What Makes You Choose One Decade Over Another?

[ShrinkingViolet]

This is interesting! Please tell me more or are there any treads on this in this forum?! How does the british 1930's fashion differ from Parisian and American fashions?

I've been wondering about this too! Can we start a separate thread on this subject? I also found the bit about the British take on Modernism on the Old Town Clothing website super interesting:

"Britain didn’t quite take to the European style hard edged Modernism of the Twenties and Thirties, seeming to prefer an invented folk art vision of the past. With the outbreak of war and the atmosphere of land under threat the works of Samuel Palmer, William Blake and Thomas Bewick were re-discovered as inspiration."


There must be differences between American and European (Parisian) fashions too, with America leaning towards more "sporty" styles?

I know that the corsetless Regency/Empire style didn't catch on too well in Scandinavia because it was too damn cold for those sheer, breezy fabrics!

 

[Miss Sis]

Good idea to start a thread. I'd love to be able to do it but we don't have a scanner, so might just have to muddle along somehow!

 

[SayCici]

I really like this thread so I hope no one minds my reviving it!

Initially I only dressed 50s as it was the only time I really knew about and was attracted to. I grew up watching Ed the Talking Horse and I Love Lucy, listening mostly to oldies with my dad.

When I started posting here I began to learn about earlier eras, and around the same time I also started watching more classic movies, and picked up on some earlier musical artists I love (namely Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters), which led me to trying out the 40s.

The silhouette didn't really flatter me, as much as I love it on other people, and I felt much more at home in the 50s. I love the shoes, though. I'm not a stiletto kinda gal.

Then I started to pay more attention to the 30s and I really liked it. I have more of an hourglass frame, but I'm also pretty small so the mid-to-late 30s looks pretty good on me and it can be very frilly and girlish which suits my personality.

So, when it comes to what I like to wear, I love 30s & 50s, but as a lover of history I still like or am interested in all of the other fashions, pre 1964.

 

[Lillemor]

Initially when I joined, I just wanted to re-awaken a fascination with 1920s-50s styles I've always had and initially I thought I'd want to go more authentic but I've found that this doesn't work for me at present.

Now my main inspiration is the every day styles my dad's generation wore in the 1950s-early 60s or his sister in the same period and until the mid 1960s and my dad was a teenager in Modesto. Modesto is generally hotter and drier than inner city Copenhagen.lol So I imagine there would've been some differences. This was also the period my dad and his siblings seem to remember most fondly while the same can't be said for my mom or her siblings so I really don't want to upset my mother by rubbing something in her face that may bring back memories by either dressing like she did or even worse; like her mother dressed in the 1950s. So that's why I've chosen a time period and place that holds some happy memories for part of my family. So SEARS is fine as an inspiration source for me.

On weekends my style is more loosely based on a retro 1920s style for comfort and for the sake of change.

 

[C-dot]

I choose 40's and sometimes early 50's. I love the look of victory rolls, and I love how women during the war still looked great while holding up the homefront. Photos of soldiers reuniting with their wives give me an electric feeling... I suppose it's because I imagine myself and my soldier in those times. It's incredibly romantic.
A part of me idealizes homemaking and child rearing, so the image of a 50's housewife with her pearls makes me smile, although I know it was a fabrication of the times. I like to incorporate June Cleaver in my fantasies, I guess lol

 

[crazydaisy]

I love the thirties, that's it. Everything that I imagine good about life it is like somebody well off in the 30's would have had it. The dresses are perfect, sensual yet elegant, dramatic yet contained, beautiful feminine elongated silhouettes, truly glamorous.
And now the most painful quest, as far as I am concerned, in trying to ignore these feelings and establish what era really suits better my body shape. (I do like Victorian to the 1950's generally, it is just that I seem to be crazy about the 1930's.)
I am not an hourglass and have fairly narrow shoulders so 1950's in not for me. I do like the New look shapes, but rather on other people. I have 2 50's dresses, one vintage one inspired, I look ok-ish in them, but feel I can do better. I don't like 50's hair, in your face jewelery - dripping pearls/diamonds.
I am not sure about the 1940's, some padding in the shoulders would surely do me some good, but then enough is enough...:eusa_doh: Some of the silhouettes I find a bit mannish a bit severe, others I really love, particularly things that are showing off the waist. My favorite coat shapes are from the 40's. Also 40's hats seem to suit me ans certain hair styles, as long as we don't go too crazy.
The 20's really are what I should wear if i go by the book - I think I am a pear shaped ruler - but originals are unattainable on my budget and while I love 20's dresses and think they are exquisite, I am not really that sure they flatter me. I have only one "inspired" dress and when i put it on sparkles fears of frumpiness.
So going back to the 30's where my heart lies, I truly fear I don't have the tall shouldery shape for that either. I am more of a whippet than a greyhound really lol ! I am only 5'4 and measure 13.5 shoulder to shoulder 32 bust 26 waist 34 hips at my roundest ! Having said that I have bought recently a couple of 30's dresses and they seem to be flattering when the fit is ok, so really I don't know anymore.
And all of this is sometimes quite frustrating. Surely interesting as a journey, but very expensive if one is purchasing the wrong things.

