WW2 Utility Clothing era

From the beginning of 1941, materials such as leather, wool and cotton for clothing were in limited supply due to the second world war. The government ensured only a limited number of clothes were in shops for purchase to reduce the choice available to people. Therefore, many people looked rather similar in very similar outfits! People were required to use clothing coupons to purchase clothing and both the manufacturer and retailer underwent price restrictions.

"Make Do & Mend"
 People were rationing and clothing coupons were limited, so people would fix and revamp old dresses with lace and embroidery, re-use the wool from old jumpers and draw lines down women's legs with pen or eyeliner for a seamed stocking effect, as hoisery was too expensive or in short supply.

Model Frida Gatavsson wearing 40's utility style

Hairstyles
Celebrities such as Dita von Teese and Marilyn Monroe wore typical 40's hairstyles: finger-waves, vintage curls and quoiffs - all styled, in the 40s, with rollers, rags and heated implements.
Hair was also often pinned back and women rarely sported fringes. Fringes were quoiffed or curled back into the rest of the hair.
It's still very fashionable, although deemed classy, vintage or posh, to wear 40's curled hairstyles. They're often a popular choice for weddings, proms and dinner parties. The hairstyles are usually worn with the typical 40's make-up of red lipstick, black eyeliner and outlined eyebrows.

References:
http://www.kirkbymalham.info/KMLHG/war/utility.html

The Flapper Girl

Flapper Girls doing the Charleston

Flapper girl fashion dates back to the 20s-30s, when young ladies rebelled against the times and completely revolutionised fashion. They cropped their long hair into short bobs, styled with the finger wave, swapped fitted dresses for loose and wore red lipstick with kohl eyeliner.
The 20s decade was notorious for the art deco movement which engulfed architecture, furniture and interior design as well as fashion and beauty. Accessories worn by an middle/upper-class lady were typically art deco designs of geometrics in silver, diamonds and ebony. 1920's clothing was also under the category of art deco, with bead stitching on some fashionable dresses falling in geometric shapes. However, the decorative influence of art nouveau, only a few decades earlier, still took effect on accessories such as the peacock feather headband and the feather boa.

'Flapper Girl' by myself. Watermark: Finnish-Penguin at DeviantArt.

I painted this a few years ago, on canvas, using little photographic reference (which explains some of the flaws and misshaped hands!). I've always been really interested and fascinated by this era and find flapper girls to define beauty and glamour. I tried to capture the era through her outfit, make-up and the colours used. This is currently hanging in my hallway but I intend to go back and edit it; repainting areas and tidying things up.

Men

Michael Jackson (center) on the set of short film for 'Smooth Criminal', in which he plays a 1930's gangster.

In the 1920s-30s, men still typically wore smart clothing, especially in the streets or at social events.
A sight to imagine is of an old-fashioned gangster - that would typically portray a standard middle-class man in the 1920s, minus the gangster title.
Men wore trilby or fedora hats, ties, blazer jackets, high-waisted trousers, braces and brogues - all either pinstriped or plain. The image above depicts typical 20's-30's male attire, modelled on Michael Jackson and his dancers and inspired by the outfits worn by Fred Astaire.

Victorian and Edwardian fashion

Victorian and Edwardian fashion is instantly recognisable and a real staple in history. When researching vintage or decadant fashions, the mind links immediately to Victorian couture for its infamous garments which have since been replicated and emulated to fit into modern British times. We still wear waistcoats and top-hats today, albeit for weddings, but for events nonetheless. We also still wear florals and lace. Black lace (which the Victorians would wear for mourning) is in current fashion and can easily be found in shops around town, whether it be a dress, hoisery or cardigan.

Ditsy/shabby chic:

Girl modelling 'ditsy' dress

These days, as it is currently in trend throughout Britain, it's common to come across an old-looking birdcage or decorative floral photo frame in shops, claiming to be in the style of 'vintage ditsy'.
I'm unsure exactly where 'ditsy' comes from but the style is country-style Victorian-Edwardian, i.e.: floral, rose-pattern, gingham, soft colours...etc. Furniture in this style is also designed to look old and battered, with paintwork peeling and scratched off, chips and indents...etc. They're designed to look as though they've been handed down generations, thus aquiring a vintage effect!
Ditsy or shabby chic clothing usually looks 'old grannyish' with floral, knee-length tea dresses and cream shirts with big, brass buttons and long socks with ribbons or bows. Overall, the fashion is soft, pale and patterened, and often quite frumpy and shapeless!

