with the Wind|journal=Journal of Fashion Business|volume=7|pages=1–12}}</ref> It inspired the Princess Ballgown, a Victorian style dress reduced to full A line skirts with petticoats underneath for fullness.<ref name="What Did Women Wear in the 1940s" /> It was the most popular style for teens going to prom.<ref name="What Did Women Wear in the 1940s" /> Plunkett's "barbecue dress" for [[Vivien Leigh]] as Scarlett O'Hara was the most widely copied dress after the Duchess of Windsor's wedding costume, and Vogue credited the "Scarlett O'Hara" look with bringing full skirts worn over [[crinoline]]s back into wedding fashion after a decade of sleek, figure-hugging styles.<ref name="Hwd" />
[[Lana Turner]]'s [[1937 in film|1937]] film ''[[They Won't Forget]]'' made her the first [[Sweater girl]], an informal look for young women relying on large breasts pushed up and out by [[bra]]s, which continued to be influential into the 1950s, and was arguably the first major style of youth fashion.
Travis Banton gained his fame by, after working at a couture house in New York, designing costumes for Marlene Dietrich as a head designer of Paramount. His style was softer and more alluring than Adrian's, embodying femininity by his sense of balance with the use of Vionnet's bias-cut, and was known for refined concepts of simple lines and classic styles. Many famous movie stars during the 1930s such as Magdalene Dietrich and Mae West at Paramount became the models of wit, intellect and beauty through Banton's elegant costumes. The costumes he made for Dietrich for various movies such as ''Shanghai Express'' 1932, and ''The Scarlet Empress'' 1934 portray her sharp regality.<ref name=":0" />
Retail clothing and accessories inspired by the period costumes of Adrian, Plunkett, [[Travis Banton]], [[Howard Greer]], and others influenced what women wore until war-time restrictions on fabric stopped the flow of lavish costumes from Hollywood.<ref name="Hwd" />
==== Hard chic and feminine flutters ====
[[File:ElizabethBowes-Lyon.jpg|right|thumb|175px|[[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]] wears [[long gloves]] with a short-sleeved dress and dramatic hat to visit the [[1939 New York World's Fair]].]]
[[Jean Patou]], who had first raised hemlines to 18" off the floor with his "flapper" dresses of 1924, had begun lowering them again in 1927, using [[Madeleine Vionnet|Vionnet's]] [[Handkerchief skirt|handkerchief hemline]] to disguise the change. By 1930, longer skirts and natural waists were shown everywhere.<ref name="Theory">Brockman, ''Theory of Fashion Design'', pp. 40–52</ref>
But it is [[Elsa Schiaparelli|Schiaparelli]] who is credited with "changing the outline of fashion from soft to hard, from vague to definite."<ref name="Theory" /> She introduced the [[zipper]], synthetic fabrics, simple suits with bold color accents, tailored evening gowns with matching jackets, wide shoulders, and the color [[Pink#Shocking pink|shocking pink]] to the fashion world. By 1933, the trend toward wide shoulders and narrow waists had eclipsed the emphasis on the hips of the later 1920s.<ref name="Theory" /> Wide shoulders would remain a staple of fashion until after World War II.
In contrast with the hard chic worn by the "international set".<ref name="Theory" /> designers such as Britain's [[Norman Hartnell]] made soft, pretty dresses with fluttering or puffed sleeves and loose calf-length skirts suited to a feminine figure. His "[[mourning#White mourning|white mourning]]"<ref>The Queen's [[Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne|mother]] had died in June 1938.</ref> wardrobe for the new [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]]'s 1938 state visit to Paris started a brief rage for all-white clothing.<ref name="Garland">Garland, Madge, in J. Anderson Black and Madge Garland, ''A History of Fashion'', pp. 324–239</ref>
Feminine curves were highlighted in the 1930s through the use of the bias-cut. [[Madeleine Vionnet]] was an early innovator of the bias-cut, using it to create clinging dresses that draped over the body's contours.<ref name="Bryant">Bryant, Nancy O. "The interrelationship between decorative and structural design in Madeleine Vionnet's Work", Costume 1991, V 25, pp. 73–88</ref>
[[File:Women's fashion at mcwhirters 1941.jpg|thumb|left|190px|Advertisement for women's fashion at McWhirters department store, Brisbane, Australia, 1941]]
Through the mid-1930s, the natural waistline was often accompanied by emphasis on an [[Empire waist|empire]] line. Short [[bolero jacket]]s, capelets, and dresses cut with fitted midriffs or seams below the bust increased the focus on breadth at the shoulder. By the late 1930s, emphasis was moving to the back, with [[halter neckline]]s and high-necked but backless evening gowns with sleeves.<ref name="ModeW" /><ref name="Theory" /> Evening gowns with matching jackets were worn to the theatre, nightclubs, and elegant restaurants.
Skirts remained at mid-calf length for day, but the end of the 1930s Paris designers were showing fuller skirts reaching just below the knee;<ref>{{cite news|last=United Press|title=Hemline Changes Mild Now|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19540401&id=ey0eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=N5gEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4871,3624456|access-date=1 March 2014|newspaper=Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News|date=1 April 1954}}</ref> this practical length (without the wasteful fullness) would remain in style for day dresses through the war years.
