Dress for your Shape - A Vintage Guide

The Female Body Shape - Which are you ?

A vintage tutorial on how to dress correctly for your
body shape.Everything you need to know about
what kind of figure you have, and what kind of figure you
might like to have !
The irreverant Trinny and Susannah have identified 12
different body types - to help women choose the right
fitting clothes - namely apple, hourglass, skittle, vase,
cornet, lollipop, column, bell, goblet, cello, pear and
finally brick !
Whew !
In the 1930's,1940's, and 1950's, things were a little
less complicated.

Just three questions to ask yourself -
Are you Normal, Scant or Full ?
Found this is an old Spencer Corsetry catalogue.
It applies still today for dress and lingerie fitting.






The Abdomen [above image]
View figure from the side. For purpose of figure description, the abdomen is considered as starting at the waistline . The "Normal" abdomen will have a slight curve, but no pronounced fullness. The "Scant" abdomen may be flat or concave. The "Full" abdomen has a decided curve.


Front Thighs [above image]
View figure from the side. Consider the curve from the groin down to the knee . If there is only a slight curve, giving a smooth, unbroken line, the thigh is "Normal." If the line is straight, the description is "Scant." If there is a bulging curve, the description is "Full."


Back-Up [above image]
View figure from the side. Consider the curve from the waist up as high as the support is to be ordered
If it is only a slight curve, giving a smooth, unbroken line, it is "Normal." If the line is straight, the description is "Scant." If there is a bulging curve, the description is "Full."


Back-Down [above image]
View figure from the side. Consider the curve from the waist down to the crease where the buttock joins the leg . When the figure has a rounded curve the description is "Normal." The figure with a straight, flat backline is "Scant." When the backline shows a bulging curve, the description is "Full."


Under-Arm [above image]
View figure from the front, but so that side of breast does not obscure the underarm line. Consider the curve from the waist up as high as support will extend.



Side Hip [above image]
View figure from the front. Consider the curve at the side of figure from the waistline down to a point which is opposite and slightly below the crotch


Side Thighs [above image]
View figure from the front. Consider the curve in that portion of the side leg which is opposite and slightly above the crotch, down to the knee . If there is only a slight curve, giving a smooth, unbroken line, the thigh is "Normal." If the curve is less than normal, the description is "Scant." If there is a bulging curve, the description is "Full."


PERFECT FEMALE POSTURE [above image]

Posture is called " erect " when a perpendicular line from the ear passes through the shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle joints (see dotted line on left-hand figure). The curves at back above and below waist are normal. The pelvis is balanced perfectly, in a completely natural position . The line drawn through the figure at right indicates the normal tilt of the pelvis. The organs are properly placed, breathing is natural, and the body is gracefully poised. Few people have erect posture.



NORMAL FEMALE POSTURE [ or Lardotic ] [above image]
The sign of lordotic posture is a deep curve in the back near the waistline . There is more than normal fullness below waist at back and usually fullness above waist at back. The shoulders are thrown backward to balance the body. The pelvis is tilted too far downward at front and the contents of the abdominal cavity are thrown forward and downward, out of their normal position. The dotted line indicates normal tilt ; the solid line shows extra downward tilt which has occurred in the pelvis. Many women have lordotic posture.

Glamour Daze - An Image Archive of Vintage Fashion and Beauty

Glamour Daze - An Image Archive of Vintage Fashion and Beauty

Festive Greetings to all my friends !

The vintage fashion and glamour channel. Educational videos from public domain archives like the Prelinger Archive.
Makeup Tutorials,Dress,and Hairstyles from the flappers of the 1920's,to the art deco styles of the 1930's,and up to the glamourous 1940's,and 1950's.
Celebrate the beauty and femininity of a golden age.
Educational Purposes only.US Fair Use .

Makeup History - The Makeup Look from 1910's to 1950's

1900 Makeup Look



Makeup Look 1920's




Makeup Look 1930's




Makeup Look 1940s





Makeup Look 1950's

The Vintage Make-up Guide .

To get the genuine vintage looks and styles of 1920s make-up, 1930s make-up, 1940s make-up and the 1950s makeup  - visit Vintage Make-up Guides !


MAKE-UP TIMELINE - The Makeup Look from 1910's to 1950's

Further to the last big post on the history of Glamour Makeup, here is a visual representation or
Makeup Timeline from the film The Powder and the Glory.
It serves as a great vintage makeup guide.

