Getting dressed 1930-39 fashion of the 30s

When thinking about 20th century fashion, you might get a clear image in your mind for each decade. And while, yes, that is true, there is a distinctive style to each decade in the 20th century, fashion isn't stagnant. It evolves and it evolves slowly and it isn't just stagnant for 10 years and then all of a sudden, bam, it changes to something completely different. Hello and welcome. I'm Maria from Sew Through Time and this time we're taking a look at 1930s fashion by getting dressed in the beginning of the decade, the middle of the decade and the end of the decade. Specifically, I'm gonna be working with the year 1931, 1935 and 1939. You might be asking, Maria, how do you know which exact year it is from? Because it can't always be that precise. And yes, you're right. Not everything is that exactly precise. And I am gonna be wearing some real vintage pieces, but a majority of what I'm gonna be showing you is things that I made from patterns from that year. So that's how I know exactly what year it is. And that brings us to this week's sponsor, Skillshare. Skillshare is a community of creatives where you can take thousands of classes created by other creatives for creatives to learn things. And you can learn so many new skills you can learn either intermediate or beginner or even advanced skills. You can better things that you already know or you can learn something completely new. You can find classes on things like mending, knitting, hand embroidery, or more technical skills like video or photo editing. I'm currently really excited about color grading and I've been practicing it on my own for a while, but now I think I'm gonna do a deep dive in that thanks to Skillshare. I'm currently brushing up on my hand embroidery skills with Stitching Woodland Creatures 101, Exploring Textures in Hand Embroidery. This class really helped me better my technique and blending colors together and making it look more painting-like. Because though I have done a lot of embroidery in the past, I don't think color work is necessarily my strong suit. What I really love about Skillshare is that because you can do the classes at your own pace, if inspiration really hits you at 3 a.m. in the morning, you can go ahead and do it then. The first 500 people to use the link down in the description below will get a one-month free trial of Skillshare. So get started today. And thank you again to Skillshare for sponsoring this video. Throughout the 1930s, your basic layer of underwear is bra and panties or some sort of combination garment. In the beginning of the decade, panties are mostly step-in style with either button or snap closure at the crotch. But later on, they are mostly in the style that we would nowadays refer as tap pant style, which has a closure at the side and you have to take them off to go to the restroom. Throughout the 30s, there's a lot of experimentation with both styles and shapes of bras. But in general, in the beginning of the decade, they are more reminiscent of the 20s with more compression. And later, they have a more pointy natural silhouette. And next up, we need something to hold up our stockings. That is typically a girdle or a garter belt. For 31 and 35, I'm putting on a girdle. Girdles like this don't really differ from a corset other than their name. Like always, the girdle's job is to create that fashionable silhouette. In the 1930s case, that is smooth lines with a straight-ish front and with a slimmer hip line. And no, that doesn't actually involve any compression of the hips. It's just that the upper hip is smoothed out and that line is made gradual so that there isn't an exaggerated hourglass silhouette. Most often, these would close with hooks and eyes like in the 31 version or a busk like in the 35 version. The garter belt in the 39 version will provide some smoothing but won't actually change your silhouette. They typically close with hooks and eyes in the back and they're typically worn underneath the panties to make restroom visits more convenient. In the 30s, there's a huge shift in hygiene practices. And before, it would have been always considered unhygienic to have a corset or girdle next to your skin. But during the 30s, this starts to change and oftentimes, they are worn next to skin unless your panties have a button on crotch or something similar. In the beginning of the 30s, silk stockings are standard and they are slightly thicker than what we would consider normal stocking weight today but they are not as thick as, say, a wool stocking. In 1935, I'm showing you what a wool stocking from the era would look like. These would have been worn throughout the era for warmth during the wintertime and fall and spring seasons. Though for more extreme weather, you would wear hand-knit stockings. By the end of the 30s, ultra-sheer crepe stockings had become more common. But regardless of material, none of these stockings are gonna have the same kind of elasticity as modern-day stockings. So you are gonna notice some gathering. And due to manufacturing processes, all commercially available stockings would have a seam down the back. And then comes the last of the undergarments and arguably the most important of all the undergarments, the slip. Slips in the beginning of the 30s oftentimes resemble those of the 1920s. They oftentimes have a looser fit to them and they oftentimes have different kinds of Art Deco-style seams that create that bias cut effect even if they aren't actually caught on the bias. While later on in the decade, the slips become a lot more form-fitting, especially in the bodice area. And so that you can still put them on, they are oftentimes made either of a knitted material like the one I'm wearing, or they can have a closure in the side. And other times the garment is simply caught on the bias. This means that it's cut diagonally to the weaving direction. So this creates, if in woven fabric, a lot of give to it. A slip's main function is to smooth out all the lines and create that perfectly smooth foundation and also help to keep the garments from clinging onto your legs as you walk. That slippy material will also keep your entire dress from clinging onto your body as you walk and also from riding up. And a slip is especially important in the first half of the decade where oftentimes dresses were made of very thin materials that could be sometimes see-through. And in general, just everything fits better with a slip under. And next, as we put the actual clothes for the day, here comes a little tip from the 1930s. When you already have your hair and your makeup done, the way to