What happens in the 30s... stays in the 30s?

The start of the 1930s saw the dawn of The Great Depression, and many fashion designers were forced to close as budgets diminished - Chanel however proved tenacious. In 1935, at the ‘peak’ of fame, Chanel now owned five boutiques. Fashions retaliated to the melancholy aura: hemlines became slightly flared, the waist was one again emphasised, and decorative bows and laces were found everywhere. The practicality women adopted during WW1 sustained through the ‘two-piece suit, and the market for women’s sports-wear (such as Chanel’s golf dress) augmented. Other designers to blend masculine and feminine fashions was Elsa Schiaparelli, a designer influenced by Paul Poiret’s liberating draped dresses. Schiaparelli’s Pour le Sport collection included bathing suits, ski-wear, and linen dresses, sharing the ideas behind Chanel’s sports-wear collection.

Throughout the 30s Schiaparelli went on to create obscure collaborations with Salvador Dali. Dali is now considered to be the most famous surrealist artist of all time. His eccentric paintings such as The Burning Giraffe, or The Great Masturbator communicate his weird but wonderful nature to the 21st century (which in comparison I do consider quite bland). Schiaparelli’s Lobster Dress was created with Dali, inspired by his Lobster Phone. The Lobster Phone was birthed from the combining of items not normally associated with each other. As well as this, Dali believed both the lobster and the telephone had strong sexual connotations – the Lobster’s tail (where it’s sexual parts are located) is placed directly over the mouthpiece.

One of Schiaparelli’s most outrageous fashion creations can be traced back to Dali influences; the Skeleton Dress. The dress is made of black crepe with defining quilting, and is inspired by the Surrealist movement’s fascination with the human body. Understandably, when the dress was revealed to members of contemporary fashion houses, it was named “an offence to good taste”[1], but to our eye now it can be appreciated in the way Schiaparelli intended: the dress allows Schiaparelli to demonstrate how clothing can be viewed as a metaphor for social issues that began to surface in the art world, alike the ‘bones’ on the outside surface of the dress.

The Great Depression of the 1930s greatly impacted fashion houses. Designers were forced to use cheaper fabrics and more practical designs. Chanel’s LDB boded well for cheap night-glam wear, paired with Coco Chanel’s signature costume jewellery in Chanel’s world it was difficult to recognise The Great Depression even existed at all.

[1]: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/065687/the-skeleton-dress-the-circus-evening-dress-elsa-schiaparelli/&gt