Party Dresses 4

The Great Dress Depression

Origin: This piece originated during the 1930s. It evolved from Flapper style to longer, conservative style. This piece took more of the styles from the 1910s. It was long but still above the ankle. It also took the "V" neck style from the 1920's. It also took the belted style from the previous decade. The designs during this time was more commonly known as the Circa style, but this style wasn't the only style. 

Purpose: What made this design of dresses different was the increase use of patterns and defined collars. Also, the overall look of the dresses seemed much cheaper. The cheaper look wasn't done on purpose it was because during the time of the Great Depression there wasn't the best material available for people. The dress shown above was one of the better qualities of the dresses. This fitted more under the circa style, which was the more fancy and better quality types of clothing. 

Value: This piece was an expression of the time because the dresses weren't as bold and bright, as you can see in the picture. During this time the Great Depression hit and it was a hard life for many people. During this time buying party dresses wasn't necessarily a priority. Since people didn't care too much for it the design of the flapper went back to the more of a conservative style. Not only that but the designs were as bold and happy, this really expresses how the Great Depression had an affect of the people. 

Limitations: This item cannot tell us the worst situations some of the people were. This is because the dress shown in the picture is the dress worn by the people who weren't too badly affected by the Great Depression. Due to that you cannot also tell how bad of a situation people were going through and what their thoughts were.