1940’s Day Dress Style from Top to Bottom
A woman in the 1940’s dressed differently for every occasion. There wore dresses to wear around the house, dresses to wear for going out during the day, dresses for the evenings, and uniform dresses for work. In a single day a women could change outfits up to 5 times, although 2 was normal.
The clothing worn most often were day dresses. In these a women could leave her home to run errands, visit friends, do charity work, go to school or travel. Much of the “vintage retro” look has come from 1940’s day dresses.
So what does a 1940’s day dress look like? From the top down a dress would have:
Long Sleeves- Dresses were usually long sleeved or actually nearly 3/4 sleeve. Sleeves ended about 6 inches before the wrist in the summer and longer in the winter. Many dresses in the late 40’s started showing no sleeve or very small sleeves.
High neck line- A 1940’s day dress had a neck line that scooped just around the base of the neck. Dresses of the 40’s often had collars like smaller versions of those on mens dress shirts. This is a trademark design of 1940’s dresses. A high neck line brought attention to a women’s face which was simply accented with makeup and very neatly styled hair.
Square shoulders- Shoulders are squared off in both dresses and blouses. You could draw a straight flat line from the collar to the end of the shoulder and then straight down the arm. This “squared” corner shape was later brought back into the 80’s with the introduction of shoulder pads.
Fitted bodice- The bodice of the dress were either gathered to the left or were narrowed at the waist and accented with a very thin belt. Dresses were not zippered in the back instead they were buttoned straight down the front.
Knee length skirts- Dress skirts went down to the low knee cap. Hemlines had to be very straight and neat otherwise a lady would look shamelessly sloppy! Skirt shapes were straight lined or flared out. Skirts could also be single pleated.
Fabric and Trimming- Wool was the most common fabric choice. Easy to care for, comfortable in all weathers, and lasted a long time. However Rayon was the hot new fabric and more and more day dresses were being made with this “new” synthetic.
Colors were not that interesting. The war kept choices limited to subtle blue gray’s, medium browns, and faded greens in the early years. Bolder but still subtle shades in the later years.
About the Author
Now that you have an idea of 1940’s style day dresses head over to blog.vintagedancer.com and see some great pictures of 1940’s day dresses as well as some suggestions on where to shop for your own 1940’s day dress.
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