Out-of-Style

An Illustrated Guide to Vintage Fashions

Betty Kreisel Shubert

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9780486819884
• eBook ISBN: 9780486830421
• Topic: Design
• Subtopic: Fashion Design

"This is one of the most valued 'go to' books in my library with talking points new, even to me." — Alyja Kalinich, Disneyland Costume Designer

Winner of 5 Best Book Awards:
• 2016 Hollywood Book Festival Awards: History
• 2015 Beverly Hills International Book Awards: Performing Arts, Film & Theater
• 2014 USA Best Book Awards: Performing Arts, Film & Theater
• 2014 Family Tree Magazine UK: "Our Top Choice"
• 2013 Kirkus Reviews: Best Books

This volume of style clues for fashion detectives weaves fascinating elements of social history into tales of how, why, and when fashions evolved. Hundreds of sequential illustrations highlight the style flourishes that identify garments for men, women, and children as products of their individual periods. The images are accompanied by highly readable — and often humorous — comments and explanations by author and illustrator Betty Kreisel Shubert. A noted fashion historian, Ms. Shubert is a columnist for Ancestry Magazine and has designed clothes and costumes for stage and screen as well as hotels, restaurants, and casinos all over the world.
Ranging decade by decade from the nineteenth through twentieth centuries, this book offers a simple way to date photographs and clothing. It also provides background that makes less-accessible histories of costume easier to understand. This second edition, enhanced with a selection of new photographs, offers a valuable resource for costumers, vintage fashion enthusiasts, social historians, genealogists, and collectors of nostalgia items. The easy-to-follow format makes it a great browsing book even for those who are unversed in fashion design and history.

"A great reference book. I can't wait to put it to use!" — Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective

"Fascinating! I couldn't put it down. The author shows how social development influenced how we dress. I would certainly include this book in my theater classes for its value to future costumers, directors, and actors." — Allen M. Zeltzer, Professor of Theater, Emeritus, Cal-State University at Fullerton

OVERVIEW OF THE PRIMARY SILHOUETTES OF EACH DECADE FROM 1830 TO 1900S

NOTE: See Chapter 10 for style variations worn simultaneously in each decade. Hairstyles, hats and Style Clues for the Fashion Detective are included there.

NOTE: Overlapping time spans indicate new styles were born while older styles were still in fashion.

GOODBYE, VICTORIAN LADY . . . HELLO, GIBSON GIRL!

Chapter

1

EVOLUTION IN A THIMBLE

How Fashions Go Forward and Sometimes Back Again

What if you were still wearing the same clothes you were wearing twenty-five years ago (assuming you have not changed sizes and are not counting your beloved old, but threadbare, “at ease” clothes)? That would reveal either you were Out-of-Style, or the world around you had stopped: exemplified by contemporary people who are still wearing the clothes of biblical times.

In order to appreciate how, why and especially when clothes changed in the distant past of our ancestors, one needs to realize how one’s own wardrobe has evolved almost imperceptibly over the years. One needs to understand modern evolution and the psychology of clothes in order to relate to the past. This first chapter is a selective overview of how some fashions evolved from the 19th century into the present.

You will then appreciate that Hoop Skirts did not suddenly “APPEAR”. . . they EVOLVED. In fact, they evolved with complete “logic” as the slightly full skirt of the 1830s begat the Birdcage Hoop Skirt, which begat the Triangular Hoop Skirt, which begat the Bustle, which begat the Gibson Girl . . . and so on.

You will then realize the short-skirted, flat-chested “Boyish Look” of the 1920s was not born overnight, as was “The New Look of 1947,” which, by contrast, exploded full blown on the International Scene.

Certain decades in the 20th century produced more dramatic changes than others due to social upheavals—as in the 1960s and 1970s—which simultaneously spawned widely different fashion sensibilities. It used to be said that it took several years for a new fashion to trickle down from the top of the Social Ladder to become available and worn by the masses. Because of the now instantaneous, electronic transmission of ideas this is no longer true. Whether slowly, as in the past, or rapidly, as in the present, fashions evolved inexorably forward (sometimes backward), influenced by function, mores, politics, wars, films, economics, climate, locale, celebrities, women’s evolvement, the whim of fashion designers and the contagion of new ideas.

Because, in the modern world, the same influences are “in the air” and being felt simultaneously around the globe, fashion show runways often show remarkably similar clothes. This happens when an inspiring new idea is introduced: Each auditing designer becomes a runner in a creative relay race, grabbing onto the newest trend and running with it until other designers take it all the way to the finish line. Having exhausted all possible variations, the now over-exposed fashion is declared “DEAD.”

