1940s wardrobe essentials

[Jennifer Lynn]

I'm loving the shows on this page...I have so many shoes, but I'd love a pair like those!

 

[Salsanadia]

I love this thread. I am going to look here often.

 

[vintageTink]

Love this.

I'm drooling over these scans.

 

[Ms*Raven*Lady]

I'm drooling over these scans.

I agree, and I am particularly fond of the coats. So feminine! Lovely!

 

[Miss Scarlet]

I wasn't too sure where to put this link, but it's a demonstration on how to wear the same dress 7 days in a row, which I suppose could provide wardrobe essentials ideas. I'm not sure I'd be too happy wearing the same dress for seven days, especially if "Lancelot" were to come over.

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=38235

 

[Sincerely-Dee]

I wasn't too sure where to put this link, but it's a demonstration on how to wear the same dress 7 days in a row, which I suppose could provide wardrobe essentials ideas. I'm not sure I'd be too happy wearing the same dress for seven days, especially if "Lancelot" were to come over.

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=38235

I wouldn't like to have to wear the same dress for 7 days in a row but this is such a clever way of livening up a plain dress, even if you did it on 7 different occasions.

 

[Mrs. Merl]

I think that is awesome actually!! And when thought of in conjunction with a reprint of an old beauty book I have, it seems to me that it was extremely common for people to have very limited or very basic wardrobes as such and would dress things up exactly as shown here! I think it is ingenious and being a person who keeps a more vintage sized wardrobe, I might just employ a few of these ideas! (In fact, I am going to make notes in my clothing/costume journal I think it is so fun!)

 

[Lady Day]

No one *liked* to wear the same thing every day, but many didnt have a choice. There was rationing of just about everything, fabric and clothes included. To only have one or two dresses was a fact of life, and these tips Im sure were quite handy.

Im sure Lizzie knows way more about this than I

LD

 

[Mrs. Merl]

I think the idea of wearing the same clothes everyday would be far more devastating to our modern day society. I bet for most people, even without war rationing and such, it was just a state of normalcy to not have an extensive wardrobe. I really think our consumerism and the advent of disposable clothing through the late 20th century has really skewed our ideas on how many clothes we should all own.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I grew up wearing the same thing for several days at a time, so I never really thought of it as anything unusual. Most women took precautions to keep their clothes from getting too soiled -- aprons would be worn when doing housework, dress shields and slips would be worn to minimize perspiration damage -- so it wasn't all that difficult to avoid looking too frowsy.

The ideal would be to alternate -- if you had two housedresses, you'd wear them on alternate days, and air out the one not being worn. You would *not* wash dresses after every wearing -- you'd only wash them when they obviously needed it. Otherwise, between strong soap and line drying, they'd fade prematurely.

 

[Mrs. Merl]

That is exactly the way I thought it would work! Thanks Lizzie!

 

[MirandaFern]

I think the idea of wearing the same clothes everyday would be far more devastating to our modern day society. I bet for most people, even without war rationing and such, it was just a state of normalcy to not have an extensive wardrobe. I really think our consumerism and the advent of disposable clothing through the late 20th century has really skewed our ideas on how many clothes we should all own.

I read an article, this morning, about how the cost of clothing is one of the things that has not increased in price over the last 10 years, inspite of inflation, because of cheap overseas labor.

Vintage Life Magazine has an article in the June/July Issue (I think) about 1940s renaissance of the blouse, because they use such a small amount of fabric and could easily be made from recycled garments.

 

[40'sfetish]

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Such a mine of visual information! I was quite pleased to see that the camel hair coat that I bought from the opshop was almost identical in one of the catalogue scans, one with a tie round the waist. I only wear it in the depths of winter as it is incredibly heavy and warm. Once you walk into a shopping centre you break out into a sweat and it's awkward to carry.


Oh my, those shoes.... I'm in lust with them and they look so comfortable and long lasting. I'm sick of buying modern shoes to have them fall apart on me within months while they try to tear my feet apart in the meantime.

 

[Kiri]

I wasn't too sure where to put this link, but it's a demonstration on how to wear the same dress 7 days in a row, which I suppose could provide wardrobe essentials ideas. I'm not sure I'd be too happy wearing the same dress for seven days, especially if "Lancelot" were to come over.

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=38235

That's incredible! Gah, I'm just dying for the dress and all those neat accessories!

And all the pictures from the catologue are fantastic! My 1940's picture file on my computer just became much larger.

 

[RosebudMarie]

I want a pair of those heeled oxfords for everyday, and I notice they're making a comeback! I think I saw some on the Payless shoes website as well as other places.

 

[zombi]

It's true that brogues are very "in" right now -- I've spotted brogue styles at Aldo and Target recently. I know Next shoes (or something like that) has a lot of brogue styles online for order right now, too. I'm happy they're so popular presently -- I really have been wanting some and this seems a good time to look around for them!

 

[Deleted member 12480]

resurrecting this thread! Has anyone noticed a distinct lack of 40s skirts? I've been looking for a relatively inoffensive 40s skirt that isn't made of wool (for summer)for ages now. Where are they? What do they even look like?! Haha! X x

 

[LinaSofia]

I agree... they seem VERY hard to come by! But I guess dresses were a little more common and skirts tended to be part of a suit or ensemble until they became more popular in the 50s? I might be wrong about this, but that's how it seems to me

 

[bunnyb.gal]

On the positive side, there seem to be loads of 40's skirt patterns kicking about, and in the scheme of things are about the easiest items to sew up, if you're so inclined...

 

[kamikat]

If you sew, there are a ton of skirt patterns out there.