This lineup of women with great legs comes from a Chicago antique store. Perhaps this is a family gathering of mothers, daughters, aunts, and nieces. The skirt lengths and cuts indicate that this photo was most likely taken in the mid 1940s.
I love the wide array of clothing on the older women in the middle. The woman second to the left wears a skirt and blouse set (did she perhaps leave her jacket inside?) with an unfashionably long skirt. Next to her is a woman in a dark suit with frills at her neck and collar. Given her gray hair, she might be the oldest of the bunch. In the center is someone with a great smile and a boldly flowered shirtwaist dress. She might be younger, but her shoes age her. The last in the older set is wearing a polka dotted dress with a striped belt and a wide white collar. If I had to pick between these outfits, I’d take the dark suit.
Two things stand out for me in this photo. Only one of the older women is wearing sensible lace-up oxfords. The others sport pumps, which give them a younger look. And while most older women were advised to wear small scale prints like polka dots, the woman in the middle was having none of it. Like her younger companion on the far left, big bold prints were her choice and she wasn’t afraid to show it.
