Forties Fashion #8: Sports and Leisure Wear 1942

By Jove, where have the last two weeks gone, eh?!  Flashed by in a blur of work, play and sunshine, that's what.  Have I forgotten how to do this blogging business, then, or forgotten about you all?  Not bally likely!

With interesting news articles thin on ground again I've nevertheless got a few posts planned over the next week to 10 days and to start off with I thought we'd return to an old series that surprisingly hasn't seen the light of day in over a year - for shame!  It's instalment number 8 from my old 1940s Fashion Sourcebook.  With the sun beaming down on much of the country, Queen's in full swing, Wimbledon just around the corner and some sort of international footballing tournament (if that's your kind of thing) about to start in Brazil so I'm told, today's extract couldn't be better timed, either.  Yes, it's sports and leisurewear 1942-style!

The inconvenience of war was not about to put a stop Britain's enjoyment of sport and leisure, although it did of course curtail it somewhat.  I imagine it must have made it all the more special and enjoyable when day-to-day living was blighted by constraints of wartime and the constant threat of attack.  With the anticipation of maybe a small day-trip to the countryside, or a game of village cricket, your average chap and chapette would have made an extra effort to dress well, but casually and within the confines of clothes rationing, to make the most of their leisure time.  One imagines pre-war '30s fashions adapted for the new purposes and circumstances; we can see as much in the following illustrations.  Speaking of which, anyone for:

Tennis.  Top left wears: white linen dress with button fastening, small collar, buttoned belt, short inset sleeves with stitched cuffs.  Piped pockets; two decorative panels, one from padded shoulders and one from waist continuing to hip-level in flared skirt with concealed pockets in outer panels and wide unpressed box pleats.  White leather shoes.  A classic summer tennis ensemble, one could imagine it being rather a strikingly attractive outfit if the decorative panels contrasted to the white of the dress - perhaps a navy or light blue?

Tennis.  Top right wears: white cotton collar-attached shirt with pointed collar, short inset sleeves, stitched cuffs and a patch pocket.  White linen pleated shorts with turn ups and elasticated cotton belt with clasp fastening.  White cotton ankle socks.  White canvas sports shoes.  A very simple, Fred Perry-esque outfit for the girl's tennis-playing gentleman partner.  While not normally a fan of elasticated belts I can see its benefit here as providing ease of movement.  Pleated shorts with turn-ups are only right, of course, although I'd think twice about inflicting my legs on the general public (in fact I don't think I've worn shorts since my early twenties).  White canvas sports shoes are a sin qua non for the casual sporting look and I've long toyed with the idea of getting a pair, on the off-chance I might one day again try my hand at a few of the more gentler sports - cricket, tennis, badminton - to help improve my damaged health.  Needless to say, that day has still to arrive, but I still find myself glancing at the odd plimsoll now and again.  For those of you who, like me, would prefer that their training shoe does not resemble something out of Back To The Future II and comes without the maker's name splashed across every available surface, Converse is very often the name we will see mentioned and indeed they do a nice line in plain canvas shoes in the traditional style - such as their All Star range. 

Converse All Star Low White Mono Canvas - £44.99 from Office

However I also find myself drawn to the traditional training shoe offering from Charles Tyrwhitt.  Albeit in leather rather than canvas (one could argue the superiority of that) they have an equally timeless appeal about them.

Biscuit Marlow trainers - £79 from Charles Tyrwhitt

Returning to 1942 and (still on the first trio above) we're off on our travels in:

Holiday wear.  Bottom centre wears: dark blue cotton flared pinafore skirt, waistband extended to form shaped bib, wide shoulder straps, self-fabric buckled belt and hip-level patch pockets with mock-buttoned flaps.  Red and blue spotted cotton blouse with notched shawl collar, button fastening, elbow-length sleeves, padded shoulders.  Red straw hat.  Red canvas shoes, peep toes, wedge heels.  A very patriotic colour combination (even more so were it to have some white thrown in - say on the shoes or hat.  Evidence of clothes rationing in the mock-buttoned pocket flaps.  Every girl loves a high-waisted pinafore dress, if the vintage blogosphere is anything to go by, and this one's a pip!

On to the next three and staying with the holiday wear.  Top centre wears: pale blue cotton blouse with small collar, threaded ribbon fastening matching trim on cuffs of short puff sleeves and padded shoulders.  Sleeveless single-breasted checked cotton fitted waistcoat, low scooped neckline, pointed hemline.  Knee-length pale blue cotton gathered skirt, bias-cut band above hemline to match waistcoat.  White leather shoes, crossed straps, low wedge heels.  Something almost dirndl-like about this outfit, or perhaps just the more traditional rural/countrified look.  Certainly a wonderfully co-ordinated ensemble with the matching bows and banding/waistcoat.

