In fashion In the 1930s, as the public began to feel the effects of the Great Depression

1930s in fashion
In the 1930s, as the public began to feel the effects of the Great Depression, many designers found that crises were not the time for experimentation. Fashion became more compromising, aspiring to preserve
feminism 's victories while rediscovering a subtle and reassuring elegance and sophistication. Overall, 1930s clothing was somber and modest, reflecting the difficult social and economic situation of the decade. Women's fashions moved away from the brash, daring style of the 1920s towards a more romantic, feminine silhouette. The waistline was restored, hemlines dropped to nearly ankle-length, there was renewed appreciation of the bust, and backless evening gowns and soft, slim-fitting day dresses became popular. The female body was remodeled into a more neo-classical shape, and slim, toned, and athletic bodies came into vogue. The fashion for outdoor activities stimulated couturiers to manufacture what would today be referred to as "sportswear." The term "ready-to-wear" was not yet widely in use, but the boutiques already described such clothes as being "for sport". In place of the bobbed flapper haircut, the standard women's hairstyle of the 1930s was a modest, short perm.
Two of the most prominent and influential fashion designers of the 1930s were Elsa Schiaparelli and
Madeleine Vionnet . Elsa Schiaparelli showed her first collection in 1929 and was immediately hailed by the press as 'one of the rare innovators' of the day. With her exciting and inventive designs, Schiaparelli did not so much revolutionize fashion as shatter its foundations. The first pullover she displayed in her windows created a sensation: it was knitted in black with a
trompe-l'œil white bow. She consistently turned out notable collections thereafter. Schiaparelli was a close friend of Christian Bérard , Jean Cocteau , and Salvador Dalí , who designed embroidery motifs for her and supplied inspiration for models like the desk suit with drawers for pockets, the shoe-shaped hat, the silk dresses painted with flies and bearing a picture of a large lobster, respectively. All of Paris thronged to her salon at 21 Place Vendôme as collection succeeded collection.
Madeleine Vionnet found her inspiration in ancient statues, creating timeless and beautiful gowns that would not look out of place on a Greek frieze. Queen of the bias cut (cutting diagonally across the fabric's lengthwise threads), she produced evening dresses that fitted the body without excessive elaboration or dissimulation, employing a flowing and elegant line. Her perfect draping of chiffon, silk, and Moroccan crêpe created a marvelously poised and sensual effect. The unparalleled success of Vionnet's cuts guaranteed her reputation right up to her retirement in 1939.
Mainbocher , the first American designer to live and work in Paris, was also influential, with his plain yet supremely elegant designs, often employing the bias cut pioneered by Vionnet. The luxury goods manufacturer Hermès began to sell handmade printed silk square scarves in the early 1930s, in addition to popularizing the zipper and many other practical innovations. Toward the end of the decade, women's fashions took on a somewhat more imposing and broad-shouldered silhouette, possibly influenced by Elsa Schiaparelli. Men's fashions continued the informal, practical trend that had dominated since the end of the First World War.
Mid-twentieth century
After World War II, Paris's reputation as the global center of fashion began to crumble. A new youth style emerged in the 1950s, changing the focus of fashion. In the West, the traditional divide between high society and the working class was challenged. In particular, a new young generation wanted to reap the benefits of a booming consumer society. Privilege became less blatantly advertised than in the past and differences were more glossed over. As the ancient European hierarchies were overturned, the external marks of distinction faded. By the time the first rockets were launched into space, Europe was more than ready to adopt a quality ready-to-wear garment along American lines—something to occupy the middle ground between off-the-peg and couture. This need was all the more pressing because increases in overheads and raw material costs were beginning to relegate handmade fashion to the sidelines. Meanwhile, rapidly developing new technologies made it increasingly easy to manufacture an ever-improving, high-quality product.
