Fashion History – Women’s Clothing of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s

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Table of Contents

Women’s Fashion in the 1930s
Women’s Fashion in the 1940s
Women’s Fashion in the 1950s
Works Cited

Women’s Fashion in the 1930s

The Wall Street crash of 1929 hit everyone in the U.S., and many people started preferring factory-made clothes due to their lower cost. And yet, women still strived to look beautiful, elegant, and even glamorous in the 1930s. They often would try to look sophisticated, wearing apparel of more muted colors, as well as clothes adorned with geometric or floral patterns. Unlike it had been in the decade before, many females of the 1930s wore mid-calf or floor-length dresses with long sleeves and wide shoulders. These dresses often were characterized by the accentuated high waist; and yet, they sometimes were bias-cut in order to make stress on the wearer’s curves (“1930s Fashion” n. pag.). Hats were still often used by women, though their use was reducing gradually (Phipps n.pag.). It is also worth pointing out that such material as nylon was introduced at the end of the decade; nylon stockings have become a popular type of clothing (“1930s Fashion” n. pag.). Thus, women of the thirties preferred more sophisticated and modest clothes than before. The dressing habits also were affected by the Wall Street crash, causing people to buy manufactured apparel rather than custom-made; and yet, they still tried to look fashionable and elegant.

Women’s Fashion in the 1940s

In the 1940s, the USA recovered from the Great Depression; at the same time, the war was going on in Europe, which reduced the amounts of imports and provided the U.S. clothes industry with a boost. The women’s apparel was often characterized by “squared shoulders, narrow hips, and skirts that ended just below the knee” (“Women’s Clothing” par. 1); very slim, “wasp” waists were also popular. And yet, due to the war, limiting legislation was in effect, which caused firms to reduce the use of cloth and led to the use of more practical garments (“1940 to 1950” n. pag.). At the same time, the needs of war caused more women to work in factories; this led to the popularity of slack garments, which were perceived as scandalous before (“1940 to 1950” n. pag.). However, in 1947, Christian Dior’s first fashion collection was presented; in the American media, it gained the name of “New Look.” Even in spite of the fact that the collection had at first been met with disapproval as wasteful, “New Look” gradually became more and more popular, and added long skirts and “curvaceous shapes” to the American women’s fashion (“1940 to 1950” n. pag.).

Women’s Fashion in the 1950s

The Dior’s “New Look” was already mentioned; it had a significant effect on the fashion for American women in the 1950s. The general look that included a very slim waist, making a woman look like an hourglass, still remained popular (Monet par. 2); this led to the frequent use of corselets, waist-cinchers, and similar means of making a female look thin. It is also stressed that women often had to attend social events in order to help their husbands with their career advancements, which led to the constant use of gloves (“1950 to 1960” n. pag.). The need to constantly look fashionable was alleviated by the fact that pret-a-porters became widespread, which allowed for the mass use of garments that resembled those of the “high fashion.” It is also noteworthy that women frequently had to play the roles of entertainers for males, and often wore cocktail dresses. This tendency became especially accented at the end of the 1950s, and was one of the factors that led to the development of the babydoll style in the 1960s (“1950 to 1960” n. pag.).

Works Cited

1930s Fashion for Women. n.d. Web.

1940 to 1950. 2014. Web.

1950 to 1960. 2013. Web.

Monet, Dolores. Fashion History – Women’s Clothing of the 1950s. 2015. Web.

Phipps, Paul. Fashion in the 1930s. 2016. Web.

Women’s Clothing. n.d. Web.

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Fashion History – Women’s Clothing of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s

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