Other notable fashion trends in this period include the introduction of the ensemble (matching dresses or skirts and coats) and the handkerchief skirt, which had many panels, insets, pleats or gathers. The [[clutch coat]] was fashionable in this period as well; it had to be held shut as there was no fastening. By 1945, adolescents began wearing loose, poncho-like sweaters called sloppy joes. Full, gathered skirts, known as the [[dirndl]] skirt, became popular around 1945.<ref name="Tortora, P. 2005 pp 400-450">Tortora, P., & Eubank, K. (2005). A survey of historic costume. pp 400–450. New York: Fairchild</ref>
[[File:Flickr - The Library of Congress - Woman putting on her lipstick in a park with Union Station behind her, Washington, D.C. (LOC) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Accessories were vital components of an outfit, this 1943 black business suit was accessorized with a [[halo hat]], black gloves and pink [[Handbag|clutch bag]]]]
==== Accessories ====
Gloves were "enormously important" in this period.<ref name="Garland" /> They were a type of accessory that came to be seen as more of a comfort rather than for style. The elaborate trim was removed and was replaced by plain gloves. Evening gowns were accompanied by elbow length gloves, and day costumes were worn with short or [[opera gloves|opera-length gloves]] of fabric or leather.
Manufacturers and retailers introduced coordinating ensembles of hat, gloves and shoes, or gloves and scarf, or hat and bag, often in striking colours.<ref name="Garland" /> For spring 1936, [[Chicago]]'s [[Marshall Field]]'s department store offered a black hat by [[Lilly Daché]] trimmed with an antelope leather bow in "Pernod green, apple blossom pink, mimosa yellow or carnation blush" and suggested a handbag to match the bow.<ref>Marshall Field & Company, ''Fashions of the Hour'', Spring 1936, p. 2</ref>
When war broke out in 1939, many women purchased handbags with a [[respirator]] pouch due to fear of [[poison gas]] attacks.<ref>[http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/07/13/fashion-ration-2-2/ Rationed fashion]</ref>
==== Sportswear ====
During the mid to late 1930s, swimsuits became more revealing than those of the 1920s, and often featured lower necklines and no sleeves. These were made from [[nylon]] and [[rayon]] instead of the traditional wool, and no longer included a short modesty skirt.<ref>[http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/07/01/what-they-wore-on-the-beach-back-in-the-30s/ 1930s beachwear]</ref> Experimental swimsuits made from [[spruce]] [[wood veneer]] were a fad in the early 1930s, but did not catch on among the mainstream.<ref>[http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/09/09/priority-spruce-girls-ladies-wearing-spruce-veneer-bathing-suits-1929/ Spruce bathing suit]</ref>
==== Marriage of Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII (from January 1936 until his [[Edward VIII abdication crisis|abdication]]) ====
Notable American socialite was Wallis Simpson and her marriage to Prince Edward was also seen as influential trendsetters during the 1930s period of fashion. Their marriage was historical, been called “The Greatest Love Story of the 20th Century” by some, due to the fact that Prince Edward was royalty and in line for the throne. However, his love affair with Wallis Simpson is what attracted attention and made headlines.
Simpson was not only a socialite, but she was American and a divorcee, both of which were deal breakers for the royal family at the time. As Prince Edward found he could not marry Simpson on these circumstances, he did the unthinkable by giving up the throne to marry her. As the two wed in 1937, their marriage marked a more progressive mindset that people slowly began to adopt, as people already wanted to ditch old traditions and trade it for new ones, especially for those in the royal family.
Their wedding and marriage was well chronicled by ''Vogue'', including a spread of Wallis Simpson before her wedding day, captured by iconic fashion photographer, [[Cecil Beaton]], which included the iconic [[Lobster dress]] by [[Elsa Schiaparelli]], which included a hand-painted lobster by [[Salvador Dalí]], a significant surrealist artist and painter in the 1930s.<ref name="Twentieth-Century American Fashion"/>
=== War years ===
Wartime austerity led to restrictions on the number of new clothes that people bought and the amount of fabric that clothing manufacturers could use. Women working on war service adopted trousers as a practical necessity. The United States government requisitioned all silk supplies, forcing the hosiery industry to completely switch to [[nylon]]. In March 1942 the government then requisitioned all nylon for parachutes and other war uses, leaving only the unpopular cotton and rayon stockings. The industry feared that not wearing stockings would become a fad, and advised stores to increase hosiery advertising.{{r|kennett1985}} When nylon stockings reappeared in the shops there were "[[nylon riots]]" as customers fought over the first deliveries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orgsites.com/oh/nylon-stocking-society/ |title=Nylon Stocking society |publisher=Orgsites.com |date=1940-05-15 |access-date=2012-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816005951/http://www.orgsites.com/oh/nylon-stocking-society/ |archive-date=2012-08-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In Britain, clothing was strictly [[Rationing in the United Kingdom during and after World War II#Non-food rations|rationed]], with a system of "points", and the [[Board of Trade]] issued regulations for "Utility Clothes" in 1941.<ref name="Garland" /> In America the [[War Production Board]] issued its Regulation L85 on March 8, 1942, specifying restrictions for every item of women's clothing.<ref>[http://www.costumes.org/history/20thcent/1940s/sews4victory/WPByardstick.JPG WPB "Yardstick"] {{Webarchive|url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091226113416/http://www.costumes.org/history/20thcent/1940s/sews4victory/WPByardstick.JPG |date=2009-12-26 }} and discussion of L85 regulations at [http://www.costumes.org/classes/fashiondress/WW1toWW2.htm Costumes.org] {{Webarchive|url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090716062714/http://www.costumes.org/classes/fashiondress/WW1toWW2.htm |date=2009-07-16 }}, retrieved 21 October 2007</ref> Because the military used so much green and brown dye, manufacturers used more red dye in clothing.<ref name="kennett1985">{{cite book | title=For the duration... : the United States goes to war, Pearl Harbor-1942 | publisher=Scribner | author=Kennett, Lee | year=1985 | location=New York | pages=[https://archive.org/details/fordurationunite00kenn/page/127 127–129] | isbn=978-0-684-18239-1 | url=https://archive.org/details/fordurationunite00kenn/page/127 }}</ref> Easily laddered stockings were a particular concern in Britain; women were forced to either paint them on (including the back seam) or to join the [[Women's Royal Naval Service|WRNS]], who continued to issue them, in a cunning aid to recruitment. Later in the war, American soldiers became a source of the new [[nylon]] stockings.
