The Painted Woman: 1930s Beauty & Glamour

Olympic Colors for Summer 1932

2010-07-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

The 1932 summer Olympics, hosted by Los Angeles, took place in July-August, inspiring an Olympic theme in sportswear that season. The five colors of the Olympic rings were reproduced in wooden bead necklaces, in Bakelite bangles, in stripes on sweaters and scarves, belts, bathing suits, and hat bands. Though the worldwide economic depression meant that fewer people could actually attend the games, it was easy to add a little Olympic flair to your wardrobe, as Ladies Home Journal described that August:

Forget all you’ve been told about this color going with that and prepare to mix your primaries. This summer the red-blue-green-yellow-black of the Olympic insignia are jumbled together to ensemble the gayest sports wardrobe fashion has presented in many a year. They’re running rings around all the new sports clothes. So prepare to radiate in these colors whether you’re going to adorn a front seat in California’s giant stadium or root for the home team in your own ball park.

But don’t think for a moment that the well-dressed have completely deserted their stand-bys – the double-breasted, big buttoned sports coat, the beret, the white sleeveless dress, the linen suit or the sun-tan bathing outfit. They have not, and neither should you. But look in this picture and see what’s happened to the old dears! Just look at the girls on the cover! Think what these very giddy Olympic accessories will do for you. Think what they’ll do to last year’s hangovers. Why, the most non-committal white dress attached to a sheaf of five colored bracelets, a five-ringed scarf and beret, becomes dramatic. In fact, this year, as never before, smart dressing is all in the mixing, and who could resist this gay call to the colors?

-Dorothy Shaver
Vice President, Lord & Taylor, New York City

Bakelite clips like this could be picked up cheaply and attached to a neckline, a purse, or a scarf for instant Olympic chic. (1930s blue Bakelite often appears black today).

The presence of Hollywood stars like Virginia Bruce added glamour to the X Olympiad.

Some ladies of the U.S. and Canadian track and field teams: Jane Shilley (left), the great Babe Didrikson (center) and Mildred Frizell (right). The ’32 games were the first to feature women’s track & field events.

Interestingly, we came across very little evidence that this trend was revived for the 1936 summer Olympics, hosted by Berlin. Rather, the location of the games seems to have sparked a renewed interest in Tyrolean and “Bavarian Peasant” fashions (perhaps the story behind this amazing 1930s Tyrolean outfit from Coronet Weeds on Etsy?); the only reference to “Olympic colors” we came across for summer of '36 was a suggestion that peasant blouses might be embroidered with the five colors of the Olympic rings.

Ladies' Golf Wear

2010-07-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

Continuing the ladies’ sportswear theme as promised….

The carefree lady golfer image was a favorite for advertisers in the 1920s and ‘30s as the sport gained popularity among women players. Unlike some other sports, there does not appear to have been any particular golfing “uniform.” Any spectator sports dress that allowed for proper freedom of movement; knitwear; skirt with a sweater or "tuck in" blouse; divided skirts and culottes were all commonly worn on the links. We'll let the images speak for themselves.

1924 Judge humor magazine cover, "The right stick to wear on an approach." In the '20s they seem to have favored a white background with a colorful accent (scarf, sweater, etc.).

A 1925 golfer. From Modes & Manners magazine.

July 1932

Jean Harlow was often photographed on the links.

All in yellow, 1934.

Outdoor Girl cosmetics used the lady golfer image on their packaging.

"There's a new swing on the dance floor... and Macy's follows through with a new swing on the golf course." Gray flannel culottes and tuck in shirt. Also came in lemon yellow, blue, leaf green or brown Croydon check. Manhatter felt cloche, precial golf shoe with spikes, and ankle socks of Shetland. At right, chamois cardigain and chamois half-fingered golf gloves. 1936.

California's I Magnin's culottes of wool knit with cord belt and sports shirt of contrasting color. Visor in linen. 1936.

This complete ladies' golf outfit from around the same time as the above ads came up on eBay several years ago. It still breaks our hearts that it wasn't our size - not even close.

Ad for Gossard corsets. The golfer image drew attention to the product's flexibility.

McCallum Hosiery ad, 1927

Happy 4th

2010-07-03T22:55:00.001-07:00

Oh, Pashley!

2010-06-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

We’ve been swooning over the Pashley Sovereign Princess ever since gorgeous Fleur de Guerr wrote about them in this post of her blog, Diary of a Vintage Girl, last summer. Not realizing it at the time, this is also the bike we’d long admired in the pages of Victoria magazine in the 1990s. Until fairly recently, there weren’t any shops distributing them in the vicinity.

But one was finally located, and a Regency Green Pashley will be arriving here in August!! We can finally imagine we’re in St. Mary Mead, home of Miss Marple, or Tilling, the home of Miss Mapp, and later Emmeline “Lucia” Lucas, in E.F. Benson’s books - all time favorites around here. It’s in the last book of the series, Trouble for Lucia (1939) that Lucia starts a fad for bicycling:

"The bicycles arrived a week later, nickel-plated and belled and braked; Lucia had the borough arms of Tilling brilliantly painted on the tool bag behind her saddle. They were brought up to Mallards after dark; and next morning after breakfast the two rode about the garden paths, easily passing up the narrow path into the kitchen garden, making circles round the mulberry tree on the lawn (‘Here we go round the mulberry tree’ lightly-heartedly warbled Lucia) and proving themselves adepts. . . At the shopping hour they mounted and bumped slowly down the cobbles of the steep street into the High Street, ready to ring their bells.

This one appearance of Lucia and Georgie doing their shopping on bicycles had been enough to kindle the spark of admiration in the breast of the more mature ladies of Tilling. It looked so lissome, so gaily adolescent to weave your way in and out of traffic and go for a spin in the country, and surely if Lucia could, they could also.

It became fashionable to career up and down the High Street after dark, when traffic was diminished, and the whole length of it resounded with tinkling bells and twinkled with bicycle-lamps. . ."

“‘Now we can put on the pace a little Georgie,’ said Lucia and she shot ahead. All her practicings had been on the level roads of the marsh or on the sea-shore, and at once she was travelling much faster than she had intended, and with eyes glued on the curving road, she fumbled for her brake. She completely lost her head. All she could find in her agitation was her bell, and incessantly ringing, she sped with ever increasing velocity down the short steep road towards the bridge over the railway. A policeman on point duty stepped forward with the arresting arm of the law held out to stop her…”

(Above: "Miss Sally Emerson and Miss Jean Williams question Park Policeman Arthur Dolan as to why he arrested them 1933 Golden Gate Park" From the San Francisco Public Library historical photo collection.)

Cycling was popular for women in the 1930s for fitness and leisure. Attire for country or resort-area rides was casual - a pair of high-waist shorts or skirt and a blouse, with or without coordinated knee socks; or a sports dress. Culottes (also worn for golf and tennis) or divided skirts were practical for those that wanted freedom of movement but couldn’t – or wouldn’t – wear shorts. Shown below, a 2-piece bicycling costume of pink linen, 1935, consisting of divided skirt with a scarf for the waist and another for the collar, in turquoise stripes. The shirt has a long tail to keep it from pulling out. White calf bicycle shoes with leather heels that are quite flat.

For Town, a dress, perhaps of silk or linen, was a more likely ladies’ choice. Phoenix Hosiery, in this 1934 ad, emphasized the durability and stretching capacity of their product, with the ladylike cyclist in mind.

Color image above: from the Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour website, http://www.3speedtour.com/. A divine-sounding tour around Lake Pepin, Minnesota, 1930s style. Top image, Coca-Cola ad, 1934.

From Vogue November 1939

2010-06-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

We don’t pay much attention to modern magazines typically. But in line at the market yesterday, our eyes were drawn to the cover of the July 2010 Vanity Fair, which features a stunning color photo of Elizabeth Taylor in a white bathing suit, c.1960s. Flipping through the issue (which has a long article on Elizabeth – the Richard Burton years), another photo caught our eye – that above, of the “Twilight- Eclipse girls” by Norman Jean Roy. We instantly recognized it as a tribute to the November 1, 1939 cover of Vogue. Not bad!

Clockwise from top left: Eclipse’s Ashley Greene, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Dakota Fanning. See it and more images, here.

Condé Nast began publishing Vanity Fair in 1913 (originally called Dress and Vanity Fair). It ceased publication in 1935 and merged with Nast’s bi-monthly Vogue in 1936. The current Vanity Fair started up in 1983.

Horst shot this photo for Vogue (Makeup by Elizabeth Arden, jewels by Marcus). November 1, 1939.

“Pin-up” artist Alberto Vargas was also apparently inspired by Horst’s photo when he designed this face powder box for Jergens in the 1940s (note same fringed shawl backdrop). Image is from the lovely Vintage Powder Room, http://vintagepowderroom.com/?tag=home-front.

Beach & Poolside Fashions - 1935

2010-06-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

With summer officially here, we thought we'd start by sharing some images of casual beach and pool fashions, all from 1935. The above image was "taken aboard the Lurline" en route to Hawaii.

"For sheer swank afloat or ashore," halters and jersey pajama pants were popular...

Writer Nancy Hale shown in her “special outfit for summer travel on the seas” - white gabardine shorts and a halter made from Woolworth’s sportier red cotton handkerchiefs.

Pool beauties. Plaid suit in the top image is similar to #1, the "dressmaker suit" below.

Don't forget the Sun-Pruf cream!

New Mildred Pierce

2010-06-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

Are we the last people in the country to hear about the new Mildred Pierce made-for-tv movie with Kate Winslet? We found out about it by accident: while researching something totally different, came across a picture of Miss Winslet in a cute, decidedly ‘30s frock (above) and did a double take! It’s still being filmed now, and slated to air on HBO later this year as a mini-series.

While it’s based on the same source material as the classic 1945 film starring Joan Crawford, it does not appear that the current project could accurately be described as a “remake” of that film. James M. Cain’s grim and rather sordid 1941 novel is set in the 1930s-early '40s and is as much a story of the Depression as anything else. Nothing really dramatic happens.

The film noir aspects of Mildred Pierce were added by Hollywood. This was Crawford’s first film for Warner’s, having been forced to leave Metro, and she won an Oscar If adhering more closely to the original book as they apparently are, the new tv-Mildred will probably remind us more of the 1934 film Imitation of Life with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers than Mildred. We will have to wait and see. It looks like they’re doing a good job with the sets and clothing, anyway.

Hey, the front of that Model A looks very familiar...

More costumes from the film

James M. Cain's story spans a number of years, from pre-Repeal days into the late '30s-early '40s

Top: extras hamming it up on the set? Lower: Evan Rachel Wood, whom we admit we've never heard of before, plays Veda, the eldest Pierce daughter (fated to get slapped no matter which source material they're using).

One last note: In doing "research" for this post, we saw Joan Crawford being derided repeatedly for her supposed “middle aged” appearance in Mildred Pierce. We wish we could direct their attention to this still, from the beach house scene: underneath those shoulder pads, Joan retained an enviable, trim dancer’s figure. Picture, and many more, from our favorite site for all things Joan, The Best of Everything: A Joan Crawford Encyclopedia.

Aviatrix Style in Life and Fiction

2010-06-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

In the 1920s and ‘30s, women aviatrixes made headlines and were greatly admired – for their pioneering efforts in a field that was still new, even for men; for their bravery and dare-devilry; and for their dash and style. These ladies were so glamorous, there was not much even Hollywood could do to improve on them. We only mention a few; there were many others. A reading list follows.

Below: Amelia with her trademark pearls

Hillary Swank plays Miss Earhart in the 2009 movie Amelia.

Amy Johnson, above, flew solo from England to Australia in 1930. Her insouciance and remarks to the press about having to powder her nose mid-flight, and the fact that she always flew with a tennis racket and an evening gown, endeared her to the Mayfair smart set. She and her playboy husband, Jim Mollison, were known as “The Flying Sweethearts” (until they divorced). Her plane went down (over the Thames Estuary) in 1941, and her body was never found.

Florence Lowe “Pancho” Barnes, who grew up a privileged child in Pasadena, California, began training horses and flying stunt planes for Hollywood in the 1920s (she worked with Howard Hughes on Hell’s Angels). She operated a notorious nightclub in the Mojave Desert, The Happy Bottom Riding Club.

Pancho Barnes (left) and Amelia Earhart (center) along with other ladies of aviation. Image: U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission.

Elizabeth "Bessie" Coleman, from the segregated American south, had to overcome racial as well as gender barriers to become a flyer. Nicknamed “Queen Bess” and “Brave Bess,” she earned her pilot’s license in France in 1921, a time when it was still considered daring just to ride in a plane, much less fly one. She thrilled crowds when performing at “barnstormer” air show events. Tragically, she was killed preparing for one in 1926. Image below: L.A. Public Library Digital Photo Collection.

The Flying Ace (1926) features actress Kathryn Boyd as a "female daredevil" pilot. The character is based on Coleman. This rarity will be screened at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, July 17, 2010.

Read more at the Indiana University’s Black Film Center Archives.

Above and below: the beautiful Beryl Markham. Raised in East Africa, she became a bush pilot, and in September 1936 was the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west. In addition to her flying, she is famous for her affair with Denys Fitch Hatton.

Dust jacket art for Wings of Love, the Love Story of a Girl Aviator (1934).

Above: Myrna Loy as an aviatrix in Wings in the Dark (1935) with Cary Grant, now on DVD. Below, Myrna's pants from the movie, below were up for auction.

Will the real aviatrix please stand up? (or sit down?): Myrna, Cary, and Amelia Earhart, probably around the time of Wings in the Dark. Image from the Happy Thoughts Darling film blog.

Above: Breaking cultural and gender barriers was Katherine Sui Fun Cheung, the first Chinese-American woman to be a licensed pilot (1932), who was inevitably called "The Chinese Amelia Earhart."

Below, Lee Ya-Ching, "China's First Lady of the Air" in 1939, the year she played herself (more or less) in Frank Borzage's film Disputed Passage. The gorgeous aviatrix was a natural for Hollywood, having been a silent film star in China already, but she was actually in the U.S.A. on a mission of mercy - seeking assistance for Chinese refugees.

Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran, a contemporary of Amelia Earhart. The subtitle of her autobiography, Jackie Cochran: the Autobiography of the Greatest Woman Pilot in Aviation History gives you an idea of her ego (recent publications have shortened it to simply "An Autobiography'), but it is not without basis: she set women's speed records and established (and commanded) the Women's Airforce Service Pilots during World War II. She also created a cosmetics company with the motto "Wings to Beauty."

Kay Francis (above with Sheila Bromley) as an aviatrix competing in a women's air derby in Women in the Wind (1939), her last picture for Warner's. Image from the Kay Francis blog. Kay does a fine job with the material she's given. Cast member Eve Arden mentions this film in her autobiography, referring to a scene in which her plane nosedives and goes down in flames. When the camera cuts to a close up of Eve being carried off the field, her makeup is perfect, not a hair out of place. "The audience howled,' she remembers. The film was based on a book by Francis Walton. "Powder Puff Derbies" were very popular.

Real-life champion air racer Louise Thaden. From the website Breaking Through the Clouds - visit them to see more photos and information about the first women's national air race.

Above: Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Though overshadowed as Wife of Charles, Anne (born Anne Spencer Morrow) was an aviatrix in her own right, as well as the author of several non-fiction books and novels. Her North to the Orient, for example (1935) is an account of the couple's flight to the Orient in 1931, for which she served as co-pilot and navigator.

If you can't do a floor show, do an air show! Ladies on the wing in Flying Down to Rio (1933).

Phryne Fisher, she of the Dutch-doll bob in Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher mystery series (set in 1928), shows off her flying skills in the series' second installment, Flying Too High (2007 edition).

Katherine Hepburn plays a famous aviatrix in Christopher Strong (1933), based on the novel by Gilbert Frankau. The slender Hepburn looked great in her flying clothes, but her most memorable costume from this film (from any film) is the infamous silver moth get-up. In real life, Miss Hepburn learned how to fly from one of the best: her beau, aviator Howard Hughes.

Flora (Kate Beckinsale) gets set to go flying in Cold Comfort Farm (1995). Stella Gibbons’ 1932 novel is set in the “near future” when, apparently, planes would be as common as automobiles.

For Further Reading, a selected bibliography:

Amelia Earhart:

The Sound of Wings: The Life of Amelia Earhart by Mary S. Lovell.

The Fun of It: Random Records of My Own Flying and of Women in Aviation. By Amelia Earhart.

East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart by Susan Butler.

Amy Johnson:

Amy Johnson by Constance Babington Smith

Amy Johnson, Queen of the Air by Midge Gillies.

Sky Roads of the World: Amy Johnson’s Story About Her Adventurous Flying Career by Amy Johnson.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh:

Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Her Life by Susan Hertog.

Beryl Markham:

West with the Night by Beryl Markham

Straight on Till Morning: A Biography of Beryl Markham by Mary S. Lovell.

Bessie Coleman:

Queen Bess: Daredevil Aviator by Doris L. Rich.

Jacqueline Cochran:

Jackie Cochran: An Autobiography by Jacqueline Cochran, with Maryann Bucknum Brinley.

Jackie Cochran: Pilot in the Fast Lane by Doris L. Rich.

Jacqueline Cochran: First Lady of Flight by Marquita O. Fisher.

Lee Ya-Ching and Katherine Sui Fun Cheung:

Sisters of Heaven: China’s Barnstorming Aviatrixes: Modernity, Feminism and Popular Imagination in Asia and the West by Patti Gully.

Louise Thaden:

High, Wide and Frightened by Louise M. Thaden.

Pancho Barnes

The Happy Bottom Riding Club: The Life and Times of Pancho Barnes by Lauren Kessler.

General:

Power Puff Derby: Petticoat Pilots and Flying Flappers by Mike Walker.

The Powder Puff Derby of 1929: The True Story of the First Women’s Cross Country Air Race by Gene Nora Jesson.

Before Amelia: Women Pilots in the Early Days of Aviation by Eileen F. Lebow.

Cold Comfort Farm

2010-06-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

"When I am 53, I hope to write a novel as good as Persuasion, but in a modern setting."