The Powder & the Glory, a 90-minute documentary narrated by Jane Alexander, tells the story of two of the first highly successful women entrepreneurs.Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein. One hundred years ago these women immigrated to America and, starting with next to nothing, created what is today the $150 billion global health and beauty industry.

The History of Makeup - Max Factor, Elisebeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein

The Development of Women's Makeup from the 1920's to the late 1940's

See Also:
Vintage Make-up Guides - rare downloadables
The History of Lipstick
Shiseido - The Story of Japanese Beauty Makeup in the 1930's
1930's Beauty Guide
Complete 1940's Makeup Guide
The Correct way to apply 1940's Make-up

During the early years of the 20th century, make-up became fashionable in the United States of America and Europe due to the huge influence of Ballet, Theatre and the Movie stars of Hollywood.
Chief amongst the makeup wizards who helped develop cosmetics into a global mass market were Max Factor Sr, Elizabeth Arden, and Helena Rubinstein.

Post World War One , the Flapper look came into fashion and with it came cosmetics: Dark kohl eyes,Red lipstick, Red nail polish and it was fashionable for women to use bleach to keep their skin a pale milky white - in otherwords a good palette for cosmetics !

Of course Coco Chanel helped make the suntan popular and heralded the introduction of fake tan products helping both men and women to achieve that sun-kissed look !
In Asia, skin whitening continued to represent the ideal of beauty.


Max Factor



Truelly the inventor of Glamour !
He invented the term "makeup," based on the verb, "to make up" (one's face).
To millions of women all over the world today, the name Max Factor goes hand in hand with beauty,fashion and above all glamour!
I started collating a timeline of makeup and glamour only to realise that it almost goes hand in hand [ with just a few exceptions] with the inventions of Max Factor Snr.

In 1914 he created the first cosmetic made specifically for motion pictures!
It was a form of thin greasepaint.

In 1920 he developed the "Color Harmony" principles of makeup, which held that "certain combinations of a woman's complexion, hair and eye coloring were most effectively complemented by specific makeup shades."


This principle established for the first time that certain combinations of a woman's complexion, hair and eye coloring were most effectively complemented by specific makeup shades prescribed in "Color Harmony"


He created lip gloss in 1930.



Carole Lombard,Joan Blondell, Jean Harlow, Claudette Colbert and Bette Davis amongst others became regular visitors to his Hollywood Boulevard beauty salon. With stars like these as clients Max Factor's name began to appear in the movie credits.




In 1934 he introduced Liquid Nail Enamel, forerunner of today's nail enamels.



In 1935 he created Pan-Cake, the forerunner of modern cake makeup originally developed for color films.
The name is derived from "pan" because of its small, flat, pan-like container, and "cake" because of the form in which it was made!





Pan Cake later developed into the Pan Stick.
Though today women still puff away with loose powder and liquid foundations, the all in one panstick is present in every makeup bag to this day.

Max Factor's name appeared on many movie credits, and Factor himself appeared in some cameos.
He created many appearances for these actresses, such as Clara Bow's heart-shaped/pierrot lips.
Years later, he exaggerated Joan Crawford's naturally full lips to distinguish her from the many would-be stars copying the Clara Bow look he created.

A few final amusing notes on Max Factors genius .
He was always researching the science of beauty.

Below is the infamous Max factor Beauty Micrometer !




Max Factors Facial Ice Pack

He developed a special bonnet for the benefit of actresses who wished to refresh their faces on hot studio sets without spoiling their makeup, the facial ice pack [ pictured below ] was quickly diverted to another purpose by festive Hollywoodians. The headpiece, adorned with water-filled plastic cubes, is kept in the refrigerator while the water freezes.



Those girls really suffered for the art of glamour !
Photo courtesy of Modernmechanix



Elisebeth Arden

She invented the concept of the "makeover" in her salons.
Arden collaborated with A. Fabian Swanson, a chemist, to create a "fluffy" face cream. The success of the cream, Venetian Cream Amoretta, and corresponding lotion, Arden Skin Tonic, led to a long-lasting business relationship. This revolutionized cosmetics, bringing a scientific approach to formulations.