Most women wore skirts at or near knee-length, with simply-cut blouses or shirts and square-shouldered jackets. Popular magazines and pattern companies advised women on how to remake men's suits into smart outfits, since the men were in uniform and the cloth would otherwise sit unused. Eisenhower jackets became popular in this period. Influenced by the military, these jackets were bloused at the chest and fitted at the waist with a belt.<ref name="Tortora, P. 2005 pp 400-450" /> The combination of neat blouses and sensibly tailored suits became the distinctive attire of the working woman, college girl, and young society matron.<ref name="Kemper, Rachel H 1992 pg. 144">Kemper, Rachel H: "Costume" (1992) pg. 144</ref>
The [[shirtdress|shirtwaist dress]], an all-purpose garment, also emerged during the 1930s. The shirtwaist dress was worn for all occasions, besides those that were extremely formal, and were modest in design. The dress could either have long or short sleeves, a modest neckline and skirt that fell below the knee. The bust was rounded but not particularly emphasized and the waistline was often belted in its normal position. Pockets were both functional and used for decoration and were accompanied by buttons down the front, around the sides or up the back of the dress. These dresses often were accompanied by coordination coats, which were made out of contrasting fabric but lined with the dress fabric. The jacket was often constructed in a boxy fashion and had wide lapels, wide shoulders and numerous pockets. The dress and coat combination created an overall effect of sensibility, modesty and girl next door lifestyle that contrasted the very popular, second-skin like style of the bias-cut evening gown.<ref name="Kemper, Rachel H 1992 pg. 144"/>
[[File:Women workers in snoods 1942.gif|left|thumb|Women wearing snoods in a factory]]
[[File:Colorful, portrait, woman Fortepan 26076.jpg|left|thumb|Women's fashion in vacation in [[Lake Balaton]] in Hungary (1939).]]
==== Headwear ====
[[File:How a British Woman Dresses in Wartime- Utility Clothing in Britain, 1943 D14784.jpg|thumb|Woman wearing a turban during wartime with all the fashionable accessories.]]
The 1940s was a period marked by iconic headwear. Because of the war, current European fashion was no longer available to women in the United States. In 1941, hatmakers failed to popularize Chinese and American Indian-based designs, causing one [[milliner]] to lament "How different when Paris was the fountainhead of style". As with hosiery hatmakers feared that bareheadness would become popular, and introduced new designs such as "Winged Victory Turbans" and "Commando Caps" in "Victory Gold".{{r|kennett1985}} American designers, who were often overlooked, became more popular as American women began to wear their designs. American designers of ready-to-wear contributed in other ways too. They made improvements to sizing standards and began to use fiber content and care labels in clothing.<ref>Harris, Kristina, Vintage Fashions for Women, 1920s-1940s, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1996, p. 137.</ref> Hats were one of the few pieces of clothing that was not rationed during WWII, therefore there was a lot of attention paid to these headpieces. Styles ranged from turbans to [[straw hat]]s.<ref>{{cite book|title=Fashion Accessories Since 1500|url=https://archive.org/details/fashionaccessori00warr|url-access=registration|last=Warren|first=Geoffrey|publisher=Drama Book Publishers|year=1987|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fashionaccessori00warr/page/146 146–147]}}</ref> The [[Snood (headgear)|snood]] was an important accessory to a woman working in the factory. Snoods were fashionable and functional at the same time, they enabled factory women who were wearing pants and [[jumpsuit]]s to still look feminine. Snoods pulled hair out of the face by containing it all at the back of the head in a hanging net. With all the long hair hanging in the net, the front of the hair was left out and could be curled and styled to glamourize the factory uniforms. Other popular headpieces were variations of [[Headscarf|headscarves]], such as the [[Kerchief|bandana]] [[Rosie the Riveter]] is pictured wearing in the recruitment posters. Another variation of the headscarf was simply tying a square scarf folded in half under the chin. Later in the 1950s and 60s these headscarves became highly glamorized by celebrities like [[Audrey Hepburn]], [[Brigitte Bardot]], and [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis|Jacqueline Kennedy]]. This glamorized look came from women in the 1940s who wore headscarves over their [[victory rolls]] in order to make their simple clothes look dressed up. [[Draped turban]]s – sometimes fashioned from headscarves – also made an appearance in fashion, representing the working woman of the period. These were worn by women of all classes.This type of headwear could be glamorous or practical. Turbans were the most functional for the working woman because she was able to have all her hair out of her face and skip washing her hair by covering it with the turban. Both turbans and headscarves were useful for hiding curlers so when a woman got off work all she had to do was take out her curlers and her hair would be set for a night out.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fashion in the 1940s|last=Shrimpton|first=Jayne|publisher=Shire Publications|year=2014|location=Great Britain|pages=42–49}}</ref> All these alternative options to hats were popular, not only for function and glamour, but also because the look could be achieved quite inexpensively.
