Shaver’s Campaign

“New York eventually will

replace Paris as the style

capital of the world.”

“[T]here must be clothes

which are intrinsically

American and that only the

American designer can

create them.”

Special advertising techniques

Designers named Special window displays

Vogue and American Design

Vogue did its first

feature on American

designers in February

1938—the Americana

number

After that, it became a

yearly focus

Film as a fashion influence

Movie studios perhaps created the best

known American fashion designs

In the Depression, films were inexpensive

and widely distributed

Studios had design shops—establishing

names for their designers

Studios sold their designs to the public

Created a Merchandizing Board to sell film

products—clothes, accessories

Special department store shops for Cinema

Fashions, Screen Star Styles, Cinema

Modes

Sewing patterns as well

Adrian’s Letty Lynton dress

The dress appeared in

stores as the film

opened

Macy’s sold 500,000

copies in 1932

Home-made versions

also

Sears and Film Style, 1930s

Hollywood Patterns

Women in pants—Hollywood influence

Philadelphia Story, 1940 Pants Pattern, 1942

World War II and American Fashion

Paris cut off from the US

Silk supplies disrupted from Asia

Many fabrics now rationed

New Silhouettes for Women

Shorter skirts

Broader shoulders

Boxier styles

Clothing Regulations

The War Production Board formed in 1942

Passed the L-85 regulations judging the

construction of clothes

Length and width regulated; extra details

cut