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Adversity & Resilience: Fashion
Weldon's Fashion Journals of 1922 illustrated practical, pleasing styles and inexpensive fashion for children including rompers, young boys and girls dresses, young boy's tunic suit, coats and jumpers, and baby's sleeping suits. Paris and London fashion for women included a coat and skirt; sports skirts and shirt blouse; afternoon blouse; simple slip-on frock and underclothing. The journals included free patterns and full directions.
Sleeveless, long dresses were preferred in the afternoons and at night but long sleeves and shorter skirts were worn by street models during the day in the mid-1920s. The Peter Pan collar and cuffs, simple neck lines and the use of lace dressed up a formal afternoon dress.
In March 1932 a fashion parade was held at the Trades Hall with over 300 ladies in attendance. Mannequins were dressed in "dainty street frocks and delightful evening gowns of exquisite colourings and designs; beach and lounge pyjamas of elaborate colourings and styles' also a bridal group.
The jewellery manufacturing industry was seriously impacted by the great depression. In the mid-1930s, bangles, tiepins, watch chains and brooches were becoming a thing of the past and cheap imitation jewellery was becoming popular.
The umbrella became a popular accessory for men in London in 1939. A bowler hat and an unopened umbrella was made popular by the Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
The image below is from an article called For the Women Folk, which appeared in the Queensland Times on 17 January 1928, illustrating a story about "The too persistent salesman".
