Lavishly illustrated history of vintage fashion, makeup, and hairstyles for women in the 20th Century
A look at a Pathe era 1920s shoe fashion film. 1920s Shoe Fashions on Film, courtesy of Pathe Films. Once upon a time, fashion shows were more or less dress hows. In 1929, a 1920s shoes eye view to beauty is important enough to require a special show of its own as we are treated to …
Mary Baldwin College for Girls 1940s Yearbooks – Published every year of the 20th century, the yearbook of Mary Baldwin College, now a fully fledged university since August 2016, is a great resource for the clothing and hairstyles of young women in the United States. Every year is published on Archive.org and are a real …
Ever wondered why a size 12 is called a size 12? – Kass McGann of Reconstructing History.com Explains – Dress sizing is certainly confusing! I mean, a man’s jacket size 42 fits a man with a chest measurement of 42″. Jeans sized 36/32 fit a waist of 36″ and an inseam of 32″. But what …
More Women are buying more clothes for more money – In the country’s custom fashion salons and high-priced stores, with the post war fears of fabric shortages, business in fashion is booming .. and women are in a frenzy of buying, at least those who can afford it. Shown here are this falls latest silhouettes …
1930’s Style Report by Carolyn Wicks – Just look at lovely June Clayworth who offers us some interesting new styles from her Autumn wardrobe. From the left, this checked knit dress has yellow and green predominating. To the right, the leather bows on this black wool dress are very new. A leather hat matches the …
An Evening of Fashion – Savoy Hotel London 1951 Pathe fashion newsreel in luscious color. Includes an exclusive peek backstage during the show. Let’s join the stars, celebrities and Britains top fashion designers. The occasion, a mannequin parade with a difference. Beginning beautifully by this Worth model Rolande, exhibiting this banana coloured facecloth dinner dress, …
Pathe News report on the new US hairstyles – From America comes a new 1940’s hairstyle that’s almost as smooth as a plate across the top of your head. For the girl with an oval face, this is the newest idea with soft curls drooping to the shoulders. A variation, is a centre parting and …
Charles ‘Teenie’ Harris from Pittsburgh USA, is now acknowledged as one of the great photographers of his generation. His documentation of the daily lives of African American women and men in a collection of some 80,000 photographs, is quite simply unique. The Photographs of Charles Harris African American Women of the 1940’s We’ve picked out …
Visionary designer forerunner to Dior – In 1938, a young American female fashion designer named Elizabeth Hawes, an author, a journalist, a political activist and union organiser with the foresight of Chanel and Dior and a razor sharp wit that made her the Dorothy Parker of fashion, published a book called Fashion is Spinach, a long forgotten …
When tobacco tied in with 1940s fashion allure – Whilst the War Production Board had begun pushing sensible restrictions in women’s clothing through its L-38 Apparel order, silhouettes had tended toward the slim side in tobacco advertising since the mid 1930s, particularly in Marlboro cigarettes, a brand, though chiefly remembered for its cowboy image of the …