==== Swimwear ====
[[File:Olvasó nő. Fortepan 714.jpg|left|thumb|Woman wearing a swimsuit in swimming pool in Hungary in 1938.]]
[[File:Gene Tierney - AAFPOABrief.jpg|left|thumb|Typical 1945 two-piece swimsuit worn by Gene Tierney]]
An important style that became popular due to the war was the two-piece swimsuit which later led to the [[Bikini]]. In 1942, the [[War Production Board]] passed a law called the L-85 which put restrictions on clothing production.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://amhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/printable/section.asp?id=9&sub=3|title=Price of Freedom: Dressing for War|website=The Price of Freedom: World War II|publisher=National Museum of American History, Behring Center|access-date=April 4, 2016}}</ref> For swimwear companies the L-85 meant they had to use 10 percent less fabric in all their designs, as a result swimsuits became smaller. Swimsuits had been becoming more minimal for a while but in 1944 [[Tina Leser]] debuted one of the first two-piece swimsuits. Even though the bottoms were high waisted, cut low on the legs, and paired with a modest [[bandeau]], Lesers’ two piece was still considered a daring style for the era. According to Sarah Kennedy, author of ''The Swimsuit: A History of Twentieth-Century Fashion'', unlike the bikini the two-piece was created out of necessity and was not meant to be shocking. Apparently there was an unspoken rule that [[Midriff|bellybuttons must never show]] which accounts for the high waisted bottoms.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Swimsuit: A History of Twentieth-Century Fashions|url=https://archive.org/details/swimsuithistoryo0000kenn|url-access=registration|last=Kennedy|first=Sarah|publisher=Carlton Books Limited|year=2010|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/swimsuithistoryo0000kenn/page/114 114]}}</ref> Despite it being scandalous to some, the two-piece was eventually accepted because there really wasn't another option. The L-85 did not only make swimsuits smaller, but it also pushed designers to become more creative with their designs, this led to suits that accentuated and drew attention to women's bodies. This was done by putting boning in the swimwear. Two years after Leser debuted one of the first two-pieces, the bikini was invented in 1946 by a French engineer named [[Louis Réard]]. It was apparently named after the [[Bikini Atoll]], which was the site of a nuclear bomb test in 1946, because Réard hoped its impact would be explosive in the fashion world.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fifty Fashion Looks That Changed The 1950s|last=Reed|first=Paula|publisher=Conran Octopus|year=2012|location=London|pages=34}}</ref> The bikini was even more daring than the two-piece, thus it did not become popular until 1953 when [[Brigitte Bardot]] was photographed in one at the [[Cannes Film Festival]]. Although the bikini did become popular in Europe in 1953 it did not become popular in the United States until the 1960s.
;
=== Style gallery ===
==== 1930–1935 ====
<gallery>
File:1930 - Paris Dress Shoppe - 27 Jun MC - Allentown PA.jpg|1 - 1930
File:LADIES HOME JOURNAL, SWIMSUIT LAYOUT.jpg|2 - 1932
File:Cissy van Bennekom en Eva Waldschmidt (1932).jpg|3 - 1932
File:"Phèdre" MET 84.30 view1 bw.jpeg|4 - 1933
File:Mae West NYWTS detail.jpg|5 – 1933
File:Portrait_of_Nan,_by_Grant_WoodFXD.jpg|6 – 1933
File:Bonnie Parker BC10.jpg|7 – 1934
File:Girl in Dallas 1934.jpg|8 – 1934
File:Annette Hanshaw modelling 04.jpg|9 - 1934
File:Girl in Dallas 1930s.jpg|10 – 1935
File:Elisabeth Bergner cropped.jpg|11 – 1935
</gallery>
#Newspaper advertisement for women's dresses, Paris Dress Shoppe, Allentown PA, 1930.
#A collection of swimwear, [[Ladies' Home Journal|Ladies Home Journal]], 1932.
#Dutch actress [[Cissy van Bennekom]] and model Eva Waldschmidt, 1932.
#[[:File:"Phèdre" MET 84.30 view1 bw.jpeg|Models wearing evening dresses]] by [[Jeanne Lanvin]], 1933.
