Fashions of a Decade: The 1930s

Fashions of a Decade #2

by Maria Costantino, Kathy Elgin (Editor)

Fashions of a Decade is the revised and completely updated edition of this bestselling set. Packed with full color illustrations, contemporary photographs, posters and drawn art, the set looks at the most influential trends in 20th-century fashion and the decades that gave rise to them.

Fashions of a Decade: The 1930s examines the role of fashion as it made its way through the Great Depression, exploring the social and cultural aspects of the era through a softer lens. Synthetic fabrics, such as nylon and artificial silks that imitated luxury fibers, became popular, in addition to clothing that featured a more muted palette and longer, more flowing lines. Such Hollywood icons as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers set the standard for idealized glamour as did the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, as they pushed the bounds of fashion to newer heights.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction, History

64 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1992

About the author

Librarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband bought this for me from a library sale. I like the pictures, and some of the commentary, but it could really use more pictures. Especially describing some of the surrealist clothes isn't helpful without pictures.

I did figure out two things though: from a diagram in this book, the extra-long point collars that Peter Capaldi's Doctor wears are a 1930s design; and I really need to look up the designer Elsa Schiaparelli, some of her designs sound like Haute Couture versions of some of the clothes that I make.

[Cathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several other reviewers mention that this book is for young readers but I disagree. Yes, it's short and has a lot of photos, but the writing is absolutely geared towards adults. I will continue with this series although it is not thrilling me the way I thought it would. I wish there were more photos of real people "on the street" wearing fashions, and not sketches or photos from magazines of models. I also wanted to see more shoes, especially in this '30s decade. Maybe there will be in the 1940s book...

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Constantino Corsets #1
Fashions of a Decade #2
My second book read in this series of books about fashions of different decades and this is again interesting and informative with lots of photos of the fashion of the era.

[Cameron Toney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 1930's had some of my very favorite fashion, and this book is a very nice overview of the time.
These are billed for teens, but would be good way for anyone who is curious to get a taste of the time.

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately all too evidently Written For Young Readers, replete with those tidy (and somewhat irrelevant) encapsulations that you often encounter on such projects (here regarding the world's history during that rather trying decade). Arguably an even bigger shortcoming here are the line drawings which accompany many of the later chapters and which give the whole business an air of being rather cheaply cobbled together.

[Ligaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable and quick read, like the other titles in the series that I've read. Surprisingly, it didn't focus as much on The Great Depression as I think was deserved. Full of photos and illustrations although it doesn't always show a piece of clothing that is mentioned in the text, like Schiaparelli's iconic bow sweater or lobster dress.

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

While aimed at young audience the picture sources contained more variety than I had expected although the emphasis is decidedly American/British.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book for young adult readers, but highly informative! Interesting connections between history and fashion.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good concise introduction to 1930's fashion, covering the fashion itself and the political and social climate of the decade. Plenty of great pictures too.