1930s vintage fashion and culture tags on this site explore the rich visual style and social shifts of the Great Depression era, from bias‑cut gowns and smart day dresses to sleek automobiles and Hollywood glamour. This tag traces how music, film, and advertising shaped everyday life, beauty standards, and personal style in the 1930s. You’ll find curated photos, magazine scans, and ephemera that bring to life the decade’s evolving trends in clothing, entertainment, and architecture. Together, these posts reveal how 1930s fashion and culture reflected resilience, aspiration, and modernity during a time of economic and social change.
Different types of coats, illustrated and defined. These include the Box Coat of the 1930s, the Blouse coat of the 1920s, coachmens’ coats, 17th century buffcoat, coolie coat, Balmacaan, Duster early 1900s, Raglan coat, Women’s Cutaway Coat, MacFarlane, and more types of coats.
These pages also cover different types of coifs and collars, including the Bertha collar of the 1920s, the Chin Collar of 1916, and the Buster Brown collar.
Here are more fashion definitions from the “C” part of this 1930s fashion dictionary. It’s quite a feat to be scanning it all!
These pages define different types of cheques, chemises, and chingons.
These next four pages are primarily defining and illustrating the different types of caps, and then several types of capes are shown.
Cap types include the Charlotte Corday Cap, the Juliet Cap, the Mary Stuart Cap, the Tarboosh, and Canadian Tuque.
Dive into the fascinating The Language of Fashion: A Fashion Dictionary (1939) to uncover the evolution of blouses and other iconic garments throughout history. This resource, brimming with precise definitions, beautiful illustrations, and historical fashion insights, is perfect for vintage clothing sellers and history enthusiasts alike. From 19th-century basque bodices to 1930s bouffant skirts, each garment tells a story about its era. Read on to explore how fashion trends from the past continue to inspire today’s vintage styles!
Here we go! I plan on scanning and posting this whole fashion dictionary, The Language of Fashion by Mary Brooks Picken (published in 1939). If you’d like the full rez scans, they will be available for a reasonable price, when I finish. So far, only about 200 more pages to go 🙂
There is the preface and table of contents from The Language of Fashion. The preface contains a pronunciation key, old fashion words vs new fashion words, a note about how color is described in the book (since it was just published in black and white), as well as a paragraph about the use of trademarks.
I love these cute pictures of children and babies, from the 1930s! It looks like they turned one of the infants pictures into a post card, and I’ve scanned the front and back of it. I’m finished scanning this album… and not sure if I want to scan another Modern Priscilla issue, or the 1922 St. Louis Fashion Pageant magazine… Thoughts?
Here are some family and children photos from around 1938 (according to the date on the pics).... The children are wearing cute white pressed collars and simple clothing! It's interesting to see the women wearing cloche-like turbans, showing that...
Here’s the final set of 1930s nun pictures—just two sheets, but full of historical charm! These may have been taken at the nunnery in Carondelet or somewhere near St. Louis. One photo looks like a First Communion class image, with little girls dressed in white, and another is dated 1939. These photos offer a beautiful glimpse into Catholic life during the Great Depression, showcasing tradition and faith.
I'm not a Catholic, so not 100% sure, but I believe these are pictures of children on their First Communion ceremony. The little girls are all in white dresses with cloaks, hats, and veils. The little boys walking in a line and wearing ruffled tops...
Here are 8 pictures of nuns, from approximately the 1930s, and probably from the Carondelet St. Louis Missouri area. These seem relatively candid- in one picture the nuns are eating bread or something, with silly expressions, and in another they're...
Mary doesn't remember her aunt being very wealthy, and doesn't know if this first couples picture from approximately the 1930s is her wedding photo to her second husband, or was just a special occasion photo. Either way, both of them look rather...
This dreamy 1930s gown, paired with a sheer blue overcoat, captures the essence of Great Depression-era elegance. The delicate overjacket, with its soft, glowing tones and Kodachrome-inspired effect, adds a romantic touch to the flowing, draped silhouette. Styled with period-accurate makeup and naturally curly Shirley Temple-esque hair, the shoot brings to life the understated charm of vintage fashion. A collaborative project with the Carondelet Historical Society, it’s a nostalgic look at 1930s style through the lens of retro photography.
Step back into the 1930s with the last 11 pages from the Summer 1935 Chicago Mail Order Company catalog! These colorful vintage ads feature a stunning variety of silks, viole, pre-made lace, Tahiti prints, polka dots, and more fabric treasures. Explore Hollywood-inspired dress prints, Sanforized fabrics, and delicate woven dot Swiss and organdie materials, all revealing the creativity and resourcefulness of the Great Depression era. Perfect for vintage fashion lovers and history enthusiasts!
Here are some scans from the 1935 Chicago Mail Order Company of curtains (swagger sets were "new and stylish"), bedspreads of Cretonne, double loop quality towels, 87 inch seamless unbleached sheeting, and Pepperell pre-washed quality sheets! Quite...
Take a stylish stroll back to the 1930s with a look at women’s suits and coats from the 1935 Chicago Mail Order Company Catalog. These timeless pieces reflect the era’s blend of practicality and elegance during the Great Depression. From durable tweed suits and luxurious treebark crepe coats to budget-friendly matching hats, discover how vintage fashion empowered women with affordable sophistication and Hollywood-inspired glamour. Perfect for vintage fashion lovers and history enthusiasts alike!
Explore the charm of 1935 women’s hat fashions with vintage ads from the Chicago Mail Order Company catalog. These stunning designs, inspired by Art Deco and Hollywood trends, highlight the creativity and affordability of the 1930s. From wide-brim sun hats to flirty tilted styles, see how these timeless accessories defined elegance and served as a perfect Mother’s Day gift idea of the era.
I had the privilege of getting to shoot dresses from a 1935 wedding! I used the help of a professional makeup and hair artist, and also borrowed a 1930s car. It was such fun to throw a pretend wedding without the stress of actually having real wedding
This mesh dress came labeled “Bridesmaid dress from M___’s 1935 wedding”. It’s classic! The dress was blue mesh over a dark blue slip. Not using it in the 1930s wedding recreation was a mistake, but I was afraid the colors were too dark in comparison to the other dresses. Sometimes I make mistakes, and this was still just about 6 months into my adventures in teaching myself vintage styling and photography!
This was a decadent vintage satin dressing gown, complete with a matching 3/4 length over-robe. It totally has the vibe of a classic Old Hollywood movie star, and the model got quite serious and moody wearing it. It's amazing how wearing...
It was very fun to photograph this green plus sized 1920s dress! SO many times, surviving dresses from this era are petite. I’m not sure why, because plus sized women surely existed in the 1920s. I am guessing that clothing got re-purposed during the Great Depression, and worn longer. A dress made with lots of fabric could be repurposed more than a more narrow dress with just 16 inches or so across the front. I am not sure what I did with it, but I did come across one “plus sized” dress (which I sold) which was clearly hemmed from drop waist to the more fashionable natural waist of the 1930s.
Anyway, it’s always fun playing dress up!
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