1940s vs 2009

As you may know, I am currently studying in Paris, taking courses in Fashion History, Fashion Illustration, Fashion Marketing and Merchandising, Photography, and French. And for one of these fashion classes (marketing/merchandising) we were taken on a small excursion or field trip to a museum above a train station, which, I might mention, was quite an adventure to locate. The museum, le Musée Jean Moulin, was a museum about France during World War II, and the exhibit we were sent to was one about Fashion during the war era.


A few of the issues I found very interesting were first, that because of the lack of resources, people became extremely resourceful when it came to fashion; shoes were made out of wood instead of leather or rubber, hats were made out of paper, and since there was no material to make stockings, women resorted to painting their legs (with a painted seam as well!) to give the illusion of stockings. Another point that I noticed was how similar so many of the designs are to fashions of today - the shoes, above all, caught my eye because if it wasn’t for the glass cases holding them, I would assume they were brand new, sold at Nordstrom’s. I found it interesting to see such an explicit example of the ever-circulating styles in fashion, and how as designers, we are constantly drawing inspiration from the past, and making it new. Thus goes the idea behind "The Unfashionable" - to be a good designer, one cannot live in a bubble of current trends - the best designers find inspiration outside of what they see today to bring something fresh, and perhaps nostalgic to the fashion world.


Here are some photos of vintage clothing and shoes from the 1940's - hopefully you can see the resemblance in today's current styles as well.

Photo Credits:

http://www.sports-memorabilia-museum.com/basketball-history/vintage-basketball-shoes.jpg

http://www.sometime.org.uk/2005/11/15/shoes_385x257.jpg

http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_430xN.81047854.jpg

http://www.reproduction-vintage-shoes.com/images/redslingback.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/50/133676147_8ebc6d0249.jpg
http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-set/BQcDAAAAAwoDanBnAAAABC5vdXQKFlBDYzY5TTN1M0JHdEZKd2JBOHJ2NWcAAAACaWQKAWUAAAAEc2l6ZQ.jpg https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQxdsdeXvzrtA_TtEfVJ-cHLjiqQM4J1qzUKCjGeBZkSUhRnorY3sY5t45NmvQTKmgjrhPzri6BCh4mVmUm5SkQyKVgwsdHDf8qZz75NR4e6wayjs7zYXkBI7Z2OOFcEiXiZr-a4Olgk/s400/stripes.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/picture/8520/_borders/40sblousewskirt.JPG
http://www.penelopespearls.com/assets/images/brooches/figural/birdchatelain.jpg