Most fashion trends come and go, some to be seen again throughout the years, and others that are just a distant memory. Each different generation typically sees an emergence of new fads and fashions, styles that are either completely new or those that take inspiration from an early time. Just as the culture of a decade can oftentimes be a reaction to the tastes and manners of the preceding one, the world of fashion is no different and the 1930s turned the page on the Roaring Twenties.
While each style throughout the years may be distinct and memorable, some hold up better than others. To prove that the 1930s were an amazing era for fashion, 24/7 Tempo has gathered 60 photos of models, ordinary people, and celebrities of various kinds from Getty Images, the Library of Congress, and PICRYL. We also drew on observations from fashion sources such as Fashion History and Rebels Market to find the trends that made the 1930s such a noteworthy decade.
One of the darkest periods in American history was the Great Depression of the 1930s, but it was a golden age for fashion in the United States. Glamor in films and elsewhere was a form of escapism from the reality of economic hardship. The decade’s clothing trends were heavily influenced by Hollywood and silver-screen sirens such as Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Jean Harlow, and Marlene Dietrich.
Such was their influence of Hollywood on fashion that a translucent white organdie gown worn by Joan Crawford in the film “Letty Lynton” prompted the production of thousands of copies at various price points across the country. A few years later, after Clark Gable’s character in “It Happened One Night” revealed that he did not wear undershirts, sales of the garment plunged.
With the arrival of the 1930s, the boyish fashion looks of women in the 1920s were gone, replaced by an overall slender appearance represented by clothes with descending hemlines and waistlines returned to their natural place. Evening dresses from designers such as Madeleine Vionnet had low backs and more closely hugged the female form. Day dresses could be found in plaid, floral, or abstract prints. By the end of the decade, the styles with broad, padded shoulders, nipped-in waists, and shorter A-line skirts that would prevail in the 1940s had emerged.
Designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who first gained fame in the 1920s, collaborated with surrealist artists Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau to create garments influenced by their style. High-end fashion inspired by Parisian designers using cheaper materials such as toile made tony garments more accessible to American women. (These are some iconic fashion brands that no longer exist.)
Katherine Hepburn became a fashion icon as a woman who donned menswear. She wore trousers or wide-leg pants in many of her films as well as off-screen. Because of her lasting influence on fashion, in 1986, she was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Fashion for men had, until the 1930s, been dictated by the social elite. Beginning in the 1930s, fashion took its cues from other parts of society. Gangster films were popular in the 1930s and the mob lifestyle was reflected in men’s tailored suits and snappy fedora-like hats called trilbies. Casual apparel such as knitted sweaters and soft-collared shirts grew in popularity. Other style trends in men’s fashion were blazers and sports jackets with flannel trousers and open-necked shirts worn by those in engaged sporting pursuits.
Here is photo proof that the 1930s had the best fashion
1. Three models with hats by Hélène Sorbier
Source: Public Domain / Nationaal Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / Nationaal Archief / Wikimedia Commons
2. People celebrating New Year’s Eve at El Morocco in New York City
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
3. Ernest Hemingway and Marlene Dietrich
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
4. Three women modeling dresses by Marcelle Landowska
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
5. Lady smiling for a portrait
Source: Public Domain / Fortepan / Picryl
Source: Public Domain / Fortepan / Picryl
6. Family of four listening to the radio
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
7. German film director Fritz Lang
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
8. Women modeling clothes by Marcelle Landowska
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
9. Stepping out for a spring fashion parade in Brisbane, Australia
Source: Courtesy of the State Library of Queensland / Public Domain
Source: Courtesy of the State Library of Queensland / Public Domain
10. Jean Harlow with Marcel Waves
Source: Keystone / Getty Images
Source: Keystone / Getty Images
11. Conductors Serge Koussevitsky (left) and Sir Thomas Beecham
Source: Fox Photos / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Fox Photos / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
12. Models with an audience in Paris
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
13. American cartoonist and fashion designer Gladys Parker
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
14. Three women with hats in Paris
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
15. Golfer Bobby Jones (right) with the Walker Cup in Sandwich, England
Source: Central Press / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Central Press / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
16. Models posing for a fashion shoot
Source: Courtesy of the State Library of Queensland / Public Domain
Source: Courtesy of the State Library of Queensland / Public Domain
17. Modeling dresses by Hélène Sorbier in Paris
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
18. German industrialist and arms manufacturer Alfred Krupp (second from right) with his extended family
Source: Keystone / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Keystone / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
19. A model in Paris
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
20. Louisiana governor and senator Huey Long at a radio broadcast
Source: Hulton Archive / Archive Photos via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Archive Photos via Getty Images
21. Brazilian politician Getúlio Vargas
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
22. A model at the House of Paquin in Paris
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
23. Two models in suits in Paris
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
24. Austrian doctor and psychotherapist Alfred Adler
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
25. Boxer Jack Dempsey
Source: Topical Press Agency / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Topical Press Agency / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
26. British politician James Thomas (center) and friends
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
27. Posing outside a cat show at the Salle Wagram, Paris
Source: Public Domain via Gallica / Picryl
Source: Public Domain via Gallica / Picryl
28. Miss France
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
29. Attorney Clarence Darrow (right)
Source: Keystone / Archive Photos via Getty Images
Source: Keystone / Archive Photos via Getty Images
30. Model De Decker with hat
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
31. Actresses Laurette Taylor (left) and Ethel Barrymore
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
32. Model De Decker with another hat
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
33. Two models with hats in Paris
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
34. Model Eliane Richer with hat
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
35. Austrian-born actor and director Erich Von Stroheim
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
36. Model Hélène Sorbier with hat
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
37. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (left), Charlie Chaplin, and Mary Pickford
Source: Hulton Archive / Moviepix via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Moviepix via Getty Images
38. Fashion models
Source: Public Domain / Fortepan / Picryl
Source: Public Domain / Fortepan / Picryl
39. Model in long dress with hat
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
40. Models in a Red Bug Electric Roadster car at the Edison Electrical Exposition in New York
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
41. Model with a hat
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
42. Gary Cooper (right) and a location caterer on the set of “The Spoilers”
Source: Earl Crowley / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Earl Crowley / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
43. A reception for golfer Bobby Jones after his British Open victory
Source: Topical Press Agency / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Topical Press Agency / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
44. Model in a dress
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
45. British photographer and costume designer Cecil Beaton
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
46. Business mogul and multimillionaire John D. Rockefeller
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
47. Five college girls jumping in winter clothes
Source: Public Domain / Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Toni Frissell Photograph Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-F9-1956-12-01, Frame 6]
Source: Public Domain / Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Toni Frissell Photograph Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-F9-1956-12-01, Frame 6]
48. Model Hélène Sorbier with hat
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
49. Model in a summer dress with hat
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
50. Businessman and philanthropist Simon Guggenheim
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
51. Diplomats from Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia at a Little Entente conference in Belgrade
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
52. Model with a hat in Paris
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
53. Woman standing outside
Source: Public Domain / Library of Congress Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
Source: Public Domain / Library of Congress Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
54. Fitting a dress at Saks Fifth Avenue
Source: Public Domain / Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
Source: Public Domain / Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
55. Model in front of flowers
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
56. Woman smiling at a boat station
Source: Public Domain / Fortepan / Picryl
Source: Public Domain / Fortepan / Picryl
57. Models standing on chairs in Paris
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
58. Models posing inside a Qantas aircraft
Source: Courtesy of the State Library of Queensland / Public Domain
Source: Courtesy of the State Library of Queensland / Public Domain
59. Four models with hats
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons
60. Actress Claudette Colbert with her mother
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons