Clothing - Women

Fashion of the 1930s was directly influenced by the Wall Street Crash of October 24, 1929 and the subsequent Depression. The Autumn, 1930 Sears Catalogue said, "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). Women of the 30's were quite pale since a sun tan was seen as lower class. Lipstick, and eyeshadow 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.

The shape of the 1930s, for both men and women, was long and sleek.  Skirts widen softly below the hip and then reach mid-calf. Thick clinging fabrics are enormously popular. Broadening and squaring of the shoulders lead to three-inch shoulder pads, even in nightgowns.

The clothing in the 1930's was a more gentle ladylike appearance. Clothes were feminine, sweet and tidy by day then switched with real glamour at night. The biggest change of clothing was the attention to the shoulder with butterfly sleeves and banjo sleeves, and exaggerated shoulder pads for both men and women. The Women had very elegant  More luxurious gowns were kept for evening. New fabrics like metallic lame were very popular at night and were made to shimmer even more richly by adding plastic sequins and glass beads.