Fashion in the 1930's

During the 1930's most people couldn't afford to go out and buy clothes. The clothes of this era were generally homemade. What was in fashion in those day's? This was a time when women had a feminine dress appearance, and men wore clothing that were smart and handsome.

Hats were a particularly favorite accessory for both men and women in the 30's. For women, skirts were worn at ankle length, nothing above the knee. Necklines were of a ruffled design, or wide with scalloped shaped edges. The necklines on the clothing have been lowered, and were no longer covering the whole neck like the clothes of the 1920's. Most clothing is made with zippers attached as buttons have become so expensive. Much to the women's delight woolen stockings were forgotten, to be replaced with silk or rayon material. Bows were a common accessory on clothing, especially on evening dresses and nightgowns. Popular materials that were used were velvet, silk, rayon, chiffon, satin, crepe, and tweed. Browns, greens, and gray colors are favorite amongst the ladies. Pumps, flat shoes, slip on shoes, and lace up shoes were the preferred footwear. It was also common to see women wearing fur in the 1930's. Silver Fox fur, sable, and mink were a few of the types of fur seen on women in this era. Women's hair was wavy and at shoulder length. Beaded and meshed bags were the ideal fashion accessory, along with broaches with Rhinestones and glass stones. Teenagers tended to wear powder blue, rose, navy blue, and maize colored clothing.

It was common to design clothing to make men look like they had very broad shoulders. The smart suits of this time would have shoulder pads, or wadding to make the shoulders more enhanced. The shoulders on jackets would of had a squared off look to them. The double breasted suit was the most popular of this period. Men wanted large lapels, preferably long and broad. They liked at least 8 buttons on their jackets, with a ventless tail at the back. Superbly neat cut, long pants went with this type of suit. Charcoal, navy, and gray colors were favored for these suits. Stripes and plaid designs were the most common. Glen Plaid checks were the most popular plaid of the 1930's. Tweed, chevlot cloth, and worsted were the materials most used at the time.

In 1935 society called for a redesign of the business suit. A London tailor by the name of Frederick Scholt was the designer of the new style suit. The new design had sleeves which were slightly tapered going down the arm. The lapels came from the top, and not the middle button, they were slightly curved as opposed to being flat. Shoulder pads were still used with extra padding also in the arm holes. The extra material in the arm holes gave the suit a draped effect look, and so it was in fact named the "Drape cut suit" or "London Drape".

Yet another version of the suit was to appear in the 1930's. The Windsor double-breasted and the Kent double-breasted were the next suit designs to be in production. They were named after the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Kent. If you wanted the latest fashion suit the 30's then you would be going for the Palm Beach suit. This suit was something similar in design to the single breasted suit. It was made from materials such as, cotton, linen, garbardine, and seersucker. This suit was more common and popular during the summer months.