#[[:Image:Mae West NYWTS detail.jpg|Actress]] [[Mae West]] wears a fur coat and a small asymmetric hat, 1933.
#[[:File:Portrait_of_Nan,_by_Grant_WoodFXD.jpg|Portrait of]] [[Nan Wood Graham]] by [[Grant Wood]], wearing a polka dot blouse and Marcel wave hair, 1933
#Outlaw [[Bonnie and Clyde|Bonnie Parker]] standing in front of a [[1932 Ford|Ford Model 18]], 1934.
#Girl in [[Dallas]], Texas wears a sweater and mid-calf length skirt with [[pleats]], 1934.
#Singer [[Annette Hanshaw]] models an evening dress designed by [[Gladys Parker]], 1934
#Young woman wearing a long, form-fitting dress with puffed [[sleeves]], 1935.
#[[:Image:Elisabeth Bergner cropped.jpg|Actress]] [[Elisabeth Bergner]] wears a fashionably tilted hat and a leopard fur coat, 1935.
==== 1936–1939 ====
<gallery>
File:Young woman in 1936.jpg|1 – 1936
File:Young Woman Learning to Sew 1936.gif|2 – 1936
File:Carole Lombard in a gown Travis Banton designed for her personal wardrobe, 1936.jpg|3 - 1936
File:Alfonsina Storni Mar del Plata.jpg|4 – 1936
File:StateLibQld 1 121004 Roy Parkinson and his pupils at the Gainsborough Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland, 1937.jpg|5 - 1937
File:Window shopping at Simpsons 2.jpg|6-1937
File:Zora Neale Hurston (1938).jpg|7- 1938
File:HarryAnaJuly1938B.jpg|8-1938
File:Face protection from snowstorms.jpg|9-1939
File:Cyclone - Lanvin.jpg|10-1939
</gallery>
# Young woman wears her hair in short, hard curls framing her face, but smooth at the crown to accommodate her small hat, 1936.
#[[:Image:Young Woman Learning to Sew 1936.gif|Young woman]] wears a printed dress fitted through the midriff with short puffed sleeves, Minnesota, 1936.
#[[Carole Lombard]] in a gown [[Travis Banton]] designed for her personal wardrobe, 1936
# Writer [[Alfonsina Storni]] at the [[Balneario|beach resort]] city of [[Mar del Plata]], 1936.
#[[:File:StateLibQld 1 121004 Roy Parkinson and his pupils at the Gainsborough Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland, 1937.jpg|Art exhibit]] of artist [[Roy Parkinson]] and his pupils, [[Brisbane]], Queensland, Australia, 1937.
#[[Window shopping|Window shoppers]] outside [[Simpsons (department store)|Simpsons]] department store in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]], 1937.
#Portrait of writer [[Zora Neale Hurston]], 1938
#[[:File:HarryAnaJuly1938B.jpg|Middle aged couple, USA, July, 1938]]
#[[:File:Face protection from snowstorms.jpg|Plastic face protection from snowstorms. Canada, Montreal, 1939]]
#"Cyclone" evening dress by [[Jeanne Lanvin]], 1939.
==== 1940–1945 ====
<gallery>
Image:Ilona Massey fsa 8b01038.jpg|1 – 1941
Image:Lana Turner fsa 8b01037.jpg|2 – 1941
Image:Rita Hayworth fsa 8b01035.jpg|3 – 1941
Image:Clerk_1942_detail_hairstyle.png|4 – 1942
Image:Bathing suit, women, tableau, paddle, boat, colorful Fortepan 61665.jpg|5 – 1942
Image:George Beurling signing autograph 1943.jpg|6 – 1943
Image:Colorful, portrait, woman, glasses, shades, sunbathe Fortepan 4123.jpg|7 – 1943
Image:PeggyLeeStageDoorCanteen.jpg|8 – 1943
Image:Nő és gyerek, 1943 Budapest. Fortepan 25806.jpg|9 – 1943
Image:Lillian Eugenia Smith NYWTS.jpg|10 – 1944
Image:Women in Bathing Suits North Africa 1944.gif|11 – 1944
Image:Luis Saslavsky y Mirtha Legrand.jpg|12 – 1945
</gallery>
#[[:Image:Ilona Massey fsa 8b01038.jpg|Sportswear]] of 1941 featured square shoulders and flared shorts.
#[[:Image:Lana Turner fsa 8b01037.jpg|Actress]] [[Lana Turner]] examines cotton stockings, wearing a smart knee-length suit with square shoulders, in this [[Farm Security Administration]] photo of 1941
#[[:Image:Rita Hayworth fsa 8b01035.jpg|Actress]] [[Rita Hayworth]] in a pink and silver [[lamé (fabric)|lamé]] evening gown by Howard Greer, 1941.
#[[:Image:Clerk 1942 detail hairstyle.gif|Clerk]] at [[North American Aviation]] in California wears a [[pompadour (hairstyle)|pompadour]] hairstyle with back hair confined in a floral snood tied with a bow, 1942.
#Girls wearing swimsuits in Hungary, 1942.
#[[:Image:George Beurling signing autograph 1943.jpg|Women employees]] of the Aluminum Co. of [[Kingston, Ontario]] wear knee-length skirts with blouses or sweaters (often with a string of graduated [[pearl]]s), 1943.
