This posted started with me looking at pictures of women in suits, thinking that I would have a section in that post with women in trouser suits. Then I thought that it would be better to make that into a post on its own, but when I started looking I realized that I would need to split it up. Ordinary women versus the movie stars. Women did wear trousers in the 30’s and 40’s, but they were worn for leisure wear. A Marlene Dietrich or Katherine Hepburn might have gotten away with trousers on all sorts of occasions, but for your average female, you wore them for sports, the beach or for lounging around in the home, not for formal occasions. In Sweden, which I’m sure held true for other countries as well, some workplaces and restaurants forbade women to use trousers well into the sixties. Not all women wore trousers either. My grandmother Greta, who you can see on the picture below, obviously wore trousers for a picnic in sometime in the late 30’s. She was a very fashion conscious girl and her roommate complained because she spent every penny that didn’t go to food and rent, on clothes. However, her mother who was born in the 1880’s could never get used to the idea to don a pair.
Beachwear
Showgirls in Florida.
Woman in zoot suit 1944.
7 comments:
I LOVE the white and black (or white and whatever color, as the photo's in b & w) playsuit on the boat photo! I love it! All these photos are so neat, thanks for sharing!
I NEED to throw OUT my jeans and make some of those awesome wide leg slacks for myself!!!
My mother recently passed away. Odd to me, so many of the condolence letters I recieved reminised about my mother have been the first woman the writers had ever seen wearing slacks. Also that she was the first woman they'd known with a higher education and a career. As the daughter of such a progressive woman, I, of course, knew her as a reluctant mother who had little to no tolerance for the girly friviloties of my sister and myself. My or my, how times do change. Today, she'd be a role model!
Love those beach pants, I'll have to make some fro here, thanks for the ideas xx
I don't wear vintage pants a lot because it's hard to find the perfect size, must fit waist, hips, lenght!!!
Funny but I posted about pants just a few days ago... I think the first pictures of me with pants on my blog!!!
http://lostin1950.blogspot.com/2012/03/maginot-line.html
Lisa. Yes, it's a great picture, isn't it!
Auntie: Yes you do! Much more flattering than jeans. And thank you for the story about your mother.
Vintage Cherry: I'm a bit tempted too- and I NEVER wear pants!
Laurence: I know what you mean. I haven't worn trousers for almost 20 years. I have bought a pair from Heyday, though, but I haven't got the courage to actually wear them yet...
Did you see the woman in red overalls and red jumper in the photo that I posted in my blog two days ago. I would have thought that wearing that to town (it's in the very centre of town) in 1943 would have been a no-no, but apparently not.
Eva: I did! perhaps the war made the standard lax? :)
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