1940’s Fashion – A Woman’s Clothing Plan 1947

1940’s Clothing Plan and Budget 1947 –

1947-young-womans-clothing-plan
1940’s fashion – A woman’s annual clothing plan in 1947. Dresses, coats, hosiery, lingerie and shoes

Now see the lavishly illustrated concise history of 1940s fashion !

Concise history of 1940's fashion---1940-to-1949
Concise history of 1940’s fashion—1940-to-1949

1940’s Fashion – A Young Woman’s Annual Clothing Plan

A typical yearly clothing plan for a 19 year old San Francisco woman in 1947.

Even in the opulent USA, the average woman of reasonable means, could only afford one or two of her favorite wardrobe items, such as dresses, hats, underwear, shoes, stockings, gloves, handbags etc. The chief fabric is the new Rayon !

It’s an interesting insight not only into the normal clothes a fashionable young woman of moderate means would wear in the post world war two years, but of the actual cost !
Even with the limited budget, a 1940’s woman still managed to be glamorous.

1940’s Clothing Plan – Hats and Coats

1940's hat fashions
Gabriela D ( Nancy Wake) models typical 1940’s hats
  • One Straw hat
  • 1 Winter Reefer coat
  • Single Summer coat
1940's fashion plan - Winter Reefer Coats
1940’s fashion plan – Winter Reefer Coats and hats

1947 Clothing Plan – Dresses

1940's dresses - wardrobe plan
1940’s dresses – clothing plan
  • 1 Evening Dress – rayon
  • 2 x Afternoon dresses – rayon
  • Two Day dresses – wool
  • 2 x Street dresses- rayon
  • Two Tea dresses – cotton

1947 Clothing Plan – Lingerie 

Saks Fifth Avenue store. Girl modeling a corsellette 1942
1940’s lingerie – Typical foundation garments of corselette or girdle and brassiere with stockings

1947 Clothing Plan – Shoes

1940's shoes - pumps, slingbacks, oxfords
1940’s shoes – pumps, slingbacks, oxfords © Shoe Icons
  • One pair of Oxfords
  • Two pairs of open toe pumps
  • 1 Pair of evening sandals
1940s style shoes

Henry Fonda started out his film career as a shoe fitter to Barbara Stanwyck.

1940’s Clothing Plan – Accessories

1940's-clothing-accessories---stockings-and-slips
1940’s-clothing-accessories—stockings-and-slips
  • 1 Bathrobe – cotton
  • 3 Pajamas – cotton
  • Three Pairs of Stockings
  • 1 Pair of Slippers – leather
  • Pair of Galoshes
  • 2 Set of Gloves – leather
  • 1 Handbag
1940s gaytees - for rainy days
1940’s gay-tees – for rainy days. Perfect for keeping your heels dry

Total purchase cost annually – $ 112.00
Annual maintenance costs

Cleaning and pressing – $ 2.20 total
Heels – 5 replacements at $ 1.35 total
Toe Tips – 5 replacements at $ 1.70
Half soles and heels – 1 replacement $1.37

Clothing budgets is not a term that modern women in the developed west tend to think about these days, but back in the frugal post depression and war years, it was a necessity. These budgets for women were usually published in magazines by budgeting experts and were for anything from one year up to three years.

That’s all !
©Glamour Daze

Original source material – Clothes for Girls -1927 by Elizabeth Todd

The 1940s Make-up & Beauty Guide

1940's makeup and beauty guides

1940’s makeup and beauty guides

Other 1940’s clothing related posts – 

The Easy Guide to 1940s Fashion – Women’s Dress and Style
Clothing Plan for a 1940’s Woman – How to dress Accurately
1940’s fashion in the War Years
1940’s Fashion after the War
1940’s Fashion – Betty’s Winter wardrobe Plan 1948
A 1940’s Housewife’s Daily Routine
1940s’ Make-up Guide
Vintage Make-up Tutorial Film

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19 thoughts on “1940’s Fashion – A Woman’s Clothing Plan 1947”

  1. Great post, my husband and I jokingly say we are in “war times” I mean, we actually are though! (referring to our budget)… I was just watching a couple classic 1940’s movies and wondering what they would usually buy for a wardrobe.. this is very informative! We could stick to this now a days and do without the stockings, corsets and hats, gloves, so it would be even cheaper!

  3. I love this post! Very useful information. Just some food for thought though.. her clothing budget with maintenance totals at $119. With inflation that would be close to $1150 now! I definitely don't spend that much annually on clothes but maybe this means I should go shopping ;)

  6. this is really great iv been trying to simplify my wardrobe for ages this really helped and i love the style of this era =)

  9. Perfect! Since I'm a 19 yr. old College girl this is the perfect info for me! Especially since being on a budget will help me simplify. I love that it's 40's too!

  10. I've been wanting to make more wardrobe more home-sewn, but wasn't sure where to start, so this list is extremely helpful for me! Though I could probably nix the evening gown for a different type of dress.

  11. Oh how wonderful to read! It really has changed.
    But I cant set my mind on if it´s a good change or not…
    Because I like the way they thought before,
    but it was somewhat conservative.

  12. What an amazing post! Thank you! I look on shamefully at my vastly reduced shoe collection which is still far too large, it does make you realise how little you can actually live with, an important lesson in this tough financial times.

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