1940s Hoodies

While hoodies might seem a relatively new clothing development, and a fairly sloppy one at that, lovers of vintage style and fans of classic films may have noticed that in the 1930s and 1940s hooded dress and jackets where all the rage.  What's more these hoods where glamorous and beautiful.  Day dresses, jackets, capes and even winter evening gowns got the hooded treatment:



 

 

 

 

image source

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image source  Claudette Colbert in hooded gown

Ever since seeing the incomparable Judy Garland in a gorgeous Christmasey hood in 1944's Meet Me in St. Louis.

image source Judy Garland in Crystal head wrap

 

I've wanted a 1940s hood of my own.   Judy's hood is actually a sort of sparkly snood and I decided that with my short hair I'd rather a hooded dress.   Luckily Etsy vintage seamstress The Black Pinafore had the perfect 1940s dress on her blog which I had seen modeled by the lovely Kitten Von Meow.

Image Source: The Black Pinafore BlogSpot

 

 I asked Debora if she could make me a similar dress in grey wool and red satin and she readily agreed.   Debora has great customer service and sent me fabric and button samples at no extra charge and clearly explained how to take measurements.  The resulting dress is just want I wanted. 

 

Warm, pretty, and festive.  I'm still thinking about Judy's sparkly hood though... good thing there's always next year.