 

[Miss Sis]

Daisy, the best thing you can do is go and try things on in vintage shops where they won't kill you for daring to want to try things on! (hard sometimes, I know)

It will become more obvious what suits you as you get your 'eye' in after a while. Keep looking if you aren't sure you want to buy.

 

[C-dot]

So going back to the 30's where my heart lies, I truly fear I don't have the tall shouldery shape for that either. I am more of a whippet than a greyhound really lol !

Actually, the 1930's was the only decade which did not distort women's body shapes. The 20's was slim and boyish, the 40's was tall and shoulder-padded, and the 50's was voluptuous hourglasses. Watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies, paying attention to the women in the background - they are all different body shapes

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I love the 1920s and 1930s. More 1930s and more glamourised, romanticised MOVIE visions of that decade. I'm a huge 20s and 30s film buff and get most of my ideas from there. I love over-the-top glamour. While I *do* understand that the real 20s and 30s were *not* the movies, I still see no harm in romanticising a little bit.

The way I actually dress, though, is kind of a generic "old fashioned" style. Maybe "old lady" to some people, but I mix a bit of everything from 20s to the 50s. My hair and makeup are VERY 20s/30s inspired, yet I wear original 1950s cat's eyes glasses!! I like to mix it up.

The 40s is the one decade I tend to do the least with, though. I can't do any of the hairstyles and the clothing does nothing for me. I also don't look good with pale eyes and a big, bright orange mouth! I LOVE the look on others, but I just feel awkward and can't pull it off!

I'd say a lot of my clothing has a 50s flair to it, though it's not my favourite decade by a longshot. It just happens that way because 50s-inspired things are easier to find than 30s-inspired things. And it's either that, or the latest trends lol lol

So that's me. I do it all! I'm hard to place!!

lol lol lol
Damn -- I've come a long way!!! I still obsess over the 1930s, especially now that I can sew my own clothes. I still love movie stars, but lately I've been searching the 'net for "regular" 1930s women and getting more hair and dress inspiration from them than anything unobtainable from Hollywood.

I can do this hair!! lol

I couldn't sew when I wrote that, either. Now I can. I tend to sew dresses mostly from 37-43. That seems to be my favourite era to replicate. I'm more era-specific these days and not just "generic old lady style" because now I CAN be.

When waistlines went back to where they belong in 1929 I start to get interested. I start to lose interest when the "New Look" comes in. The "New Look" looks good on others, but I think I look short, fat, older, and matronly in 1950s dresses. I also think they use an excessively OBSCENE amount of fabric and I feel like I'm LUGGING AROUND my dress instead of WEARING it lol Again, if the look suits you and you have the passion from within -- you will look good. I just feel like a poser in 50s!!

 

[HadleyH]

Why, The Jazz Age, the 1920s of course

in everything:

Flappers and Fashion ( Hello Coco Chanel good bye corsets )
Art Deco
Lost Generation ( Paris in the 20s!!!!!)
Cinema
Harlem Renaissance
Dances and Music
Literature
Prohibition ( Speakeasies fun!!!!!) :cheers1:



Best decade ever.

 

[cookie]

Why, The Jazz Age, the 1920s of course

in everything:

Flappers and Fashion ( Hello Coco Chanel good bye corsets )
Art Deco
Lost Generation ( Paris in the 20s!!!!!)
Cinema
Harlem Renaissance
Dances and Music
Literature
Prohibition ( Speakeasies fun!!!!!) :cheers1:

Best decade ever.

You and Mojito should be the Bobbsy Twins

 

[Dutchess]

I'm not really loyal when it comes to decades. Usually I just buy items I like and that fit me, anything from 1920-1960. Then I look at my closet and find out what items would go with it. Sometimes even Victorian items... Depends on the mood I'm in.

 

[Mojito]

You and Mojito should be the Bobbsy Twins

As I was reading Hadley's post, I was thinking "Amen! Preach it, Sister!" :eusa_clap

 

[Lillemor]

So SEARS is fine as an inspiration source for me.

Hmm...I didn't think this through. My dad addressed a valid problem. I'll only see what I could buy then but not what people really bought; How many were sold of each style.

 

[HadleyH]

As I was reading Hadley's post, I was thinking "Amen! Preach it, Sister!" :eusa_clap

My pleasure Mojito!


Here, the embodiment of the Jazz Age - Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald - Fitzgerald even coined the term "Jazz Age".