I once had a discussion with someone who claimed that designers deliberately make entire wardrobes immediately obsolete in order to stimulate sales. I disagreed. That is not how serious creative designers think: What happens instead is that for some time they have been eking out every variation and nuance of a particular proportion and silhouette. Suddenly BORED, they experiment with the exact opposite of what has been done before or they have an irresistible “idea” they feel compelled to develop.

If others like the look and want to emulate it, that look is IN and everything else is OUT. The exception is the occasional quirky designer who, wanting publicity and ATTENTION, sends deliberately outrageous unwearable clothes down a fashion show runway. They are photographed by the gullible Fashion Press, validated by jaded Fashion Editors who do not “EDIT,” and purchased by pathetic Fashion Victims. The clothes then die a quick death to be resuscitated only for Halloween parties.

The best example of a sudden and dramatic style change (that occurred for logical reasons) was the revolutionary “New Look of 1947” by French designer Christian Dior. It sent shock waves around the world and made entire wardrobes of the early-to-mid-1940s immediately obsolete.

World War II was over and suddenly the knee-length, broad-shouldered, narrow silhouette (mandated to conserve fabrics during the war) became full-skirted as the length dropped dramatically to below mid-calf. The previously comfortable natural waist became tight and cinched. The broad shoulders narrowed as shoulder pads were discarded. To achieve this new silhouette, dressmaking techniques reverted to the firm, inner construction of bygone eras to recreate the new (again) hourglass figure.

The tight fit of the New Look was achieved with bust and waist darts which accentuated curves (that is why women loved it). American women quickly accepted this new silhouette when they saw how full skirts emphasized their cinched (and newly discovered) small waists.

Because the peacetime world was also ready for a change, everyone was soon happily wearing “The New Look” . . . which lasted until the 1960s. Several short-lived variations of the 1950s were the “Trapeze,” the “Bubble,” and the “Sack.” The Sack was a throwback to the loose-fitting Chemise of the 1920s.

Because these styles were not universally flattering, they were short-lived. However, the boxy chemise, with some refinements, evolved into the popular “Jackie Kennedy Look” of the early 1960s. Jackie’s slim boyish figure looked best in gently-fitted, leggy sheaths and gowns; that influenced yet another dramatic change in silhouette and new (again) short skirt length.

The “Jackie Look” of the 1960s was one of grace, polish, sophistication and civilized decorum. But another social influence was simultaneously emerging: Hippies and Flower Children, who were languishing on the streets and protesting on university campuses. They brought a counterculture of uncut (even unwashed) hair, deliberately sloppy, mismatched clothes and the adoration of all things poor, ethnic, drugged and antiestablishment. This spawned the popularity of ethnic-inspired clothes from Third World countries. There was, however, a difference: The Hippies on the streets emulated poor peasants. But, by the 1970s adoration of the dominant youth-culture caused the Beautiful People at the top to also want to look “young and with it.” So, they adopted their own ethnic versions: They dressed like Russian Cossacks, European Festival Dancers, and Arabian Harem Girls in rich fabrics with lavish braid and trims. They were the “Rich Hippies.”

This was the first time that top American and European fashion leaders had been influenced by people at the bottom of the social ladder. In fact, for the first time since the French Revolution (when it was fatal to look rich) fashion arose from the street to influence the Beautiful People at the top.

Several other looks evolved in the tumultuous, but colorful times of the 1960s and 1970s—each look inspired by what was going on in the world. The adoration of The Youth Cult produced the “Baby Doll.” Exploration in outer space produced “The Moon Maiden.” The Beatles, in their narrow little-boy suits and sheepdog haircuts, paved the way for their female English counterparts, the Mods (Moderns), whose very short “Mini” skirts and youthful styles soon forced mature women to choose to wear pants rather than mini skirts. (That is, unless they had great legs.)

Other eras did not spawn so many diverse influences that simultaneously produced such varied looks. Because Period clothes required complicated construction and sewing techniques, they took a long time to make, at first by hand, or later, on hand-cranked or treadle-pedaled sewing machines with all finishing done by hand. Since trendy styles don’t last long and are poor wardrobe investments, not many “novelty” clothes were accepted into the mainstream of fashion in t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Testimonials from the Experts
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Copyright Page
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• Author’s Note: How This Book Was Born
• Introduction
• Part One—the 19th Century 1830–1900
• Part Two—the 20th Century 1900–2000
• About the Author
• Bibliography
• Index