Fashion

The College Fashion Forecast for the Spring of 1950 (The Diamondback, 1950)

A few words that anticipated fashion’s offerings for the Spring of 1950:

This Spring is predicted to bring a completely new point of view to the clothes-conscious American woman… Although the boyish figure of the 20s will not return as pronounced, the trend seems to be toward narrow shoulders with heavy exaggerated lines above the waist and slimness below.

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The Fashion Group (Collier’s Magazine, 1948)

At the time this article appeared on the pages of COLLIER’S MAGAZINE, the Fashion Group was already over twenty years old and in need of more office space.


Established in 1928 by the crowned-heads of the American fashion industry, it was decided that the dominate fashionistas ‘needed a forum, a stage, or a force to express and enhance a widening awareness of the American fashion business and of women’s roles in that business. This article points out that there were present in that room on that historic day a smattering of women who toiled in the vineyards as fashion journalists and collectively it was understood that the two groups very much relied upon each other.
The Fashion Group was established in order to:

judge trends by watching sales figures, which indicate which fashions are on the wane and which are gaining favor. They travel around to see what we do, and therefore, what we need.

Today, the Fashion Group has offices in every major American city as well as branches in the fashion capitols of Europe, South America and Asia.

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The Beau (Gentry Magazine, 1956)

Widely remembered as the best dressed man of the Nineteenth Century, Beau Brummell, (né George Bryan Brummell 1778 – 1840), set the standard for male sartorial splendor and as a result, his name
liveth ever more.


The attached men’s fashion article was written at a time when American leisure wear was going through it’s birth pangs and slovenly attire was on the rise all over the fruited plain; it was thoroughly appropriate for the editors of GENTRY MAGAZINE to print this article which not only examined the clothing philosophy of the Beau but also paid heed as to which actors portrayed him on screen (oddly, there was no mention made whatever as to who the various costume designers were).

He dressed simply, without ornamentation. What was it then that set him apart so ostentatiously from the crowd? What made him the best dressed man of the century? The answer lies not, as history has decided, in his clothes. It lay entirely in the way he wore them.


A further study of Dandies can be found here…

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Remembering the Golden Age of the Dandy (Vanity Fair Magazine, 1920)

This is a fun read covering the all too short reign of the dandystyle=border:none. It touches upon those who were the great practitioners of the art (Beau Brummell, Sir Phillip Dormer Chesterfield, Beau Nash, Sir Robert Fielding, Count Alfred d’Orsay) and those who came later, but deserving of honorable mention (King Alphonso XIII and Oscar Wilde), as well as the wannabe bucks who wished they were dandies but simply came away well-tailored (George IV and Edward VII).


An article about Beau Brummell can be read HERE

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The Colors in Men’s Suits 1935 – 1950 (Men’s Wear, 1950)

A chart produced by the editors of MEN’S WEAR MAGAZINE indicating the best-selling colored wool used in men’s suits spanning the years 1935 through 1950.


The pointy-headed soothsayers who attempt to predict which colors men would buy were very surprised to find that in the aftermath of World War II, American men were quite eager to buy browns and khaki-colored suiting after all.

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Adele Simpson and Her Fashions (Collier’s Magazine, 1945)

On the matter of the American fashion designer Adele Simpson (1904 – 1995), it must be remembered that she was a prominent player in American fashion for many decades; a woman who had been awarded both a Coty Award (1949) as well as a Neiman Marcus Award (1946). Her creations were highly sought after by the crowned heads of both Europe and Hollywood.


Click here to read about wartime fabric rationing in the 1940s.

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The Institute for Reconstructive Plastic Surgery (Coronet Magazine, 1959)

During the course of the past 63 years the triumphs of The Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery have been many and myriad. Established in New York in 1951, the organization was originally called The Society for the Rehabilitation of the Facially Disfigured, and they have been the pioneers in the art of tissue transplants and the aesthetic surgery movement in general.


The attached article was first seen on the pages of a 1959 issue CORONET MAGAZINE and it recalls many of their earliest achievements.

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