Tag Archives: New Look

Celebrating their 90th Birthdays, 1949

This celebratory photo marks the ninetieth birthdays of Effie Appleby and Amy Bigelow. Both were members of the Women’s Guild of the Pilgrim Congregational Church in Madison, Wisconsin, which threw a party in their honor. The photo description explains that … Continue reading

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Maree’s Fashion Cycle

Many sociologists who study fashion try to determine when and for what reason people buy clothes. For a long time, the assumption was that older people tended to slow down consumption as they aged. Why? Often they have a smaller … Continue reading

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An NAACP Meeting in Los Angeles, 1949

If we didn’t have the title, “NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People], Los Angeles, 1949,” it would be hard to guess the context of the photo. This looks to be an organizational event taking place in the … Continue reading

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Toasting Thanksgiving, 1947

You wonder what they had to be so thankful for in 1947.  Were they still toasting the end of World War Two, or was it some private milestone?  I know I will be lifting at least a few glasses to … Continue reading

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Protesting in 1947

This wonderful photo appeared last week’s New York Times in an article about the the first big fight around increasing bus and subway fares in the city.  “Picketing a fare increase in front of City Hall in 1947,” the caption … Continue reading

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The New Look and the Older Woman

The October/November issue of the Vogue Pattern Book was all about the New Look. The opening article, “The Changing Silhouette,” listed major shifts in styles: more naturally shaped shoulders with less padding; a nipped waistline; and an emphasis on the … Continue reading

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Adjusting to the New Look, 1947

For thrifty women who wanted to stay in style, the radical shift in silhouette brought about by the 1947 New Look must have represented a real dilemma.  What to do with all the perfectly good clothes from the recent past … Continue reading

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Lisette Model’s “Woman with Veil,” 1949

You may be forgiven for not knowing the name Lisette Model (pronounced with a long o, as in toe). She hasn’t made it onto the list of those most often cited in the American photographic pantheon. If she is mentioned … Continue reading

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Meeting Madame Eta at FIT

I love archives. Show me a stack of old letters, clippings, and photographs and I get very excited—who knows what treasures might be there? When I discovered that the Hungarian-American designer Eta Hentz (aka Madame Eta) had a small archive … Continue reading

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The New Look and the New Waist Line

The November 1947 issue of Harper’s Bazaar was all about the New Look, that big style shift from the shorter, boxier silhouette of the World War Two era. It is the first time I really grasped the role of fashion … Continue reading

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