-Flora Poste in Cold Comfort Farm

The 1995 movie with Kate Beckinsale is a favorite around here, as is the 1932 Stella Gibbons novel. We’ve read the book and watched this movie so many times it’s silly. As Flora Poste, Miss Beckinsale gets to wear some lovely period outfits – smart little dresses for Town, evening gowns for nightclubbing, and lots of sturdy woolens, tweed, and - sigh! - knitwear for Country.

These lovely screencaps are from a Kate Beckinsale fansite, http://kate-b.net/2010/02/07/cold-comfort-farm-screencaps. There are MANY more where these came from - if you’ve ever obsessed over one of Flora’s outfits, and want to see it from every possible angle (um… not that we know anyone who would do that…), they probably have what you're looking for.

**Spoiler warning though – if you haven’t seen the film, these pictures may give away some of the action.***

Arrival, in a cloche.

Tea with Mrs. Smiling, who, as played with her usual fabulousness by Joanna Lumley, is one of our role models.

Mrs. Smiling: "Of course you may stay here as long as you like. But I expect you should want to find some work to earn enough for a flat of your own. "

Flora: "Work! What kind of work? "

Mrs. Smiling: "Oh, it's been ages since I've done any, but there must be something that would do... bookkeeping... beekeeping..."

Sophisticated nightclub style.

Flora's straight hair is finger waved for the evening. Some great hairstyles go dancing by in this scene - case in point: the woman in green between Flora and Charles.

"Well,' said Mrs Smiling, 'it sounds an appalling place, but in a different way from all the others. I mean, it does sound interesting and appalling, while the others just sound appalling."

-Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons

Off to C.C.F. in a wonderful suit and an odd little knit cap.

The skirt from the suit worn with a vest and darling blouse.

Walking in the hills outfit.

Love this top. The gray skirt will be seen again soon.

Tea in the village. Linen duster over another cute little blouse.

This is adorable.

Mrs. Smiling's advice:

"It's bad to be dewy-eyed around smart people, but you can always secretly despise them."

"Amusing or diverting, my dear, not... *such fun*"

There's the gray skirt... with a knit top to die for.

This embroidered gardening apron is SO cute...

Chanel-esque dress with black touches.

Closer look at The Hat and crocheted gloves.

And, the suit again, perfect for travel.

Jantzen at 100

2010-05-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

We’re happy that Jantzen is celebrating its centennial this year, 1910-2010. The swimwear company has been a big part of our lives as long as we can remember – as from Mother we inherited the inability to resist anything with their darling red diving girl logo, which the company started using in 1920.

The Jantzen red diving girl logo. It was supposedly designed by commercial artist Russell H. Tandy – who also did the artwork for the original Nancy Drew! Janzten has a history of the now iconic figure, here.

Jantzen introduced the “Shouldaire” suit in 1931 to address the tan line problem. Glamoursurf is selling this amazing '30s teal colored one, below!

Near the Jantzen factory in Portland, Oregon, Jantzen Beach Amusement Park opened in 1928. There were rides, dancing, and of course, swimming. Read all about the history of this long-gone, fabulous place and see lots more images on this Portland history website.

Above images from http://pdxhistory.com/html/jantzen_beach.html. Below, our version of the Jantzen girl chorus line (that's Astairette in red scarf, far left).

Mother’s collection of Jantzen and “vintage beachy-stuff” includes this 7-foot diving girl sign (originally outlined in neon) from an old motel.

Some of the Mother-lode collection.

Match Game: 1920s-30s Ladies' Tennis Fashions

2010-05-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

Tennis fashions for ladies, like other forms of athletic dress, changed rapidly in the early 1900s, coinciding, not surprisingly, with the rising popularity of the sport. American tournament tennis goes back to 1880, with the founding of the Newport Casino at the summer resort of Newport, Rhode Island; the first Tennis Week (forerunner of the U.S. Open) took place on its lawn in 1881. Edith Wharton writes of the period just prior to this, briefly, in The Age of Innocence (1920): The Newport Archery Club always held its August meeting at Beaufords’. The sport, which had hitherto known no rival but croquet, was beginning to be discarded in favor of lawn-tennis; but the latter game was still considered to rough and inelegant for social occasions…” With fashionable socialites taking up lawn-tennis, this would soon change. By 1915, the tournament had outgrown the casino and moved to Forest Hills, New York.

Dorothy Dale, the heroine of Margaret Penrose's long-running series books for girls, dressed in the height of feminine tennis chic, 1910.

Joan Crawford, 1925

In the ‘20s, tennis skirt lengths rose from ankle to knee, a trend that California-born women’s tennis champion Helen Wills (later Helen Wills Moody Roark) attributed to her French rival, Suzanne Lenglen. “Since she appeared, skirts have risen from the ankle to the knee, and the tennis dress has become simple and practical.” Wills declared in her 1928 book, Tennis. Lenglen’s dresses were of heavy white silk – though in Wills’ opinion, white linen or cotton material would be “far more practical, especially where summers are warm.”

Top, From Modes & Manners magazine, spring 1925. Above: 1926 ad

Sleeves were the next battleground. As Wills recounts in Tennis:

“Within the last few years there have been radical changes in women’s dress for tennis. Not four years ago an incident occurred in the West Side Club at Forest Hills that is amusing now. One of the members, an attractive young woman, appeared one day on the courts without any sleeves whatsoever on her tennis dress. Some of the more conservative members of the club happened to be sitting on the veranda. Later, as a result, a special meeting was called by the club committee, and one member was chosen to tell Miss -----, tactfully but firmly, that completely bare arms could not be allowed. In the last tournament on which I participated at Forest Hills, there was hardly a sleeve to be found among all of the players!”

One the arms were bared, stockings were the next to go. Wills still wore white silk stockings with her white shoes in 1928, but noted that some players were starting to adopt short wool socks that came just to the top of their shoes, rather than stockings, an idea that Wills admitted was sensible. In fact, sportswriter Al Mitchell credited Wills with popularizing this trend, writing in the August 11, 1934 edition of his column, Out of the Pressbox

“At Wimbledon, the holy of holies in the net world, the idea of going without stockings was considered too déclassé for discussion until Helen Wills Moody, then world champion, adopted the style. Socks were shed all over the world after that.”

Then came tennis shorts revolution in ladies’ tennis attire. At first, they were seen here and there, causing a similar reaction as sleeveless dresses. It took another champion Helen, Helen Jacobs, to bring them into the mainstream. She caused a sensation when she appeared in shirts at Wimbledon in 1933, the year the Associated Press named her Female Athlete of the Year. As Mitchell also wrote in 1934: “Helen Jacobs….stepped out on the Forest Hills, L.I., courts to defend her national championship clad in the scanty attire. You can get your answer to the question of tennis shorts’ popularity by visiting ‘most any court now.”

Helen Jacobs at Wimbledon, 1933.

Carole Lombard. From Life, 1938.

Many women, however, still preferred skirts. Divided skirts (literally) split the difference. Wrote a fashion reporter on May 25, 1931:

“If you are one of those slim young things who went in for shorts and polo shirts last year, you are probably wondering where they stand in good tennis form this year. Frankly, they’re not the rage they were, although you may see them occasionally. Much better, if you’re an acolyte of the trousers system, is the new tennis dress with a divided skirt.”

Tennis players, 1931

The same anonymous AP press writer went on to say: “Two drastic changes have volleyed into the structure of the new tennis dress. The desperately low sunback has practically disappeared from the smart courts… even the lowest back rarely descends farther than midway between your shoulder blades.” A bright belt was another new note in tennis fashion. By summer 1936, culottes were very popular for tennis, as well as for biking and golfing, with divided skirts still more favored than shorts and a shirt.

Jean Harlow

Helen Wills (left, with rackets) and Helen Jacobs, 1939.

White remained the only correct color for formal tennis wear. Color, Wills suggested in 1928, “could be introduced in a sweater, worn to and from the court – solids preferable over patterns, and gay colors such as brilliant yellow or rose shades being better than dark shades.” You could match the color in your headband (unless wearing a white visor or “eye-shade”). Mlle Lenglen’s trademark was the bandeaux. To imitate this look, Wills suggests taking a piece of chiffon about 2-yards long by 5 inches wide and pressing one end tightly to your head, winding it firmly until you can tuck the remaining end snugly under the bandeau at the back of the head. The color should match your sweater.

The glamorous Mlle Lengren, Suzanne with one of her trademark bandeaux, 1920s. She is also depicted in the painting at the top of this post.

Helen Wills, from her book, Tennis, in 1928.

I. Magnin resort wear, 1934

Helen Wills in 1935. Note monogram.

Helen Jacobs

Courtly fashions, 1938.

Sources & Resources

“The Sporting Times of Tennis” Victoria magazine, July 1992.

The Newport Casino now houses the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum. Its grass courts are open to the public. For more info, click here.

The Keds “Court Ace” shoe, a reproduction of their 1934 original, is currently available, here.

Eva Dress’ reproduction 1935 German One-Piece Sports Outfit pattern, here.

1930s Pedicures

2010-05-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while since we did the post on 1930s manicures – high time indeed we turned our attention southward to the feet, and the 1930s pedicure. Pedicures had been part of “the meticulously groomed” woman’s beauty routine since the ‘20s, but it was not until the casting off of stockings and closed-toe shoes for beachwear, and the increasing popularity of “barefoot” beach shoes and “toeless” evening sandals that the pedicure, and painted toenails, really came into their own. As popular beauty writer Alicia Hart wrote in her long-running Glorifying Yourself column in 1933, “The importance of swimming and beach bathing in our modern life, and the interest of smart women in meticulous grooming, have made pedicures almost as desirable as manicures.” Weekly pedicures were highly recommended, not only for beauty but for health of the feet.

The procedure for the pedicure was basically the same then as now. Wealthy women could have theirs done at salons, but beauty experts noted that they were very easy to perform at home; the little foam-rubber thingy for separating the toes was available by at least 1938 – before that, wads of cotton was recommended, as in the article below from 1937. As for paining the toes, did they or didn’t they? Just as with painted fingernails, some did, some did not. At first considered rather daring, the practice gained greater acceptance as the decade went on. And, as with many trends of the era, the fad for toenail painting was said to have originated at fashionable French resorts. “You hear a lot about toe-nails painted to match fingernails as the last word in style from the other side, adopted by sophisticates here” Miss Hart had written in 1931, noting that she didn’t see a lot of them around. Her contemporary, Gladys Glad, said in October 1931, “The fad for vari-colored toenails attained a surprising amount of popularity on the continent during the past summer season. On almost all fashionable beaches, girls sported toenails that were colored to match their fingernails or their bathing suits. And in most case, the entire effect, while a trifle bizarre, was really quite a charming one. Of course there are some folks who think this fad a stupid one, and decidedly in poor taste.”

As noted in the manicure post, in the early-to mid ‘30s, fingernails were typically pained with the half-moon left bare, and in many cases the tip likewise unpainted, or treated with a nail-white product, as shown in the Cutex ad below from 1937. By the end of the decade, the tip was commonly painted, and sometimes the half-moon as well. Beauty experts of the day had differing opinions of how to accomplish the toenail painting, so any method that suits you would be equally period correct. Alicia Hart, for example, wrote in 1933: “If you wear bright polish on your fingernails, cover toenails with the same. If not, use a vivid shade on the feet just the same. Begin at the outer edges of the little half moon and cover the entire nail, including the tip.” Gladys Glad wrote in summer 1935, “Never use a polish on your toenails that will clash with the tint used on your fingertips,” adding “when applying the polish to your toenails, brush it with outward strokes only, onto the central portion of each nail: the half-moon and rims should of course be left their contrasting white hue.” Others of the same period advocated covering the entire nail, including half-moon and tip, with polish.

Days at the Races

2010-04-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

We may not have mentioned in the blog before that our family history is seeped in horseracing. We spent many happy childhood hour at the race track with Grandpa, and cutting up old clothes to make jockey’s silks for our Barbie dolls. While our hearts still instinctively race when we hear a bugle play the Call to the Post, by choice our only connection with horse racing today (besides thoroughbred rescue and protection) is in its history, and a deep fondness for 1930s ladies’ racing fashions.

Ascot 1935

Ascot 1932

Ascot 1933

A more casual look, but lovely.

Spectator sports suit, perfect for the races or polo games. 1938.

Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California opened on Christmas Day, 1934. Famed architect Gordon B. Kaufmann designed its Art Deco grandstand with its bas relief of running horses. The track was a filming location for many ‘30s movies: the Marx Brothers' A Day at the Races, The Ex-Mrs. Bradford with William Powell and Jean Arthur, the heartbreaking Broadway Bill with Myrna Loy – almost any movie set at a race track – as well as the modern film Seabiscuit, set in the ‘30s-early 1940s. A lot of Hollywood stars of the era also liked to see and be seen there – Kay Francis, Clark Gable, and Carol Lombard, Jimmy Durante, etc. The photo above, c. 1936, is from the fabulous L.A. Public Library digital photo collection.

Seabiscuit movie. Love that hat.

Virtual Travels Part I: Italy

2010-04-14T15:46:00.000-07:00

With an unseasonably stormy weekend last week, we were able to catch up on DVDs of a couple films set in the 1920s and 1930s that we missed in their original theatrical release, both set in Italy. It’s no coincidence; we’ve been on an Italian campaign lately that Bonaparte would be proud of, screening these movies and leaving brochures casually about for Mr. About Town to notice. Watching these films was like a virtual vacation, at least. Both are visually very beautiful, and feature great period costumes.

Filmed in southern Italy's Amalfi Coast, A Good Woman (2003), starring Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson, is set in 1930. Based on Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan: A Play About a Good Woman, from 1892, this production was filmed on location in and around the town of Amalfi (which looks like a 1930s movie set already) as well as Rome (where the villas shown in the film were actually located). It brought back fond memories of our previous visit to Amalfi. Mrs. Windermere (she’s been downgraded from a Lady and turned into an American here) shops for gloves, hats and gowns; we bought beautiful writing paper and limoncello.

The costumes, hair, and makeup are well-done; we love the summer dresses, hats, gloves and shoes Miss Johansson wears, and Miss Hunt wears some gorgeous get-ups too, like the dramatic yellow and black number below, and a blue and white outfit at the end of the film that we don’t have a picture of, but trust us, it’s darling. The two leading ladies’ costumes were designed by John Bloomfield, and for the most part fairly authentic looking.

Overall, a good production. There are many witty quotes throughout the script (not all attributable to Wilde - though he gets the credit in most reviews!), such as “Crying is the refuge of plain women. Pretty women go shopping.” (a take on Wilde’s line from the play “Crying is the refuge of plain women but the ruin of pretty ones.”). There is a lot of crying, and a lot of shopping. The play was previously filmed in 1925 (as Lady Windermere’s Fan, dir. Ernest Lubitsch).

Moving north, as well as back in time to the 1920s, there’s Enchanted April (1992), filmed in Portofino, on the Italian Riviera. Warning: this movie is Dangerous! Even while the credits are still rolling, you’ll be researching villa rentals in Italy. Based on the 1922 book by Elizabeth von Arnim, we especially enjoy the beautiful scenery and Polly Walker as Lady Caroline. She looks absolutely gorgeous, with a Dutch-doll bob and to-die-for wardrobe - we want every one of her outfits. Click here to see a video clip of Lady Caroline's introduction.

The other women, Miranda Richardson as Rose, and Josie Lawrence as Lottie, are charming, too and the production is excellent overall. Joan Plowright is funny as Mrs. Fisher. Many of the outdoor scenes were filmed at Castello Brown, above, now a museum, high above Portofino’s harbor. There is also a 1935 film of Enchanted April with Ann Harding.

A Cruise on the S.S. Lurline - 1935

2010-04-09T14:38:00.001-07:00

If we could spend 5 days in 1935, and there was no possibility of staving off the Depression or averting World War II, we would probably spend them cruising from San Francisco to Honolulu on board the Matson liner S.S. Lurline.

Matson’s beautiful white liner was the third ship of its fleet to be named Lurline. Her maiden voyage took place on January 12, 1933. She joined her sister ships S.S. Malolo, S.S. Mariposa, and S.S. Monterey. It was pure luxury all the way - most of Lurline’s staterooms were first class, and there were games (such as potato sack races and musical chairs – for adults), sports, swimming (Lurline had 2 pools), cocktails, dinners, and dancing designed to amuse.

Arriving in our stateroom (”Lovely!”), stewards would be rushing in and out, delivering telegrams and floral arrangements. We’d quickly scan the passenger lists to see if anyone we knew was sailing, or a movie star – maybe Bette Davis, or Ginger Rogers – then dash to secure deck chairs for best choice of location. Finally, it’s Bon Voyage!

The horse race game was played aboard Lurline. With real betting, such games were popular on transatlantic ships as well.

In the evening, there would be the Captain’s Champagne Party, with a sing-along. Evening meals were elegant, topped by the festive Aloha Dinner. After dinner, meeting friends for cocktails and dancing in the Verandah Café.

We might try a Matson Cocktail:

1/3 shot kümmel
½ shot cognac
1 sugar cube
Chilled champagne
Piece of lemon peel
Chilled 6-oz martini glass.

Pour kümmel and cognac over crushed ice in a shaker and shake gently. Place the sugar cube in the glass. Strain kümmel and cognac into glass. Add champagne to fill. Float lemon peel over the top. Sip slowly and stay far away from the ship’s rail.

Or maybe we'll just retire to a chaise lounge on our balcony and gaze romantically out to sea and trying out our "Wallis Simpson" look.

Matson ad, June 1934. Matson provided its passengers with suggestions for what to wear: "Clothing of linen, white drill, pongees, or ‘Palm Beach’ are popular all seasons with visitors to Hawai’i and the South Seas. Ordinary light-weight clothing of the mainland will be found entirely satisfactory for visitors to Hawai’i. Warm wraps should be taken for the higher altitudes…A raincoat will be found useful” (quoted in To Honolulu in Five Days: Cruising Aboard Matson’s S.S. Lurline by Lynn Blocker Krantz and Mary Thiele Fobian.

Arrival in Honolulu was exciting. On “boat day” practically the whole city came to meet and greet the arriving Lurline passengers. We’d be dazzled by the colorful leis, handmade on the shore by Native Hawaiian women. Beautiful! Souvenir photo taken at Luke Photo Studio, 1240 Nuuanu St., Honolulu , 1930s

From the ship, Matson’s crew would whisk us and our bags over to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the “pink palace” built by Matson at Waikiki Beach in 1927. Here, amidst gorgeous grounds, we’d be able to dance on the beach or at the neighboring Moana Hotel, and listen to Harry Owens’ Royal Hawaiian Band – familiar to mainlanders due to their popular radio broadcasts.