Other innovations included creating foundations that matched a person's skin tone; creating the idea of the "Total Look" in which lip, cheek, and fingernail colors matched or coordinated; and the first to make a cosmetics commercial shown in movie houses.
During World War II, Arden recognized the changing needs of the American woman entering the work force. She showed women how to apply makeup and dress appropriately for careers outside the home.
Arden also introduced modern eye makeup to North America after her formal training in Paris in 1912.

Helena Rubinstein

"There are no ugly women, only lazy ones."
Rubinstein formed one of the world’s first cosmetic companies and is recognised chiefly for her ability in marketing ! She was especially popular in the glam days of the 1950's.





A vicious rivalry with the other great lady of the cosmetics industry Elizabeth Arden also marked her life. Both Rubinstein and Arden, who died within 18 months of each other, were social climbers.
And they were both keenly aware of effective marketing and luxurious packaging, the attraction of beauticians in neat uniforms, the value of celebrity endorsements, the perceived value of overpricing and the promotion of the pseudo-science of skincare.

The Powder and the Glory (2009) by Ann Carol Grossman and Arnie Reisman, details the rivalry between Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden.


So that's the three big names in the development of makeup in the golden age of glamour.
I think you'll agree that Max Factor was the real genius.
I'll leave you with some images depicting the makeup looks of the 1920's,1930's,and 1940's

The 1920's Makeup Look






The 1930's Makeup Look




The 1940's Makeup Look





Vintage Make-up Guides.com

Visit our definitive Vintage Make-up Guide Site, packed with beautiful downloadable 1920's makeup guides, 1930s make-up guides, 1940s make-up guides and 1950s  make-up guides.

Also Glamourdaze highly recommends Gabriela Hernandez's book Classic Beauty - The history of Make-up

Copyright - Glamourdaze 2010

Lipstick Glamour - The History of Lip Makeup

Lipstick Glamour - The History of Lip Makeup


A little digging into the history of that popular makeup accessory.

Lip makeup entered mass production after becoming widely popular when the Lipstick was invented by Maurice Levy in 1915 a push up tube within a container essentially similar to the shape used today.
"Natural" lipgloss was also invented, which used bromo acid to create a red effect as it reacted with the wearer's skin.Yikes !!
In the 1920s, Shaping the mouth became an international preoccupation among women.Metal lip tracers, made in various sizes to satisfy the wishes of the wearer, were developed to ensure flawless lipstick application. Helena Rubinstein created Cupid's Bow a product that billed itself as a "self-shaping lipstick that forms a perfect cupid's bow as you apply it."
The development of the mirrored lipstick container in the 1920's also points to the importance of shaping the lips through the application of lipstick.

Images and Adverts of Lipstick from 1920's





Following the success of the Memoirs of a Geisha film, it's easy to see how much the Japanese woman influenced western looks in the 20th century !!
Trends in lip colour and lip shape developed through the 1920's and the popularity of lip cosmetics saw the introduction of other products such as lip gloss, lip liner, and lip balm [ a bomb ???] - created by the genius Max Factor for Hollywood actresses in 1930.


Lipstick Advert from 1930's




Throughout the 1930's and on into the war years of the 1940's lipstick gained popularity as a result of its use in the movie industry, and it became commonplace for women to apply makeup, or "put their face on."
Lippy [ as it is known in Britain and Ireland ] hasn't looked back since.


Images of From Life Magazine - Lipstick from 1930's and 1940's





Lipstick Adverts from the 1940's



Stencil Image courtesy of Modern Mechanix
Copyright - http://glamourdaze.blogspot.com/

1930's Fashion - Womens Shoe Styles

 See also Gorgeous Shoe Fashions ( Vintage 1936 Film)

1930s Fashion - Glamour of Womens Shoes

In the early twentieth century women demanded more comfortable, flat-soled shoes-- that is until the roaring twenties when higher hemlines encouraged visible, elaborate, high heeked and slender Louis heels. The Depression during the 1930's highly influenced shoe fashion in the USA and Europe as heels became lower and wider. The new heel developed an elegant look and stars’ shoes like Ginger Roger’s white and glittery heels began to challenge the influence of French shoe fashion .Here you see some examples of shoe styles from the 1930s as worn by various Hollywood Sirens like Carole Lombard,Bette Davis, Garbo [ she of the apparently big feet] and more.
Also some great images from Life Magazine, which now has its back catalogue online.
Enjoy !