1940s Vintage Suits Coordinated Sets for Women
The 1940s covered the years of World War II and its recovery period, and women’s couture reflected that accordingly. The coordinated suits are made from easy care fabrics, and the colors are subdued. The usual suit silhouette had square shoulders and knee-length skirts that were flared, straight or pleated, and the bodice was fitted with shoulder pads.
What are the fabrics used to make women's vintage clothing?- Wool: A common fabric used in these vintage suits was wool. Wool is a natural fiber collected from sheep. It is easy to care for, warm, resilient, water-repellent, and flame-resistant. It can be woven into several different types of weaves including gabardine, where the wool has a tight weave with fine ribs on the top. Wool gabardine has a right-handed twill weave.
- Tweed: Suits also come in wool tweed. Tweed is usually a type of plain or twill weave but can also be a herringbone weave or a basket weave. Authentic tweed fabrics are made near the River Tweed in Scotland. Houndstooth also uses a twill weave of contrasting colors, one light and one dark. It gets its name because the resulting pattern looks like the tooth of a hound.
- Velvet and fur: Velvet is also used for these ensembles, especially for cocktail dresses and jackets. Otherwise, velvet is most often a trim on a lapel or cuff. Fur, including mink, is also used as a trim, especially for collars.
- Silk: Silk is derived from the cocoons of silk worm caterpillars. It can be light and soft or heavy and rich. Doupioni or slub silk comes from double cocoons. It is lustrous, naturally ecru colored but has irregular ribs.
- Cotton: Cotton is another fabric that was used extensively during the 1940s. It is derived from the cotton plant and is soft and absorbent. There are different types of cotton, and it can be blended with other natural and synthetic fibers such as wool and rayon.
- Rayon: Rayon is a synthetic fiber that is made from plant cellulose. It was the first synthetic fiber and was created in 1855. It can be made to resemble many other types of fabrics such as silk, cotton, wool, or linen.
Though there are occasionally brightly colored suits in pink, green, or purple most from the 1940s come in shades of:
- Tan
- Black
- Gray
- Oatmeal
- Brown
- Steel blue
- Taupe
- Beige
Like bold colors, bold patterns in these ensembles are unusual. Most patterns are subtle. Additionally, some of the clothing has beadwork on the collars, lapels, or the flaps of the pockets for added detail. Some have rhinestone buttons as well.
What are some of the detailing of these garments?These women's ensembles features such detailing as:
- Peplums: Peplums are gathered and flared bands of fabric at the waist.
- Self-covered buttons: These are buttons covered in the same fabric as the suit.
- Pencil skirt: These are straight, somewhat close fitting skirts that fall just below the knee.
- Peter Pan collars: The Peter Pan collar is a small, round-ended collar whose ends meet at the front of the garment.