Everyday Fashions of the Thirties as Pictured in Sears Catalogs

by Stella Blum

Book Overview

For thousands of women across America, hard hit when the frivolity of the twenties ended so resoundingly with the Crash of '29, the pages of the Sears catalog became an essential resource in maintaining a wardrobe. An ambitious marketing operation, it could not afford to take chances on haute couture; its fashions were geared as closely as possible to the prevailing tastes of the American people.
For this historically accurate sampling...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 048625108X
• ISBN13: 9780486251080
• Release Date: August 1986
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 9.0" x 12.0"

Customer Reviews

Gorgeous, immersive, beautifully put together!

If you want a comprehensive book that immerses you in the world of fashion from the thirties, this is the one. It is authentic and beautifully laid out and depicts numerous costume items from the thirties, though mostly focusing on women. The pictures depict everything from dresses to shoes, hats to gloves; the women's hairstyles, makeup, undergarments, and overall looks give the reader the most authentic possible view of fashion and the aesthetic ideals of the time. The catalogue also shows the prices and features descriptions that include fabric and color. There are some pictures of men's and children's fashions. This book is thorough and unbelievably beautiful. The whole series of Sears catalogue fashions by decade is amazing. I recommend them all!

Blissful brousing

Purchased this book soon after it was published in a Baltimore art museum. Modern Fashions and hairstyles today reveal absolute mediocrity. No style. No class. More to offend the eye than to please. Trousered females with short cropped hair and men whose hair is unkept wearing garments ill made. Swimsuits that leave nothing to the imagination worn by people who one just wishes were not visable because they keep themselvs as they do their awful cloths. This book is a treat to the eye. Wonderful cloths that show modern apparel was not alawys the norm. For the student of History this book is a valuable source of information on the cloths of the period, for which I purchased my copy. No scoloarly work but merely taken from the Sears catalogs of the time. Undergarments and accessories, shoes to hats, everything is shown here.

Saddle shoes $2.49 in 1939

I own four books in this 'Searies' (Twenties, Thirties, Forties, Fifties) and I cannot recommend them highly enough. They are jam-packed with a great mix of pictures in good proportion which show the morphing of fashions over the decade(s). Dominant are women's clothing (formal, casual, dresses, hats, coats, shoes, with some undergarments, sportswear, nightwear, swimwear). Then there are smatterings of accessories (handbags, watches, gloves, powder compacts, belts, jewelry). Also some menswear and a small amount of childrenswear. All clothing is being worn. All pictures are black and white and have a certain (pleasant) level of graininess. What you get are the original pictures, prices and descriptions from the catalogs. There is only a very small amount of introductory material (just a one page 'Publisher's Note' for the Thirties). Changes over the series: The transition from drawings (all very good and realistic) to photos occurs in the Thirties. The variety of accessories appearing in the Twenties is largely reduced by the later decades (Fifties almost exclusively clothing and hats with some shoes). There's only one problem with these catalogs...you can't order the contents!

A "Must Have" for Collectors, Vintage Hobbists!!

I am very pleased with this book!! It gives the complete "picture" as well as the year on the proper wear of the clothing from that period, i.e., dress, coat, shoes, hats etc; even accessories like jewelery. The photographs are wonderful. It will be so much fun learning how to wear and collect vintage clothing!! I will buy the rest of the series!!!!!!

Just palin fun to look through and historical too...

Wonderful book, gives an authentic overview of the way people dressed in the 1930's. They sure were a lot more stylish back then, just shows how classy an era the 30's was. When I go swing dancing I know what kind of clothes to look for this book has been helpful to me in dressing in that style. Recomended and just plain fun to look through.