the most characteristic north american fashion trend from the 1930s to the end of world war II 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 fibres, especially rayon for dresses and viscose for linings and lingerie, and syntheticnylon stockings. the zipper also became widely used.
suntans (called at the time "sunburns") became fashionable in the early 1930s, along with travel to the resorts along the mediterranean, in the bahamas, and on the east coast of florida where one could acquire a tan, leading to new categories of clothes: white dinner jackets for men and beach pajamas, halter tops, and bare midriffs for women.
fashion trendsetters in the period included the prince of wales (edward viii from january 1936 until his abdication that december) and his companion wallis simpson (the duke and duchess of windsor from their marriage in june 1937) and such hollywood movie stars as fred astaire, carole lombard and joan crawford. the lighthearted, forward-looking attitude and fashions of the late 1920s lingered through most of 1930, 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 in an attempt to bring back the traditional "womanly" look. other aspects of fashion from the 1920s took longer to phase out. cloche hats remained popular until about 1933 while short hair remained popular for many women until late in the 1930s. throughout the 1930s and early '40s, a second influence vied with the paris couturiers as a wellspring for ideas: the american cinema.
paris designers such as 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.'
the 1890s leg-o-mutton sleeves designed by walter plunkett for irene dunne in 1931's cimarron helped to launch the broad-shouldered look and adrian adolph greenberg's little velvet hat worn tipped over one eye by greta garbo in romance (1930) became the 'empress eugenie hat ... universally copied in a wide price range', it influenced how women wore their hats for the rest of the decade.' movie costumes were covered not only in film fan magazines, but in influential fashion magazines such as women's wear daily, harper's bazaar and 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.
the most influential film of all was 1939's gone with the wind. 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 crinolines back into wedding fashion after a decade of sleek, figure-hugging styles.
lana turner's 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 brassieres, which continued to be influential into the 1950s, and was arguably the first major style of youth fashion. jean patou, who had first raised hemlines to eighteen inches off the floor with his 'flapper' dresses of 1924, had begun lowering them again in 1927, using vionnet's handkerchief hemline to disguise the change.
by 1930, longer skirts and natural waists were shown everywhere. 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. by the late '30s, emphasis was moving to the back, with halter necklines and high-necked but backless evening gowns with sleeves.
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. in Britain, clothing was strictly rationed, with a system of "points", and the board of trade issued regulations for 'utility clothes' in 1941. in america the war production board issued its regulation l85 on March 8, 1942, specifying restrictions for every item of women's clothing. because the military used so much green and brown dye, manufacturers used more red dye in clothing.
later in the war, most women wore 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. because of the war, current european fashion was no longer available to women in the united states.
in short, we often think that the fashion industry is an ivory tower apart from the real world but this age showed just how interconnected our daily lives are with what we throw onto our backs.
fash'on... BAM!
