Sea-faring Sirens Select Delicious Deckside Chic, 1932.

The early thirties were relatively grim times for the majority of the American population. Escaping the dire and distressed, finding anyplace where troubles felt distant was both a dream and an expectation. Whether one could actually escape, there was always a movie not far away and barring that, beautiful vistas of frolic and fashion in the pages of a perfectly splendid periodical.

Magazines such as Delineator and McCall’s reached a tremendous audience and enhanced the ability to view what was new and novel, who was saying what and most especially the latest in lovely looking frocks and accessories which the clever seamstress could be taught to whip up at home.

Summer, 1932.  This trio of moderne maidens seems far removed from any strife, economic downturns or rising unsettling political agendas. McCalls sets them adrift against the crashing waves in the latest looks for the season, each stylistic perfection for shipboard shenanigans. Sporty, sleek sophisticated yet playfully chic and winsome each ensemble has much to recommend it.

Artist Jean des Vigne gives the image a decided air of bouncy ebullience and exceptional flair. It should be noted that in the Spring of 1932, beach and deckside lounge-wear, particularly the beach pajama were all the rage from the palmy balmy vistas of Los Angeles to the socially sublime sundrenched site of the Riviera. As such they were bound to make an ultra-fashionable site upon a bounty of ocean liners that season.

The jaunty lassie leaning against the railing, can be spotted in a smartly designed one-piece frock meant to marvelously mock a suit, complete with sparkling white vesting and a matching maize-shaded bolero jacket. The bolero is a revival of a look that was exceptionally de riguer in both 1907 and 1915. The beret and knotted neckerchief are both nattily nautical.

Her charmant companion borrows a bit of finery in mariner-friendly shades of crisply impeccable white and ocean wave blue, featuring a jaunty jumper effect with an under-blouse of superb striping, that is echoed at the waistline effectively enhanced by a sweet little bow, lending it a darling girlish air.

The last lassie is vibrantly memorable in short wide legged trousers which mock the traditional sailor garb of the bell bottom perfectly. Scarlet enhances the daring of the look, which is paired perfectly with matching beret set at a fashionably tilted angle and a snugly fitting immaculate white blouse finished in perfectly perky puffed sleeves.

Traveling aboard any notable ocean liner of the era, required a compendium of novel, chic, sophisticated ensembles. This trio of lovely looks would have been perfection for mornings and afternoon attire upon deck although raffish smart cocktail attire would replace them after five pm, with evening finery of the most elegant stripe replacing that for dining and dances after eight.

Shoes, Glorious Shoes! Chic Thirites Color Saturation

 

A dazzling array of color style texture- the perfect example of what American footwear and color photography had to offer the prospective purchaser during the Spring of 1935. Photography in chromatically pleasing tonalities was slowly creeping into high-gloss fashion magazines at the time. This image is an elegant example of the trend.

Saturated and Sensuous example of superb streamlined moderne deco chic. What better way to offer a chromatically charming vision of design than a selection of footwear finery? This exemplary image is courtesy of that undisputed arbiter of taste, just at the moment when the color photography process was gaining great commercial strides. Experimental for years, it wasn’t until the thirties that images such at this were being promoted as aesthetically and artistically beautiful. Rich with a radiance which remains unique to this time, the process would gradually transform the manner in which the public perceived sartorial splendors.

The triumph of viewing things as they actually appeared had been slowly usurping the place of faciful fashion illustration. The clever composition here draws the viewer delightedly into the center of the image, it lends the opportunity to percieve a compendium of texture and shading, dramatically yet crisply, without overwhelming or confusing the individual eye. There are in actuality over seventeen shades on display not counting the images daubed on the palette ranging from a exciting emerald green lizard to a flawlessly francias triple entente of scarlet, navy and white.

It would take a full three decades before photos overtook and virtually replaced the elegant embodiment of designer-based drawings. Yet even in 1935, the clarion call of precise, realistic pure color images was being heard and listened to by the editors who could choose to feature it and the pursuadeable public who could be convinced to desire more.