#Women's fashion in Europe (Hungary, 1943).
#[[:Image:PeggyLeeStageDoorCanteen.jpg|Singer]] [[Peggy Lee]] wears a pompadour hairstyle and an evening gown with a "sweetheart" neckline in the film ''[[Stage Door Canteen (film)|Stage Door Canteen]]'', 1943.
#Typical women's and kids' fashion in Europe during the Forties, Hungary in 1943, during the [[Second World War]].
#[[:Image:Lillian Eugenia Smith NYWTS.jpg|Writer]] [[Lillian Smith (author)|Lillian Smith]] wears a dark suit with an open-collared blouse, 1944.
#[[:Image:Women in Bathing Suits North Africa 1944.gif|Bathing suits]] worn by members of the [[Women's Army Corps|WACs]] in North Africa, 1944.
#Argentine actress [[Mirtha Legrand]] with director [[Luis Saslavsky]], 1945.
==Menswear==
[[File:Leonard Bernstein NYWTS 1945.jpg|right|thumb|Conductor [[Leonard Bernstein]] in sportswear of 1945: open-collared shirt, striped blazer, and wide-legged pleated slacks]]
[[File:Man in 1944.jpg|thumb|right|Men's [[necktie]]s often had bold, geometric patterns as can be seen in this photograph taken in 1944]]
=== Overview ===
For men, the most noticeable effect of the general sobering associated with the Great Depression was that the range of colors became more subdued. The bright colors popular in the 1920s fell out of fashion.
=== Suits ===
By the early 1930s, the "[[drape suit|drape cut]]" or "London Drape" suit championed by [[Frederick Scholte]], [[tailor]] to the Prince of Wales, was taking the world of men's fashion by storm. The new suit was softer and more flexible in construction than the suits of the previous generation; extra fabric in the shoulder and armscye, light padding, a slightly nipped waist, and fuller sleeves tapered at the wrist resulted in a cut with flattering folds or drapes front and back that enhanced a man's figure. The straight leg wide-trousers (the standard size was 23 inches at the cuff) that men had worn in the 1920s also became tapered at the bottom for the first time around 1935. The new suit was adopted enthusiastically by Hollywood stars including [[Fred Astaire]], [[Cary Grant]], and [[Gary Cooper]], who became the new fashion trendsetters after the Prince's abdication and exile. By the early 1940s, Hollywood tailors had exaggerated the drape to the point of caricature, outfitting [[film noir]] mobsters and private eyes in suits with heavily padded chests, enormous shoulders, and wide flowing trousers. Musicians and other fashion experimenters adopted the most extreme form of the drape, the [[zoot suit]], with very high waists, pegged trousers, and long coats.<ref>Boyer (1990).</ref><ref>Walker, Richard: ''The Savile Row Story'', Prion, 1988, {{ISBN|1-85375-000-X}}</ref>
=== Formal wear ===
In the early 1930s, new forms of summer evening clothes were introduced as appropriate for the popular seaside resorts. The waist-length white mess jacket, worn with a [[cummerbund]] rather than a waistcoat, was modeled after formal clothing of British officers in tropical climates. This was followed by a white dinner jacket, single or double-breasted. Both white jackets were worn with black bow ties and black trousers trimmed with braid down the side seams.
=== Sportswear ===
By 1933, [[knickerbockers (clothing)|knickerbocker]]s and [[plus-fours]], which had been commonly worn as sports-clothes in the 1920s had lost favor to casual trousers among the fashionable. In Britain and South Africa, brightly striped [[blazer]]s in red, white and blue were often worn in the summer both as informal wear, and for sports such as tennis, rowing or cricket. This continued until wartime rationing rendered the distinctive fabric unobtainable.<ref>[http://www.stgeorgespark.nmmu.ac.za/content/urbanlegends/displayarticle.asp?artid=urb_006 South African blazer]</ref>
=== Accessories ===
The most common hat of this period was the [[fedora (hat)|fedora]], often worn tipped down over one eye at a rakish angle. The more conservative [[Homburg (hat)|Homburg]] also remained popular, especially among older people and even began to be worn with [[semi-formal]] evening clothes in place of the [[tophat]], which in turn became confined to wear with [[Formal wear|formal]]. [[Necktie]]s were wide, and bold geometric designs were popular, including stripes, and quadrilateral designs.
=== Wartime restrictions ===
Many things affected the style of clothes that people wore. Austerity also affected men's civilian clothes during the war years. The British "Utility Suit" and American "Victory Suit" were both made of wool-synthetic blend yarns, without pleats, cuffs (turn-ups), sleeve buttons or patch pockets; jackets were shorter, trousers were narrower, and double-breasted suits were made without vests (waistcoats).<ref name="Mode">Wilcox, R. Turner: ''The Mode in Fashion'', 1942; rev. 1958, p. 328–36</ref> Men who were not in uniform could, of course, continue to wear pre-war suits they already owned, and many did so.
