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Fashion Decade Presentation- 20 slides requirements. 1. Cover page with title and one representational photo 2. Historical Events and Discoveries- At least 6 important discoveries or historical events that took place during the era. Pick things that impacted the way people lived.
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Fashion Decade Presentation- 20 slides requirements 1. Cover page with title and one representational photo 2. Historical Events and Discoveries- At least 6 important discoveries or historical events that took place during the era. Pick things that impacted the way people lived. 3. Everyday society- at least 10 photos of everyday people in the United States . Select photos that show the clothing of the times worn by ordinary people. 4. A paragraph about the single most influential event that shaped fashion looks of the era and why. Include one large representational photo. 5. At least 6 ladies fashion trends of the times with a representational photo of each one. 6. Select two womenswear designers from the era. Follow the designer report details for each one.
1940’s Historical Events And discoveries
Pop culture starts in the 1940s • What's your favorite discovery, invention or first-appearance item from the 1940s? • M&Ms • Scrabble • Slinky • Silly Putty • Color TV & the Remote • Fantasia • Bugs Bunny • What others do you know about?
World War II impacted virtually every aspect of American life including fashion. In 1942, the United States imposed a rationing system similar to the one Great Britain had implemented the previous year, limiting, among other things, the amount of fabric that could be used in a single garment. Materials including wool, silk, leather and a new invention by the Dupont Company called nylon were diverted for use in uniforms, parachutes, shoelaces and even bomber noses. Fashion manufacturers had to follow strict rules regarding their use.
Fashions’ wartime regulations Jackets could be no more than 25 inches in length. Pantsno more than 19 inches in circumference at the hem. Belts no more than two inches wide and heels no more than an inch in height. Hemlines rose to the knee in an effort to conserve fabric. Buttons, cuffs, pockets and decorative details like ruffles and lace were used sparingly. Women wore boxy jackets for shorter V-shaped silhouette reminiscent of military uniforms. Even Hollywood traded elaborate costumes for simplified designs, a move many claimed lent movies in new air of realism.
1940’s fashion trends Floral prints in the early 1940sGeometric prints sometimes called "atomic prints" became popular in the mid to late 40s. Patriotic nautical themes Color palettes that mirrored military: dark greens and khakis Trousers became much more popular as did wedges and low heels, compensating for war-induced shortages in stockings and gasoline. Military details based on uniforms . Very wide square shoulders like military jackets. Very nipped waists Shorter hemlines
Nylon: Top Ten Fashion Trends From the 1940 ‘s As soon as it was introduced in 1938, women loved synthetic nylon as a replacement for silk stockings. In the early 1940s, however, with silk already diverted to the war effort, the government recognized similar uses for nylon and commandeered it as well. Women responded by coating their legs in tan makeup and drawing lines up the backs of their calves to mimic seams. By the time the war ended and stockings returned to store shelves, nylon had become a generic term for hosiery. Swing skirts. The swing skirt had a round cut designed to look best in full jitterbug twirl while dancing . Swing skirts were a common sight on US dance floors as young women danced with uniformed men to the jazzy horns that characterized the Big Band Era. Housewives were known to wear a more conservative version of the swing dress, sometimes in polka-dot or tiny floral prints.
Hats: Hats became one of the few ways to express individual style with minimal resources. They were worn in a wide range of styles and personalized with scraps of foil, sequins, netting, paper and string. Hair and makeup: Hairstyles became more elaborate as women sought ways to contrast their dull wardrobes. Shoulder length or longer hair was rolled into complex shapes and secured with bobby pins. Screen stars like Lauren Bacall, Veronica Lake and Rita Hayworth popularized side parts and finger waves. Makeup was dramatic, characterized by matte foundation, powder, heavy brows and bright scarlet lips. Platform pumps: The wartime shortage of leather and steel forced shoe designers to get more creative and, as a result, shoes were cobbled from materials ranging from crocodile hide to cork. Shoes were more utilitarian than stylish, with low heels and limited color choices. By the mid to late 1940s, platform pumps with high heels in T-straps, ankle straps or open toes had replaced the dowdy wedgywith its flat shape and thick cork soles.
Menswear as women wear: A number of men may have spent the first half of the 1940s in uniform, but their civilian clothes came in handy for the women who filled their home-front jobs. Women raided the closets of absent men and tailored to fit the suits themselves. McCalls even introduced a pattern aimed specifically at modifying to suit to fit feminine curves. Suddenly, the sexually ambivalent look pioneered in the late 1930s by Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich was no longer radical. The emergence of the commercial dress pattern and electric sewing machine led women to make their own suits from scratch, opting for gabardine due to the scarcity of wool. Many with physically demanding factory jobs soon began wearing practical Rosie the Riveter pants and jeans. Sweaters: By the mid-1940s, many women had abandoned the single-piece corset in favor of panties and structured bras that accentuated the bust . In 1946, a well-endowed Jane Russell appeared onscreen in a bra designed by Howard Hughes, introducing the bullet bra of the 1950s and the reign of the sweater girl. Loose-fitting cardigans were also popular, particularly on college campuses.
Sportswear: The virtual disappearance of French fashion houses during the war led American designers to explore their own creativity. Designers like Bonnie Cashin and Claire McCardell were instrumental in the creation of distinctively American sportswear, featuring coordinated separates that could be worn in layers or in various combinations. The trend not only gave women increased options and made it appear as if they had more clothes than they actually did, but also blurred the line between couture and ready-to-wear by showing women they could be both chic and comfortable without spending a fortune.
The New Look: By the late 1940s, women craved a return to glamour and swirling skirts obliged designers with shimmering evening gowns and inspired by movie stars like Ingrid Bergman, Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford. In 1947, French couturier Christian Dior almost single-handedly brought an end to wartime austerity with a fashion line observers christened the New Look. Severe angles were replaced with curves, hemlines dropped back below the knee and fabric rationing was forgotten with generously draped skirts. Structured tailoring was key to the New Look, which featured broad shoulders, cinched waists, de-emphasized bust lines and padded hips. The pencil skirt was a figure-hugging alternatives to puffy large skirts. Men, too, longed for freedom from conservative tailoring in khaki and olive drab. They found relief in wide-legged trousers, full-length coats and suits in an array of colors. Both men and women wore trousers that featured higher cut legs and cuffs and came in textured tweeds and jewel tones. The New Look met with protest from women who had grown accustomed to baring their legs and were not willing to cover them back up. After years of conserving fabric, the fabric-rich designs seemed wasteful in contrast to wartime restrictions. The desire for change prevailed, however, and the look flourished throughout much of the 1950s.
Designer Focus requirements 1. A biography- at least one full page of the designers life and work history.2. 4 Bullet points of at least 4 trends set by this designer with small photo examples.3. A statement on How the designer’s style influenced the way women dressed during this era.4. 10 photos of designs from the designer.5. 1 photo of the designer.
