Color & Design: Fashion in Men's & Women's Clothing & Home Furnishings by Bernice G. Chambers
I love collecting old books on art and fashion. A few months ago, I came across this book. It’s called Color & Design: Fashion in Men’s & Women’s Clothing & Home Furnishings by Bernice G. Chambers (1951). Apparently, it’s been out of print for years. It’s a total gem from start to finish!
Composition, 1930 by Mondrian
The book was: written to enable the reader to use the intangible but effective forces of color and design advantageously in the selection, use, arrangement, creation, buying, and selling of merchandise. The author was a Professor of Retailing at NYU in the 1950s. Clearly a textbook for fashion enthusiasts.
A Suggested Buying Guide
Here is the author’s suggested buying guide. 2 blouses every year? My, how times have changed.
A Guide to Men's & Women's Proportions
The average person is 7 or 7 1/2 heads tall. Hmm, this reminds me of Nancy Riegelman’s book – 9 Heads: A Guide to Fashion. Is our current ideal out of proportion? Still, Riegelman’s book is beautiful.
Different Body Shapes of 1951.
Here’s an illustration of the average figure size and shape that an alert sales person learns to recognize. The tall slender on the top right was the 1951 ideal body shape.
Collars
Interesting Collars and Necklines
Necklines
I love the scarf collar!
Necklines
Love the skirts below.
Skirts
Sleeves
Sleeves
Dresses
My Favorite
Styles from Gimbel's Department Store
More from Gimbel's
Coats
Sketches by Vera Maxwell
Fashions of 1951
Molyneux
Tina Lesser Dress Inspired by Dancing Shiva
Gilbert Adrian et al
Cecil Chapman et al
Hats
Shoes & Their Parts
One of my favorite parts of this book was the pronunciation guide for the French terms and houses. Look for my next post which will be based on this idea. See you next week!
GHTime Code(s): nc