=== Style gallery 1930s ===
<gallery>
Image:Babe Ruth Gov.jpg|1 – 1930
Image:FDR on Train 1934.gif|2 – 1934
Image:Men's and women's fashion, Sydney Cup, Randwick, 1937, March 1937 Sam Hood.jpg|3 - 1937
Image:Walt Disney NYWTS.jpg|4 – 1938
</gallery>
#[[:Image:Babe Ruth Gov.jpg|Golfing attire]] of 1930, worn by [[Babe Ruth]] and former New York governor [[Al Smith]] - <small>State Archive of Florida</small>.
#[[:Image:FDR on Train 1934.gif|Double-breasted]] suits have pocket flaps and functional buttonholes in both lapels. [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], 1934.
#[[:Image:Men's and women's fashion, Sydney Cup, Randwick, 1937, March 1937 Sam Hood.jpg|Photo]] of Sydney Cup, Randwick, 1937.
#[[:Image:Walt Disney NYWTS.jpg|Photo]] of [[Walt Disney]] shows the padded shoulder and widening lapels of 1938.
;Style gallery 1940–45
<gallery>
Image:Charles S. Johnson.jpg|1 – c. 1940
File:Stark Young NYWTS.jpg|2 – 1940
Image:William Saroyan.jpg|3 – 1940
Image:Wendell Willkie with Thorne and Cowles NYWTS detail.jpg|4 – 1941
Image:Tiny Bradshaw.jpg|5 – 1942
File:Walter Pidgeon cph 3b24937.jpg|6 – 1942
Image:Zootsuit2.jpg|7 – 1942
Image:Colorful, skiing, winter Fortepan 27216.jpg|8 – 1943
</gallery>
#[[:Image:Charles S. Johnson.jpg|Photo]] of [[Charles Spurgeon Johnson]] wearing a wide-lapelled suit with a striped necktie, c. 1940.
#[[:File:Stark Young NYWTS.jpg|Photo]] of Stark Young in a [[herringbone (cloth)|herringbone]] tweed suit, 1940.
#[[:Image:William Saroyan.jpg|Writer]] [[William Saroyan]] wears the wide, patterned necktie fashionable in 1940.
#[[:Image:Wendell Willkie with Thorne and Cowles NYWTS detail.jpg|Overcoats]] of Wendell Willkie, Thorne and Cowles
#[[:Image:Tiny Bradshaw.jpg|Jazz bandleader]] [[Tiny Bradshaw]] wears a double-breasted suit with wide lapels and tapered trousers, accessorized with a large [[pocket square]] (handkerchief) and a patterned necktie, 1942
#[[:File:Walter Pidgeon cph 3b24937.jpg|Actor]] [[Walter Pidgeon]] wears a [[houndstooth check]] jacket, 1942.
#[[:Image:Zootsuit2.jpg|Extreme]] [[zoot suit]]s of 1942
#Man skiing in Hungary, 1943.
{{clear}}
==Working clothes==
Both men and women working on war service wore practical [[trousers]] or [[overalls]]. Women bundled their hair up in [[cap]]s, [[scarf|scarves]], and [[snood (headgear)|snood]]s.
<gallery>
Image:FSA, CCC, "CCC boys at work", Prince George Co., V.A - NARA - 195829.tif|1 – c. 1933
Image:American shepherd3.jpg|2 – 1942
Image:Women workers in snoods 1942.gif|3 – 1942
Image:Aircraft workers on lunch break 1942.gif|4 – 1942
Image:African American worker Richmond Shipyards.jpg|5 – 1943
</gallery>
#[[:Image:FSA, CCC, "CCC boys at work", Prince George Co., V.A - NARA - 195829.tif|Young men]] of the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] working in loose-cut trousers and brimmed hats, Virginia, c. 1933.
#[[:Image:American shepherd3.jpg|Shepherd]], Montana, 1942.
#[[:Image:Women workers in snoods 1942.gif|Women]] working on war service in Texas wear their hair in snoods, 1942.
#[[:Image:Aircraft workers on lunch break 1942.gif|Men and women]] of [[North American Aviation]] on lunch break wear short-sleeved shirts and trousers, 1942.
#[[:Image:African American worker Richmond Shipyards.jpg|Woman]] working in the [[Richmond, California|Richmond]] shipyards wears practical overalls and a cap, 1943.
