A Decade of French Fashion, 1929-1938

This book is wonderful fun for designers, history buffs--perhaps even writers who want to make their Depression-era settings more accurate and rich. Costumers will also want this in their library.

The artist was successful in elegantly illustrating the French clothes. It was wonderful to see the details of styles and the rich colors used by the artist. I just wish there were more varieties in footwear but maybe plain shoes were ‘in’ during those years. The captions and descriptions aided the readers to fully visualize the appropriate materials for the clothes. This is a nice reference for the designers, stylists, and artists. They could use this as an inspiration or guide. The illustrations could also be enjoyed by the people who like history or those who want to relive their past.

This is a lovely and fascinating book for any student of fashion. I have always been intrigued by the fashions of "Paris between the Wars" and this book is an exemplary example of what life could have been like, at least for the upper class.

The plates in the book have been reproduced with care and are very clear. It is an inspirational book for fiber and fashion artists (I knit and have had my creativity jiggled by this book). This book is an excellent reference and resource for any person or group dealing with fashion, design, etc.

A great read!

I loved this book!
Great to add to my arsenal of fashion history books!

I love the historical context of the fashion presented.

nicely done.

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Beautiful collection of inspiring illustrations. The illustrations here are detailed enough to allow an inexperienced sewer to find similar patterns or allow an experienced sewer to create their own. This would be perfect for a reference book to get the crafting juices flowing.

The 1930s are still a very unexplored decade for fashion; while movies, pop culture, and TV shows brought attention to their era's styles (e.g, Titanic gave us pre WW1/Edwardian, Downton Abbey and Great Gatsby the 1920s, Rockabilly the 1940s/1950s, Mad Men the 1960s, etc.), the 1930s has never had a tentpole to bring a resurgence of interest. As such, this very definitive book provides much needed perspective. It beautifully presents the looks that women wore during the US's Great Depression: long, lean, tailored but easy, wider shoulders and emphasized waistlines. It's the glamour of Hollywood before Austerity and World War II led to a greater severity out of necessity.

There are many books on fashion eras and certainly Dover has been in the forefront of publishing the best. This particular volume collects fashion plates which were disseminated to the world by French publishers from 1929 to 1939. What makes this series of plates especially interesting is that they are in full glorious color, had front and back views, and descriptions of the changing styles were given for each look. Those details are useful for understanding how the fashion evolved over the years and what each year brought in minor changes.

The presentation of the plates are s full page on white with a small border and the year printed at the bottom. It makes for a clean and lovely display - uncluttered and large. A typical description of a fashion by the French publisher is: "Two piece frock of line jersey with rich diagonal tucked trimming. Flat collar. Sweater buttons all the way down. Slightly flared skirt." Accessories are displayed for each look (from gloves to fur), and there is a line drawing of the back of each fashion.

The plates are diverse - from evening gowns to day suits, afternoon dresses, to coats. Owing to the era, the drawings are fairly elongated and figures are not to scale (legs are much longer than head/torso). Most plates have one style but some have 2-3 similar looks (or e.g., one dress and then coat/hat options). The shoes have no details and are generic/not discussed. Some plates even have a small drawing of the sewing pattern and how the pieces are laid out on the fabric.

Because of the huge diversity and sheer amount of fashions beautifully presented in full color, this is definitely a 'must have' for fashion historians, costumers, seamstresses, and those interested in the era. I've owned many Dover fashion books over the past 3 decades and this is definitely one of the best. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

A Decade of French Fashion, 1929-1938 by Mary Carolyn Waldrep features color fashion plates depicting the changing styles of fashion. Her book covers fashion from the Depression to the beginning of World War II. Thanks to the illustrations you will see both evening and day dresses that were the height of fashion. You will also see how the Depression caused dresses to go from the jazzy flapper styles to the more conservative styles during the Depression.

If you love fashion history, you’ll love this book.

Recommend.

Last night I came home completely exhausted. My feet hurt, I'd worked a full shift, & I had been dealing with some very odd and demanding customers, including one who insisted that there was a difference between carpets and rugs (which there is, technically, although the two are generally used interchangeably) & that nothing we had in stock was suitable for anything except, apparently, for using as bathmats. Anyway, I was completely tired and didn't feel like starting anything major, so I decided to read A DECADE OF FRENCH FASHION. I was worried that it would be dry, but figured that at least it would help put me to sleep. Imagine my surprise when I realized that very little text was involved; it was a book of beautiful vintage fashion sketches.

My favorite dresses were mostly the 1920s evening gowns, the kinds that looked like flapper dresses. The suits, not so much. In fact, that seemed to be a general rule of thumb for me as I flipped through these fashions. Evening gowns were gorgeous, garden party dresses were gorgeous (oh my God, serious dress lust), but everything else was kind of boxy and unattractive.