We could learn to hula (or just watch the experts in action), or learn to surf – like tobacco heiress Doris Duke did when she was here with husband James Cromwell on their 1935 honeymoon. Or we might go horseback riding, tour the Dole pineapple plantation, or take a motor tour around the island. Oh dear - our time in 1935 is up way too soon!

Cruising to Hawaii in the movies:
William Powell and Kay Francis in One Way Passage (1932) –remade in 1940 with George Brent and Merle Oberon as ‘Til We Meet Again.

Below: Bing Crosby and Martha Raye in Waikiki Wedding (1937).

The Royal Hawaiian Hotel and the Moana Hotel (now the Moana Surfrider), though dwarfed by modern highrises, are still the queens of Waikiki Beach. Doris Duke enjoyed her visit so much, she decided to build a home there. Her Shangri-la (built in 1937) is now open to the public (www.shangrilahawaii.org/).

Easter Greetings

2010-04-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter to all! If anyone needs us, we'll be in the Bonnet Bar.

Those Flapper Doggie Mascots

2010-04-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

These 1920s toy doggies are so intriguing! Clara Bow has one in It (1927), below; Louise Brooks posed with one, c. 1927 (top), and Colleen Moore carries one as a purse in Her Wild Oat (also 1927 – barely visible in her arms, lower). We’ve also seen obviously well-loved vintage “doggie” purses show up for sale now and then. What was up with these? we wondered.

Writer Basil Wonn, in an “exclusive dispatch” direct from Paris, reported on August 7, 1927: “The slogan ‘A Dog for Every Woman’ has captured Paris society.” Noting that not every woman had room for a dog, or a place to walk one, “It was left to a bright Paris dressmaker, as usual, to solve the problem. At his last showing a few days ago, he excited sobs of admiration from the assembled ladies by presenting a line of dogs for every size, variety, color, coat, and age. They were stuffed.”

By fall, the “doggie mascot” idea had caught on – and how. “Mascots,” ran a typical report on October 19, 1927, “which have made such a hit as automobile ornaments, are spreading to nearly all fields or ornament in England. They are made as jewelry, as ‘doggie’ handbags, as tops for umbrella handles…” One wag of the period suggested that if anyone were to dare to suggest a mascot for flappers, it should be the “Peekin’ knees.”

While Colleen, Clara and Louise’s pooches appear more carnival prize than pedigreed Paris pups, dogs seems to have been everywhere in 1927.

Elizabeth Arden: 100 Years of Beauty & Glamour

2010-03-21T21:32:00.000-07:00

We’ve been very remiss on this blog for not yet mentioning that our favorite beauty house, Elizabeth Arden, is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2010. Miss Arden, born 1878-ish near Toronto, Canada, opened her first salon, on Fifth Avenue in New York, in 1910. By the early ‘30s she had salons around the world. Her income was reported to be in excess of 700,000 in 1931 (almost $10 million today). During the Depression, the flagship New York salon expanded to seven floors. It is said to have been the model for the salon in The Women. “Looking like she just stepped out of an Elizabeth Arden salon” became synonymous with soignée in the ‘30s.

On June 21, 1933, Elizabeth Arden opened her Los Angeles Salon, at 3933 Wilshire Blvd. The semi-circular building, with its black and white marble façade and signature Chinese red lacquered door, was modeled after her Fifth Avenue salon on the exterior. The interior, however, had been designed by the great MGM stylist Adrian. Under Adrian’s direction, the circular main salon had walls of jade gray, with silvery gray curtains, black and white floor (with a “symbolic star” in black), silver-gray satin corduroy covered chairs, colonial-empire style sofas, and crystal chandeliers. The third floor contained the exercise rooms as well as the “Garden of Arden,” which Adrian designed, through copious plants, vines and painted metal awnings, to look like an outdoor room. Miss Arden greeted her new customers personally on opening day.

For further reading:

A brief history on this Radcliffe website.

And another excellent, accurate history post on the Ann Lauren blog

In 2009, public television aired a documentary about Miss Arden and her arch-rival Helena Rubinstein, titled The Powder & the Glory. View & more information here. It is also on DVD.

The film is based on the book War Paint: Miss Elizabeth Arden and Madame Helena Rubinstein — Their Lives, Their Times, Their Rivalry by Lindy Woodhead. An excellent book that we highly recommend – our only criticism is that it seems fairly obvious that the author does not like Miss Arden; author bias in a history is not so good.

The self-styled Elizabeth Arden (formerly Florence Nightingale Graham) strikes a romantic pose in this 1930 ad from the Fabulous Duke University ad* Access collection. The name Arden came from the Tennyson poem Enoch Arden and Elizabeth because she had always liked the name. As she once famously said: "There is only one other Elizabeth like me, and she is the Queen."

French model Cecille Bayliss was the “face” of the “Elizabeth Arden Look” in advertising from 1920 to 1940. Miss Arden's signature color? Pink.

Elizabeth Arden was one of the first beauty houses, if not the first, to offer travel size containers of her beauty products, assuring that her ladies would be gorgeous whether they were up the Amazon or on a mountain top. For the 100th Anniversary, Elizabeth Arden introduced this “vintage style train case” (below). There is also a 100th Anniversary limited edition signature lipstick, Red Door Red.

Top image: Elizabeth Arden’s Los Angeles salon, from the Los Angeles Public Library digital photograph collection.

'Round the Clock in Pajamas

2010-03-19T15:08:00.000-07:00

Associated Press. Chicago.
March 9, 1931.

And now the latest fashion song is “Around the clock in pajamas.” For there are pajamas in which to cook the ham, and pajamas for a dash to the corner grocery, and still more – lounging pajamas, beach pajamas, cocktail, dance, dinner and evening pajamas, as well as the substitute for the traditional nightgown.

This new style note is sponsored by mighty names in the realm of design – Worth, Chanel, Molyneaux, Vionet, Schiapparelli, Mainboucher, and others – and charming are the models that are coming from Paris.

Pajamas are no longer merely coveralls in which to rest the weary bones. They have come out of the boudoir and are going places – to teas, the theater, dinners. The fad began in smart European resorts.

"The fad began in smart European resorts..." like Juan-Les-Pins, Antibes, in the south of France. Visit the fabulous French blog devoted to pajamas, La Mode Pyjama.

A tour of smart Michigan Avenue shops and State Street department stores revealed that the last word in morning and breakfast pajamas are of one piece and are tailored out of gay printed or flowered cotton fabrics, or out of a silk known as bamboo. The long, wide trousers simulate a skirt. Lounge pajamas can be as tailored or as negligee as desired.

If her day’s program brings friends in for early afternoon bridge, the hostess’ costume will be a trump if it resembles one creation seen on display. It was a three-piece heavy crepe silk bridge set, the trousers and blouse of which were of tapestry, a new shade of American beauty. It had wing sleeved coats of rose dawn, lined with tapestry.

Next our heroine may wish to go to the beach. If she is of the vintage that goes to sea and be seen, there are the beach pajamas which established their popularity in Palm Beach this season. They are fashioned in pastel and pastel linens, flowered and printed cretonnes.

Then as the shadows lengthen comes the hour for cocktails, tea and hostess pajamas. Cocktail pajamas are saucy. One model just unpacked was a one-piece lipstick red crepe with intervals of accordion pleats on the voluminous ankle-length trousers. It flaunted the new cap sleeves.

Tea pajamas are more sedate. Hostess pajamas may be made of lace or chiffon. Quite frequently they have sleeves. The little touches, such as the treatment of the neckline, or the fit of the bodice, differentiate them from negligees, and there is subtle distinction between hostess pajamas that stay at home and the tea pajama that gads.

Norma reveals the secret to keeping those wide-leg pajamas wrinkle-free all day long.

As the hours pass comes the reign of the dance, evening, and dinner pajamas. These are best described by saying they are gowns with divided skirts. The dinner pajama, as with the dinner dress, is less formal than the evening pajama. The dance frocks are youthful, leaving sophistication to others.

The newest note is the back skirt on the dance frock. When the wearer approaches she is in pajamas; when she retreats she is in a dress.

As in the case of dresses and gowns, jackets from the Eton jacket to the close-fitting peplum, are much in evidence.

Above: "Sporting pajamas to wear at home - they have the chic simplicity of an informal little tea frock - and many times the comfort."

Top image: Marian March models a "simple black velvet pajama costume, with cape sleeves and very wide trousers." From Screenland, December 1931.

Cruise Hats

2010-03-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

Continuing the travel theme, here are a few examples of those wonderful, "packable" cruise hats. These are from 1932-36.

Velvet on the beach: From 1936, top, "a becomingly draped leghorn beach hat with velvet bands in red or royal drawn through the crown and tied in the back. Henri Bendel." Lower: "Don't fail to pack several of these tailored felts with bright ribbon bandings. In white, pastel tints or high shades." Below, some other choices from the aptly-named H.C. Capwell of Oakland, California.

Last but not least, from Kahn's, also of Oakland, California: "Exciting new fabric-straws, exotic fabrics, fine felts. . . smart travel companions to follow the sun. . . brilliant and dazzling in white, pastel blues, yellow, green, or red. . . equally "advance" in black, brown or navy."

1930s Travel Pt. 2 - Clothes

2010-03-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

In packing for travel in the 1930s, most experts advocated “travelling light,” although we suspect their definition of “light” would not be compatible with today’s one-carry on rules.

Suggestions for what and how to pack for travel are plentiful. For example, from Designing Women: The Art, Technique and Cost of Being Beautiful by Margaretta Byers, 1938:

"The cosmopolitan attitude toward traveling is to travel light. . . a suit and a topcoat is the perfect travel costume. In cold weather, a tweed suit with a furred or fur topcoat is ideal. In semi-tropical climates like California, a thin wool suit or cotton tweed suit is unbeatable. The wool suit might have a furred matching topcoat. The cotton tweed might have an unfurred cotton reefer. In the tropics, a Palm Beach suit does well all by itself. (All of these clothes are practically immune to wrinkles, In choosing a cruise coat, be careful to get one with a lap generous enough to cover you comfortably as you recline in your steamer chair.

Norma Shearer

For evenings on shipboard, lace is the fabric par excellence because it solves your pressing problems. Shoes are the things that take up space and break porters’ backs and turn aviation officials gray from worrying about excess poundage. Try to compromise on two pairs beside those you’re wearing; evening shoes and sports shoes, perhaps, besides the inevitable mules. Naturally, you will wear medium heels on the ships deck, if you value your neck.

Hats should be packable, like those much advertised fold-up affairs, and non blowable; close fitting cloches or small hats well anchored with a backstrap. And on a cruise take plenty of large handkerchiefs to tie up your curls securely.

Casual slacks and halters, from McCall's, April 1934

For a train or a boat. Dishabille should include Pullman pajamas of some dark silk with a matching robe – something discreet that won’t take the porter’s mind off his work when you lurch down the aisle to do your face in the morning.

Through it all the big idea is to work out a minimum of suitable, adaptable clothes and toilet accessories."

Miami Beach resort-wear shop Burdine's used the slogan "Bring Them Empty" for years - adding that as styles change so rapidly, your travel things might be out of fashion by the time you got there, anyway.

Beach coats, from McCall's April 1936

Plenty of publications were ready with specific advice about what that minimum should be. The 1936 edition of Harmony in Dress (published by the Women’s Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences in Scranton, PA) had these suggestions:

The Travel Outfit

BY TRAIN
1 dark coat of proper weight
2 dark silk dresses or
1 dark silk dress and
1 suit
1 semiformal dress
1 hat for traveling
1 hat for wear with dress-up frocks
4 sets of undergarments
3 silk slips in colors to match the dresses
4 to 6 pairs of hose
3 or 4 nightgowns, or pajama suits
1 dark, light-weight kimono or Pullman robe
2 pairs slippers for daily wear
1 pair pumps for dress-up wear
1 pair bedroom slippers or mules
1 pair overshoes
1 pair service gloves
1 pair dress gloves
Handkerchiefs
1 scarf of silk, wool, or fur
1 umbrella
1 purse of generous size

BY BOAT
Same as for travel by train, except to add
1 wool dress
1 heavy coat for warmth
1 evening gown of a material not affected by dampness

Kay, looking ship-shape

One new note that crops in the 1930s is “cruise clothing,” due to the rising popularity of pleasure cruising – which differed from other kinds of shipboard travel in that it was simply a means to get from here to there; it was leisurely and usually quite long in duration, it typically occurred in warm climates, and included shore excursions. So, the cruise passenger had different needs than say, the transatlantic passenger.

Bullock's Wilshire ad for cruise-wear February 10, 1937 , includes "romper leg" playsuit with matching coat, linen "trip dress" buttoning from neck to hem, and tropical leaf bolero linen evening print in jade, navy or native red.

In January 1934, Good Housekeeping magazine offered the following suggestions, noting “There is no holiday in the world more carefree than that spend on a boat, especially if your wardrobe has been so well planned beforehand that you have everything ready for all occasions.

Below, from Good Housekeeping, 1934: Since everyone dresses almost every night for dinner on cruises, evening clothes assume great importance. And a plain white gown is a real stand-by, especially if accompanied by a charming wrap. The first gown is Lelong’s, of flamisol crepe, and the wrap is velvet striped in black and nasturtium. With the standing ruffed collar and wide sleeves, it ties in front. A net frock is extra practical because it gives the desired fluffy effect of chiffon but does not need pressing. Chanel, famous for her net frocks, designed the one in black with a full ruffled skirt and a simple bodice (extreme right. With it is a brown runched and ruffled jacket. It is these jackets that vary one’s evening gowns. [Note: the designers' names are reversed in the illustration]

Indispensible to the cruise wardrobe, or to any smart wardrobe, is the knitted dress or suit, and here is one (first, below) from a new designer, Mme. Nagornoff. Interesting are the suits she makes of unbleached cotton thread, and particularly good are suits with short fitted jackets worn with knitted cap and tri-colored knitted scarf. Useful for general travel is a coat and dress costume like the one below [right] from Molyneux, of beige djalap. Djalap is a thin, hairy-surfaced material, smart for traveling, and beige is always a delightful color. The tunic frock is laced up in front with moiré, and since the skirt is separate, it may be worn with other blouses.

For a cruising wardrobe, adaptable jacket costumes are ideal, and Lyolene has made one in creamy white jersey with short-sleeved jacket and a skirt – a costume to be worn with different blouses. Alpaca, that most durable of fabrics, has been smartly revived by Lucile Paray for the jacket dress. It is an indefinitely striped iron gray, with plain white pique vest, and edged with white pique.

Ruth Seder of Delineator, in January 1935, also tackled the cruise wardrobe question and came up with these recommendations:

“The first thing to do is pick a basic color, and then your wardrobe will fit together as neatly as a jigsaw puzzle. You’ll need very few accessories, for you can wear the same ones with several outfits. We’ve chosen navy blue because it’s smart and well-liked, but you can switch to brown or dark green or black if one of them is more becoming to you than blue.

You’ll need a tweed suit for embarking and disembarking and for the first cool days on board. A navy and green and white checked jacket (6016) is smart with a plain blue skirt (5615). For the deck, you’ll need a red, natural and blue checked linen shirt and shorts (6042) and a white pique tennis dress (6041) with a sun-back.

When you’re not being active in the boat you’ll want a shirtwaist dress (6035) in pink linen, the crepe kind that doesn’t muss, and a jacket dress (6017) of plaid silk gingham.

A white wool coat (6032) of the swagger type is a necessity. For shore trips, a navy on pink printed crepe, jacket dress (6021) is the smart thing. At night, wear a white lace dress (6005), not too formal.

The accessories you will need are: One pair navy calf oxfords. One pair navy and white pumps. One pair white rubber soled oxfords. One pair crepe or satin evening sandals. One navy felt hat. One white felt hat. One pair beach sandals. One navy fabric or straw hat. One Basque beret. One navy calf bag. One pair navy fabric gloves. Three pairs white fabric gloves. Also a bathing suit, sweaters, socks, scarfs, clips, a bathrobe, mules, a raincoat, stockings, lingerie.”

I. Magnin suits for cruise-wear, January 11, 1935

An additional footnote on shipboard clothing: per Emily Post’s 1931 revision of Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage, “on the de luxe steamers nearly everyone dresses for dinner; some actually wear ball dresses, which is in the worst possible taste, and like all overdressing in public places, indicates that they have no other place to show their finery. In the a la carte restaurant, which is a feature of the de luxe steamer of size, fashionable women wear semi-dinner dresses, but in the regular dining saloon they wear ordinary house dresses with or without hats.

Lastly, if travelling with a lady’s maid, Vogue’s Book of Smart Service (Condé Nast Publications, 1930s) mentions specifically that “a maid when travelling does not wear a uniform. On steamer, or in hotels, she wears quiet clothes of the ordinary kind.”

Coats for travel - equally suitable for Town. June 24, 1934.

1930s Travel Pt. 1 - Luggage

2010-02-26T14:51:00.000-08:00

A cold, rainy day here has us thinking about late winter travel plans, and the result is this post on luggage of the Deco era. Then, we have a big post planned about what goes in the bag - the travel wardrobe - coming soon! The information below is from research we did for a talk on this subject for an Art Deco event a couple of years ago.

Travel in the 1920s & ‘30s was generally considered easier, cleaner, and more comfortable than just a generation or two earlier; it became increasingly less necessary to pack special clothing (typically dark and old) just for wear on the train, etc. It was also faster – the result of improvements in rail technology, streamlined ocean liners like the Queen Mary and the Normandie, and the rise of air travel – meaning fewer clothes were needed just for the journey itself.

Then, too, clothing itself was less bulky – a few pairs of silk tap pants or camisoles versus yards of muslin petticoats, for example. As the copy for the 1927 Ivory Snow ad (above) reads: “A company that delivers luggage form the great railway terminals in New York has petitioned for an increase in rates. Its reason: trunks are becoming too few for profit. Women’s clothes are now so dainty and delicate that half a dozen changes of costume can be carried in a bag or 2. Yet scarcely 10 years ago, only a trunk would have held all the necessary starched lingerie, petticoats, nightgowns and shirtwaists.”