Quite the country wear outfit for our second dashing chap!  Bottom left wears: brown and tan wool-tweed single-breasted jacket with flap pockets and a single ticket pocket.  Light brown wool trousers, straight-cut, turn-ups.  Brown wool sweater.  Patterned silk scarf.  Brown trilby.  Brown leather shoes.  The perfect rural autumnal look here, with some welcome individual touches like the scarf (a cravat would also work just as well) beneath the wool sweater worn beneath the wool-tweed jacket (crikey, I'm sweating just thinking about it - definitely one for the colder months!).  The jacket (gad, the whole outfit) sounds lovely, with quite a modern-sounding cut.  Still surprised to see turn-ups this far into the war.

For the ladies' country wear, bottom left sports: brown and grey tweed dress, small collar, button fastening, padded shoulders, short inset sleeves, stitched cuffs, patch pockets, buttoned belt and flaps, flared skirt, centre-front box-pleat.  Brown felt hat.  Brown suede gloves and matching shoes.  An equally delightful matching seasonal ensemble for the lady.  I imagine a walk through a country estate awaits this perfectly turned-out girl!

Well, that's it for another selection.  Quite an interesting one again, I think, and in many ways adaptable and reproducible for today.  If only more people would dress in this kind of "sports wear", hmmn?!  We can only hope!

Squads & Shirts

Hello-ello, remember me?!  I wouldn't blame you if you don't!

Once again I feel I must apologise for the lack of activity hereabouts; certain factors have meant this poor little blog has been awfully neglected recently.  Until things pick up, here's the first of two or three posts related to my 30th birthday a couple of weeks ago on the 19th August - a short presentation(!) of some of the things I got that are of a vintage bent.

Beige wide herringbone classic fit from Charles Tyrwhitt

Although not properly vintage as in "old", men's shirts can have a timeless quality to them particularly if one is discerning with the cut, style and colour (no bright colours or cutaway collars here!) and as my wardrobe needed refreshing some brand spanking new ones made their way to me in the week following the 19th.  A chap doesn't turn 30 every day so I decided to treat myself with some birthday money to four shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt, one of the newer (but no less worthy for that) names on London's famous Jermyn Street.

Light yellow wide herringbone classic fit from Charles Tyrwhitt

The herringbone shirts are easily equal to the two from Ede & Ravenscroft and Hawes & Curtis (both bargainous £3.95 charity shop finds from last couple of years!) that already grace my wardrobe and the poplins aren't far behind either.

Cream poplin classic fit shirt from Charles Tyrwhitt

I kept largely to plain, simple shades to maximise their use (and, of course, because they suited my taste!).  I fancied a bit of a pattern for at least one, though, and the red and blue check caught my eye.  The beige shirt has also has hints of pink to it in some lights, which is a bonus.  I'd love to have been able to show you some pictures of them as worn, or at least at chez Partington-Plans, but my ancient digital camera chooses not to show them in all their glory regardless of the ambient lighting so I'm afraid you'll have to make do with these borrowed images.

Red & blue grid check classic fit shirt from Charles Tyrwhitt

Likewise with the two new cravats I got from Tom Sawyer Waistcoats - two new colours/designs to add to my growing collection. 

Aubergine & mauve circles day Cravat, Tom Sawyer Waistcoats

Both should go well with most of those shirts, don't you think?  I hope to be able to bring you a proper outfit post or two (with my own, better pictures!) featuring combinations of them all, plus an extra-special surprise clothing present that is still in the final stages of completion.  You'll just have to wait and see what it is!

Richmond check day cravat, Tom Sawyer Waistcoats

Finally for this post, a new DVD (one of four but the only one set in the 1940s) - Gangster Squad!

I had really wanted to see this at the cinema back in January but alas it coincided with a hospital stay so it had to end up on the DVD list.  I had seen nothing of it beyond the trailers and of the four films I got this was the one I had the least expectations of, so I was more than delighted to discover that it really is a very good film that could easily stand comparison with the likes of The Untouchables and L.A. Confidential.  I would certainly recommend it and, if I get my act together, it may one day feature on the currently dormant Film Friday gangster series of blog posts.  Maybe.



That's it for now, though, but I hope to be back before too long with the aforementioned extra birthday posts plus more usual fare.

Pip-pip!