The Off Beat Wedding

Dress Name: 1930's Claudia Gown
Color, Fabric, Length Options: Tan, beige, taupe, nude tones...all full length.
Price: $229.00 + $10.00 shipping to Canada, $14.00 to the UK.
Seller Location: Los Angeles, USA
Seller Feedback: Excellent
Misc: This is a seamstress

Reinventing the wedding day without buying into an identity that isn't our own:

The 1930's brought a sleek, sexy look to fashion. The scandalous behaviour and half nakedness of the films of the twenties brought forward a cry for a return to modesty, so clever Hollywood draped slinky silk satin over the actresses of the day, covering their bosom but removing their brassieres. Close-fitting cap head pieces were still very popular and dress clips and costume jewelry were made of sparkling rhinestones and sterling silver. The majority of dresses were cut on the bias (cutting across the weave of the fabric) to give the dress a flowing look at the bottom. Fabrics such as silk, satin, organza, net, chiffon, brocade, velvet and lace were used; but heavy satin was popular and characterized the decade. Hair was chin to shoulder-length and softly waved.

Wartime austerity lead to restrictions on the number of new clothes that people bought and the amount of fabric that clothing manufacturers could use. Women working on war service adopted trousers as a practical necessity. The nylon stocking was introduced in the US in 1940, to huge success, but later withdrawn as all supplies were needed for military uses such as parachutes. When nylon stockings reappeared in the shops there were "nylon riots" as customers fought over the first deliveries. In Britain, clothing was strictly rationed, with a system of "points", and the Board of Trade issued regulations for "Utility Clothes" in 1941, and in America the War Production Board issued its Regulation L85 on March 8, 1942, specifying restrictions for every item of women's clothing. Easily laddered stockings were a particular concern in Britain; women were forced to either paint them on (including the back seam) or to join the WRNS, who continued to issue them, in a cunning aid to recruitment. Later in the war, American soldiers became a source of the new nylon stockings. Fashion of the 1930's was directly influenced by the Wall Street Crash of October 24, 1929 and the subsequent Depression. The Autumn, 1930 Sears Catalogue admonished, "Thrift is the spirit of the day. Reckless spending is a thing of the past." The focus turned away from new clothing for every season and moved to reusing and remaking the clothes one already owned. The beginning of the decade saw women sewing more. Clothing was mended and patched before being replaced. It was also during this time that the practice of changing clothes several times each day fell out of style. (Before this time, many people had different outfits for morning, afternoon, and evening). A new passion for hiking, sports, sunbathing, and even nudism, invites briefer sportswear. Bathing suits are slashed and backless, made of linen and lastex yarn. Bare midriffs are everywhere in the late 30's. Womens gloves usually matched their shoes and handbags. Hats were worn at an angle. Pill boxes became popular along with brimmed hats. Towards the end of the decade, turbans emerged. Fashionable hats range from the pillbox toque, trimmed turban, and Basque beret. Women of the 30's were quite pale since a suntan was seen as lower class. Rouge, lipstick, and eye shadow were used to brighten their faces, and women used artificial eyelashes that took two hours to apply in a salon. Women's hair was fairly short and generally styled in finger-waves or soft curls with hardly any body.

~ information taken from random websites.

The Off Beat Wedding

10 May 2010

Reinventing the wedding day without buying into an identity that isn't our own:

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The Off Beat Wedding

10 May 2010

Reinventing the wedding day without buying into an identity that isn't our own:

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