Finally, more people had the opportunity to travel – formerly a privilege of the wealthy only. The idle rich “wintered” here and “summered” there, but working people could take a “vacation.” But, whether traveling First or Tourist class, the modern traveler required new kinds of luggage.

Top U.S. manufacturers
Like many other industries of the early 20th century, hundred of today largely unknown luggage manufacturers existed in the 1920s and the majority did not survive the Depression. Some names we recognize today, like Samsonite, were not that well known until after World War II. At the low end, fiberboard suitcases, known as “Please Don’t Rain’s” could be had for next to nothing – provided it didn’t get wet.

For those who could invest in smart, quality luggage, these were “the Big Four” of the 1930s:

Oshkosh. Founded in 1902 as the Oshkosh Trunk Company, they made trunks exclusively until 1927. The Oshkosh “Chief” - shown above - with its distinctive red and yellow stripes, was the top of the line.

1924 Oshkosh ad. “First impressions are made as often on things unseen, as seen. Oshkosh Luggage is inconspicuous in circles where essential niceties are taken for granted and only shortcomings are remarked.”

Belber. This company quietly bought Oshkosh in 1913 but continued to market Oshkosh separately until they sold the company in 1939.

Hartmann. Still in business, it was founded 1877 in Racine Wis. by Joseph Hartmann, a Bavarian trunk maker. By 1936 when this ad appeared, they offered over 800 models and sizes of steamship trunks & luggage.

Hartmann’s “Century of Progress” line was introduced in 1934 to tie in with the World’s Fair in Chicago.

Wheary. Also based in Racine Wis. and was later bought by Hartmann. The above advertisement is for their Stream-guard luggage, 1937. It used chrome in a novel way to keep the sides from getting banged up. Below: ad from 1939. By now they had established a show room in the Empire State Building.

Though founded in 1910, the Schwayder Brothers, makers of Samsonite, were better known in the 1930s for their card tables. Here are the brothers standing on one to show its durability.

Some common luggage types
There were so many different types of hand luggage and trunks - we could only focus on a few of the most typical (for ladies).

Fitted Dressing Case.

A carry over from the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Little cosmetic cases, like Oshkosh's makeup box, shown below from 1938 (often called “train cases” today) would eventually replace the fitted case.

Hat box.

Round hat boxes prevailed in the 1920s into the early ‘30s, another Edwardian era carry-over. They could hold several small, packable hats and still had room for other small items. Alternatively deep, square cases for hats and shoes, like our Wheary model, below, were more popular. It has pockets for a few pairs of shoes around the edge, with room for hats in the middle, and small items (like stockings) in the lid. Yes, it weighs a ton!

Wardrobe Trunk.

Often referred to mistakenly as “steamer trunks,” you can easily tell them apart because wardrobe trunks are hinged in the center and open vertically, as they have drawers and hangers on the interior; steamer trunks have a lid and a bottom and open horizontally.

Wardrobe suitcase.

Like miniature wardrobe trunks, but they could slide under a Pullman berth. Hartmann’s version, shown here, was called a “Tourobe.” Wheary’s name for it was “Wardrolette.”

Club Bag.

Shown in this 1929 ad as (H), a club bag looks like an old-fashioned “doctor’s bag” but had no interior compartments – just open.

Of course, what bags you needed really depended on how you were traveling.

If By Sea…Most of the big liners allowed a generous 350 lbs of baggage per person, taking into account the 4-5 days of travel each way. There were limits on the size of luggage you could have in your stateroom. Luggage that you didn’t need for the voyage itself would be marked accordingly, and typically sent on in advance to be stored in the ship’s hold. Baggage too big for the stateroom but possibly needed during the trip could be stored in an accessible baggage room. Essential bags would be labeled “wanted on voyage,” to be placed in your stateroom.

This ad copy from this 1938 ad (below) reads: “She dined aboard ship at Southampton – yet this evening she dines at Mayfair. Exquisitely dressed... perfectly poised… faultlessly groomed – as though she had been here a month. All quite understandable. She’s equipped for smart travel… with Hartmann trunks and luggage.” (She was probably also equipped with a lady’s maid). Shown is the Hartmann "Pathfinder" - a monster of a trunk that swiveled for easy access.

If By Train…

Excellent service was assured on Pullmans by professional porters and maids. Most belonged to the esteemed International Brotherhood of Railway Sleeping Car Porters and Maids, a union founded in 1925 (Pullman then employed about 15,000 porters). A porter would take your bags and put them in your compartment. You would pay him roughly .10 per bag - this was not a tip, but rather the fee for this service. You would tip the porter at the end of your trip, about .25 a day (about $3 today) - more if you had needed a lot of extra service

If By Air...

The increasing popularity of air travel during the 30s required a whole new kind of luggage – a lightweight kind. Manufacturers experimented with vulcanized fiber, raffia, wicker and lightweight alloys to replace the heavier structured cases of leather and wood, and all of the big names came out with “Aero” luggage of some sort.

Wheary’s Aviatrix bag advertised in 1929 - they also had the "Aviator" for men. (Hartmann’s version was called the “Skyrobe”).

Speaking of aviatrixes, Amelia Earhart endorsed many products, but she was actually personally involved with the creation of Amelia Earhart Luggage in the mid-1930s (Eastern Airlines).

Most planes of the time had a weight limit assigned to their license to fly, so more luggage meant they could take on fewer passengers – hence there were baggage weight limits. Dreaded “excess baggage” fees were imposed for exceeding it (passengers themselves stepped on the scales as well!). The Ford tri-motor of the early ‘30s (above) had a total weight limit of 2900 lbs. Passengers were allowed 25 lbs of baggage with their ticket. On big commercial liners like the DC-3, 40 lbs was the usual limit.

A couple - maybe on a flying honeymoon - looks over the Pam Am Clipper schedule in Miami while a Clipper “steward” is left holding the bag(s). Unlike other airplanes, which had women attendants, the Clippers had men, with uniforms resembling those of ship stewards, in keeping with the nautical "Flying Boat" theme.

With the USA’s entry into World War II, the major luggage manufacturers focused on the war effort, making footlockers and sea bags, etc. With civilian pleasure travel curtailed, there was less demand for luggage anyway. After the war, those who remained in business would soon have to adapt once again to the travel needs of the “jet age” traveler. It was “bon voyage” to the golden age of travel.

Tamara de Lempika Biography in Paperback Soon

2010-02-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

Tamara de Lempicka: A Life of Deco and Decadence by Laura Claridge, originally published in 1999, is due out in paperback next month, as a part of the Bloomsbury Lives of Women series.

Though de Lempicka’s actions are not always admirable (especially in reference to her daughter), but she is interesting. Claridge's is probably the most accurate biography of de Lempicka to date. Sorting fact from fiction could not have been easy; the artist carefully controlled her public image and perpetuated many of the myths surrounding her (the book’s sources include a “sometimes awkward phone conversation”).

Myth vs. reality: Tamara’s self portrait, the cleverly titled Autoportrait: Or, Woman in the Green Bugatti. The artist’s own car was not a Bugatti, nor was it green – it was, according to the artist, a yellow Renault.

The artist at work on a portrait of her first husband, Tadeusz Junosza-Lempicki and below, the still unfinished portrait.

De Lempicka’s strikingly exotic good looks were frequently compared to Greta Garbo’s. It is not surprising, then, that in a 1940s interview, when Tamara and her second husband, Baron Raoul Kuffner, were living in Hollywood (where she was supposedly known as ''the Baroness with a paintbrush'') she named Greta Garbo as the movie industry’s most beautiful actress.

Portrait of Tamara’s daughter, Baroness Kizette De Lempicka-Foxhall (who is herself the author of a book on de Lempika, Passion By Design: The Art and Times of Tamara de Lempicka, 1987).

De Lempicka around the time that she was living in the U.S.A.

Hollywood's Best Dressed of 1935

2010-02-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

The Paris dressmakers had their best-dressed lists - the Hollywood studio designers had theirs… Contemporary reporter Dan Thomas gives us a glimpse of how that list came about in this tongue-in-cheek (?) article from January 30th, 1935:

Women shrieked…fought…kicked…hair fell off by the handfuls…shins were bruised and noses tweaked… eyes blackened! Hollywood’s annual battle to determine its best dressed woman was in full sway. And when the smoke cleared away, revealing scores of exhausted and disappointed girls strewn over the battlefield, six women could be seen in a triumphant march with Carole Lombard at their head. And flanking her on either side to make sure her throne is not usurped are Norma Shearer, Kay Francis, Genevieve Tobin, Joan Crawford, and Claudette Colbert.

The six women were chosen by the top studio fashion designers, who then left it to the actresses themselves to choose their own fashion leader.

And the winner is...Carole (Image: Dr. Macro)

Perhaps a word of defense should be offered for those experts…Take Adrian, style creator for the MGM studio. Suppose he had named Norma Shearer as best dressed. The next time Joan Crawford came in to have a new gown designed, she probably would wreck his office. Or if he had picked Joan, Norma might have told him that she didn’t think so much of his clothes, anyway. And if he had picked a girl from some other studio, it's quite possible that neither of them would have spoken to him again. Adrian realized this and played it safe. Without definitely selecting anyone, he mentioned that both Norma and Joan dressed with extremely rare judgment.

“If Adrian names you #1, so help me I’ll kick *CENSORED BY THE LEAGUE OF DECENCY*"

Regal Joan

Queen Norma

“The best-dressed woman in Hollywood, and that virtually means the world, as nearly all women now are following Hollywood fashions, would necessarily have to be perfectly clothed on any or all occasions.”

Norma with Gilbert Adrian. Although his slinky bias-cut dresses are largely associated with Jean Harlow today, the designer created many such gowns for Norma Shearer, too (he called them “Norma’s Nightgowns”).

Travis Banton took the bit in his teeth and named Carole Lombard. “She is the epitome of the smart woman of fashion.”

Carole

Carole with Travis Banton. He designed many of her off-screen outfits as well. The lovely Carolelombard.org has an interesting post about Banton’s process for creating a gown for Miss Lombard, here.

Robert Kallock of Colombia chose Colbert “because she always has perfect taste.”

Claudette

Orry-Kelly named Kay “because she never makes any obvious attempts to be smartly dressed. It is her very conservatism, which is extreme, that makes her smart.”

Kay

Kay looks over sketches with Orry-Kelly

Walter Plunkett, stylist at RKO, named Genevieve Tobin. “She dresses conservatively, correctly, and becomingly. In my opinion these are the three requisites for good dressing.”

Genevieve (Image: Dr. Marco)

The Roberta Blouse & Random Facts

2010-02-03T12:58:00.000-08:00

Oh, gee – we’ve been “tagged” by the Vintage Baroness! Thank you! It's an honor. For her kindness in thinking of us, we have this ad for the “Roberta Blouse” from the T. Eaton & Co. Ltd. department store, which appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press in April, 1935.

Here are the 5 (boring!) random facts:

1) I tapped danced at Fred Astaire’s house (not realizing until later that I, in fact, don’t know how to tap dance).

2) My favorite singer, living, is Max Raabe; not living: Al Bowlley

3) I’m French and Scottish – so I am at once both frivolous and thrifty.

4) The name Girls About Town name comes from the 1931 Kay Francis-Lily Tashman movie. The blog is mostly maintained by me, Astairette, but I still consider it a group effort as the moral support of my vintage-admiring relatives is critical.

5) I am 5'10'

Face Powder

2010-01-29T13:02:00.000-08:00

Miss LaFosse and Miss Dubarry powdered their noses.

“Come now, Guinevere,” said Miss LaFosse. “You must powder your nose again. It isn’t done not to. Last gesture before entering a room. It gives a sense of confidence.”

With trembling fingers, nervous, clumsy, contented, for the first time in her life, Miss Pettigrew powdered her own nose. “Do you know,” she said happily. “I think you’re right. It does add a certain assurance to one’s demeanor. I feel it already.”

-Winifred Watson, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (1938)

The staple of many ‘30s women’s beauty routines (even if she used no other cosmetics), face powder surpassed even lipstick as the pillar of the cosmetics industry. Advice on its application, and the all-critical selection of just the “right shade for your skin type” used up a lot of ink in ad copy and newspaper columns, and beauty booklets of the period.

Although liquid foundation (or “liquid powder” as Coty’s was known, advertised above in 1929) was available, it was not as widely used in the ‘30s as regular face powder. It would be applied then blotted with a powder puff or gauze, just as with face powder. Typically, though, when beauty books or ads refer to a “foundation” or “base,” they mean a powder base – a cream or lotion that would be applied to clean skin and provide a smooth surface for the application of the face powder and ostensibly make it “cling” longer. Some beauty houses, like Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden, had tinted foundations in flesh colored-shades.

A favorite, basic powder base was Ponds’ glycerin-based Vanishing Cream (so called because it “vanished” into the skin), introduced in the early 1900s. It was often sold with their Cold Cream, for cleansing, as shown in this 1930 ad.

Yardley’s English Lavender Powder, 1938 ad. It also features their Complexion Cream: "This versatile cream is also her freshening cream at night and her powder foundation in the morning.

Once the base had dried completely, it was time to apply the loose powder. Excess powder would be removed with a piece of cotton gauze or a soft brush made especially for this purpose. Carole Lombard demonstrates the Max Factor powder brush, c. 1934. From Max Factor’s Hollywood: Glamour, Movies, Make-up by Fred E. Basten. These are easy to find today, and should cost $10 or less. The brush itself is marked "Max Factor Hollywood."

Factor’s powder brush came with a booklet “How to Create Beauty with Make-Up” that had these instructions for applying powder:

1. Start powdering at the lower cheeks…Gently pat and blend powder toward center of face…Powder the nose last so that this facial feature will receive the lightest application of powder.

2. Now with the powder puff, press powder lightly into the tiny lines around the eyes. Nose, mouth, and chin. This assures a completely powdered surface, which aids in effecting a smooth make-up.

3. With the Max Factor Powder Brush…lightly brush away any surplus powder, clearing all lines at the eyes, nose, mouth, and chin, giving your make-up a velvety, even finish.

4. Thus, with Max Factor’s Face Powder in the correct color harmony shade is created a satin-smooth makeup that clings for hours…color perfect and flattering under any light.

Bette Davis reveals: “With my coloring…blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin… I use Max Factor’s Rachelle powder.”

Coty's Face Powder was a top seller of the 1930s. It appealed to society ladies and housewives on a budget equally. A Coty promotional booklet from c. 1931 proclaimed that Coty’s face powders “come to you, untouched, from sunlit laboratories where an immaculate staff guards every step in the process of its creation.” Their “skin-matched” shades, “true, imperceptible, sun-proof,” were: Blanche, Naturelle, Severose, Rose No. 1, Rose No. 2, Nacree, Rachel No. 1, Rachel No. 2, Mauve, and Ochre. Ochre-Rose, Cotytan, and Rachel Nacree. Ad above from 1934.

Coty’s “Air-Spun” powder, introduced in 1935. Then as now, it was sold at drugstores, such Walgreens. At the New York World’s Fair of 1939-40, visitors to the Maison Coty building (topped by the familiar “powder puff” box) could watch Air-Spun Powder in the making.

Ponds also sold face powder, but was no competition for Coty in this department.

A shiny nose was a beauty "bugaboo" to be avoided at all costs! Above: Lady Esther ad, 1934. Below: Constance Bennett, who would later have her own line of cosmetics and beauty treatments. We are pretty sure men didn’t notice (or care) whether Connie’s nose was shiny or not.

Charles of the Ritz, like many other high-end beauty houses, offered custom-blended powder. This ad dates to 1940. From the fabulous Duke University ads collection.

Powder compacts from the ‘30s are fun collectables – they often feature great Deco designs, or commemorate a ‘30s event, such as the World’s Fairs. Many came in duos of rouge and powder, and even trios, of powder, rouge and lipstick.

An example by Girey, noted for their "camera" style compacts.

Small Deco compact with an attached ring on a chain, so the compact could be held in the hand while dancing, etc.

A “tam-o-shanter” type compact with mesh-bottom, for carrying loose powder. A screen (sadly, often missing today) kept the powder in place.

Above: example of a powder compact screen. Middle: the "sifter" type. Lower: Coty Airspun compact of pressed powder.

'30s ladies could easily have their compacts refilled with their favorite powder to be used again and again. You can make your own pressed powder by mixing some loose powder with rubbing alcohol in a small bowl, (the consistency should be like waffle batter; if its too liquid-y, add a little more powder). Scoop it into your empty compact and smooth. Let dry completely before closing. It isn’t as firm as pressed powder from a factory, but it works!

Click here to see a stunning collection of compacts, from The Art of Allure: Powder Compacts and Vanities of the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries from the Collection of Noelle Soren, University of Arizona Museum of Art, 2004. Also has good, reliable information about compacts and their makers.

The Best Dressed Woman in Town: Mrs. Harrison Williams

2010-01-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

"What do I care if Mrs. Harrison Williams

is the best-dressed woman in town?”
-Cole Porter, “Ridin’ High,” from Red, Hot & Blue (1936)

Cole Porter sang about her; Beaton photographed her; rich men made a habit of wanting to marry her, and she spent most of the 1930s at the top, or close to it, of any “best dressed woman” list. Who was Mrs. Harrison Williams?

Mrs. Williams, née Strader – Mona to her friends – was born in Lexington, Kentucky, around 1899-ish. The two-time divorcé married Harrison Williams, a somewhat mysterious figure usually referred to as a “utilities magnate,” in 1926. In 1933, and again in 1934, Mrs. H. W., topped the Paris dressmakers’ annual list of the “World’s Best Dressed Women.” Famous for her furs and jewels and somewhat eccentric fashion sense, “her selection in best-dressed lists is not due to the quantities of clothes she buys – although her purchases are enormous – but due to the authentic individuality she lends to the garments she acquires.”