"It was an age of miracles, it was an age of art, it was an age of excess, it was an age of satire" ( Tales of the Jazz Age" S. Fitzgerald)

 

[rcfko]

Not to turn this into a political thing because that isn't what this is but, I like movies, music, entertainment from the earlier periods but, when I'm watching a good movie and that one person of color comes on screen eyes bugged out and having to do that "sambo-ing" thing, it makes me cringe, puts this thing (for lack of a better description) in my stomach, often times, and I'm not exagerrating, it makes me cry.

I must say that if I were to choose a period, I'd go for 40's. Although men's fashion doesn't really change all that much through the decades. Well tailored suit, trouser, waistcoat, hat, etc.
As a person of oriental decent, maybe I should dress more like an owner of a chinese laundry?? You don't see many oriental in old Hollywood movies so I don't even know where I can reference the way I'd like to dress from. Even well into the 60's they still had white male squinting their eyes on screen pretending to be oriental.

Good thing there is 1940's Shanghai gangsters I can try to model my 'fashion era' from.

see kungfu hustle.

 

[ZombieGirl]

Sorry fftopic: But Kung Fu Hustle is an amazing movie! Didn't think I'd like it but I don't think I've ever seen anything so funny, so beautifully shot, or so fun to watch that I completely forgot I was reading subtitles.

 

[RosebudMarie]

Initially, I have been attracted to 'Little House' styles of the post civil-war era thru the 'titanic' years. The age of excess of the 20's doesn't do anything for me, though. The fashions at the turn of the century are a bit too impractical for me and make you look...odd...when walkign down the street.

I grew up reading "Grace Livingston Hill" novels which were largely based in the late 20's-30's. But of course, seeing pictures of my grandparents when they were young during the war put pieces of my heart there. The 50's are cute (C'mon - gotta love Lucy!) but then fashion starts to get impractical again. It's hard to navigate a hot stove with so much fabric in the way!

When my husband and I watched the documentary 'Ken Burns: The War' I think that's what did it. The styles of hair and fashion are what I am attracted to, even in every day life. I am amazed at how even during hard times women were able to maintain their femininity and grace and find ways fo feeling glamorous.

I have always prefered mary jane shoes, waist emphasizing fashions and a-line skirts. I naturally have broad-shoulders and at 5'8" I'm too tall for anything dainty and delicate.

I've always considered myself 'fashion un-conscious' since I could never seem to follow modern trends of dress. Understanding that I like the dress of the 30's-40's helps me to pick and choose clothing and patterns from regular stores. I'm not likely to find vintage pieces that fit me (which is fine...3 cats, a dog and 2 kids would likely ruin them fast!), but I can incorporate things into my everyday style, beginning with my hair, makeup and shoes and moving forward as I can afford it.

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

I like late 20s/early 30s. I don't really dress vintage but I think I could pull off a vintage "look" with some modern pieces if I try. I love silk dresses and wide leg pants and own a couple and these were popular at that time. I just wear vintage hats and these are the decades that hats were more to my liking. When I think of that time period, my mind and heart automatically turns to Harlem, jazz, swing, blues, the slang talk, etc... so I am able to block out the "depressing" parts of life that Black Americans such as myself, LadyDay and the two beautiful women in my avatar would have had to endure and just focus on all the fun they had not only in Harlem but even here in DC down at the U Street corridor and other big cities across the United States.

 

[RodeoRose]

I like this thread!

I'm most drawn to the Edwardian era, I think; white lace lawn dresses, big silk hair ribbons, delicate Louis-heeled satin slippers, Gibson girls-- I love it all. I think the film Days of Heaven, which I first saw when I was 15, had a huge influence on me. The hair and clothes, combined with all the golden fields and that wonderful old mansion... oh my, prettiest thing ever. I collect antique clothes from the late Victorian era to the 20s; the undergarments like slips and corset covers are my favorite finds. I love how ethereal and innocently beautiful the white cotton and delicate lace is.

I wear 1950s clothes for my everyday look, though, 'cause they really look best on me, plus they're pretty cheap around here and many of the cotton day dresses from the '50s are still really wearable and sturdy. Plus I just find the Dior New Look silhouette really beautiful, elegant and practical for walking around campus, running errands or whatever. There's a reason Audrey and Grace are such inspirations-- they just exude elegance in the simplest of shirtwaist day dresses. I'm so taken with the idea of looking glamorous and put-together in a simple, practical way, like Audrey with all her circle skirts, pony tails, and ballet flats.

Funnily enough, no matter what the era, I am never all that taken by evening looks. 95% of my clothing has some sort of pattern (calico, gingham, plaid, floral, novelty prints, etc) and items without patterns likely have some other bold detail like ric-rac or lace. I'm just crazy about patterned day dresses from all eras (pre-60s, that is!), especially with peter pan collars and cute little buttons.