1930s Fashion: The Definitive Sourcebook

The essential handbook for all fashion historians, students and vintage enthusiasts of the 1930s.

From the turbulence of the 1930s emerged the Golden Age of Glamour.

Framed by two world-changing events – the economic crash of 1929 and the outbreak of the Second World War – the 1930s saw new looks emerge and thrive, despite economic and social uncertainty.

This was the decade of the bias cut, the statement shoulder, the puff sleeve, the tea dress, the fur shrug and the floor-length evening gown. It was also the era that saw Hollywood challenge Paris's fashion crown and its stars become fashion icons, signalling a new grown-up direction in womenswear design.

Packed with over 500 original photographs, illustrations and sketches from the decade, this is an essential guide for any fashion historian, student or vintage enthusiast. These classic images have been selected from popular fashion publications of the day, mail-order catalogues and Hollywood studio press shots, including material from Chic Parisien, Harper's Bazaar, Sears, La Femme Chic and film studios Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount.

Authored and edited by renowned design historian, Charlotte Fiell, this volume also contains an authoritative introduction by fashion historian, Emmanuelle Dirix, as well as the biographies of the key designers and fashion houses of the period.

About the Authors:

Charlotte & Peter Fiell are leading authorities on the history, theory and criticism of design. To date, they have published over 60 titles and around 5 million copies of their books have been sold worldwide in over 20 different languages. Their books include The Story of Design, 1,000 Chairs and Industrial Design A-Z. They live in Chipping Campden, UK.
Emmanuelle Dirix is a fashion historian and curator. She teaches at the Antwerp Fashion Academy and Manchester Metropolitan University, and has lectured at the Royal College of Art and University of the Arts London. She is the author of Unravel: Knitwear in Fashion, Fashion Sourcebook 1920s and 1930s Fashion: the Definitive Sourcebook.