All posts tagged: Girl’s Own Paper

Girls Attire for May 1906 from the Girl’s Own Paper

I’ve finally managed to find the time to scan all the fashion pages from my Girl’s Own Papers from 1905-07, and I’ll be posting them over the coming months (themed to the correct month, of course!). I found the pages at a car boot sale in Napier during Art Deco weekend. Sadly, they were loose papers, and the magazines are incomplete. I’ve done my best to sort them based on the months given, and the page numbers, and to date them, but I’m not always 100% sure I’ve got the year correct. I’m reasonably sure today’s pages are from 1906, thanks to some help from the incomparable Daniel in definitively dating a page I shared a few years back to March 1906. The page numbers suggest these two pages are from the same year (though those also repeated on an annual basis, so these may be from 1905!). These images are as large as my blog format will support, so hopefully you can read them. Some delightful excerpts: The white cloths and velvets and other …

What your well dressed domestic staff should wear, 1906

Published by The Dreamstress

I recently acquired a large collection of loose sheets from the Girl’s Own Paper from 1906 and 1907 (Pre-Flora Klickmann era). I think I actually have full issues – I just need to sort them. In the meantime I’ve been having fun with the fashion drawings. This illustration on what your household staff should wear is particularly timely for this fortnight’s HSF Peasants and Pioneers challenge. Here is a closer look: I love the cook’s linen dress, and the parlourmaid’s white batiste apron (very doable, and both aprons are relatively usable in a modern sense). I also love the idea of a magazine giving fashion advice for the what the well dressed maid should wear!

Hats for the woman of 50, 1911

Published by The Dreamstress

This article from the Girl’s Own Paper, Dec 1911, just cracks me up. How could it not! I’m sure the “Looking good at any age” and “Dressing for your age” articles in modern fashion magazines will be equally hilarious, if not more so, in a century Clearly the hat fashion for ‘mature’ women in 1911 was a large, square turban-toque style. I wonder exactly what made these suitable for a woman of 50 (and presumable onward, based on the mention of ‘elderly’ in one caption). Was it just about the shape being considered properly staid, conservative and modest? Or was the shape thought to be more flattering? Certainly these hats all match the look that Queen Mary was famous for in the latter half of her life. And who was a better guide to respectable taste than the Queen? What do you think? As a lady of 50 would you wear those hats? Does the whole presentation of the article amuse you just a little? And which is your favourite? (Bags on the toque in …