All posts filed under: Textiles & Costume

Fashions for Winter 1931, from The NZ Mirror

Since it’s definitely hit winter weather here in NZ I thought you might enjoy some fashion inspiration for Winter 1931. These are from the August 1931 edition of The Mirror (because, of course, August is definitely winter in NZ!) First, some rather delicious coats, as they were ‘Favoured in Paris’: #1 is a three-quarter ensemble in checked wool, trimmed with beige astrakhan (blech). #2 is “the new collarless tailored coat in tweed jersey.’ Looks, and sounds, very wearable indeed! #3 ‘The tunic coat…in navy serge trimmed with persian lamb’ (i.e. astrakhan by another name, still blech). #4 ‘The loose bolero coat, in black velvet, worn with a tweed or checked skirt’. So fabulous, and also so very modern – nothing new in fashion at all! And to go with your chic coats, a lovely selection of blouses: I particularly like the asymmetrical number at top left, and the lower left number with it’s cunning cross details – though I think I’d struggle to get away will all the frills and fuss. Can you …

Terminology: What is Dazzle?

Published by The Dreamstress

‘Dazzle‘ (or ‘Razzle-Dazzle, or Dazzle Camouflage) was an early use of camouflage in modern warfare. It looked like this: And this: Starting in WWI, Allied ships, and, less frequently, airplanes, canons and tents, were painted in a series of broken stripes and intersecting geometric shapes – not to hide an object, but to confuse, or ‘dazzle’ the eyes of observers. The point was not to conceal a ship, but to make it hard to tell precisely what kind of ship it was, where a ship was, which direction it was going in, and how fast it was travelling. The goal of Dazzle, as the British Admiralty explained was: …to make it look as if your stern was where your head ought to be. If you think that a Dazzle painted ship looks like a cubist artwork, you’re absolutely right. The concept of Dazzle is generally credited to artist Norman Wilkinson (though zooologist John Graham Kerr had earlier proposed a disruption system inspired by animal camouflage). He knew that steamships could not be hidden because of …

Lingerie Touches for Frocks, 1932

Published by The Dreamstress

I’m got a bunch of blog posts half written at the moment, but they are all long and elaborate, and I just don’t have the time to finish them today. So instead, a quick, sweet and simple blog post, featuring a page from the March 1932 Fashion Services Magazine, with frocks that show ‘Lingerie Touches for Chic’ In addition to the lingerie touches (by which they mean handiwork and lace edging), there is lots of exoticism – Persian prints, and ‘scarab’ crepes (which sound like the pure silk variation of roshanara). Plus, Irish crochet is a la mode and skirt lengths are shorter – a whole 11 to 13 inches off the floor (and that’s in shoes!) .