1930s Prints

When I first bought this Cloud Beach label wrap dress I was thinking of the 1930s. Not at all because of the shape or cut, but rather the geometric print. The sturdy cotton fabric made me imagine hot Australian summers of years long past in the Depression era. The dress was made for a hard-working country girl, and she’d be wearing a scarf over her hair, to protect it from the heat and dust of the bush.

But then I found this vintage hat last week: ‘A Calvert Model’ by Frank S. Tisdale. I love the curled brim, and the moth-eaten organza ribbon simply adds some verisimilitude to my bucolic fantasy.

So here they are together, set against the backdrop of the Murray River in Albury, NSW.

Below are some fabric samples (original and reproduction) as well as vintage sewing patterns of the 1930s – quaint in themselves.

(Left) Fabric samples from fabrics.net; (centre) pattern from hookedonvintage.com; (right, top and bottom) reproduction fabrics from sugar-shack.ca.