The electing dressmakers of 1934 estimated that the best-dressed ladies spent an average of $50,000 a year to maintain their smartness. But, “not only were wealth, charm, and beauty. . . essential to placing on the list, but vivacity, poise, personality, brains, and ‘it’ (in addition to the $50,000).” Ernest Dryden, a “noted Viennese designer” who numbered Mrs. H.W. among his clients, asserted that in her case, the $50,000 was not necessary. "Mrs. Williams is the best-dressed woman because she has a- a what you call ‘knack’ for wearing them, She has inherent good taste. She is educated in their selection and their appropriateness. If she spent only $1000 a year for clothes, she would still be one of the world’s best dressed women.”

Mrs. Williams, however, never had to put this theory to the test, as she had the perfect accessory to go with the "world's best-dressed woman" label - a husband who was one of the world’s richest men. The 1937 best-dressed list, in which Mona Williams was toppled from her #1 posish by two duchesses (Windsor and Kent) and a princess, the estimated expenditure ranged from $20,000 to $100,000!! But, this includes every article of wearing apparel – furs, underwear, accessories, and small jewelry purchases, as well as the large expense of beauty treatments, hairdressing, and massage.

Dorothy Dale wrote a series of profiles on the American women on Paris’ best-dressed list in 1938. Mona later acquired the title of Countess Bismarck when she married Count Edward Bismarck after the death of Harrison Williams in 1954. She herself died in 1983. More about her can be found in this history from the Mona Bismarck Foundation (which she founded) in Paris.

In June 1936, an incident occurred that sent shockwaves through high fashion circles: Mrs. Harrison Williams, Mrs. Harry Cray, and Mrs. Raymond Guest appeared at the wedding of steel heiress Barbara Phipps and Stuart Janney, Jr. – one of THE social events of the season – wearing identical white and blue print frocks!!

So, how can the rest of us mere mortals be well-dressed without spending a fortune (or rather, several fortunes) on clothes? Mr. Dryden offered these suggestions in 1935, which he called the "10 Commandments of Fashion":

1. Avoid fripperies
2. Invest only in fabrics of good quality
3. Dress to suit yourself, not your best friend
4. Shun “noisy” clothes
5. Don’t be a slave to fashion edicts
6. Don’t worry about the price tag
7. Don’t try to be “the last word.” It is better to wear a good model labeled “yesterday” than a poor one labeled “tomorrow.”
8. Don’t strive for a large wardrobe. Correct, not frequent, changes are important.
9. Avoid cheap looking accessories. If you must add something to your costume, add a touch of color.
10. Don’t try to be different.

A number of gowns once owned by Mrs. Williams and others of her “best-dressed” set from 1935-1940 were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 2002-03. Some images of them can be seen here.

Sources included:
Dorothy Dale. “Untitled She Lives Better Than Any Princess,” April 10, 1938.
United Press. "Mrs. Harrison Williams Re-elected As World’s Best Dressed Woman,” December 12, 1934.
United Press.“Wallis Windsor ‘Best Dressed’ Stylists Aver,” June 30, 1934.
United Press. “Mrs. Harrison Williams Heads Paris List of Best Dressed Women,” December 12, 1934.
Ursula Petrie.“Oh! Dear, Dear! What a Shock for International Society’s Best-Dressed Woman,” Salt Lake City Tribune, August 23, 1936.

Daniel Green Slippers

2010-01-15T16:49:00.000-08:00

We're feeling lazy, so thought we'd showcase the drool-worthy Daniel Green Comfy Slippers of our dreams. The company dates to 1881. These images are from a brochure that dates to 1930.

Above, styles to wear with the new Kitchenette pajamas. The green pair says, "You'll be tempted to wear this kid D'Orsay on the street...it looks so formal....flatters the foot."

The Orchid slippers above are two-toned (orchid and green), of light crepe. The middle is a black satin mule with a gold kid backstrap.

Quilted styles to go with quilted bedjackets and pajamas.

What to wear with your bridge party pajamas? Bridge slippers from Daniel Green. Why, darlings, all of Paris is talking about them.

The bottom pair in Aqua, a pajama boot. The middle pair of feathered satin to be worn with your frilly negligee, and at top, a satin mule charming for really intimate wear.

The newest pajama slipper... at top, the Monte Carlo. In purple and eggshell kid. If forced at gunpoint to pick just one pair as a favorite, it would be these. The middle pair, also of eggshell kid, has a "bracelet like" ankle strap of bright red kid.

The Monte Carlo slippers in a 1930 advertisement.

Beating the Winter Blues With Cartier

2010-01-12T19:20:00.000-08:00

How can we be blue when Cartier is in town? An exhibit, Cartier and America, opened at the beautiful Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco on December 19, 2009 and runs through April 18, 2010.

Above: Wallis. Below, tiara, 1936; ; sapphire collar, 1937; emerald necklace, 1932

As the exhibit is meant to celebrate 100 years of Cartier in America, many of the featured pieces once belonged to American women – such as Gloria Swanson, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, and our favorite 1930s style icon, Wallis Simpson. We hope they provide bibs with each admission - pave set diamond bib necklaces, that is.

Wallis’ famous, much-copied flamingo brooch (1940) above, and her panther (1949)

From the exhibit press release:

Cartier came to fame as the “King of Jewelers” during the Belle Époque for his beautifully made diamond and platinum jewelry created for the courts of Europe and Americans of the Gilded Age. With an extensive variety of jewelry forms—ranging from traditional white diamond suites to the highly colored exotic creations of the 1920s and 1930s—Cartier made its mark with the ingenuity of its designs and its exquisite craftsmanship. Cartier and America celebrates the imagination and creativity of Cartier in the 20th century. The jewelry and works of art include pieces from the private collection of Cartier.

The Star of South Africa, 1917

1930s Ski & Snow Fashions Pt. II

2010-01-07T16:19:00.000-08:00

Continuing the discussion of 1930s ski & snow wear, we’re jealous - while the rest of North America, Britain, and Europe seem to be getting beautiful snow, our weather has been balmy by comparison. Below: Ida Lupino in the kind of snow we know best- the Hollywood variety, 1939.

Designing Women: The Art, Technique and Cost of Being Beautiful (also 1938) advised: "Your winter sports clothes will be chosen for more lively contrasts with snow. One couturier has been outstandingly successful with aurora borealis colors for ski clothes – blue-violet combined with electric green and the pinky flame peculiar to the northern lights. "

They could have been referring to Schiaparelli., whose ski outfit below in “spahi colors” with “poodle hood” appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, December 1938.

The pixie-like hooded ski jacket seems to have gained popularity in the late '30s. Below, top, from Canadian Home, 1937. Middle image from Vogue, December 1, 1939. Bottom: Mary Carlisle, 1938.

One type of ski boot advertised in 1938.

Cover of Vogue 1937 shows the kind of jump-suit affair that was also popular. The top detaches.

The Duke & Duchess of Kent on a ski holiday in 1938.

Where '30s ski wear was heading: fashionable outfit from B. Altman, from Vogue, February 1, 1940.

Skin Care:It had long been noted by beauty experts that winter weather could be damaging to one's skin. The Colgate ad above dates to 1920. Below: Elizabeth Arden offered her new Ski-Sports Gelleé, 1939.
Du Barry’s powder base (cream) to protect against chapping in the winter cold. 1940. Both ads, above, are from the fabulous advertising collection of Duke University.

Ski/Snow Clothes in the Movies:

Henry Fonda and Margaret Sullivan meet on the slopes in the screwball comedy The Moon's Our Home (1936).

Claudette Colbert, Robert Young and Melvyn Douglas in the alps of "Switzerland" in She Met Him in Paris (1937), now out on DVD as part of the Claudette Colbert Collection.

Image at the top of this post shows Sonja Henie, the Olympic gold medalists from Norway, (where they know a thing or two about winter sports fashions) with Tyrone Power, her leading man in Thin Ice (1937) and Second Fiddle (1939), 1938. The pair had an off-screen romance as well. Though most famous for looking great on the ice (more on her in a future post on skating) she also donned ski togs in a few of her films, including Everything Happens at Night (1939) and Sun Valley Serenade (1941).

Carole Lombard likewise looks great in her winter-weather outfits for “Lake Placid” in the Hitchcock-directed comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941). This photo is from the lovely Carole and Co. site.

1930s Ski & Snow Fashions Pt. I

2010-01-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

As promised! This is one of the topics that prompted us to start this blog.

With the increasing popularity of winter sports in the 1930s, and improved highways that made the mountains accessible to anyone with a car, came a demand for attractive, practical snow and skiwear. Of course, French, Austrian and Swiss designers had long been creating fabulous things to make European ladies look good on the slopes of St. Moritz and other fashionable winter playgrounds. With the American ready-made market getting into the act, ski/snow clothes were available for almost any budget.

In the 1920s a casual winter sports might consist of puttees (as seen in the 1928 ad, above) or knickers, worn with long wool socks, and a sweater or a long jacket with a belted waist, the bottom of the coat flaring a bit like a peplum. A colorful scarf, gloves, and close-fitting hat or beret completed the outfit. Skirts would also be worn, with warm wool or lisle stockings, as seen in the Great Northwest ad from 1930, above. This style remained popular into the early 30s. As the decade progressed, ensembles with longer pants that hit just above the ankle, and a matching short, belted jacket of either the same - or better yet, attractively contrasting - color, were favored. These pants typically had gathered cuffs, and could be adjusted to fit higher up on the leg if desired, as for knickers. They would be worn with gaiters or thick socks.

Above: ski holiday, 1926. Below: a colorful 1920s-early 30s skier girl decorates this powder compact in our collection.

Above: "Snow Sets the Style" in Women's Home Companion, January 1930. Left: Norwegian ski suit in dark wool gabardine. Pull-over jacket lined with angora felt. Long trousers slip into wool socks and heavy elkskin shoes. Scarf sweater and beret by Chanel. Center: new lumber-jacket theme makes a smart costume for snowshoeing. Dark ostrich tweed, lined with chamois to match the blouse. The angora beret is in the suit’s waffle weave. Right: Engadine, a sturdy snow-proof material makes this tobogganing costume. High-belted jacket and practical knickers. Practical too are the high-laced shoes, while the knitted cap, scarf, and gloves fairly sparkle with color.

The dark-bottoms/red top combination was often used - very smart. Cigarette ad, 1930.

1931: "You girls who like to go North instead of South for your winter vacation will be interested in Judith Wood’s new brown and tan wool outfit. Judith chose her gloves, socks, and beret in a matching shade of tan. And note that she has tilted that beret at exactly the right angle."

1931: "If you’re fashion-wise you will have at least one stripe-slashed costume this winter. Stripes are definitely with us. Loretta Young’s winter sports suit of blue and white has dark blue trousers with a wide light blue stripe, and her scarf is striped, too."

1933: The St. Moritz name had a certain cachet. You could also get a matching bag.

Above and below: striking color combinations for 1934

Slalom ski wear ad, 1936.

1936 ad for Ski-O-Twill “St. Moritz” snow suit designed by Maurice Och featuring the amazing new stretchy fabric, Lastex. Note the cap and ski lunch pack with shoulder strap.

1936. Bradley ski suit of knit sheepskin and “Shedweather.” She also has a visor cap and her lunch kit, a “Tyrolean pouch,” attaches at the waist.

Another popular maker: White Mt. label skiwear by Wamsutta, 1936, designed by “Lanz of Austria and other internationally famous authorities.”

A mid-1930s plaid wool ski jacket from our collection. It's flannel lined, and guaranteed against moths for 5 years - uh oh! It has a self-belt as well as an adjustable belted back.

Mid-30s wool knickers, above inside out to show the flannel lining, and below, detail of the gathered cuff.

What's in Your 1930s Handbag?

2010-01-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

One of the extra fun things about collecting vintage handbags is that they often contain some trace of their former owners – a mirror, a comb, a ticket stub, maybe.

The McCall’s “Style & Beauty” illustration by Leonard, top, depicts what might be the typical contents of a lady’s bag in 1933:

A powder compact with puff
Keys
Mirror
Engagement book
Notepad and pen
Rouge compact
Lipstick
Perfume vial
Scarf or hankie (monogrammed)

That’s about all there’s room for. We were inspired by Mr. Leonard's creativity to make up our own vignette, using a Girl About Town’s purse, a typical 1930s envelope style pochette of alligator – it has the strap on the back that dates it as definitely 30s.

‘30s rayon scarf depicting champagne glasses and orchids

Vintage Coty Air Spun compact c. 1935

Tangee rouge sample tin, c. 1932

Deco Mints tin – available from Old Durham RoadBesame Classic Enchanting Lipstick (Comes with a velvet pouch, so it doesn't get scratched in your purse).
1 ml sample vial of the original Arpege scent (1927), from The Perfumed Court

Deco card case & pen set by Retro 51– may be sold out but still findable on eBay, etc.

Vintage hankie from the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

We’ve been enabled and indulged in the ‘30s handbag obsession lately. One Girl About Town received a beautiful vintage Whiting & Davis silver mesh evening bag (in its original Deco box) as a Christmas gift, as well as a black with gold embroidered bag with green Bakelite-ish ball closure that still had some calling cards from the original owner, a Mrs. William Alexander Speer.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T13:04:00.000-08:00

Movie Stars to Wear Brilliant Holiday Gowns
by Patricia Killoran, Hollywood, CA
December 28, 1934

Show me the woman who doesn’t look forward to the holidays as a time for wearing that swank new gown, chosen carefully to fit into the sartorial scheme of Christmas and New Year festivities. Hollywood’s most scintillating cinema figures are no exception and the gowns which they’re wearing on their round of holiday parties are evidence of that universally feminine penchant.

Even Marlene Dietrich, busy in her newest starring picture, took time out to have designed a stunning dress of black crepe, extremely slender in silhouette with a slim little tunic ending just below the knees. The shoulders are bare but lavish bands of silver for come from under the arms and border along tight sleeves. With this gown she wears her new diamond and emerald bracelet and another of diamonds and rubies.

JEAN IN WHITE
Jean Harlow will wear her new white chiffon to a New Year’s party. It’s ethereally lovely with its accordion pleated skirt and its draped top. With it, carrying out her preference for all-white, she’ll wear a white ermine wrap.

Carole Lombard’s new “Irene Castle gown” adds a breath-taking style note at holiday parties. Of grey chiffon with full skirt over a gray satin slip, it’s widely bordered in platinum grey fox to give a very bouffant effect. The décolletage is low in front and back and the evening cape is of grey Roma literally covered in vertical bands of the grey fox.

Dolores Del Rio and her husband Cedric Gibbons…New Year’s Eve will go to a private party and Miss Del Rio will wear a Grecian gown in white crepe Romaine with silver embroidery on hemline and shoulders.

GOLD ENSEMBLE
Josephine Hutchinson, Margaret Lindsay and Bette Davis are all attending private New Year’s parties. Miss Hutchinson will wear a gold cloth ensemble, full skirted with a tailored peplum jacket and topaz jewelry; Miss Lindsay, black velvet with a jade necklace and bracelets, and Bette a heavy white crinkle crepe with brilliant ruby clips and earrings.
We have lots of fun new posts planned for 2010 – including a big one on snow & ski fashions coming up shortly! Thanks for blogging with us!

The Lucky Strike Girl's Hat

2009-12-27T10:15:00.001-08:00

Designed by John-Frederics of New York, 1936 and widely copied. The men behind John-Frederics were John Piocelle and Frederic Hirst, two of America's top milliners throughout the 1930s and 1940s. The firm also worked with Hollywood studios to design hats for the movies, most notably Scarlett’s hats for Gone With the Wind (1939). The two went their separate ways in 1948 – Mr. Piocelle designing under the labels Mr John and John Juniors, while Mr. Hirst became known as Mr. Fred.

Merry '30s Christmas to All!

2009-12-24T14:17:00.000-08:00

Last Minute Christmas Glamour

2009-12-18T10:21:00.000-08:00

"Christmas Eve Coat" in a wine shade of red, Harper's Bazaar, December 1938.

Surround yourself in glamour. Ladies Home Journal, December 1933. The wine dress with tiny muff and puffed shoulders reminds us of the dress Rhett makes Scarlett wear to Ashley's birthday party in Gone With the Wind (1939). Also a black and white dress with "cold shoulder" sleeves, and a red dress with peaked shoulders and low-V back.

"No night falls without the flare of lamé streaking through its hours," wrote Vogue, November 15, 1936. Dinner dresses above, left, of "tawny gold lamé, ends its pleated skirt just at the ankles. The wide-belted blouse bares your jeweled arms, and more lamé is twisted into a golden aureole (Henri Bendel). On the second siren, a jacket like those worn by the young blades of Dalmatia. It's of velvet, thick with gold braid, short as a bolero. In place of their velvet trousers, a slim black broadcloth evening dress."

Coats of 1936: Black worn over green and black worn over red.

Black and red with gold gowns. 1940.

Evening dresses, 1935.

Black, red, and green. Lilly Daché, 1939.

Over the top in green, with red, black and white accents. Cover of Vogue, September 1, 1939.

Some gala green ideas from Vogue, December 1, 1939. Green and purple was a very popular combination.

More green and purple, with blue. This is by Hattie Carnegie.

Upper left: lamé dinner jacket and velvet skirt in wine. ("See where the skirt stops!"). Upper right: triangular hat in red and black, strings of pearls worn with a coral necklace. Center: Agnés’s suede beret collapsed over ear. “World’s shortest jacket” in Persian lamb. Lower right: Worth's lamé bag.

Christmas Shopping - 1930s

2009-12-04T15:09:00.000-08:00

I don't usually look this way, but I've been
Christmas shopping - Myrna Loy as Nora Charles, The Thin Man (1934)

Above: Nora's Christmas shopping outfit, from the Baroness Von Vintage's blog, Tea with the Vintage Baroness (see her own Nora-inspired outfit too!). For a map of literary Nora's shopping trip, see the Walking off the Big Apple blog. Top: Ruth Hall, 1931

Gloves for "her", December 1939.

1939. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, at the plea of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, proclaimed November 23rd, the next to last Thursday in November to be Thanksgiving Day, in order to extend the Christmas holiday shopping season by one week. The merchants had made this request previously, in 1933, but it didn’t go over. To look through Vogue’s Christmas Gifts Issue in either of those years, you would never know there was any such thing as a Depression.

Slippers – can’t go wrong with these. 1939.

Luxurious lingerie from Best & Co., 1933.

Depression? What Depression? Tiffany jewels, one of Vogue’s Christmas gift ideas, December 1, 1933.

Mark Cross fine leather goods and travel cases, 1933.