get your dress on without ruining your hair is by putting a scarf over your head. This way you don't have to worry about getting makeup streaks on the inside of your clothing or the neckline, and you don't have to worry about messing or frizzing up your hair. In general, it just makes it so much easier to put on clothes when you can just poke your head through and you don't have to worry about anything. And also, if you use a scarf that is made out of a sleepy material, like here on the 1931, I'm using a rayon scarf. And in 1935, I'm using a nylon scarf, but you could also use a silk one. It works much in the same way as that slip does underneath your clothes. So it makes your garments glide over you and it makes it so much easier to get dressed. For 31 and 35, I'm putting on a dress, whereas 39 gets a skirt and blouse combo. As far as materials go, in 1931, I'm wearing a silk dress with a rayon upper bodice. For 35, I'm wearing a wool broadcloth, and for 39, I'm wearing a cotton sateen. And all of these materials would have been very common throughout the entire decade. And while natural fibers, of course, were very popular in this era, this was really the rise of synthetics in the form of different viscose-based fibers. Viscose fibers, even though synthetically made, are still made out of natural ingredients like wood pulp. So they aren't plastics. In the beginning of the decade, the silhouette is still very much reminiscent of the 1920s, though there is a little bit more of a curve and the waistline is becoming more defined. By the mid-decade, the waistline is very defined and the skirt is very narrow, and the silhouette is very much slight curves, but still very distinct curves. By the end of the decade, hemlines start flaring out again, and the hemlines rise, starting to approach the knees again. Another major difference is that in the beginning of the decade, though there is a defined waist usually, there are sometimes those dropped waist effects still in the way the skirts are cut. Whereas in the mid-decade, skirts are actually cut oftentimes to an empire waist or illusion empire waistline. And then again, in the end of the decade, the waistline creeps back down to its natural position. Another major change that happens through the decade is to the shoulder line. In the beginning of the decade, the shoulder line is very narrow and oftentimes a little dropped. Whereas in the end of the decade, it is exaggerated and often puffed or built out with shoulder pads. The zipper or a slide fastener, as it was called in the era, also becomes a thing in the 1930s. It is first introduced into women's dresses in the closures, but soon it also becomes a decorative feature, like in this blouse, where it is meant to be seen. Jacket style blouses were common throughout that era. And in the beginning of the decade, they oftentimes had different sorts of cutouts and different sorts of interesting closures to add that art deco kind of detailing to them. Whereas in the mid-decade, they are oftentimes blousey and sort of loose, kind of sack garments. And the interesting details in these are usually in the form of different kinds of odd shapes in sleeves. And by the end of the decade, they oftentimes resemble late Victorian 1890s style with big puffed sleeves and a very form-fitting cut. Almond-shaped toes are very common throughout the era, but by the end of the decade, square toes become fashionable as an alternative. Short to medium length hair was the most fashionable throughout the decade. So long hair was mostly worn in different sorts of faux bobs and low buns. Due to the changes in hat styles, in the beginning of the decade, the hair is very close to the face, and then it gets fluffier in the mid-decade, and then it gets closer to the 1940s hairstyles with different sorts of hair rolls and swoops off the face. Bold lips are fashionable throughout the decade, ranging from raspberry colors to blood reds to bright reds, and even some coral shades. In eye makeup, the focus is very much on mascara and eyeliner. For eyeshadow, the most common colors are grays, browns, and blues. And blush is used liberally, mostly on the apples of the cheek. For the first few years of the 30s, the 1920s style gloche hat reigns supreme. By the mid-decade, hats go absolutely wild with all kinds of avant-garde shapes, but hats tend to be quite close-fitting or tilt style, or both. And by the end, hats tend to be small, either tilt style or sitting at the back of the head, like this bray style. And they're held in place with a hat pin like mine or with a comb on the inside of the hat. The way the hat pin works is that you first poke it through the hat itself, then you poke it through the hair, and if you have your hair down, it needs to be styled, but you weave it in then to the hair. You go in and out, in and out, in and out, and then you poke it back out on the other side of the hat. Most bags throughout the decade are either clutch style or little wristlet ones, and they would often match either the hat or shoes or both. This is really the era when coordinated accessories become the height of fashion. But you do also see mix and match sets. For 39, I decided to go with a full-on matching set with adding my raspberry gloves. For 35, I added those raspberry gloves as a pop of color with my navy hat and shoes. And for 31, I went with different shades of brown with navy shoes. Gloves were still commonly worn year-round in the 30s. Gauntlet gloves were the most popular ones, and sometimes you could wear the gauntlets on top of your clothes and sometimes under, depending on the sleeve shape and size and what is more convenient to go with that. And gloves are meant to fit like a second skin, so it does take some time to put them on. If gloves go on really easily and fast, then they are most likely way too wide. And here are the finished looks. As you can see, there's a definite similarity in the soft curves of the silhouette. In the comments down below, I'd be very interested in hearing which one of these styles would you be the most likely to associate with the 1930s. And which of these styles is your favorite? I have definitely the most of the mid-30s, but the beginning of the decade is really growing on me lately. Also here, you can really see that even if it's a windy day, the slip really does keep the dress from clinging onto your legs as you walk. Well, that's it for today, folks. I hope you enjoyed this video, and if you did, please hit that like button. And if you haven't already followed me and would like to do that, now is a good time, and I hope to see you again next time. Bye.