For The Boy Who's 3 Or Less - Butterick Patterns from 1946

Woman's Day Magazine let's us know what the well dressed young man should be wearing in 1946. Each of these are from Butterick Patterns. Does your toddler have a Sailor Playsuit, a Sunday-Best Suit, a Smock Coat and a Snow Suit with Helmet? Better get busy! 

How I feel when I go shopping...

Thrilling New Plan - A Dress for You - Just Order Three! - 1946

What an Amazing New Plan from Harford Frocks! Just get orders for three dresses from your friend, neighbors, or members of your family and get a dress or suit! Your Choice of More Than 100 Styles. "You can get your complete wardrobe easily, quickly and without cost, and also earn good money for spare time work if you wish."

But there is that one thing.."Due to today's conditions we may not be able to send it at once.." But the catalog "Big Style Presentation will be rushed to you.

Just don't count on those dresses.

Dream Dresses for Stylish Stouts

If you order clever "Dream Dresses for Stylish Stouts" from Janne of Hollywood Dresses you can "camouflage those extra pounds". Which is a good thing because you need "Youthful ideas of slender grace that are so utterly figure flattering you'll love them."

But most importantly you should expect an "Atomic Change"!
This ad is from 1946 and 'Atomic' anything seemed like a good thing. But I don't think you'd walk down the street in your new dress and Mable would comment "Why just look at your Atomic Change!"

Joan Leslie - True Experiences Magazine - 1946

This is the lovely Joan Leslie on the cover of the September 1946 issue of True Experiences magazine. She's appearing in Warner Bros. production "Two Guys From Milwaukee".

Doesn't she look snappy? The military influence shows in the double breasted suit jacket with crisp collar and cuffs. Plus there is the eagle on her purse. But her bright pink matching hat and bag are set off with that cluster of red (bakelite?) cherries. Fabulous!

More Sweater Girls- 1946 - Help them talk!

These gals just look like they have something to say. So I'm going to number each one and let you provide dialog. Go!

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

Film Noir Sweater Girls - 1946

Talk about drama! These 1946 sweaters are all modeled by serious gals with shadows and dim lighting...very stylish, but a bit hard to see what you were suppose to knit. But I suspect they were all starlets trying out for film noir roles as gun molls.

Fascination Magazine - 1946 - "The New Feminine Touch" By Irene

You know the name, Irene...the Executive Designer for Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer from 1942-49. She won 2 Oscars for her work and dressed nearly every movie star you can name.
Here are some of her thoughts on where fashion was headed in 1946. I have included the whole article because what she has to say is very interesting, both about the post war era, but also about fashion in general.

"In the past the motion picture has exerted only a general influence over fashion as a whole. Its future role will be almost paradoxical in its difference. The effect on fashion will be specific. Even in the most fantastic motion pictures, the emphasis will be placed on simple clothing. Of all the ideas which American designers have introduced to the fashion world, their simple designs have been the most successful, and therefore, the most saleable. The "simple" dress has come to be recognized as the unofficial "trade-mark" of the American fashion designer. I believe it will soon become the fashion mark of the designing world.

The soft, feminine suit, the dress which sets off rather than overpowers a personality will be my contribution to fashion designing as far as the motion picture is concerned. The stars which I am entrusted to dress-attractive women like Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Greer Garson, and Claudette Colbert-have all expressed their admiration and approval for the new "simple" cut of my designs. It is my belief that their reactions mirror what will be the feelings of women all over the world. I predict that the "all American" dress will be the choice of the majority of the fashion conscious women of the world once they have been given the opportunity to see it in our motion pictures. Without realizing it, they will slowly begin to adopt the ideas which our American designers will present to them from the screen.

The too, too broad shoulders, the wedge shoes and ankle straps, and the completely "mad" hats, must surely fade from fashion. They will be lost primarily because the motion picture will no longer make pictorial mention of them. Film executives have learned, after many bitter experiences, that in Hollywood, where the camera always has a tendency to over-exaggerate the face and figure, it is dangerous to attempt to do the sensational any longer. Absurd clothing will appear only when it is necessary to establish the identity of a character in the minds of an audience. Certainly no woman wants to be classified as a "character" because of her bad taste in clothing.

Actually, a very definite feeling for longer skirts has been expressed by all the stars for whom I design clothing. Irregular hemlines, dipping points, and wide sash ends that fall below the edge of the skirt will be fashionable during the next fashion season because of this new demand for things feminine.

Naturally, fashion innovations like the dipping points and wide sashes are not new. Every few years there is a variation on these designs, and every good fashion designer knows, whether he likes it or not, that fashion always finds a way to repeat itself historically. Even though this is true, even though many women will find irregular lines in dresses unpleasant to the eye, it appears certain that the new credo will be not to lose sight of the figure and the activity of the modern American woman.