Edwardian fashion

Stereotypical Edwardian couple (with Scotty dog)

When I think of Edwardian fashion, I typically conjur up images of ladies wearing floor-length cotton dresses with puffy shoulders and lace collars, sporting large sunhats and frilly parasoles.
By 1890, tailored women's waist jackets became longer and looser (thus more comfortable) but was thought to be too masculine and unladylike.
Blouses were flouncy and feminine, with pussybow ties, frilled/ruffled neck cravats, lace inserts and puffed sleeves. They were often worn with a brooch or cameo pin.
Edwardian hats featured many feathers and were very extravagant. Ladies often wore real animal fur, either as boas or drapes or featured on their hats, too.
For men, there was little difference between Edwardian and Victorian fashion. Men were still waistcoated and smart with hats and boots. However, their clothes did become more flamboyant with lapels on their jackets being tailored with patterned material such as floral or pinstripe or, just generally, jacket colours becoming lighter and bolder than the those of Victorian fashion.

Victorian fashion

Stereotypical Victorian couple

The Victorians were known for their straight-laced conservatism. Women suffered for their beauty: sucked in at the waist with corsets that often caused physical damage to their ribcages and internal organs, and hair scraped and pinned back a little too tightly!
Outfits covered the entire body, from neck to feet. Outerwear was worn with gloves, too.
The colours of Victorian clothing were muddy and/or plain in the early era, but the introduction of synthetic dyes towards the late era brought lighter and brighter coloured clothes into fashion.
Men were equally as elegantly dressed and wore frock coats and cravats, and more than likely sported mutton-chops and/or moustaches.

Contemporary fashion inspired by Victorian:
Steam Punk or Pseudo-Victorian fashion

Modelling Victorian-inspired contemporary outfit

Steam Punk clothing

Catwalk model sporting Victorian-inspired outfit

Steam Punk clothing is inspired by Victorian clothing, its name deriving from the steam travel age (Victorian industrial revolution). While it clearly holds strong gothic influences, the Victorian style is evident through the jackets, cravats, shirts and lace.
If I imagine drawing a typical Goth, I want to draw a girl with flowing dark hair and a corset with a flowing black lacey skirt. While modern goths tend to add spikes, chains, studs...etc. (from the punk era), the essence of it is very Victorian.

Vintage-style modern illustrators

 Iv Orlov

 Only two colours have been used here with black and white. It's quite a complicated, busy illustration but comes across instantly retro from its style and use of colour. The colours are soft and clash somewhat.

I find, generally, 50's or 60's art isn't outlined (unless you consider cartoons such as the old Disney films). This illustration is purely colour, tone and shapes. The colours chosen are typically 50s - the turquoise background in particular.

These black line drawings look vintage in its style and also how the characters look. They're all sporting 50's style outfits and hairstyles. They remind me of the old retro comics.

Vintage illustrators

Rene Gruau

This is one of the most simple but effective posters from Gruau's 80s poster range.
He is well-known for her simplistic style of black, white and spot colour.

The illustration above best depicts his style. He worked throughout the 20s as a fashion illustrator and has been likened to Toulouse-Lautrec.

 Joe DeMers

This is a Pepsi advert illustration by Joe DeMers. He has painted lots of tone in each character's skin, yet left their clothing more-or-less monotonous and plain. His work is typically 50s, with accurate draftsmanship and strong sense of photo-realism.

From 'My Favourite Book' (illustrator and author unknown)

 This was found on a different blog, with a distinct 50s style and spot colouring of yellow. It doesn't even look unfinished, as the yellow has added to specific parts of the illustration. I would love to be able to draw like this.

Pin-up Girl Illustrations

Pin-up Girls ^(1920s-90s)

Pin-ups were fashion models, glamour models or actresses whose erotic photographs were used as pull-out pages in magazines or calendars to 'pin up' on bedroom walls. The pin-up era was solely during the 40s-50s, where the models became major sex symbols and often had their photos illustrated and mass-produced.
One of the more notable pin-up girls is Betty Grable, whose pictures were pinned to WW2 soldiers' lockers!
Pin-up artists would be commissioned for magazines such as Esquire and Playboy to illustrate saucy girls in provocative poses, often playfully dressed in WW2 attire, underwear or swimwear. Such artists were Alberto Vargas, Al Moore, Earle K. Bergey and Olivia De Baradinis (who is one of the more recent pin-up artists).
Pin-up art became increasingly popular as artistic license gave illustrators plenty of freedom to draw girls in many differents ways, as opposed to the static, posed photographs of actresses and models previously.