{{clear}}
==Children's clothes==
=== Practically and savings ===
Children's clothing in the 1930s and 1940s were heavily impacted by the problems of the era with many families suffering from financial difficulties from the Great Depression and material shortages and rationing during the Second World War. Clothing was frequently homemade with mothers often making garments from other items such as Sacks. However, these outfits were often based on popular fashions.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2020-05-29|title=1930s Fashion: Women's, Men's, and Children's Clothing|url=https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/1930s-fashion-women-men-clothing/|access-date=2021-08-04|website=FamilySearch Blog|language=en-US}}</ref> With sewing patterns to guide their creation often included in magazines.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Elena|date=2018-09-28|title=Three magazines from 1930s|url=https://vintagesewingmachinesblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/28/three-magazines-from-1930s/|access-date=2021-08-04|website=Vintage Sewing Machines|language=en-GB}}</ref> Exchanges were set up where children's clothes which had been outgrown by their previous owners could be handed down.<ref>{{Cite web|title=8 Facts about Clothes Rationing in Britain During the Second World War|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/8-facts-about-clothes-rationing-in-britain-during-the-second-world-war|access-date=2021-08-04|website=Imperial War Museums|language=en}}</ref>
=== Fashion and Popular culture ===
However, fashion continued to be a major influence on the way children were clothed with contemporary righting suggesting that many were interested in how they looked and keeping up with current trends.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=1 July 1938|title=Young slaves of fashion|url=http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/jul/01/children-young-style-archive-1938|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-04|website=The Guardian (archive)|language=en}}</ref> Frilly dresses with embelished puffy sleeves inspired by those worn by child fashion icons such as American filmstar [[Shirley Temple]] and British princesses [[Elizabeth II|Elizabeth]] and [[Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon|Margaret]] were popular with girls in the 1930s. Hemlines were shorter for younger girls and reached below the knee as they grew older. Young boys were generally dressed in short trousers usually combined with a shirt but [[Sailor suit|sailor suits]] also remained popular.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=1930s CHILDREN’S WEAR – Screen Archive South East|url=https://screenarchive.brighton.ac.uk/portfolio/screen-search-fashion/1930s-fashion/1930s-childrens-wear/|access-date=2021-08-04|language=en-GB}}</ref>
=== Gallery ===
<gallery>
Image:Queen Mary with Princess Elizabeth and Margaret.jpg|1 – 1939
Image:Dorothea Lange, The Arnold children, Michigan Hill, Washington, 1939.jpg|2-1939
</gallery>
#[[:Image:Queen Mary with Princess Elizabeth and Margaret.jpg|Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret]] with their grandmother wearing matching coats and hats.
#[[:Image:Dorothea Lange, The Arnold children, Michigan Hill, Washington, 1939.jpg|Children]] in Michigan Hill, Washington.
==See also==
* [[Interwar period]]
* [[Home front during World War II]]
** [[United States home front during World War II]]
** [[United Kingdom home front during World War II]]
** [[Australian home front during World War II]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==References and further reading==
* [[Janet Arnold|Arnold, Janet]]: ''Patterns of Fashion 2: Englishwomen's Dresses and Their Construction c. 1860–1940'', Wace 1966, Macmillan 1972. Revised metric edition, Drama Books 1977. {{ISBN|0-89676-027-8}}
* Black, J. Anderson, and Madge Garland, ''A History of Fashion'', New York, Morrow, 1975
* Boyer, G. Bruce, ''Eminently Suitable'', New York: W. W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1990, {{ISBN|978-0-393-02877-5}}
* Brockman, Helen, ''The Theory of Fashion Design'', New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1965 {{ISBN|0-471-10586-4}}
* Bryant, Nancy O. "The interrelationship between decorative and structural design in Madeleine Vionnet's Work", Costume 1991, V 25, pp. 73–88
* Hawes, Elizabeth: ''Fashion is Spinach'', New York: Random House, 1938
* Hunt, Marsha: ''The Way We Wore: Styles of the 1930s and '40s and Our World Since Then'', Fallbrook Pub. Ltd., 1993, {{ISBN|1-882747-00-3}}
* LaValley, Satch: "Hollywood and Seventh Avenue: The Impact of Historical Films on Fashion", in ''Hollywood and History: Costume Design in Film'', Los Angeles County Museum of Art/Thames and Hudson, 1987, {{ISBN|0-500-01422-1}}
* Laver, James: ''The Concise History of Costume and Fashion'', Abrams, 1979.
* Leese, Elizabeth: ''Costume Design in the Movies'', Dover Books, 1991, {{ISBN|0-486-26548-X}}
* Steele, Valerie: ''Paris Fashion: A Cultural History'', Oxford University Press, 1988, {{ISBN|0-19-504465-7}}
* Steele, Valerie: ''The Corset'', Yale University Press, 2001
* Walker, Richard: ''The Savile Row Story'', Prion, 1988, {{ISBN|1-85375-000-X}}
* Wilcox, R. Turner: ''The Mode in Fashion'', 1942; 2nd expanded edition New York: Scribners, 1958.
==External links==
* [https://www.fashion-era.com/stylish_thirties.htm 1930s Fashion History]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071024174357/http://www.costumes.org/history/100pages/1937chicagowool.htm Chicago Woolen Mills catalog for 1937]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071014131249/http://costumes.org/HISTORY/100pages/1934sears.htm Fashions from the Sears Catalog, 1934]
* [http://www.1930s-fashions.co.uk/ Picture galleries of 1930s fashions (UK)]
* {{cite web|publisher= [[Victoria and Albert Museum]]|url= http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/f/fashion-drawing-and-illustration-1930s/|title= 1930s - 20th Century Fashion Drawing and Illustration|work= Fashion, Jewellery & Accessories|access-date= 2011-04-03|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110802025522/http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/f/fashion-drawing-and-illustration-1930s/|archive-date= 2011-08-02|url-status= dead}}
*[http://cdm16028.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p15324coll12/searchterm/193*/field/title/mode/all/conn/and/order/nosort 1930s Fashion Plates of men, women, and children's fashion] from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
{{Timeline of clothing and fashion}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:1930-1945 In Fashion}}
[[Category:1930s fashion]]
[[Category:1940s fashion]]
[[Category:Home front during World War II]]' |
