Photo Proof That the 1930s Had the Best Fashion

Published: January 16, 2024 by 24/7 Tempo Staff

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

2. People celebrating New Year’s Eve at El Morocco in New York City

Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

3. Ernest Hemingway and Marlene Dietrich

Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

4. Three women modeling dresses by Marcelle Landowska

Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons

5. Lady smiling for a portrait

Source: Public Domain / Fortepan / Picryl

6. Family of four listening to the radio

Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

7. German film director Fritz Lang

Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

8. Women modeling clothes by Marcelle Landowska

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

10. Jean Harlow with Marcel Waves

Source: Keystone / Getty Images

11. Conductors Serge Koussevitsky (left) and Sir Thomas Beecham

Source: Fox Photos / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

12. Models with an audience in Paris

Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons

13. American cartoonist and fashion designer Gladys Parker

Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

14. Three women with hats in Paris

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

16. Models posing for a fashion shoot

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

18. German industrialist and arms manufacturer Alfred Krupp (second from right) with his extended family

Source: Keystone / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

19. A model in Paris

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

21. Brazilian politician Getúlio Vargas

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

23. Two models in suits in Paris

Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons

24. Austrian doctor and psychotherapist Alfred Adler

Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

25. Boxer Jack Dempsey

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

27. Posing outside a cat show at the Salle Wagram, Paris

Source: Public Domain via Gallica / Picryl

28. Miss France

Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons

29. Attorney Clarence Darrow (right)

Source: Keystone / Archive Photos via Getty Images

30. Model De Decker with hat

Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons

31. Actresses Laurette Taylor (left) and Ethel Barrymore

Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

32. Model De Decker with another hat

Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons

33. Two models with hats in Paris

Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons

34. Model Eliane Richer with hat

Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons

35. Austrian-born actor and director Erich Von Stroheim

Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

36. Model Hélène Sorbier with hat

Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons

37. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (left), Charlie Chaplin, and Mary Pickford

Source: Hulton Archive / Moviepix via Getty Images

38. Fashion models

Source: Public Domain / Fortepan / Picryl

39. Model in long dress with hat

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

41. Model with a hat

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

43. A reception for golfer Bobby Jones after his British Open victory

Source: Topical Press Agency / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

44. Model in a dress

Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons

45. British photographer and costume designer Cecil Beaton

Source: Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

46. Business mogul and multimillionaire John D. Rockefeller

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]

48. Model Hélène Sorbier with hat

Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons

49. Model in a summer dress with hat

Source: Public Domain / National Archief / Wikimedia Commons

50. Businessman and philanthropist Simon Guggenheim

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

52. Model with a hat in Paris

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

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