Al Moore

 Al Moore was commissioned to replace Alberto Vargas' pin-up artwork for 1948's Esquire magazine. He also illustrated the entire 1948 and 1949 calendars himself, his work gathering a well-known reputation as 'the Esquire girl'.
I find the girls he illustrated are undeliberately sexy. They may be wearing skimpy outfits or underwear but their poses are quite normal and standard, with the exception of a few. The images above only feature the girls facing away, wearing a knitted jumper and lying on her belly! Yet they can still be considered erotic from how fitted their clothes are or how shapely their bodies are and how beautiful their faces are illustrated.

Alberto Vargas

 Alberto Vargas' work is not too dissimilar to Al Moore's. I find Vargas' work is more sensual and more photo-realistic. The colours are paler and lighter, unlike Moore's muddy, gharish colours. However, it's unclear why Moore would be commissioned to replace Vargas when Vargas' work was doing so well already and was pretty much the same style and look!

Olivia De Beredinis

Olivia De Beredinis' work gets a lot more sexual and erotic, borderline pornographic, than these examples above! She's clearly influenced by the famous old pin-up artists but has drawn modern models and actresses as well as making them naughtier than an artist would traditionally.

Ideas for front cover

• Large illustration of vintage pin-up girl, similar to previous Vintage Directory covers.
  It would allow good insight into how well I can execute such an illustration when following an identity or regular trend.
• A group of girls from their own eras, wearing invidual outfits from their time period. E.G.: Flapper girl, Victorian lady, 50's retro pin-up, war wife...etc. All in the same room; perhaps in a vintage boutique, applying make-up or posing. They will be rendered in the same hand-painted style, although I could experiment with other techniques.
• Vertical strips of retro patterns filling the entire cover: pin-stripe, polka-dot, lace, floral, gingham...etc. This idea would advertise all eras researched for the issue, rather than one specific era.
• Vector or digital illustration of a vintage girl: applying a modern touch to an old fashion.
• Art Nouveau-style lady with elaborate border and Victorian decoration, in the style of Alphonse Mucha and Echo Chernik.
• Portrait of vintage style icon such as Elizabeth Taylor or Twiggy - rendered with pencil or paints.

The Vintage Directory

The Vintage Directory is a British advertisement brochure/magazine featuring businesses, fairs and events of a vintage style or theme. Vintage boutiques and shops would book and pay to have their advertisements published in the directory. They are free and available at vintage fairs and shops throughout the UK, although can also be ordered online (delivery charge) for £1.75.

The job I have decided to undertake is to design a whole new front cover for The Vintage Directory. Past issues have featured illustrated pin-ups or photographs of modern women dressed in retro attire.
I have decided to radically change the look-and-feel of the directory and step away from the usual pin-up idea.

Website:
www.thevintagedirectory.co.uk
Link to the project on the Job Wall:
http://illustrationjobwall.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/job-title-vintage-directory-job.html

Job category:
Cover artwork

Description:
In the Autumn issue there was a item asking for artist to create artwork for the front cover.
If the image was accepted then it would appear on there magazine cover, website, Facebook and Twitter pages. They state that over 10,000 people view the magazine.

To research:

• Vintage fashion: Victorian, Edwardian, 20's Flapper Girl, 40's war-time, 60's, 70's and 80's fashion...etc.
• Vintage clothing & jewellery: hats and headscarves, gloves, hoisery, shoes (brogues, boots, heels...etc.), brooches, necklaces, overcoats, frock coats, shift dresses, ra-ra dresses, petticoats...etc.
• Vintage artwork: Art Nouveau, vintage ditsy, pin-up girls, war propaganda/posters, pop art, psychedelic 60's...etc.
• Vintage textiles: Buntin, floral, lace, gingham, polka dot, dog-tooth, flower power...etc.
• Vintage objects: Furniture (grandfather clock, antiques, Deco, Nouveau...etc.), Polaroid camera, vehicles (car, steam-train, ominbus...etc.), make-up (powder puff, perfume bottle...etc.), household items (quill and ink well, iron, leather-bound book...etc.).
• Vintage fashion icons: Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Fred Astaire, Twiggy, Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot, Louise Brooks, Elvis Presley...etc.
• Vintage-style contemporary artists: Pete Hawley, Nick Carter, Chris Appelhans, Dagmar Wilson, Andrio Abero, Amy Martin, Andrew, Bannecker, Franco Brambilla, Victoria Ball, Philip Bannister, Echo Chernik, Caroline Church, Koichi Fujii, Tobias Gobel, Martin Hargreaves, Victoria von Kap-Herr, Knut Maibaum, Joseph McDermott, Jan Meininghaus, Christian David Moore, Ruth Palmer, Kathryn Rathke, Peter Thom...etc.
• Vintage artists: Alberto Vargas, Al Moore, Aubrey Beardsley...etc.
  
• Vintage typography/graphic design: Decadant fonts, graphic devices for vintage editorials...etc.