1930s Glamour – The Glam Style of Hollywood’s Golden Age
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1930s glamour, including 1930s fashion influences and the influence of Old Hollywood in defining the 1930s glamour aesthetic.
This post is all about 1930s glamour
The 1930s just might have been the most glamorous era ever seen.
With glittering floor length evening gowns adorned with embroidery and luxurious fabrics, topped with fur and jewels, it’s hard to get more glamorous than the 1930s.
Think of Jean Harlow in her famous slinky form-fitting gowns, or Carole Lombard with her chic skirt suits and glamorous evening gowns.
Keep reading for an overview of 1930s fashion influences and of course, lots of inspiration for 1930s glamour and vintage glam from Hollywood’s golden age stars.
What influenced 1930s fashion?
Fashion of the 1930s were influenced by both the great depression and the glamour of Old Hollywood.
The interesting contrast between the two is what makes 1930s fashion so interesting.
On the one hand, you have most of the population suffering from the depression and relying on simple fashion.
On the other hand, you have the lavish 1930s glamour, played up to the max by Old Hollywood.
In the 1920s, after the end of WWI, the world was becoming modern and the roaring twenties lent an air of excitement and optimism to fashion.
Fashion was made “modern” with short, tubular flapper dresses popularized by Coco Chanel, and short hair for women.
With the stock market crash in the late 1920s, the united states was launched into the great depression in the 1930s.
Gone was the flapper era with the short flapper dresses of 1920s fashion.
In came more conservative women’s fashion.
Skirts became longer again, and women grew their hair longer as well.
The feminine silhouette, was celebrated again, with dresses and evening wear that emphasized the natural waist.
The bias cut, made popular by Madeline Vionnet, allowed the fashion to drape over a womans body with a fluid look, which helped define the fashion of the era.
Femininity was again emphasized, after the boyish fashions of the 1920s.
For more about 1920s versus 1930s fashion:
1930s everyday fashion
1930s day wear was simple, practical, and feminine.
Women wore dresses most of the time, but some would wear pants, although they wouldn’t become commonplace until the 1940s.
Day dresses were in a practical style, simple, with feminine patterns.
Popular styles had modest necklines, below the knee hem length, and usually emphasized the waist in some way.
Suits of the 1930s were popular for women, leading towards the iconic siren suits of the 1940s.
A strong shoulder achieved with shoulder pads was popular in women’s suits, and the trend would continue into the 1940s.
(Left) 1930s dresses patterns, (right) a young Lana Turner wears a 1930s style day dress.
The rise of 1930s glamour
Joan Bennet looking glam in a 1930s evening gown.
After the wall street crash, with the Great Depression in full force, Americans turned to Hollywood for escapism from the harsh realities of life.
And Old Hollywood delivered, with perhaps the most glamorous fashion and films ever.
Welcome to 1930s glamour.
Old Hollywood decked out their leading ladies like Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, Gloria Swanson, and Bette Davis in floor length glittering gowns that hugged the feminine silhouette.
With the films of the 1930s influencing fashion, old Hollywood costume designers also had a key role in influencing fashion.
Costume designers likes Edith Head and Gilbert Adrian delivered the glam by creating stunning glam gowns that were drooled over and imitated by the masses.
Glamorous evening wear was characterized by figure hugging gowns and luxurious fabrics.
The bias cut allowed the fluid look that is so famous, letting the fabric cling to a women’s curves.
Neckline and backs became low and daring.
Dresses were fancied up with glittery and satiny fabric, sequins, embroidery, or beading.
Satin, silk, feathers and fur further added to the glamour.
Ginger Rogers stuns in a 1930s glam evening gown.
1930s womens pants
Left, Katharine Hepburn glams up some 1930s pans with a fur coat. Right, Katherine Hepburn stars opposite Cary Grant in the Philadelphia Story.
1930s glamour, didn’t just stop at dresses.
Starlets adopted pants as well, but gave them a glam spin.
Top your pants with a fur coat?
Sure!
Dress up your pants with lipstick and perfectly coiffed hair?
Yep!
Pants in the 1930s had high waists, and were long and full.
Old Hollywood stars like Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, and Greta Garbo are credited with helping popularize pants for women.
But it wasn’t until the 1940s that pants really became accepted as wardrobe staples for women.
For more on women’s pants in the 1940s:
Above, film star Greta Garbo wears a pair of 1930s style pants.
1930s Glamour icon Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo was a popular actress in the 1930s.
She could switch between the more accepted dresses outfits of the 1930s, but would also push social norm and wear trousers.
1930s Glamour fashion and costume designers
Fashion designers like Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli had fashion houses that remained popular in the 1930s.
But now Hollywood costume designers like Gilbert Adrian and Edith Head also came onto the scene.
By designing the costumes for the screen viewed by millions, they helped define the vision of 1930s glamour.
Elsa Schiaparelli
Elsa Schiaperelli was a popular fashion designer during the 1930s who created the House of Schiaperelli in the late 1920s.
She was famous for her evening gowns and knitwear.
She was also known for her knitwear, and created popular knitwear with prints.
One of her most famous knitwear pieces with a print, is a top with a bow printed on that looks like it’s wrapped around the woman’s neck.
She collaborated with famous artists at the time like Salvador Dali, and her greatest competition was Coco Chanel.
Old Hollywood stars like Mae West would wear her fashion.
Gilbert Adrian
The legendary costume designer Gilbert Adrian, known simply as “Adrian” was the costume designer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for years and helped defined the era of hollywood glamour.
He worked with the most famous Old Hollywood stars at the time, including Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, and Katharine Hepburn, and many more.
He is credited with creating a trend for shoulder pads after he created them in costumes for Joan Crawford.
He was well known for his evening dresses, as worn by the fashion icons of the day.
Joan Crawford wears a gown by Adrian that spawned hundreds of thousands of duplicate dresses.
Edith Head
Edith Head was a prolific costume designer for Old Hollywood.
She designed the cosutmers for over 1,000 films, and also worked with the most popular actresses during her long career.
Barbara Stanwyck, Lana Turner, Mae West, Joan Crawford, and Hedy Lamar were just a few of the names she worked with.
For more on Edith Head and her stunning costumes:
Costume Designer Edith Head | Her Stunning Fashion and Award-winning Costumes
1930s Glamour fashion icons
1930s movie stars were not only glamorous on-screen, but they were also pressured to be camera ready at all times by the studio system.
They threw lavish parties and held extravagant lifestyle that others could only dream of.
They also quickly became fashion icons, and were photographed in the latest styles.
1930s Glamour icon Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard wears a pair of wide legged 1930s silky pants.
Carole Lombard epitomized 1930s glamour with both her on-screen and off screen fashion.
She was known for her glamorous evening wear, often wearing floor length shimmery gowns.
Off screen she was glamorous as well.
With her tailored suits and forward thinking trousers, she was always chic and glamorous.
She was also married to another popular old Hollywood star Clark Gable, which really had everyone swooning.
She was a fashion icon until a tragic plane crash in the early 1940s led to her death.
Carole Lombard sizzles in a 1930s glamour evening gown.
1930s Glamour icon Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford was an Old Hollywood star with a long career that started back in the 1920s!
She famously wore many designs by Adrian.
He emphasized her shoulders in her films, and is credited with helping start the strong shoulder trend in womens suits in the 1930s.
The strong shoulder even carried over into 1940s fashion.
For more on 1940s fashion:
1930s Glamour icon Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow, now often compared to Marilyn Monroe, helped define 1930s glamour.
Similar to Carole Lombard, she would wear drapy evening gowns that showed off her hourglass figure.
With her platinum blonde hair and stunning evening gowns, it’s hard to get more glam than Jean Harlow.
1930s Glamour icon Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy started her career in the pre-code era, and her popularity extended in the 1930s and 1940s.
One of her famous roles was in the Thin Man series, a story that revolves around a well-to-do couple that solves crimes. and her role in the thin man movies.
This post was all about 1930s glamour in Old Hollywood
What do you think of 1930s glamour?
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