JoAnne OlianEveryday Fashions of the Forties As Pictured in Sears Catalogs (Dover Fashion and Costumes)

Love the fashions from days gone by.

This is an excellent resource for historical fiction writers. Plenty of pictures of ordinary clothes, not high-fashion, and their prices. An easy to use and convenient reference!

This book is fascinating! Its pages were taken directly from the 1940s Sears catalogs, so it gives a peek at genuine fashions of the period. It shows everything from prom dresses to day dresses, shoes and accessories, etc. As I recall, there's even boy's and men's clothes, too. It's great to watch the styles evolve through the years.What I found especially interesting was the prices. Apparently, there was a jump in clothing prices following the end of WWII. Also, it's amazing to see what sorts of things our grandmothers bought. For instance, rub-on "stocking" lotion. Silk was severely rationed, so women had to darken their legs with makeup to look like they were wearing stockings. They would even draw lines down the back of their legs to simulate the seam. This lotion was advertised in the catalog, so you can see for yourself that it was not an urban legend.This book is a joy to look through. Highly recommended for anyone who's interested in fashion design (you can draw inspiration from the past), or vintage and historical costuming, or anyone who's interested in seeing the sort of clothes their grandmother wore.

This has a wide variety of clothes -- kids, teens, men, women. Fascinating slow motion change in fashion from war years to the beginning of some crazy fifties trends. My one disappointment: no undergarments.

I got this book though amazon's used books, and was completely pleased. Websites and library books often offer a very incomplete view of the 1940's fashions with very few pictures, and descriptions of the time as just being "utilitarian" or "militarized" - which is only PART of the story. This book is mostly ads from the Sears Catalog, showing REAL styles available to the middle class American public, not just the stuff the movie stars wore. You can see how the styles changed slowly over decade, including the introduction of the "New Look" and how it was incorporated into American style in the later part of the decade. Not necessarily for those wanting a history lesson complete with names of designers, price guides, or whatnot. But for someone already familar with the time period or wanting good examples/ideas for period dress or reproduction (with excellent pictures without collecting billions of sewing patterns like I do), this is a delightful resource!

Listen to me when I say this, I love this series of mini catalogs! I have the 30's, 40's, and 50's and I'm verging on never leaving my room cause I want to look at them! I watch a ton of classic 1940's movies and the women are always so glamorous that I honestly didn't think they busted out a pant they way they did! I reproduce vintage clothing and the reason I love this book is the casual styles. This is stuff I can wear and not look too costumey. It's only 122 pages but believe me, that's enough! It's everything you need to see what those adorable little old people used to wear everyday! Trust me, quit thinking about it and just buy it! P.S. the 1940's edition is my favorite!

The book shows the fashion of the forties from kids, to junior years up to adults,shows the description of the items and the prices way back then. I t was like theordinary catalog we receive for free in the mail. This book/catalog were picturedall in black and white. I still like it.

I wanted this book for research to dress more authenitcally 1940's & am disappointed every single page is in black and white. The description should have stated this since there are no photos of the inside pages, and the cover images would lead one to believe the inside photos were also in color.