Furs – the glamorous gift. December 1, 1939 Vogue.

More gift ideas from Sak’s 1939.

All of the big beauty houses offered gorgeous sets at Christmas time: Helena Rubenstein, Elizabeth Arden, and Cutex, 1936.

Perfume then as now a popular gift. Chanel ad, 1938. Caron, 1933.

Stockings, always a welcome gift. December 1939.

Gifts for "Him"

Gift suggestions from Wilson Brothers in Esquire, 1935. Polo shirts, wool socks in "bold colors" and the new "Fair Isle" pattern as well as Argylls, mufflers in vivid patterns, silk "lounging pyjamas," with the famous Nobelt waistline, "Wilstay" shirts, hankies in new pastel colors, broken-stripe ties, sports jacket of knitted pure wool in checked pattern, pleated back with belt, socks with embroidered trim, ties featuring "new Foulard type figures," leather rugby gloves.

Maybe your fellow has always wanted a Rolls…Razor? Vogue, 1936. The Man About Town got a similar set up for Christmas last year, and liked it. The people at classicshaving.com gave excellent service.

Electric razors are also classic. This one was advertised in Esquire, November 1935.

For the well-groomed man, 1938. These were sold in pairs and can often be found new in the box. Some have gorgeous Deco designs on the backs.

1930s Afternoon Wear

2009-11-27T07:06:00.001-08:00

A visit to the museum, 1932

As discussed in the daywear post, all of the fashion advice and etiquette books of the 1930s we’ve read agree that it was perfectly correct for a woman to wear the same street dress or suit throughout the day. As Emily Post states in the 1935 edition of her book, Etiquette: “you need seldom worry about your appearance because you are not as ‘dressed’ as the others. The time to worry is when you are over-dressed.”

Afternoon dresses and costume jewelry from Vogue, 1938

That being said, there were reasons why ladies who had the means and opportunity to dress for a specific occasion might enjoy doing so. As author Marianne Meade says in Charm & Personality (1938): “there is a good deal of pleasure in dressing especially for the afternoon, if this is convenient, as more latitude for expression is permissible in richer colors and materials, jewelry, and furs.”

A town dress for fall, 1938

Cover of Style & Beauty, a McCall's publication, 1935

John Fredricks hat. From Vogue, Sept. 1., 1939

“Materials for afternoon wear might include velvet and satin for suits and dresses, lamé, satin, and lace, etc. for blouses, and suede, silk, velvet, etc. for purses. Dressmaker suits, afternoon dresses, and more dressy suits are correct. A little more trimming is permissible and the skirt is usually a little longer. Shoes may have higher heels and may be of more delicate construction. Hats may be more formal in design, material, and trimming, and if possible, they should blend with the dress, since it is very often necessary to wear them after removing the coat. Coats should be of the formal or semi-formal type. They may be of fur – preferably not raccoon or similar sporty furs – or of cloth, fur trimmed. Gloves should be dressy and may be of white, beige, black or any harmonious color. Jewelry may be worn, but should not be as elaborate as that for evening wear. Perfume may also be used, the only restrictions being those imposed by good taste.” Purses could be dressy, “with elaborate clasps, handles, etc.”

All but the one in the lower left are afternoon bags, Vogue December 1939

Above: at left, a silk afternoon dress, "perfect for a holiday shopping tour and its dressy atmosphere permits you to go places in the evening without changing. The one on the right is a Sunday night dress. Although it is not a 'formal' it is appropriate for taverns, theatres, or informal wear." November 28, 1933.

Above: December 1932, McCall's

Above, newspaper illustration Nov. 9, 1939. Stylists predicted the winter would bring a "return to elegance." You can see what slobs they were before that!

For those "don't dress" occasions. Vogue, January 1940. "For late afternoons or impromptu evenings, a red silk velvet suit with a day-length skirt. For 5:00 pm dress it up with a gold embroidered cap (larger photo), black jersey blouse, gold colored jewelry. For evening (inset): a befeathered black velvet cap, yards of jet jewelry, and a jet studded blouse."

It was once said, only semi-jokingly, that “you could tell the time of day by the length of a woman’s skirt,” but this distinction became blurred in the 1930s, with day-length skirts sometimes favored for afternoon wear, especially toward the later years of the decade. It was more the materials, trim, and accessories that set day wear apart from afternoon wear, as trends in skirt lengths for afternoon changed constantly, as did "in" fabrics and colors. In February 1937, for example, stylists predicted that “after seasons of comparative neglect,” lace would likely replace lamé for cocktail dresses and suits in the spring. In January 1939, reports from Paris had it that lamés were “set aside for the short cocktail or dinner dress, but are not worn for a bridge party, in direct contrast to previous seasons.” There would also be periods where “informal formality or formal informality” ruled, followed inevitably by a “return to formality.” Trying to keep up with it all made our heads swim.

Cocktail Dresses
“What is a cocktail dress?” William Powell asks in The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936). Many women in the audience might have been wondering the same thing. The definition of this garment was a constantly moving target! According to an article in March 1927, “the ‘cocktail gown’ has just been endorsed by Paris… this is for wear in the afternoons before the dinner hour.” A newspaper fashion correspondent wrote on November 27, 1931: “In relation to the rest of the feminine wardrobe, the ‘cocktail dress’ is a first cousin to both the evening gown and the afternoon dress. In some instances, a matching jacket turns and evening dress into a cocktail frock. As described by smart shops, it’s the ‘formal informal’ frock that can stop by for tea – or what have you – and go right through to dinner, the theater, or bridge.” In October 1935, one stylist described the cocktail dress as “a type of dress which we wear downtown to dinner, to dine, and possible dance a round or two, before going to the theatre.”

Someone's humorous idea for a "cocktail gown" 1927.

From cocktails to dinner. Vogue 1933.

Cocktail ensemble from Vogue February 1940. This is where cocktail fashions were headed in 1939's "return to elegance"

What length shall it be? According to an October 29, 1935 fashion article, this was “the one great worry of the woman who needs a semi-formal or so called ‘cocktail’ dress.” The answer? “Dresses of this type may be ten or twelve or even more inches from the floor, if one wishes. The shorter dress is just as fashionable and newer. It is more practical too, for wear in all kinds of weather and under all conditions.” Sylvia Weaver, the Los Angeles Times’ talented fashion columnist, asserted in her January 7, 1936 column that the ‘short cocktail or bar dress’ had been introduced in August 1935, and remained “the most definite new style for this current season. You simply must wear a short dress to a cocktail or an informal dinner party unless you’re going to a formal party afterward.”

Designing Women: The Art, Technique and Cost of Being Beautiful by Margaretta Byers (1938) notes a “cocktail costume may be street or ankle length. The street length has become extremely popular and is considerably smarter because an evening wrap would be silly with such informal clothes” (ditto the opposite - a street-length coat with an ankle-length dress). “Here is where the vogue for fur capes is so very apropos. Because fur capes can be used for the street and over ankle-length cocktail frocks, too, if you must wear them. When it gets too cold for a fur cape, you switch to your fur coat.” The book advises a three-quarter length coat “so when it goes out with an ankle-length cocktail costume it won’t broadcast the fact that you wear it in the daytime, too.”

"Underneath these wraps, long sleeved jackets of bright colors or aglitter with sequins, pailettes, or lamé, are practically a cocktail convention, probably because the jacket and skirt idea. Essentially a daytime note, interpreted in rich fabrics, make just the right compromise for a sundown costume.”

What to Wear Where?
Sylvia Weaver wrote in early November 1935: “for many months we’ve been trying to solve a satirical problem – if you’re invited to a matinee, tea, a bridge party, or an afternoon cocktail party by some of your feminine friends, how can you find a gown appropriate for that affair and also suitable for meeting your escort for dinner after the party? For a long time, it was necessary for the properly gowned to go home after the symphony, or the bridge-tea and change to a long, dinner, or cocktail gown. This required a lot of time and usually slowed up dinner and the evening by an hour or so. And it was a nuisance when your escort could have met you downtown after the concert instead of going home after you. But our fashion prayers are always answered in due course of time. This season we have a blessing in the formal afternoon dress which is perfect for all kinds of parties before the sun goes down and then it carries through the rest of the evening beautifully as an informal dinner dress. When the Philharmonic Orchestra plays its first Friday afternoon symphony November 15, you’re going to see scores of these short cocktail or formal afternoon dresses – and we might add right here that the long dress for an afternoon party is practically obscured by the fashion sun which is shining so brightly on these short dresses for afternoons and informal evenings.”

On November 19, 1936, she waxed enthusiastic about a “smart black crêpe cocktail dress trimmed with metallic gold embroidery which bands the neckline and short sleeves.” It sported a metallic ascot and a close-fitting jacket of “embroidered green and gold Persian design lamé against a background of black.” “Dazzling at a bridge luncheon, smart at the bridge table or informal dinner, this gown will be outstanding at any social function.”

Vogue, Sept. 1, 1939

Formal Luncheons. Charm & Personality notes: “a formal luncheon is considered a rather important occasion, therefore you should wear your smartest afternoon dress, a dressy hat which blends well with the dress, a dressy coat and gloves of beige or white kid or suede. The gloves are removed, but the hat is worn throughout the luncheon.” At informal luncheons [where informal daywear may be worn as well], “guest often remove their hats, although it is equally correct to wear them. So be guided by your hostess’ wishes or the conduct of the other guests.” If you have a chance to see The Girl From Tenth Avenue with Bette Davis (1935), there's a great scene involving a ladies' luncheon party at the Waldorf. In The Women (1939) Norma Shearer hosts a ladies' lunch at her country home.

Above: Ladies who lunch, McCall's December 1932

Top, above: “If you sit in the lobby of any smart luncheon place at high noon, you’ll see these smart women come in. The one who wears a black and wool dress with slits in the streamline skirt and shining satin sash (red, at right) and the one who wears a bright crêpe dress punctuated at the neckline and wrists with black.” Middle: Caped model, “perfect for late afternoon” is cellophane crêpe! Bottom, above: The kerchief neckline model has a natural wood buckle and clip is wool ribbed with cellophane. At right is a number with a cartridge neckline and smooth shoulders in gold threaded crêpe. Hats: Lily Daché. Delineator, November 1934.

"Monk's Dresses" for afternoon, Delineator January 1935

Teas and Receptions. Per Charm & Personality again, most women would wear their informal daywear or dressmaker suits to informal teas “but for a more formal tea, reception, or bridge party, she might wish to dress more formally. If so, her prettiest afternoon dress, with a dress hat, coat and gloves would be appropriate. On a very formal afternoon occasion, she might wear a simple Sunday night dress [basically, a sleeved dress, often in bright colors, more formal than an afternoon dress but less formal than dinner dress], a rather formal hat, and a dressy coat and gloves. If you partake of refreshments, you must remove your gloves, but you must not remove your hat.”

“The hostess may wear a tea gown if she wishes, or she may wear the same type of clothes as her guests. Incidentally, this is one time when the rules of etiquette permit a hostess to dress more elaborately than her guests – when she wears a beautiful tea or hostess gown. Generally, a woman friend who is to “pour” for her hostess at a formal tea does not wear tailored clothes, and of course she does not wear a hostess gown. Her costume is usually a flattering afternoon dress.”

Above: Afternoon dresses, McCall's 1932. We assume the hostess is the one in the floral print, top left, fingering the flowers. The red and white one in the bottom middle reminds us of an early '30s version of the drool-worthy AbleGrable 'Miss Betty Amanda' Dress.

Above: this looks like an informal tea among close friends who all happen to love rayon. Vogue 1936.

Descriptions of tea party attire (gleaned from a newspaper society columns). At an engagement-announcement tea in Reno, Nevada on January 4, 1937 held from 4 to 6pm, the hostess wore a black velvet frock with a collar and jabot of sheer white lace. Her two helpers at the tea table wore a maroon velvet gown and a frock of black net trimmed with a crimson flower, respectively. Other attendees wore: a red cocktail frock worn with a snug jacket; a dinner gown of pale green with a lace bodice; a black velvet dress made with deep V décolletage and puffed short sleeves; a black crepe frock with a black and white flowered jacket; and a smart black cocktail dress with a short jacket and a gardenia corsage.

At a very formal public tea honoring the first lady of New Mexico that took place January 1, 1936 from 3 to 6 pm, the guest of honor wore a “gown of petal pink lace, made floor length, with slippers of dull gold and matching antique gold earrings and a spray of white gardenias.” Her helpers for the first hour wore 1) a floor length afternoon dress, shirtwaist style, of black sheer chiffon with long full sleeves caught at the wrist and a picture hat of black velvet and lace; and 2) an afternoon dress of black metal crepe with a touch of green at the collar and a gold metal turban with black velvet trim. For the 4-5 hour, the helpers wore 1) a formal afternoon dress of plum crepe and a black turban with gold sequin trim; and 2) a brown afternoon dress with white trim and a matching brown turban. The helpers from 5-6pm wore 1) a gown of black satin with white quilted satin collar and cuffs; and 2) a floral print afternoon dress of blue black and red and a silver hat with a veil.

Cocktail Parties
This was one type of event where daywear and formal evening garb might rub elbows without anyone being considered underdressed or overdressed. As Charm & Personality puts it, “if guests come directly from the office, they will probably be wearing informal day clothes or dressmaker suits with ‘dress up’ touches. Those who are going out for dinner afterward may be wearing formal and semi-formal evening clothes. Others, who have come from afternoon parties, may be wearing formal afternoon clothes. This variety of costume is perfectly correct, and no one need feel conspicuous…” As quoted in the daywear post, Designing Women concurs that morning daywear can be worn even through the cocktail hour, “unless it’s a real party.” It goes on to say that in town, “the first and often the only change in a busy woman’s day comes at cocktail time."

Bridge Parties:
Any of the afternoon attire described above would be appropriate. Chic ladies often chose frocks with interest centered above the waist (the part of the garment that would be seen seated at the table): in necklines, shoulders and sleeves, or contrasting colors top and bottom. Designing Women advises caution in the use of contrast, though – more on this in a future post.

Above: Dresses for a bridge-luncheon, Ladies Home Journal, November 1931

“Fashion Takes Her Tricks Above the Table,” Ladies Home Journal, January 1933.

Bridge Luncheon, McCalls 1932

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-24T20:44:00.000-08:00

Forget Target - come Black Friday, we'll be at Newmans, bright and early, to see if they still have any of these 1931 coats in "the back." Are you with us, girls?

Or how about this one? All we can say is: by gad, that woman is stout! That is, if stout used to mean streamlined, hipless beauty.

Meanwhile, we're trying to get well, and have a big afternoonwear post almost ready to go. Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Blog Awards

2009-11-22T08:58:00.000-08:00

Thanks are long overdue for the Kreativ Blog Award that The Painted Woman received from Matthew Coniam of the always terrific Movietone News! It is much appreciated, especially coming from a vintage movie site like his.

In accepting this award, one must list seven other blogs to receive the award, and 'seven things you don't know about me'. That last part should be easy, but picking just seven fabulous & creative blogs was hard. We finally chose (in no particular order):

1. Hollywood Dreamland
2. Diamond Dame
3. Born Too Late
4. Allure
5. Living on Velvet
6. The Classic Maiden
7. Oh By Jingo! Oh By Gee!

And seven things you didn't know about ... a 1930s Girl About Town:
1. I'm afraid to walk past an uncovered window at night because of the movie Burnt Offerings
2. My nickname in Jr. High School was 'Fred' (as in Astaire) after an infamous talent show performance of Top Hat.
3. When Gone With the Wind was broadcast on TV for the first time in the late 70s, (before most homes had VCRs), I recorded the audio on a little tape recorder.
4. I'm a historian and am teaching a graduate course in how to do historical research.
5. I hate to fly and travel by train whenever possible instead.
6. I'm a native of Los Angeles and love L.A. and Hollywood history of the 20s-30s.
7. I've never seen an episode of Star Trek.

Then, we were thrilled and honored to receive a Vintage Style Award from Lily Lemontree! That is really nice, and when we started this blog, we weren't sure there was any interest in 1930s style, and wondered at times if we should even go on posting to the blog. So, thank you Lily!

The rules of this award are that we must: link who gave you the award; Give the award to 7 blogs you love; and Let the people you have awarded know. After much discussion, we give the Vintage Style Award to:

1. The Call of the Jitterbug Doll
2. The Frivolous Flapper
3. The Adventures of Gingeyginge
4. Able Grable
5. Shrinky Inky's Fine Adventures
6. Glamour Daze
7. The Vintage Traveler

Informal Daywear: Clothes for Street

2009-11-20T15:12:00.000-08:00

During the day at home, ladies could be as informal as they wished – they had their pick of comfy lounging pajamas or morning dresses (often wrap style), skirts and sweaters, housedresses, slacks and blouse or sweater, etc., depending on what they had going on. But choosing day wear for street wear was another matter. There were several factors to consider, including location (country vs. town), season, and activity (shopping, school, office, etc.). Above: daywear outfits, McCall's, 1932.

Fall frocks for day, 1934

Designing Women: The Art, Technique and Cost of Being Beautiful by Margaretta Byers (1938) notes that the afternoon dress is “a vanishing American custom….You can wear a suit or tailored dress nowadays from breakfast to cocktails, and through cocktails too, unless it’s a real party. Of course, if you have an important lunch date, you will wear your nicest blouse with your suit and furs instead of a scarf. And you’ll wear your pet hat. But that’s as far as you need go.”

Charm and Personality by Marianne Meade published the same year, echoes this. “Informal day clothes are suitable for all the usual daytime occasions – street, shopping, school or office.” A well-chosen morning costume could “be made to serve for even the most formal afternoon occasions” including a formal tea or reception, a formal wedding, or a cocktail party. On such occasions, the author notes, “you may wish to dress up your morning costume with a more formal blouse or accessories, or perhaps a fur neckpiece, but these additions are not actually necessary.”

Suits, Delineator January 1935. Left: tweed suit with double-breasted jacket. Middle: Tunic dress. Right: Coat without fur. When you want to look more formal, add a fur cape or scarf.