I think the problem was that these styles promoted a more androgynous, tomboyish look and these fashions look best on women with a certain face-shape and body-type. I fully believe that everyone has the right to dress the way they want, but with my body type and rather square jaw, I can't get by wearing masculine looking suits--even if they have feminine details like bows and pleats.

I know I have a lot of friends who love history and vintage stuff, and I think that you guys will really enjoy this book. It talks about the names for the details (official, fashiony major names that I already forgot because I know almost nothing about fashion), the materials used, and whether these details were "unusual." Reading this book made me want to write a period piece, with Ayn Randian morals, with beautiful people acting like total selfish douchebags who justify their actions with philosophy.

4 out of 5 stars.

Kashamoussa, cashmere, georgette, velvet, taffeta. The very names of the materials of these materials evoke a decade of glamour and luxury, even though it was the Depression era! These beautiful gowns and dresses accompanied by excellent descriptions will appeal to everyone interested in the history of fashion. It's also likely to inspire fashion illustrators and designers.

This is certainly a must-buy!

I received this free ebook from Net Galley in return for an honest review.

I love fashion, especially women’s fashion from the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s, and I know very little about the actual details, so this was a great read. It would make a fantastic coffee table book to flick through for character inspiration if you’re a writer or artist, or if you just want to look at pretty clothes that you don’t see people wear anymore. Not only are the pages filled with beautiful clothes, there is a lot of information in the book. I learned about the different kinds of outfits that women in this time period had for everyday life and special events, from afternoon frocks to outfits they wore to day and evening events. There’s also information about the different kinds of fabrics that some of the outfits were made from, including animal skins that I had never heard of people using for clothing. it was also fascinating to see just how the state of a country and the world can change the way people dress. The 1920s usually make people think of flapper style outfits, but the depression changed that. That’s one reason I find fashion to be an important part of history and I’m glad I decided to read this. It’s an extremely quick read, but it’s one I would love to look through again.

Dover has done it again! They are fantastic at reprinting antique crafts patterns and other out of print but fascinating publications. In “A Decade of French Fashion, 1929-1938”, they have brought together a select group of fashions from various fashion magazines of the time period.

I am a needlework designer and I do some period piece designs. I look to Dover for inspiration and so that my designs accurately depict the styles of the proper period. I had been hoping for a set of designs that covered, essentially, the Great Depression, for a series that of cross stitch that I have in mind. This is the perfect book for me. It shows fashions just before the Crash hit through just before World War II.

It is really interesting to note that the fashions for women changed dramatically when times got tough. The look of the 1920's – with shorter skirts, bare arms, and a lack of emphasis of the female form (including flat bodices without darts), to shapes that, while they covered women more, emphasized a bit of the hour-glass shape. Thank goodness, the bustle and the corset were gone, but the look was still hour-glass but with widened shoulders and belted waistlines.

These are the fashions that I think of when I think of the era of glamour in Hollywood – Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers, Katherine Hepburn, and so many more.

At the same time, there is a look among the daytime dresses of durability and a lack of “trendiness” as one would have to make do with ones clothes for a good period of time and be able to re-work them as they started to fray. I wonder if having more length to the skirt was part of this? You could reduce the hem length and have some material for patching, if necessary.

On a personal note, this is the period when my late mother was a young to teenage girl. I'm sure she would yearn for clothes like these at the movies and magazines. As a poor mountain girl in the Blue Ridge Mountains just outside of Asheville, North Carolina, she got to see the really rich (the Vanderbilts at the Biltmore Estate, etc.) but lived in a one bedroom cabin with her many other siblings. Fashion was not for her at that point – just having shoes was something that she didn't always have. Looking at the fashions made me think of her as a young girl longing for something more and I certainly shed more than a few tears.

I received a digital ARC copy of this book from the publisher, Dover Publications, via Netgalley.

A well-illustrated survey of style. Chock full of detailed, quality illustrations accompanied by brief descriptions. A worthy offering, nostalgic types who enjoy perusing vintage catalogs and clip art books will find much to savor here. This practical resource is sure to provide inspiration for artists and fashion designers. Five stars.

A DECADE OF FRENCH FASHION, 1929-1938: FROM THE DEPRESSION TO THE BRINK OF WAR Written by Mary Carolyn Waldrep 2015, 112 Pages Genre: art, fashion, nonfiction

(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review.)

★★★★

I have been a fan of Dover books since I discovered them back in 2002 at the book store I worked in. You could purchase classics for under $2.00 or get your hands on older books being reissued. I am so happy they are also producing eBooks and are available at eLibraries (like Freading).

I requested this copy of French Fashions because I love looking at what people were wearing during different eras. It brings them to mind when I read books from that era. I enjoyed this book because it looked like sketches you would have seen in catalogs of the day. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting the history of fashion between 1929-1938 in France or ideas for costumes.

very interesting