Time Traveling with GoofingOff Sewing to 1943

Sometimes I wish I could time travel. There are certain eras that interest me more than others.

 

The war years....the 1940's (a little earlier for folks across "the pond") is one of my favorites. I like the Hollywood version, seeing Abbot and Costello on the silver screen and hearing the Andrew Sisters singing The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B  on the radio........

 

 

 

 

 

and wearing a dress like Simplicity 1777. Skirts were a bit shorter during the war (rationing) and women were showing some leg.
Silk stockings were  in short supply (silk was used for parachutes) so I would have to draw a line down the back of my legs it would look like I was wearing seamed stockings.
Of course I would be sporting a Victory Roll hairdo. The hair styles were pulled away from the face. The Veronica Lake Peek-a-boo hairdo didn't work well with women on the assembly lines.


And my shoes would have to be sturdy shoes...something to wear while I walked everywhere....gas rationing, but a little heel wouldn't hurt.



Vintage Air Step Shoe advertisement, 1943.  from Catching Canaries at Etsy.

 I think I'd wear the alligator leather shoes at the top of the ad.
But, then again, I'd probably be a nurse, maybe an Army nurse.



"So Proudly We Hail" 1943, Paramount Pictures starring Claudette Colbert and George Reeves.

I wonder if sometime in the future someone will think "oh, the 2010's was my favorite era. I just love the clothes."
One never knows......

Post by Eileen of GoofingOff Sewing......Make Magic One Stitch At a Time

12.4.10 Movies, TV, and Sewing Patterns

Movies and TV have always been involved with fashion. Women copied their favorite star's hairdos (Veronica Lake), pants (Katherine Hepburn), and dress (Audrey Hepburn). There was even a pattern company called the Hollywood pattern company that used pictures of Hollywood stars on their pattern envelopes. Other pattern companies, such as Simplicity, McCall's, and Butterick, had illustrations that looked like the stars to sell the patterns or had designers that would design similar clothing. Here's a few: Butterick Pattern 6988 from the 50's has the image of a young woman who just happens to look like a young Ava Gardner. Ava Gardner was very popular at the time, and very beautiful. Another Butterick pattern has the illustration of a cute, perky lass reminiscent of Mary Tyler Moore. One of the most popular movies in the 70's was a film by Woodie Allen called Annie Hall. Annie was played by Diane Keaton. The film was so popular that everyone wanted to look and dress like her (at least it seemed that way). Here is a pattern from that time with the Annie Hall look by Rena Rowan of Jones New York. Butterick 6325 There's many more, much more than I can post in one blog. Know of some? Got one? What's your favorite?