1930s Fashion - Glamour of Womens Shoes

1930s Fashion - Glamour of Womens Shoes

In the early twentieth century women demanded more comfortable, flat-soled shoes-- that is until the roaring twenties when higher hemlines encouraged visible, elaborate, high heeked and slender Louis heels. The Depression during the 1930's highly influenced shoe fashion in the USA and Europe as heels became lower and wider. The new heel developed an elegant look and stars’ shoes like Ginger Roger’s white and glittery heels began to challenge the influence of French shoe fashion .Here you see some examples of shoe styles from the 1930s as worn by various Hollywood Sirens like Carole Lombard,Bette Davis, Garbo [ she of the apparently big feet] and more.
Also some great images from Life Magazine, which now has its back catalogue online.
Enjoy !

Vintage 1940s Makeover Film - What NOT to wear !

Another helping of Miss Ratherly Sterns vintage 1940's fashion makeover for young women.
Courtesy of the Prelinger Archive.

The Age of Glamour - Stockings

The Glamour of Stockings as seen in vintage archive film.
Clips courtesy of Prelinger archive

The Corsetiere - Professional Corset and Girdle fitting

The Corsetiere - Professional Corset and Girdle fitting in the 1930's and 1940's


Thought i'd post this interesting feature on The Corsetiere.
These corsetieres worked for the major firms that supplied conventional foundation garments to the vast majority of women for many decades in the last century.
Found these wonderful images and accounts on The Corsetiere


Here is one story from Alison

My mother was always very happy, very pleased, to be trying on her new foundations; she loved them. After fitting her, I would sit back on my stool while she looked at herself in the mirror, and she would ask me if I thought she looked good. She did look wonderful and absolutely beautiful in those white satin and brocade foundations. She always asked for ribbons adorning the suspenders and fine lace over the front panels and cups of the long-line bras she favoured so much.

These were very firm and very well boned garments; the bra cups were full coverage, the corselets were long over the thigh, and the bras were quite high backed. But they had a lovely sheen to them, and had the lace and ribbon adornments that made them so feminine; and of course, they produced such a lovely silhouette.

I was always expected to be beautifully turned out, and we would sometimes go out for lunch as a break during the course of our day, or after a morning of product reviews and preliminary measurements. I don’t think this intimacy, yet privacy, normally exists in the family today. I enjoyed these afternoons (but I didn't let on), and she knew it. My father was very proud of his wife's appearance, and his business colleagues always complimented him on how stunning she was. He loved that, so he never complained about the Spencer bills.

Occasionally her lady friends were invited for coffee at 11:30 and I would fit them too. After their first fittings, the new designs and fabrics were discussed in great detail. These were also social occasions, so whilst corsetry was discussed in great detail, decisions would also be made for which foundations would be the most suitable for a forthcoming event, where a particular suit or gown would be worn.

As you know only too well, ladies openly discussed foundations in those days. The personal matters and private aspects or complications of a particular fitting were, though, absolutely confidential, and a special trust existed between me and my mother and her friends.

When I saw an ad to be a Spencer Corsetiere, I applied. When I joined Spencer in 1953 I had to attend a training class given by our local manager. In this class we learned about the product line, how to analyze figure problems, and of course how to fit the girdles using the “Spencer method” and the measuring girdle.

Ultimately I became a "Spencer Consultant" and had a territory, and I visited ladies in their homes and fitted them with custom-made girdles and bras. I liked the job very much and I think my customers did too. All the measuring and fittings were done in someone’s home, and it was a lot more relaxing than going to a store.

How to apply 1920's Makeup - Gloria Swanson

How to apply 1920's Makeup - Gloria Swanson

1.
Step 1

Find and apply a foundation in your skin tone that will give your complexion a creamy, perfect look. You may have to use an older variety, such as pancake, or a cream meant more for theater than for everyday use. To allow your skin to breathe, thin down cream foundation by moistening your sponge before dipping in the base. If your skin is naturally porcelain or alabaster-toned, play it up.
2.
Step 2

Darken and turn your eyebrows slightly downwards with an eyebrow pencil or even eyeliner that is darker than your actual brow color. Thin eyebrows were fashionable in the 20s, so this step works most accurately if your brows are already on the thin side. If not, you don't have to start tweezing away--you can cover your brows with a 1920s-style hat or with bangs chopped straight across as part of a bob cut.
3.
Step 3

Smooth on your usual eye makeup primer before applying a dark eyeshadow from lash line to crease. Pick a gray-based shadow to keep your eyes on the sooty side, which is what you're aiming for. Use a black kohl eyeliner on both top and bottom lash lines. Don't scrimp--you want all the dark tones to meld together. Color top and bottom lashes with blackest black mascara. You want them dark so as to appear like you used paint to blacken them. You may want to use a waterproof formulation for all of your eye makeup to avoid unwanted smudging as much as possible.
4.
Step 4

Find a cheek stain or cream blush with touches of red in it. You are going for a rouged look; if red is too strong for your coloring, raspberry or rose are alternatives. Rub blush into apples of cheeks. Blend away hard edges, but make sure the color is still evident, as though you just walked in from the cold.
5.

Step 5

Apply pale pancake foundation over clean and exfoliated lips. With a waxy dark red lip liner, create a 1920s mouth by exaggerating the cupid's bow on your top lip. Draw your lower lip as slightly plumper than it really is by extending slightly on the bottom. Draw both upper and bottom lips as shorter on the sides. Fill new lip shape in with pencil before layering matching lipstick over it.

Copyright Lea WhiteFeather

1930s Shoes - Carole Lombard

Carole Lombard wearing typical ladies shoe styles of the 1930s

Had an idea recently about collecting together images of Hollywood stars shoe styles
from the 1930s and 1940s.
This is the first - the lovely Carole Lombard who died so tragically young in a plane crash.
[ She was married to Clark Gable ]
And yes - these ARE carole Lombards legs and feet..

A variety of womens shoe styles were available in the 1930s; rounded toes with thick heels; pumps, flats, ankle straps with moderate heels; slip-ons, lace ups, buckled; spectator and two tones.
The new fad for outdoor activities brought sandals back into fashion. Black was most common for day shoes but wine, maroon, and navy were also seen. For evening plain court shoes were seen gadding about with asymmetrical trims, peep toes and sling back heels.

Greta Garbo next !
She was meant to have rather large feet, so it will be interesting if I can find any decent snaps !

Hollywood Glamour - The ideal female body shape

Hollywood Glamour - The ideal female body shape

Anita Page and the ' Ideal Screen Type ' 1928

Hollywood constantly measured the perfection of it's starlets beauty against ideal types.
The examples include the delectable Norma Talmadge /Pola Negri /Clara Bow / Gloria Swanson
/ Gilda gray / Aileen Pringle /Mary Pickford / and of course Garbo !