Charm and Personality goes on to say: "In this group are tailored suits or dresses, very simple afternoon dresses, and semi-sport dresses of the spectator type. With these you should wear hats simple in design and sparingly trimmed. Coats may be of the sport or semi-dress type; of fur, cloth, or a combination of the two. With the afternoon dress and semi-dress coat you may wear plain dark pumps with medium high heels. With tailored clothes, low heeled oxfords or sturdy pumps with medium high heels are appropriate. Gloves should be plain and either tailored or sporty, depending on the rest of the outfit. The purse should be appropriate as to design and fabric. Avoid dressy purses of silk, velvet, or suede with elaborate clasps, handles, etc., except for afternoon wear. Little jewelry should be worn and that must be simple and of a sporty rather than dressy type. Perfume for morning wear should not be heavy."

Good daywear accessories. Vogue 1938.

"The entire ensemble should be of conservative color and simple design. It should have very little trimming, and the material should not be “dressy.” Must be of the “sporty” varieties, such as soft woolen, serge, tweed (not too rough), knitted fabrics, etc."

Some daywear fabrics, Vogue 1936.

Designing Women also touched on this: “However, you must understand that there are suits and suits. Swagger suits belong in the country and are worn with sweaters and fedora hats. Usually they are rough or monotone tweeds. But we can’t say all tweeds belong in the country. Because there are lovely soft Lintons and lacy tweeds that lend themselves to tailleur and dressmaker styles and go quite elegantly to formal luncheons.”

"Swagger" suit for country, 1941 - characterized by the full back and loose front.

“Tailleur is nothing more than the French word for a tailored suit. And a “dressmaker suit” is simply a softer suit, somewhat more flared or draped, or in some way feminized. While theoretically the dressmaker suit is more formal, in actual practice the two are just about interchangeable. The choice depends largely on the individual. So, while a tailored silk blouse really belongs with a tailleur, and a softer lingerie blouse with a dressmaker suit, both may take both without raising eyebrows. Also tailleurs and dressmaker suits both need fur scarves while a swagger suit with a fur scarf is unthinkable. The tailleur needs a tailored hat of felt or straw, while the dressmaker suit implies a hat softened with wings or flowers or bows.”

Above: A tailored daytime suit with appropriate accessories, 1936. Below: Two daytime frocks for fall, Ladies Home Journal November 1931. The red one-piece dress is of wool. "Note the interesting two-pointed effect at the elbow." On the right is a street dress of wool crepe by Paquin with wide revers and deep cuffs of silk piqué.

One point that all period etiquette and fashion advice books we’ve read agree on is: better to be underdressed than overdressed. So, what about a vintage event that starts in the morning and goes through the afternoon with no practical opportunity to change? If a gal wants to follow the “correct” dress conventions of the era, she’d dress for morning rather than afternoon, since morning clothes can carry her smartly through the entire day, whereas in afternoon attire she’d be overdressed for the morning.

Above: Chic streetwear, McCall's March 1932.

Coming up in a future post: Afternoon wear.

Fall Fashions

2009-11-04T10:53:00.001-08:00

Our fall vintage/vintage inspired wardrobe currently consists of one item: this gorgeous Angelina Jolie in Changeling-inspired cloche made by Clara Bows of Folksy in the UK. Lovely attention to detail on the flower, too.

The original:

Hilary Swank wears a similar one in the recent Amelia film:

Other than that, we can only drool over these pictures of vintage fall outfits we’ll never own. Sigh!

1927:

1931:

1932:

1933:

1920s-30s Halloween Costumes

2009-10-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

As much as we dislike modern-day Halloween, we love the idea and imagery of Hallowe’en during its golden age, the 1920s and 30s. We’re celebrating by devoting all 3 blogs to the subject – here we’ll have costume ideas; in The Depression Kitchen we’ll have some menu ideas and recipes; and Parlor Past Times will take on décor and games.

In the 20s and 30s, costume or fancy dress parties were very popular, and Hallowe’en night was no exception. As The Household magazine stated in its October 1927 issue: “There is scarcely a date in the entire twelve months that appeals to old and young alike for a rousing, good, old fashioned “dress up” party like October 31st – Hallowe’en. The real life of any Hallowe’en party is imparted by the smart masquerades worn by the guests. They need not be expensive – most any of the light weight cotton materials will do providing they are colorful. Haphazard color combinations are tabooed – naturally – but harmonious effects are delightful.” Dennison’s 1925 “Bogie Book” agreed, stating “Gay Costumes are part of every Hallowe’en party.” Dennison was King of Crepe Paper, so many of its costumes were made of this amazingly versatile product! It was common for costumes to be made of simple muslin and cunningly adorned with crepe paper. Costumes tended to be homemade, but for grand affairs, costume rental shops could provide elaborate masquerades.

Black and orange were a popular color combination. Witches, ghosts, clowns, and goblins were standard. As author Diane C. Arkin notes in Halloween Merrymaking: An Illustrated Celebration Of Fun, Food, And Frolics From Halloween’s Past (a delightful book that we recommend highly to anyone with even a slight interest in this subject!), costumes in the 20s-30s era weren’t gory and gruesome. Masks were often worn so as to make the event of “unmasking” part of the evening’s drama.

The Household’s costume ideas from 1927 (below) were: a Spanish Dancer (“easy to make and inexpensive”), From the Far Away Argentine (“fetching when worn by a girl or a woman”), Pierrot (“can be made of either paper or muslin in black and white"), a Tom Boy or Girl (“could be worn for a masquerade or a “Kiddie” party”) of tiny blue and white or pink and white checked gingham; and The Old Fashioned Girl (“fashioned of crepe de Chine printed in quaint floral patterns, with georgette crepe contrasting, this costume has undeniable chic”).

Clara Bow wears something like the "Tom Girl" costume in this photo:

More ideas from period film and fiction:

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, "The Camel's Back," which appeared in the Saturday Evening Post April 24, 1920 issue, featured a costume ball with a circus theme. (It actually takes places at Christmas time). The main character hires a camel costume from a shop.

Agatha Christie’s short story, "The Affair at the Victory Ball" (1923) featured characters dressed as Harlequin; Punchinello & Puncinella; Pierrot & Pierrette; and Columbine. The Poirot television series episode based on this story (1991, starring David Suchet) is really wonderful and features many other costumes, including Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser) as the Scarlet Pimpernel (in the Christie story Poirot and Hastings do not attend the ball, but merely hear an account of it after the fact).

Christie also featured a costume ball in the Tommy & Tuppence short story "Finessing the King" (1924). One character is dressed as a newspaper, another as the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. These costumes and many others are faithfully depicted in the episode of the Tommy & Tuppence: Partners in Crime television series (1984) based on this story.

In Nancy’s Mysterious Letter (Carolyn Keene, 1932), Nancy Drew suggests an impromptu masquerade party using only clothes she and other guests had brought along to a weekend house party (no sheets or pillowcases allowed). Nancy wore a “turban of colored silk, with the feathers of her hat held in place in front with a large brooch..." and wins the prize for "most picturesque."

In P.G. Wodehouse’s Right Ho, Jeeves (1934), Gussie Fink-Nottle attempts to attend a fancy dress ball, “not,” – Bertie Wooster notes – “like every other well-bred Englishman, as a Pierrot,” - but as Mephistopheles. In the Jeeves and Wooster television series, Gussie wears this costume in “A Plan for Gussie” (1991). Another episode to feature a fancy dress ball is 1993’s “The Once and Future Ex” (based on Wodehouse’s Joy in the Morning from 1947).

Rebecca (1938) by Daphne du Maurier features an elaborate fancy dress ball. Mrs. De Winter copies a historical portrait for her costume (her husband had suggested she dress as Alice in Wonderland); other costumes mentioned in the book are: Joan of Arc, Madame Pompadour, an “Arab” (sheik costumes were as common as ghosts in the 20s), a Tudor woman, a pirate, and a sailor. More are shown in the movie version (1940).

One of the most astonishing vintage costume parties we’ve seen is in the 1930 movie Madame Satan. It takes place aboard an Art Deco zeppelin!

Source books:

Fortunately several of the 1920s Dennison’s “Bogie Books” – the company’s annual Hallowe’en/Thanksgiving decorating idea books, have been reissued in recent years so are affordable; the scarce originals can break the bank.
Dennison Manufacturing Co. Dennison's Bogie Book -- A 1921 Guide for Vintage Decorating and Entertaining at Halloween and Thanksgiving (9th Edition) (Paperback)

Dennison Manufacturing Co. Dennison's Bogie Book -- A 1922 Guide for Vintage Decorating and Entertaining at Halloween and Thanksgiving (10th Edition) (Paperback)

Dennison Manufacturing Co. Dennison's Bogie Book -- A 1924 Guide for Vintage Decorating and Entertaining at Halloween and Thanksgiving (12th Edition) (Paperback)

Dennison Manufacturing Co. Dennison's Bogie Book -- A 1925 Guide for Vintage Decorating and Entertaining at Halloween and Thanksgiving (13th Edition) (Paperback)

Dennison's also produced the lovely How to Make Paper Costumes -- Over 60 Vintage Costume Patterns (Paperback)

Diane C. Arkins. Halloween Merrymaking: An Illustrated Celebration Of Fun, Food, And Frolics From Halloweens Past (Hardcover)

Blue Lantern Studio (compiler). Masquerade: Costume Inspirations 1920s-1950s (Hardcover)

Diary of a Fashion Model by Grace Thorncliffe

2009-09-11T21:53:00.000-07:00

August 6, 1928

She Describes a Stunning New Model

Such a model I have to describe. It is a knockout, swell, and all the other words that used to be frowned on and are now just a necessary part of today’s conversation.

It is made of dark blue flat crepe. Nothing startling about that, but give ear a minute. For the monotone merely describes the coat and side sections of the dress. Down the front of the latter there is an inset of blue crepe dotted with the loveliest shade of peach color – and it makes a perfectly heavenly combination.

The center insert contrives a blouse effect which is edged with the peach trim that is also used to band the trim neckline. Trim pleats of the polka-dotted silk hang from the blouse edge.

The coat is so smart that I could cheer. It is belted low at the waist and completely unadorned at one side, whereas the other side boasts a dotted rover which appears mysteriously at the neck and dips down slightly below the hemline. The first thing I’ve seen of its kind – and extremely smart, too.

Tawny fox, soft and pinkish, provides two large cuffs, and a flower of peach-colored crepe appears at the left shoulder making as I remarked above a knockout, a swell, an et cetera and et cetera costume.

When last seen, its purchaser was dashing out to one of those chic millinery places that drape hats on the head. She had in mind a blue crepe hat, shallow crowned and plain under which she planned to have a bandeau of peach grosgrain ribbon, tying in a tailored bow. And if she was able to get same (and I see no reason why not) she will have a beautiful costume.

The 'Live Alone' Girl: Marjorie Hillis

2009-09-03T21:55:00.000-07:00

1936. Gone With the Wind by first-time novelist Margaret Mitchell of Atlanta tops the best-seller list. Dominating the non-fiction side is Live Alone and Like It: A Guide for the Extra Woman, the first book of its author, Marjorie Hillis. For Mitchell, it was the apex of her literary career. For Hillis, it was just the beginning. She would spend much of her adult life writing and giving practical advice to women who were, for whatever reason, alone.

The sequel, Orchids on Your Budget, or Live Smartly on What Have You, made the 1937 best seller list (with Gone With the Wind again tops for fiction). The following year - as Live Alone ran into its 11th printing, she came out with Corned Beef and Caviar for the Live-Aloner, a terrific little cooking and entertaining guide. In it, she gives recipes for everything from “getting the man with the meal,” to clam sauce; we intend to feature some in The Depression Kitchen sometime. In 1939 she wrote a guide for women travelers who, it could be anticipated, might be visiting the World’s Fair and New York City, called New York Fair or No Fair. In addition to her books, she also wrote for newspapers and magazines, and went on lecture tours.

Marjorie Louise Hillis was born in Peoria, Illinois in 1889, the second child of Annie Louise Patrick Hillis of Marengo, Illinois, and Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis of Magnolia, Indiana, both authors. Mrs. Hillis wrote The American Woman and Her Home (1911). Dr. Hillis was a famed, though sometimes controversial, clergyman who had served as pastor of Plymouth Congressional Church, Brooklyn, from 1899 to 1924. Miss Hillis had a brother, Richard Dwight Hillis (born 1888) and a sister, Nathalie Louise (born 1900). The Hillis' resided for many years at 31 Grace Court, Brooklyn, New York. Dr. Hillis passed away in 1929, Mrs. Hillis not far behind in 1930.

Educated expensively at a private school for girls, Miss Dana’s in Morristown, New Jersey, Miss Hillis spent a year abroad before going to work for Vogue. She was with the magazine for twenty years, working her way up to the editorial staff. Although determined to write a "how-to" book, Miss Hillis was not sure initially exactly what topic she would cover. She found that the “how to please a man” angle had already been pretty well covered, so decided to write about how a women living alone could have a “cheerful life.” The concept was a somewhat shocking one, and Miss Hillis found herself a media sensation. “Sophisticated Miss Hillis honestly believes there are advantages in a husbandless state!" one critic wrote.

So, when the 49 year old Miss Hillis wed 65 year old Brooklyn grocery store chain owner Henry Thomas Roulston on August 1, 1939, journalists had a field day. “She Doesn’t Live Alone – And Likes It,” being typical of the headlines the event generated. Many of her devoted fans cried ‘foul,’ disparaging the author’s “defection” to married bliss as a betrayal and threatening to burn their copies of Live Alone and Like It. But they were missing the point – Miss Hillis never claimed to be anti-man or anti-marriage. Promoting Live Alone and Like It in 1936 she said, “This business of making your own life may sound dreary, especially if you have a dated mind and still think of yourself as the weaker sex. But it really isn’t. You can have a grand time doing it.” In Orchids On Your Budget, she devotes a chapter to the question, “Can you afford a husband?” and even suggests that in some cases the wife might well be the family breadwinner.

Miss Hillis took the kidding with her usual good grace, citing a woman's prerogative to change her mind. “There’s nothing to beat old fashioned love.” she said, telling reporters that she intended to “be a housewife – the old fashioned kind,” and adding that she hoped to raise a family.

The Roulston’s set sail on the Normandie for a European honeymoon. The ship returned to New York harbor in September - laden with Mrs. Roulston’s Paris loot, which included ultra-chic hats from Madame Suzy - with her portholes blackened. As war clouds gathered overhead, the couple settled down to homey married life, alternating between their Brooklyn mansion and country estate at Huntington, Long Island. After the U.S.A.'s entry into World War II, Live Alone and Like It would enjoy a brief revival, as, with husbands, sweethearts and brothers in the service, many women once more found themselves living alone.

Sadly, Mrs. Roulston was widowed in 1949 after just 10 years of marriage. She closed the Long Island house and moved to an apartment in New York. By 1951, she’d published You Can Start All Over, an advice book for widows. Her final self-help book, Keep Going and Like It: A Guide to the Sixties and Onward and Upward, came out in 1967. She died at home in New York on November 8, 1971 at age 82. She was survived by her brother, Richard.

Both Live Alone and Like It and Orchids on Your Budget have been reprinted in recent years, and are readily available.

Sources included: Fitch, Charles Elliott. Encyclopedia of New York Life (American Historical Society, 1916), various newspaper and magazine articles, 1929-1971.

TCM Alert: The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)

2009-08-29T08:55:00.001-07:00

If you have access to Turner Classic Movies, the rare, not-on-DVD The Ex-Mrs. Bradford starring Jean Arthur and William Powell, is showing Sunday night, August 30 at 10:15ET/7:15PT. We love this movie. Don't pay any attention to the critics who say Arthur is a poor stand-in for Myrna Loy in this role - she's adorable in her own way as the former Mrs. Bradford. William Powell is terrific as always. There is also a fabulous Deco apartment and sparkling dialogue like this:

William Powell: What is a cocktail dress?
Jean Arthur: It's a dress you can spill cocktails on

Part of an all-day Jean Arthur-fest, we also look forward to If You Could Only Cook at 11:45 pm ET/8:45PT and Party Wire at 4:40 am ET/1:30 PT (actually the 31st for that one), both 1935.

Diary of a Fashion Model by Grace Thorncliffe

2009-08-21T20:04:00.000-07:00

December 29, 1923

She Tells About a Novel Evening Wrap She Saw at the Opera

Last evening was very exciting for me, as I went to the opera.

“What are you so thrilled about to-day?” Madame asked me yesterday morning when I came in wearing a large grin.

“Well, to tell the truth I’m going to the opera to-night, and as it’s my first time this season I am thrilled,” I admitted.

“One should always be thrilled over the opera,” Madame replied. “What is it to-night?” she asked.

“It’s ‘Boheme,’-another reason why I’m delighted,” I answered.

“I envy you,” Madame replied.

“I’m fortunate enough to have a friend who occasionally has a box at her disposal,” I explained. “She is a very sweet, thoughtful person, and she usually asks me several times a season because she knows I love to go.”

“Well, if you are to sit in the diamond horse-shoe, you can undoubtedly describe many interesting gowns to-morrow,” Madame commented.

So I took care to notice the beautiful gowns about me, and indeed there were enough to keep one’s eye busy.

To-day when I came into the salon, Madame asked me all about it. “What colors did you see most?” she asked.

“Rose, pink, and a lot of white,” I answered

“The usual velvets for this time of year?” she asked. “That’s what I noticed most when I was there the other night.”

“Yes, there were many velvet gowns,” I answered. “There were one or two perfectly stunning moiré ones,” I added. “One young girl wore a beautiful cream moiré that was made beltless, and wrinkled ever so slightly about the figure.”

“What was the most striking garment you saw?” Madame asked.

“It was undoubtedly the rose velvet evening wrap,” I answered.

“And what was so unusual about it?” she asked.

“First I noticed the white fringed gown the young girl was wearing,” I said. “It was stunning – what I could see of it beneath the wrap.”

“A white gown with a rose velvet wrap must have made a lovely combination,” Madame remarked.

“It did,” I agreed heartily. “My attention drifted to the wrap next, and I noticed particularly the becomingness of the soft crushed collar. Then she turned about,” I continued. “When I saw the back of the wrap, I simply stared, it was so beautiful.”

Madame raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Shirring,” I informed her. “Shirring was the only thing used to give the effect that was so striking. But the shirring was in the form of a huge circle that covered her back.”

“How unusual!” Madame remarked.