With the lifting of clothing restrictions, we designers anticipate a certain amount of "madness" -even among ourselves. Women "dress" more than they ever have before. Service women, especially, return home with a longing for pretty clothes. All designers want to bring out new ideas-the new ideas which have been bubbling in their sometimes too fertile brains. As a result of this sudden rush, it is only natural that there will be a lack of continuity for a while. Anything and everything will be done, but after a time things will begin to simmer down, the proper trends will take their places, and the regular cycle of fashion will hold sway again.

Before very long a good many women will have their own airplanes, but I doubt that they will want to wear flying clothes. I flew my own plane for a number of years before the war, and am anxious to get back to it now, but certainly I never thought of appearing at a cocktail party in a flying suit. It would have hampered my movements, and caused me no end of self-consciousness as well.

Because of postwar demands, clothing will never again be allowed to binder the activity of a woman. If, during the turning cycle of style, such fads as the hobble skirt return, it will be only as a suggestion of a hobble skirt, and not the actual hobble. With bustles it will be the same thing - just a feeling of fullness in the back. Clothing will have to keep up with the new interests and activities of women.

Having tried using full skirts in several pictures lately, and seeing that they have not been too popular, I have no further feeling for them at the present time. There was no real joy in doing them. Dresses with tight tops and very full skirts always have a Middle European look about them, and clothing should look "American" now, as never before.

We should forget the idiotic importations which will be flooding the fashion market during the next few months. Too many American women dress badly because they attempt to follow French fashions. The best lesson we could learn from the French, (if we must borrow something from them) would be to copy their custom of buying clothes only once, or, at the most, twice a year. No one can deny that the Parisian woman is always well dressed, but few people ever realize that she dresses, in all probability, for far less than what the average American vvoman spends on one month's clothing bills. It's just a matter of careful planning and thoughtful execution, that's all.

Actually, a sensible woman can get by for an entire year on the following carefully selected pieces of fundamental clothing:

Two suits: one for town, the other for country wear.

One silk dress: for all formal occasions.

One "Date Dress": for dates exclusively. This can be interchanged with the silk dress without anyone being the wiser.

Two -wool dresses: for winter wear on all occasions.

One cool two-piece dark dress: for summer; plus any simple and inexpensive cotton dresses which can be picked up in-between.

Two print dresses: one dressy, the other simple, for summer's wear.

One heavy coat: good for dress or business.

And finally, one light coat or topper: to finish off the entire year's wardrobe.

Colors are always very important. Deciding on a basic scheme and sticking to it is the best policy in view of the fact that few women can ever remember the exact color of the hat or coat that's hanging in the closet at home when they're trying to select accessories to match it.

Courses in fashion education would be a very great improvement in our educational system in America. Teaching our younger generation the importance of good grooming and proper dress would, in the long run, repay the taxpayer a hundredfold. Stevens College, a forward school, with an ever ready eye to the future, has already instituted such a course, and found it to be highly successful.

Although it is a slow process, America is becoming increasingly aware that fashion sense is, after all, only common sense. The most ordinary woman can, with a little forethought and ingenious planning, assure herself of an even footing with even her most glamourous sisters. The real trick is to accomplish the unusual and still not be overpowering about it."

Fascination Magazine - 1946 - Fashioned For Living

"Fashion is a medium of expression, and the power of self-expression has strange sorcery. Fashion is a general acceptance of a way to live, or dress, or think; style is your individual acceptance of the custom. Fashion is the March of Time of feminine personality in this modern world. And the modern woman knows that the way to look is natural-the way to achieve it is artful. Individually, a woman assumes the role of her costume, fits into and acts the part of her home atmosphere. She is interested in fashions to suit her way of life; often she lives up to and rearranges her way of life to suit a costume. Collectively, fashion links hands with the economic and political temper of the times. Postwar reunions create exotic, feminine, exciting styles for intime moments; new home architecture inspires casual styles for lounging; distance shortened by modern travel encourages styles for practical, varied wear. Thus, time and circumstances demand that fashion, to live, must be funetional. FASCINATION seeks to show you each month the newest fashions in their natural settings, with no little fences herding you into age or wage groups. On the following pages we offer some suggestions for your individual expression."

Fascination Magazine - 1946 - The Amazing Ads!

Movies, minks, furs, perfume, hair dyes, blouses, even raincoats!

Beauty and the Beets - 1946 Garden Variety Beauty Treatments

"...if you dip into the refrigerator a little beyond the ice cubes, you might find more than a few eatables which are proven beauty aids."
You'll need honey, oranges, lemons, tomatoes, milk, eggs and yes, beets!"

Fascination Magazine - 1946

Next we are going to look at Fascination Magazine from 1946 - "The Magazine of Feminine Finesse"

First let look at "Creations for the New Silhouette" by Hattie Carnegie.
(Remember to click twice to read the details)

Originator - Smart Fashions - 1946 (Part 6)

And last but not least these amazing gowns...