1930's Style and Hollywood
Imagine this: It is a little over a quarter into the 20th century. In a small, urban town, people are up and about doing their business. One woman is wearing a simple dress made out of the same colored fabric that is used as a poultry feed sack. She’s carrying a brown paper bag full of food and she’s wearing a vintage cloche hat with a green ribbon around the crown of it. More pedestrians are walking down the sidewalk, including a couple walking with linked arms. The man is wearing a double-breasted suit and full-cut trousers, while the woman is wearing a silk, long dress with flow at the bottom of it. She has on a french beret that has a flower on the front of it. The people described are all examples of different styles of clothing in the 1930’s. These fads were all the usually worn outfits of this era. Men and women’s fashion and trends were set and inspired by Hollywood star’s appearance on television. “Because of the need to save money, the average women could no longer buy new clothes every few months. Instead, they had to remake the clothes they already had, reusing any material that was on-hand.” (1930’s Fashion for Women, n.p.) The Great Depression brought a large impact on people’s ability to buy new clothes. Up until this time in history, the custom was to change outfits throughout the whole day depending on the activity, but people in debt could no longer do that. Women wore dresses made out of chicken feed sacks. These dresses could be different designs and prints, collared or not collared, and usually, they had buttons on them. Otherwise, during the day, skirt’s hem lines would be at mid-calf. Shorter skirts would widen off the hip, and long skirts would not with the purpose to accentuate a slim waist. ankle length dresses were worn in the evening or at a formal event. As for tops, sleeves would sometimes have shoulder pads or puffs. Shoulder pads were used to square shoulders under blouses, coats, and dresses. As for accessories, women wore
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