Sophisticated Elegance – Dressed Like in the 1930s and 1940s – Vintage Paper Dolls as Fashion Displays

How do you like to dress? What do you find pretty when it comes to clothing and accessories?

I have a great love for the fashion of the 1930s and 1940s, as also some of the elegant wear of the 1970s. I’m into sophisticated elegance. I can indulge in these designs, cuts and patterns for hours on end. And yes, to me, a man in a uniform is handsome indeed. When it comes to how to dress, I believe I’m from a different era.

The 1930s and 1940s display deliciously luxurious fashion from Hollywood. Glamorous movie stars serve as splendid inspiration. One of these movie stars were Marlene Dietrich. She showed impeccable poise.

Here you can enjoy Marlene Dietrich in a most elegant 1930s style. What a high end lady indeed. Dietrich is pure sophistication.

At the same time activities and sports grow popular and functional sportswear sees the light of day.

To me, fashion of 1930’s is the epitome of sophisticated elegance. Calf-length dresses focus on the female body. The waistline is high and accentuated. An inverted triangle shape gives extra attention to the upper body. Clothes are ornamented with buttons and bows, trims and frills. Hats, gloves and matching shoes are essential accessories.

Floor-length evening dresses in shiny and silky materials give a balmy impression of uttermost cool.

The 1940s brings forth the strong square shoulders combined with a nipped-in high waist. All very formal and stylish.

Apart from watching old movies I enjoy exploring the fashions of these eras on vintage paper dolls.

As a child the excitement was huge when, at my grandmothers house, my grandmother brought forth a bundle of women’s magazines to cut out from.

These were mail order catalogues. Page after page displayed beautiful women in ladylike high end gear. I was in fashion heaven. What a soothing experience it was leafing through these catalogues and cutting out these paper version women. I made them my home made papers dolls, adding pretty accessories like handbags and hats to their outfit.

Here are some paper dolls I’m particularly fond of. These vintage cut outs from 1943 follow two teenager girls during a day, from when they wake up in the morning until they turn in at night.