The generous 3-inch hems, on the other hand, were awesome.
I have been doing a close content analysis of the kids’ clothes in Sears catalogs from the 1950s. Two elements of little girl dressing stand out in my memory as I look at these catalogs. First, the back closures. I was well into elementary school before I could completely dress myself, thanks to the standard design of school frocks: buttons in the back, with a self fabric sash, requiring my mother’s assistance every morning. Out of the 324 dresses in the 1950-1954 Sears catalogs, only 27 did not fasten in back. And then there are pockets. Less 15% of the 324 have pockets, all of them barely large enough for a child’s hand. A few do offer a matching “hankie bag” hanging from its belt loop. I am struggling to remember where I kept my handkerchief when I went to school with the sniffles.
The generous 3-inch hems, on the other hand, were awesome.
3 Comments
Erika L
6/26/2021 04:21:25 pm
I love this, and look forward to knowing more. Thank you.
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Marion Baumgarten
10/26/2021 10:41:18 am
I never had a hanky bag!
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S.S
2/7/2023 06:04:15 pm
in 1959-61 or so there was a brand of girls dresses, well made, that always included a hidden pocket in every dress. a local dress shop carried them and mom & I would wait in line for the shop to open for their back to school sale in hopes of getting one or two of them for school. i wish i could remember the brand
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