Hello and welcome back to my blog. Today I thought I would talk about 1930s fashion and the trends of the era. Following on from my Roaring 20s blog post this is all about the stylish 30s...
During the 1930s the Great Depression arose. Starting in 1929 it lasted 10 agonising years. The Great Depression was the worse economic disaster to this day. The Wall Street Crash started in the USA and spread throughout the world. With stock prices, income, tax revenue and profits dropping many people found themselves either unemployed or in a very tough situation financially. From this huge economic disaster the fashion industry was effected massively.
In the 1930s ready-to-wear items become very popular due to the cheap mass production. After buying a lot of couture and one-off pieces in the 1920s women had to change their ways. Zips also become very popular in the 1930s due to them being much cheaper than buttons. Cheaper fabrics and cottons were also used to cut costs and bring in more profit. From this rough, textured, crepe and crinkled fabrics become a trend to make the cheap fabrics more stylish. In the 1930s the 20s 'boyish' look completely disappeared and women started to wear more form-fitting outfits. Women started to wear clothing that made the hips and waists smaller while accentuating the shoulders. Wearing puffed sleeves, shoulder pads, full collars and ruffled capped sleeves helped to accentuate the shoulder which in turn made the waist and hips look much smaller.
The House Dress...
House dresses were simple casual dresses women of the 1930s wore around the house. These would have only been seen by her family or lady friends. These dresses were usually made from a durable cotton with a bright bold print. These dresses usually had ruffled sleeves and a tie around the waist to accentuate it. During the time of the Great Depression some women would prefer to sew their own clothing or upcycle existing dresses they had to save money. A unique house dress some women would wear was called a 'hooverette'. It was essentially a reversible dress which again saved them money. These dresses were practical and affordable while still portraying the 1930s style.
Afternoon Dresses...
In the 1930s women would never wear their house dresses outside. If they needed to go to the shop, run errands, go to tea or go to the theatre they would wear a afternoon dress instead. These dresses would be made from more expensive fabrics such at silk or rayon crepe. They would never be made out of a cotton fabric. These dresses had a similar look to the house dresses with the puff sleeves, belted waists and large collars. However, they had much more embellishment and detail on them including: embroidery, decorative buttons, shirring or ruching, bows, quilting and faux flowers. Unlike the house dresses the afternoon dress would have a much more solid colouring and subdued prints.
Evening Gowns...
For evening events and parties women were very glamourous and stylish. Women wore floor-length gowns often with a train at the back. The dresses were very fitted around the waist and hips and then flared out slightly around the mid-thigh or just above the knee. This gave the dress a very elegant and glamourous look. A lot of the dresses also had puffed or ruffled sleeves and in the late 30s high necks and halter necks with low backs started to become popular. This generated the signature backless 30s evening gown. These dresses would have been made from silky, clingy fabrics and were often worn with fur. Popular evening gown fabrics were: chiffon, silk, crepe-de-chines and satin and metallic fabrics also become quite popular during this decade.
Trousers...
There were only a few events that were acceptable for women to wear trousers to. This included a beach day where women wore a jumpsuit with a very wide leg trouser which was high waisted and often belted to accentuate the figure. Trousers, and even shorts, were worn for playing sports such as: tennis, hiking, skiing, picnics and even when attending a sporting event. The sailor two piece known as the 'sailor middy' was a popular sportswear outfit. This included a pair of trousers that were often wide legged with a crease down the front or a very wide leg culottes that looked like a skirt. They often had a double button 'sailor' front or a side zip/ button closure. The trousers worn in the 1930s were usually made from a durable cotton fabric and in winter were made from twill or wool. The winter snow pants were wide legged but were fitted around the ankle to prevent snow from getting into the boots.
Swimwear...
As well as the beach trousers women wore fitted one pieces (often made from a wool fabric and cotton jersey lining) or a mini skirt over boy shorts which were belted at the waist. The swimwear often had simple tank straps and some had low backs. In the 1930s sunbathing become a popular trend as it was a means of leisure and not a fact that you were poor and had to work in the sun. However, a concern for too much sun soon arise so Hollywood stars started to wear large sun hats and sunglasses to protect themselves from the sun so this quickly become a popular trend as well. Open toe sandals were also a popular beach trend in the 1930s.
Coats...
1930s winter coats had a similar style to the dresses worn. They were often long with a tight high waist, full shoulders and oversized collars and were made entirely out of wool. Many of the coats worn were buttoned up the front with a matching belt and some had detachable fur collars. The coats were often: green, blue, wine red, brown or cream.
In the spring women often wore coats that were part of a two-piece suit. They were slightly shorter than the dress worn underneath and were made from a lighter wool fabric. They were often worn open so had no buttons or fastenings but still had large fur collars.
Rain coats were a similar shape to the rest of the coats worn and the trench coat become very popular. Some were still made from a wool fabric and lined with a rubber to keep out water while others were made entirely from rubber. Another popular trend was clear raincoats as women didn't have to cover up the beautiful dresses worn underneath.
Accessories...
Accessories were very important to women in the 1930s as they could transform a simple dress into something spectacular. Matching belts, gloves and bags were popular and were often dyed to match the dress perfectly.
Hats were the most popular way to glam up an outfit in the 1930s. The 1920s cloche hat was still popular and straw hats become popular for the summer. Wide-brimmed gardening and gardening party hats were popular at this time as well. The cloche hat slowly evolved into the slouch hat which was worn low over the face and often had a larger brim and was sometimes worn turned up.
Women often wore small flat clutch bags or pochettes in the 1930s. Evening bags often had jewelled clasps to make them more glamourous. As the decade went on bags started to get larger with handles instead.
Gloves were worn both with day dresses and evening gowns. Gloves worn in the day time were often mid-arm length with a gauntlet style and were made from a crochet lace or soft leather fabric. Gauntlet style gloves had flared cuffs which were attached at the wrists or had embroidered turn-over cuffs. In the evening gloves were elbow length but many women preferred not to wear them and instead when bare armed.
In the 1930s women wore shoes in a variety of styles. Shoes with cut outs such as: pumps, T-straps, ankle straps, low heel flats and sandals were very popular in the 30s. The pumps women wore often has a square heel and were made from a patent leather or suede fabric. They also had many decorative details such as lace, removable tongues and bows and top stitching. Near the end of the decade wedges also become a popular shoe choice.
So there you have it, the stylish 30s. I hope you liked this post and found it interesting to learn more about 30s fashion. I love looking at our fashion history and thinking about where our fashion trends nowadays originate from. If you like this type of post then keep an eye out for more to come. I am going to be doing a post for every era up until our current day. Let me know which era of fashion is your favourite in the comments below. See you soon...
Emma Victoria