“The only way I can describe it is that it looked like a huge spider-web,” I told her. “There was a bow of narrow rose velvet at the middle of the web, which dropped its streamers to the hem of the wrap."

*****************************************************************************

'Diary of a Fashion Model' was an utterly charming syndicated newspaper column written under the byline “Grace Thorncliffe.” The premise is that Grace, a young lady who works in the dress shop of “Madame” as a "mannikin," writes about fashions that she sees. Each was illustrated with a sketch of the subject garment. It ran from at least 1917 to the 1940s, and probably earlier and later. We have transcribed a number of these columns from the 20s and 30s word for word as a labor of love and will be running them here regularly, as they are too good not too share and don’t deserve to lie forgotten in the newspaper morgue.

Lipstick

2009-08-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

Of all makeup, lipstick seems to be the most written about. Unfortunately though, most treatments of the subject tend to blip right past the 1920s and 1930s – the decades when lipstick gained widespread use and acceptance, and became a multi-million dollar a year industry, despite the economic Depression.

It was in 1920 that Max Factor, a pioneer of Hollywood movie cosmetics, began selling his line of Society Make Up to the public. This ushered in a new era of acceptance for lipstick, and cosmetics in general – even his blatant use of the word “makeup" was then new. Before the decade was out, he had also invented lip gloss (1928) and introduced the first commercial lip brush to the public (1929).

Joan Crawford with a lipstick in the handle of her purse, c. 1929.

The older generation may well have shuddered, as Dorothy Cocks wrote in Etiquette of Beauty (1927), at the younger generation’s “frank use of lipstick,” but within a short time, few fashionable women would want to be seen without theirs. According to Read My Lips: A Cultural History of Lipstick, a poll of 53,000 households conducted in 1938 (the same year that Congress passed the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, regulating the industry) revealed that 58% had at least 1 lipstick.

Indelibility was the major problem that plagued lipstick manufacturers during this era. Lipsticks had a tendency to turn bluish or purple after application, and made the wearer look ghastly. Almost all lipstick makers claimed their products to be indelible, non-drying, and creamy, but the first truly indelible lipstick would not be created until the end of the 1930s – again with Max Factor, now headed by Max Jr., – leading the way. His Tru-Color Lipstick came on the market in early 1940, but was heavily advertised in 1939.

The cosmetics industry may have expected sales to plummet after the Stock Market crash of 1929 and the subsequent economic downturn. But, just as women of World War II would cling to their lipstick as a sort of “red badge of courage,” so would Depression era women hold on to their lipsticks, if they could. One popular drugstore brand, Tangee, claimed its sales were better than ever. “1931 a year of depression?” read one ad from 1932, “Not for Tangee, the World’s Most Famous Lipstick and Rouge! More Tangee was used in 1930 than in the prosperous days of ’29, and even more last year than ever before!” High end companies like Elizabeth Arden, reported similar increases.

Tangee ad , 1931

Tube shapes varied by manufacturer. Some were tiny, bullet shaped. Others were long and crayon-like. They often came in a variety of sizes, at equivalent prices. Cases were metal. Early tubes had a sliding lever to raise the product, invented in 1915. This was soon replaced by the swivel technique still used today. A number of compact sets were sold as “trios” of powder, rouge and lipstick, all refillable.

Above: Clara Bow.
Below: Call her Savage! Many lipsticks claimed their color lasted, but it was the bunk before Max Factor's Tru-Color in 1940. Savage, a drugstore brand, in “jungle shades” with “thrilling perma-color,” 1939.

A Word About Lip Shapes
In the late teens, Max Factor created a lip style that came to be called “vampire lips” “rosebud lips” or “bee-stung lips” (depending on the type of character being played) for silent stars like Nita Naldi and Mae Murray. He made the lips this way: he blotted out the actresses’ natural lipline with greasepaint, then dipped his thumb into the lip pomade and made two impressions with it on the upper lip, and one upside down thumb print for the lower lip. The lips were then refined and perfected with a lip brush. He did this because the pomade of the time would melt under the hot studio lights and bleed onto the greasepaint of the actresses’ faces. We’ve used this technique to achieve a perfect, "early 20s lip" shape.

Mae Murray, 1923.

With new advances in film technology and makeup, by the sound era it was no longer necessary to avoid the lip corners and a more “natural” lip shape came to be used. Max Factor created a new lip outline for Joan Crawford, by slightly over-drawing her upper lip and emphasizing the fullness of the lower one. Factor called it “the smear” but it was generally known as the “hunter’s bow” lip. Many actresses and other women imitated this style in the 1930s.

Below: Jeanette MacDonald beautifully demonstrates the “hunter’s bow” lip, 1932.

Colors
As with nail colors, while red dominated, it was not the only choice available. There were also pinks, corals, tawny and rose shades, besides a wide spectrum of reds. In This Way to Beauty (1936), Helena Rubinstein suggested choosing rogue and lipstick colors to harmonize with your costume: with black or brilliant red, she suggested Chinese Red lipstick; with white, Red Geranium; for yellow, Red Poppy; with gray or green, Red Coral lips; for beige or brown, a Terra Coral lipstick; and with blue, purple, or wine red, Red Velvet or Red Raspberry lipstick.

Detail of a black & white ad for Coty’s new lipstick, 1925, from a high-end fashion magazine catering to wealthy women, called Modes & Manners. The 1939 color ad for Coty’s “Flying Colors” shows its newest shade, Magnet Red, “a dashing red, the makeup accent that your fall frock needs.” Other colors that year: Bali, Gitane, Dahlia, and Light.

Lablanche’s subtly advertised lipsticks, also from Modes & Manners, 1925. This was the year Lois Long began writing a column for The New Yorker under the pseudonym “Lipstick.”

Charles of the Ritz' Bonfire red, “A blaze of autumn color for your lips,” 1930. So that explains why our lips are burning!

This 1932 ad for Tangee confused us at first. Who is being quoted here – him? Or her? Oh, it’s her, quoting him. Well, it was an honest mistake – after all, if she’s wearing a lot of “paint,” he appears to be auditioning for The Mikado. But we think they’re both overeating – he looks ready to punch her, and she says “I could have killed Tom…” Tangee used the tendency of the period’s lipsticks to change color to its advantage – it started out orange in the tube but unlike the others, “deliberately” changed color on application to harmonize with the wearer’s “natural, individual coloring.” It also claimed to stay on all day. Tangee is still available through the Vermont Country Store.

Cutex, primarily a nail enamel manufacturer, introduced the concept of matching lip and nail colors when they began selling lipsticks c.1934-35. Their 1936 colors came in Natural, Coral (warm), Cardinal (tawny) and Ruby (sophisticated).

1935 Tussy ad. Tussy lipsticks claimed to be not only indelible but scented. Did they get the idea from Hips, Hips Hooray?

Tattoo lipstick in “South Sea” hues, 1937.

Dorothy Gray’s “indelible” Daredevil red for fall 1939.

As we discussed in our Manicures post, Revlon did not enter the lipstick market until 1940. The company began advertising their new lip colors in late 1939, such as this ad from Vogue. Like Cutex, their colors were designed to match nail colors. Those first few colors were: Shy, Windsor, Sun Rose, Bravo, Jueltone, Red Dice, Chilibean, Tringar, and Mahogany.

Max Factor's Tru-Color being promoted in late 1939.

Sources Included:
Basten, Fred E. Max Factor’s Hollywood: Glamour, Movies, Makeup (1995).
----Max Factor: The Man Who Changed the Faces of the World (2008).
Ragas, Meg Cohen and Karen Kozlowski. Read My Lips: A Cultural History of Lipstick (1998).
Rubinstein, Helena. This Way to Beauty (1936).
Tobias, Andrew. Fire and Ice: The Story of Charles Revson, the Man who Built the Revlon Empire (1976).
Turudich, Daniela, and Angela Bjork. Vintage Face: Period Looks from the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s (2001).
Woodhead, Lindy. War Paint: Miss Elizabeth Arden and Madame Helena Rubinstein: Their Lives, Their Times, Their Rivalry (2003).
Various period magazines, including Ladies Home Journal, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, New Movie Magazine, Photoplay, and McCall’s.

Top illustration: detail from a Judge magazine cover, May 1931, titled "Most Likely to Succeed"

Hat Hair - 1932

2009-08-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

Myrna Loy and Carole Lombard model some of the new attractive hairdos for 1932. Myrna's blonde hair is in a fact a wig, for her role in The Wet Parade, while Carole, fresh off the set of Sinners in the Sun, models the latest in "Trilby" bangs.

Paramount starlet Judith Wood shows a great hairdo for hats with downturned brims worn deeply over the right side - coiled in a bun off to one side; and another for hats with brims turned up at the back - slicked back on the crown and sides with flat curls at the nape of the neck.

Summer Days - 1925-1926

2009-07-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

What happened to Julys like this? Or this July for that matter? We’re packing up our canoe, wool bathing suits, parasols, and all the Judy Boltons and Nancy Drews we can stuff in a suitcase and heading to Camp. With the days already getting shorter and shops all trying to usher us into fall already, we long to slow down and enjoy the summer before it’s gone. To paraphrase the immortal words of Spanky McFarland, don’t rush us, big boy.

This series of photos came from an old album that we picked up somewhere (old photo albums being on the long list of Things We Can’t Resist. We hate to see these broken up, the photos sold individually – a telltale sign is remnants of black paper on the backs. But we digress…) showing a family canoeing and generally cavorting at a resort-camp on California's Russian River between 1925 and 1927. Russian River Valley towns like Monte Rio, Rio Nido, and Guerneville all had rustic summer resorts that became popular with San Francisco and Oakland families in the 1920s and 1930s when better roads made them more accessible. Most camps had a main hotel building with a cluster of little, freestanding cabins or tents that could be rented by the week or the month. Folks usually came to stay a while. Most of the photos will pull up larger by clicking on them.

Here’s the original owner of the album (we don’t know her name, but she’s quite a cutup; the captions are hers), and below, “Sis” in the doorway of their tent, and in bathing attire.

"Bathing Beauties" "Me, Catherine, Sis, Monica"

Note the name of the canoe –Vampire. (We're stealing this idea!).

The caption reads “Try to get a big load”

"Loring Me + Elmo"

When not canoeing, there was always "Posing" to do - here in front of a tent cabin

"Catherine, Ma, Me"

Catherine, above, and another girl (sister?), Kate

"Mamma" with an unidentified woman, c. 1925

Mamma, Pappa, and the girls in front of a tent, 1925

We have some additional photos of our girl and family from the same time period that we’ll share in a future post. The camp photos, however, don’t continue after 1927 although there are many blank pages left in the album. We hope that she and Sis, and Catherine, and the rest of the bunch went on to have more beautiful, lazy summers like this somewhere else.

TCM Alert - Tonight: Hips, Hips, Hooray!

2009-07-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

If you have access to Turner Classic Movies, be sure to tune in tonight for the screening of the 1934 musical Hips, Hips, Hooray (8pm ET; 5pm PT). Stars Thelma Todd, Ruth Etting, Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey.

“Miss Frisby and her assistant, the oily Armand, are struggling to keep their cosmetics firm Maiden America Beauty Products from going bankrupt. Armand, however, is a corporate spy working for a rival cosmetics firm; his promotional schemes are deliberately intended to drive Miss Frisby's firm out of business.”

More Beach Pyjamas

2009-07-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

Excuse us. We’re going to call in sick to work and make a mad dash to Ayoob's. Coincidentally, right next to this ad was an announcement for the town Pyjama Dance. (c.1931).

High tide in beach pyjamas! The latest trick to pyjama trousers, according to Carole Lombard, is to wear them narrower and higher. She decoratively demonstrates the idea in this printed silk model with its “trou” legs cut twelve inches from the floor. White, black and yellow is the color scheme that catches the eye. Note the trick cutout effect on the bodice, too.
Photoplay, 1932. We don’t know who this little girl is, but she’s got heaps of style. We found her orphaned in a suitcase full of forlorn photos at a flea market. We just bet that pyjama is red & white.

Vintage Exercise Routines

2009-07-23T06:33:00.000-07:00

1920s and 30s women had a wide selection of exercise or “reducing” records available to choose from, like our Victor Records for Health Exercises 78s from 1922. Complete sets of these are fairly easy to find and are fun to play if you have a windup phonograph. Alternatively, we came across a website selling CDs and tapes of these records!

This set of WALLACE Reducing Records, "Get Thin to Music," is dated to 1942 but we’ve seen earlier (alas, incomplete) sets from the 1920s. We feel a kinship with the former owner, as it does not appear to have been used at all. It’s intact with all 5 records, instruction booklets and brochures.

We enjoyed this article, “Sweatin’ to the Real Oldies,” which references some other such records. Exercise routines were also broadcast over the radio, typically in the early morning hours.

Gymnastics and calisthenics, introduced decades earlier, remained popular in the 1920s-30s. In E.F. Benson’s Mapp and Lucia (1931), Lucia practices the “Ideal System of Calisthenics for those no longer Young” and later gives classes in the same. Pilates, developed by Joseph Pilates in the 1920s, were used primarily by ballet dancers. Biking, especially with a vintage or retro-style bike, can be fun. Swimming is another option. Don’t have access to a pool? You could do as one 1920s beauty book recommends and "loosely imitate the motions employed by lying across some pillows and kicking vigorously with the same motion that is employed in swimming.” Or how about dancing? As Sylvia of Hollywood suggests in No More Alibis (1934), “get up and dance about the room, sway and swing to the music of a snappy foxtrot.” Golfing and tennis are also superb forms of “vintage” exercise but we find the fashion requirements of these sports demand their own posts. Ditto skiing, skating and horseback riding.

Diet & Exercise Books

Dr. Lulu Hunt Peters, a graduate of the University of California (Doctor of Medicine, class of 1909), was a household name in the 1920s. Her book Diet and Health, with Key to the Calories, made the non-fiction best seller lists for five years running (1922-26). Diet and Health was also the name of her popular syndicated newspaper column. She once wrote "My idea of heaven is place with me and mine on a cloud of whipped cream" – how could we not love this woman?

Dr. Lulu is witty and funny, but also full of practical advice. Having struggled with a weight problem since childhood, she later lost over 70 pounds. Her secret? Calorie counting - then a new concept; in the book she has to tell readers how to pronounce the word (kal'-o-ri), and lists food proportions in units of 100 calories – very much ahead of her time in this respect. Diet and Health also includes a chapter on exercise routines. The book remained in publication well after her untimely death from pneumonia in June 1930, and is still in print.

Then there is the aforementioned Sylvia of Hollywood, aka Madame Sylvia, aka Sylvia Ullback, a beauty writer for Photoplay magazine in the 1930s. We adored No More Alibis, a 1934 non-fiction best seller, and Streamline Your Figure (1939) with its Deco cover. But after we read her article in the May 1932 Photoplay with the horrifying title “Quit Those Cocktails if You Want a Figure,” we rather went off Sylvia for good.

Richard Kline of Paramount was another 1930s personal trainer to the stars. Arriving in Hollywood in 1927, it became his job to whip the studio’s lovely luminaries such as Clara Bow, Nancy Carroll and later Claudette Colbert and Carole Lombard, into shape and keep them there. His advice to housewives (“since you are not in Hollywood to receive personal attention to your individual problem”): “when you bend in your housework, do it gracefully, be conscious of the rhythmic use of your body and legs as you do it. Think rhythm when you sweep; your arms and back will be beautiful” (Beauty Review magazine, October 1939). He also marketed a series of home exercise devices in the ‘30s: Dick Kline’s “Stretch to Health” and Dick Kline’s “Bend to Health.” These can often be found new in the box.

Photo: actress doing arm exercises, date unknown.

Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein had exercise facilities at their upscale salons starting in the late teens and early 20s; Miss Arden’s 1937 Gymnasium Moderne at her Fifth Avenue salon in New York is widely held to have been the model for the gym in the movie version of The Women (1939). Madame Rubinstein advises 20 minutes of exercise daily in her book This Way to Beauty (1936); a chapter “Keep Fit” discusses and illustrates some basic routines.

During the Deco era, anyone interested in exercise or physical fitness would also have been familiar with the name Bernarr MacFadden (1868-1955). He published the long running Physical Culture magazine and the Physical Culture Cookbook, which saw numerous printings following its début in 1901 (1929 edition shown; Physical Culture cover from 1927).

One final book to mention, Better Than Beauty: A Guide to Charm by Helen Valentine and Alice Thompson (1938), discusses diet tips and illustrates several routine exercises. This book was republished a few years ago, and is again widely available for modern readers to condemn as "outdated."

As Always, the Question Remains – What
to Wear?

Early ‘20s exercise wear seems to typically resemble the gym suits/bloomer outfits of the previous decade. We have this McCall pattern, dated 1921, for "ladies pleated gym bloomers" – often worn with a middy blouse- type top as in the above illustration. We’ve also seen them as a one-piece bloomer outfit. For more on these, see Fuzzy Lizzie’s excellent, informative article, “Bloomers and the Gymsuit.”

Many women pictured in 1930s exercise books and articles that we have seen are wearing bathing suits. In Mapp and Lucia, Lucia dons a “dazzling bathing suit of black and yellow” for her calisthenics (this was faithfully depicted in the Mapp & Lucia television series; you can see a snippet of her “skipping” in this lovely montage, at about 0:18). Joan Crawford manages to look glamorous in slacks and a sweatshirt while working out with Clark Gable in Dancing Lady (1933). Simple shorts and a top, including singlet-style T-shirts like the one Clark is sporting, were worn by women as well. Footwear includes anything from pumps to canvas or leather beach shoes; rounded toe ballet-like flats (see the woman in white, above, from a 1928 Physical Culture cover); or ankle socks and simple, white Keds-like tennis shoes. Scans of tennis shoes from period 1929-31 sources may be seen in this article on the Model A Ford Club of America's website.

Some ‘workout scenes’ in 1930s movies:
The “Bend Down Sister” routine in Palmy Days (1931)
Carole Lombard in a shipboard gym in No More Orchids (1932)

Joan Crawford in the gym with Clark Gable in Dancing Lady (1933)

Rosalind Russell and Joan Fontaine in The Women (1939)

...And honorable mention: Patsy Kelly demonstrates an electric exercise belt for department store customers in There Goes My Heart (1938)