McCalls Fashion Magazine History Images Issue August 1925

By Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion-Era.com The signature fashion silhouette lines of 1920's fashions were often achieved by using McCall's or Butterick dress patterns.  Similar free dress patterns or trace outlines of fashionable garments were also given in other fashion, needlecraft and sewing magazines of the day.  You can read detailed text on 1920's fashions here.

McCall's Patterns - August 1925.

These fashion images from magazines and catalogues of the era are very representative of the styling of clothes real people wore in the mid 1920s.  Many styles were original fashion patterns by designers such as Chanel and Lanvin. When first studying costume history, students often wrongly assume that every skirt fashion of the 1920s was short.  Not so.  It was only in 1925 that the fashionable skirt rose 14 to 16 inches (45 to 50 cm) from the ground making the shorter hemline we associate with the twenties era.  Let's look at these fashion magazine images more closely.  The main feature of 20s fashions is that throughout the 1920's decade the silhouette was a straight tubular column with dropped waist and no body curves evident, making it a boyish fashion silhouette. Skirts were only really short in 1926 and 1927 and after that they slowly began to drop or waiver in length.  This is why handkerchief and indecisive hemlines were so popular. Those who were fainthearted could opt for an indecisive hemline and still be fashionable.

Aug 1925 - McCall's Patterns On White Backgrounds.

 In 1925 the fashionable skirt rose 14 to 16 inches (45 to 50 cm) from the ground. Knees were still covered in 1925. When printed off these images enlarge to fill an A4 size sheet. The examples below show this feature of skirts and the dithering hemlines. -----------------

Paris Wears Evening Frocks That Ripple 1925

    One aspect of the fashion editorial on this McCall's page is the reference to gloves.  It stated that Parisian women never went out in the day without gloves.  Although at night for 'artistic reasons' they went gloveless.  The bare gloveless arm was thought to be a visible and attractive feature of women at night. After skirt lengths dropped in 1930, skirts did not regain knee high shortness again until the 1940s and the skirt rising above the knee would not happen until the mid 1960s.  Yet most individuals only associate the 1920's era with shorter skirts. The selection of fashion history images above on this page and in 1925 Part 2 are taken from a McCall's magazine dated August 1925.  The original scans for the images I've presented here were kindly provided by Cynthia McCracken of Florida who sells vintage paper ephemera.  I have extracted most of them into their own pages on white clutter free backgrounds so you can clearly see the lines of each fashion style for your own purposes.  Original images such as these look wonderful when framed and used as part of a room scheme theme. I hope to feature more of Cynthia's quality images in the near future.  You can read more detailed text about 1920's fashions in flapper fashion.  You can see some 1920's wedding photos here.  More line drawings are available here.  Use the gold navigation buttons above to see more McCall's and Good Housekeeping coloured and monochrome magazine images. Page added 2 June 2005 Salon and home dressmaking or tailoring was big business in the 1920s. Pattern companies like McCall's produced the latest fashion styles often designed by Paris fashion house designers. Famous fashion designers like Lanvin, Doucet and Chanel all supplied cutting edge patterns drafts specifically designed for both home and experienced professional dressmakers. Fashion was soon for everyone as people visited the movies and saw films with the latest fashion looks of the day. Transfixed by the new and the novel in fashion, women immediately wanted those very same fashion styles, hair and make up looks. They believed that if they could look like the twenties movie goddesses, they too might capture some of the same glamour and be swept away by a screen idol of their very own. New dresses which they often created themselves were the answer. This was achievable because the styles were straight and simple in line and very easy to make at home and still achieve a good standard. It may be worth me pointing out again that these dresses and wrap coats are still not truly short. You can read about 1920s hemline changes here. By 1926 skirts were at their shortest in the Twenties decade and this fashion showed the knee until 1928. The whole leg as far as the kneecap was revealed and this is why we connect so well with fashions of the 1920s today.  Never before had so much leg been revealed.  By 1929 uneven hems and asymmetric skirt hemlines again helped the transition to longer skirts.  Longer sheer overskirts and semi sheer top skirts were worn over shorter linings.  By 1930 the hemline was several inches below the knee. This great mix of representative images of the mid 1920s were kindly provided by Cynthia McCracken of Florida who sells vintage paper ephemera and magazine adverts.  I have extracted most of them into their own pages on white clutter free backgrounds so you can clearly see the lines of each fashion style for your own purposes.  Original images such as these look wonderful when framed and used as part of a room scheme theme.