Faced with the threat of a factory-made, fashion-based product, Parisian fashion couture mounted its defenses, but to little effect. While the old world was taking its final bow, the changes in fashion were one of the most visible manifestations of the general shake-up in society. Before long, classes of women hitherto restricted to inferior substitutes to haute couture would enjoy a greatly enlarged freedom of choice. Dealing in far larger quantities, production cycles were longer than those of couture workshops, which meant that stylists planning their lines for the twice-yearly collections had to try to guess more than a year in advance what their customers would want. A new authority had taken over—that of the street, constituting a further threat to the dictatorship of couture.
1940s
Many fashion houses closed during the occupation of Paris during World War II , including the Maison Vionnet and the Maison Chanel. Several designers, including Mainbocher, permanently relocated to New York. In the enormous moral and intellectual re-education program undertaken by the French state, couture was not spared. In contrast to the stylish, liberated Parisienne, the Vichy regime promoted the model of the wife and mother—a robust, athletic young woman—a figure much more consistent with the new regime's political agenda. Meanwhile, Germany was taking possession of over half of what France produced, including high fashion, and was considering relocating French haute couture to
Berlin and Vienna . The archives of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture were seized, including, most consequentially, the client list. The point of all this was to break up a monopoly that supposedly threatened the dominance of the Third Reich .
Due to difficult times, hemlines crept upward in both evening wear and day wear, the latter of which was made using substitute materials whenever possible. From 1940 onward, no more than four meters (thirteen feet) of cloth was permitted to be used for a coat and a little over one meter (three feet) for a blouse. No belt could be over 3 centimetres (one and a half inches) wide. Despite this, haute couture did its best to keep its flag flying. Humor and frivolity became a popstar way of defying the occupying powers and couture survived. Although some have argued that the reason it endured was due to the patronage of the wives of wealthy Nazis, in actuality, records reveal that, aside from the usual wealthy Parisiennes, it was an eclectic mix of the wives of foreign ambassadors, clients from the black market, and miscellaneous other patrons of the salons (among whom German women were but a minority) that kept the doors(shut) open at fashion houses such as Jacques Fath ,
Maggy Rouff , Marcel Rochas, Jeanne Lafaurie, Nina Ricci , and Madeleine Vramant. Around the time of world war a huge percentage of the money was being spent on missions, gear for the soldiers and supplies that were needed to win the war. These demands left the fashion industry with little to no material for production. Housewives along with actual designers were left with the reusing of old fabric or creating new styles out of old garments. [8]
Permed hairstyles remained standard, although during the '40s, this evolved into a bobbed roll along the lower part of the hairline.
During the Occupation, the only true way for a woman to flaunt her extravagance or add color to a drab outfit was to wear a hat. In this period, hats were often made of scraps of material that would otherwise have been thrown away, including bits of paper and wood shavings. Among the most innovative milliners of the time were Pauline Adam, Simone Naudet,
Rose Valois , and Le Monnier.
Paris's isolated situation in the 1940s enabled Americans to fully utilize the ingenuity and creativity of their own designers. During the Second World War, Vera Maxwell presented outfits constituted of plain, simply cut co-ordinates, and introduced innovations to men's work clothes. Bonnie Cashin transformed boots into a major fashion accessory, and, in 1944, began the production of original and imaginative sportswear. Claire McCardell, Anne Klein , and Cashin formed a remarkable trio of women who laid the foundations of American sportswear , ensuring that
ready-to-wear was not considered a mere second best, but an elegant and comfortable way for modern women to dress.
In the War Years, the zoot suit (and in France the zazou suit) became popular among young men.
Many actresses of the time, including
Rita Hayworth, Katharine Hepburn , and
Marlene Dietrich, had a significant impact on popular fashion.
The couturier Christian Dior created a tidal wave with his first collection in February 1947. The collection contained dresses with accentuated busts, tiny (or "wasp") waists, and extravagantly full skirts, emphasizing the feminine hourglass figure in a manner very similar to the style of the Belle Époque. The lavish use of fabric and the feminine elegance of the designs appealed to post-war clientele, and ensured Dior's meteoric rise to fame. The sheer sophistication of the style incited the all-powerful editor of the American Harper's Bazaar , Carmel Snow, to exclaim 'This is a new look!'.