Never Was Magazine

[Never Was Magazine]

Everyday Fashions of the Fifties

Everyday fashions of the 1950s: The final installment in Hilde’s reviews of fashion history books

For the final installment in our fashion history catalogue book series, we are examining the pages of the era that is probably best known when people think about retro fashion: the 1950s.

When 50s fashion is mentioned, most will think of pin-up styles, sexy tops and pencil skirts, victory roll hairdos and big circle skirts. And greasers à la James Dean and Mutt Williams.

Or skirts with poodle…

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Everyday Fashions of the 1940s

Everyday Fashions of the 1940s

If you have studied the pages of the volumes of previous decades in this Fashion History series, you will find that this book is probably the least varied. That is because the 1940s were pretty fashion-stable. There were changes in the silhouette for both men and women during the period, but nothing like the dramatic shifts of 20s and 30s.

Nonetheless, if you are into World War II-era fashion,…

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Everyday Fashions of the 1930s

The definitive guide to the everyday fashions of the 1930s

Everyday Fashions of the Thirties deserves its own review by merit of the decade’s sheer diversity in styles.

Where the 1930s start out looking very much like the 1920s, you can spy the beginning of that typical 1930s silhouette in the early years. This book really shows how, year by year, the fashion gradually stepped away from the flapper days of the Roaring Twenties and toward the…

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Everyday Fashions, 1909-1920s

Latest in our #FashionHistory series of catalogue book reviews: everyday fashions of the Jazz Age

Next in our Fashion History series of catalogue book reviews is not one but two books, covering the Jazz Age.

First up: Sears of the late steam and early diesel eras, during which fashion evolved from late Edwardian and Art Nouveau era into flapper styles and Art Deco.

It’s pretty amazing to see how these styles evolved fairly rapidly and then stuck to that typical 1920s silhouette for…

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Decades of Hats

Decades of Hats: A must-have guide to twentieth-century headwear

As the title suggests, this catalogue book is all about hats. Collecting hat ads from the 1900s to the 1970s, it is a marvelous display of the evolution of headwear through the years.

Sadly, as is too often the case with books like these, all pages are in black and white, denying us the color stories behind the designs.

Even in grayscale, the book is pretty amazing if you’re into hats…

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Catalogue Books: What We Will (And Won’t) Learn from Them

Catalogue book reviews: A new fashion history series

This is a companion piece to my series of catalogue book reviews for those wondering which book will suit them best and whether or not it’s something they want to start with.

Now, what is to be taken away from these tomes that give us a visual glimpse in sartorial evolution from 1909 to 1959? Other than how fashion has evolved from the steam into the diesel and atomic eras?

(more…)

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