"just dash in recklessly"

Did you know hoop skirts were totally en vogue in fall 1938?  These pages are from the September 5, 1938 issue of Life magazine and outline the full range of fall fashions.  The article starts out with a short illustrated history of fashion silhouettes.

I can't say I'm a particular fan of these ruffle-trimmed, giant-hooped dresses...but I do love the hoop skirt-wearing hints given in the margins!  "In crowded elevators you won't be popular, but keep calm."  "Revolving doors are a menace.  Just dash in recklessly."  "Phone booths never bothered great grandmother, but they will you."

The article also says that "notoriously hippy" American women will "pounce upon the bell-shaped silhouette."  Maybe that should be somone's rap name.  The Notorious H.I.P.

"Sports clothes" and shoes.  Now that's more like it.  Check out the spool heel on the oxfords on the left!  Italian-made platforms and wedges by Palter de Liso are the cutting edge in shoes in fall 1938.  Apparently American women hadn't quite yet come to equate Italy with Salvatore Ferragamo and amazing shoe design, as "In the  minds of most Americans, Italians are associated with shoes either as bootblacks or repair men." !!!

Love the oversize handbag shown on the right.

Coats!  That block plaid on the left is my favorite.  The article says Queen Elizabeth and her Scottish heritage are responsible for the trendiness of plaid.  Fancier fur-trimmed coats on the right (and please notice Life getting all goth--photoshoot in a cemetery!).

Day dresses include the "lumberjacket"--a shirtwaist dress with a "mannish" collar--and trendy accents like embossed quilting and modified dolman sleeves.  The dress on the lower right on the left is called a "modified dirndl" and the model sports a $7 pin, "a surrealist horse on lips."  It doesn't say the name of the pin's designer, but it sounds to me like something made--or certainly inspired by--Elsa Schiaparelli!

On the right is the "new fall dinner suit," made of wool with a long, high waisted skirt, by Monteil.

xo

K

holiday

The pairing of Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn most likely brings to mind The Philadelphia Story (1940) or Bringing Up Baby (1938).  But Holiday (1938, directed by George Cukor) is possibly my favorite.  It's the story of Johnny (Grant), a self-made man who has proposed marriage to heiress Julia.  Johnny wants to quit working so he can travel and experience life.  Julia can't understand why he doesn't want to just make more money, but her sister, Linda (Hepburn), a fellow free spirit, understands Johnny completely.  You can imagine what happens next.

There are some lovely late 1930s fashions in the film.  A New Year's Eve/engagement party showcases some evening wear, but I really enjoy seeing the daily outfits and shoes (and wild hats) the sisters wear.

Linda is usually dressed a bit more simply and less flashy than Julia, though still always very elegantly.  I prefer Linda's black satin dress here.

Hepburn is dressed in a simple black gown for the party, but wears a necklace that sparkles more than anything I have ever seen captured on film.  I really think Cukor used some kind of special effect for the glittering jewels on this necklace.

I love this scene.  Ned (Lew Ayres), the sisters' hard-drinking, frustrated musician brother, marches in with champagne.  Ayres plays this role with the perfect mixture of humor and pathos.

Grant and Hepburn perform some fantastic tumbling moves in the film.

xo

K