Today, my dear readers, I hope to bring to your attention a fact about 1920's (and 30's) fashion which (hopefully) you do not already know.
So, all of you who are familiar with the 1920's fashions will know that they had extremely drop-waisted styles. Take for example Lady Mary's suit from Downton Abbey:
Have you ever wondered how on earth they were able to wear separate skirts with a drop-waisted silhouette? Here, my dear readers, is your answer:
See that? That is a skirt attached to a camisole. "What?!? No! It can't be!" you exclaim. Well, yes I must admit that it appears as though this type of skirt (attached to a camisole) wasn't the norm for all skirts, but nevertheless they existed as you can see by this real life example:
This skirt, according to the description from the etsy site would have been part of a two piece ensemble, meant to be worn, perhaps with a matching jacket like Lady Mary's suit above, or perhaps with a silk blouse. "Silk blouse? What do you mean a blouse? How could you wear a blouse tucked in to a skirt, when the skirt is attached to your undershirt?" Aha! Here's your answer:
Well, your answer, that is, if you want a poof-y blouse that looks like it's tucked in. (By the way, I highly recommend you click through the link to see how they accomplished that "tucked-in" look)
And if you aren't so keen on the, ahem, bouffant silhouette, you could go with something like this:
And, of course, as I said above, this practical way of wearing a skirt existed all the way in to the 1930's as is proven by this 1930's pattern:
See that illustration in that little black circle on the left? another lovely example of an attached camisole.
So, my dears, with that bit of information in mind... What? You have one more question? How did this help with the drop-waisted silhouette?
Well, have you ever tried to wear a skirt just barely sitting on the broadest part of your hips? That probably didn't go too well if you have tried it, and if you haven't, I wouldn't recommend it. So, of course you have to support that skirt in some way, so you resort to the only other method open to you, if you want to maintain that drop-waisted silhouette, and that is, as I stated before, an attached camisole. So now, instead of you depending on your skirt to balance on your hips, you don't have to worry about a thing, since its weight is now resting on your shoulders, a place where it is highly unlikely for your skirt to slip down.
Well, that is all I know, and can conjecture about "The Skirt with Attached Camisole". So therefore, I bid you adieu!
Blessings,
Brigid
The middle Sister and Singer
(P.S. Do any of you know any facts/ have any comments about the cami-skirt? I would really love to know)
I used to wear skirts like this when I was young. They weren't drop-waisted in style, probably just had a normal waistline, but I guess young girls (I'm talking about 5 or 6) don't have much in the way of waists or hips,so same logic - it kept the skirt up! We wore them with sweaters over the top. I seem to remember a rather fetching tartan skirt with a cream Arran sweater!
ReplyDeleteDon't know much about it in the 20's, but it does seem kind of logical!
How fun! The tartan with the sweater sounds quite fetching indeed!
DeleteBrigid
The Middle Sister and Singer