Vintage Dresses: Key Shapes Through the Decades

Posted On: 26th February 2021

Post Written By: Lucy, Brand Director

We trip back through the time and explore vintage dresses and the key dress shapes that dominated the decades with Joanie’s Brand Director, Lucy. Great Scott! Power up the flux capacitor…

Today we travel back through time to take a closer look at key vintage dresses - the shapes, details and fashions of our top five decades of the mid 20^th Century. The period we currently call ‘vintage’.

Let’s do the time warp… yeah!

The Fabulous 1940s Tea Dress

With the first half of the decade dominated by WWII, 1940s fashion had no choice but to adapt as women were forced to ‘make do and mend’. Military and utilitarian influences began to creep into women’s dress as women took over the ‘men’s work’. Masculine style, squared off shoulders, often enhanced by pads, paired with nipped in waists to emphasize the hourglass silhouette that was so de rigueur in the forties. Rationing put paid to all the bells and whistles, even the humble long sleeve was a luxury few could afford. Dresses had narrow, high waistlines, and finished just above the knee to save on fabric.

After wartime ended, and society and fashion started to recover, the iconic 1940s tea dress shape really came into its own in pretty floral patterns, polka dots or pastel colourways, with frills, puffed or flounced sleeves and sweetheart necklines, featuring buttons, bows, ruching or shirring. These vintage dresses were accessorised with seamed stockings, heels, hats, gloves, handbags and lashings of red lipstick and victory rolled hairdos.

Ava Gardner, Ingrid Bergman, Katharine Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis - we love you.

Julietta EcoVero™ Floral Print Tea Dress, Manon EcoVero™ Fruit Print Button-Through Shirt Dress, Florrie Rose Print Midi Tea Dress

The Nifty 1950s Shirtwaister (a.k.a. Shirt Dress)

The post-war boom led to babies galore, music, movies and old Hollywood glamour but most importantly, joy returned to fashion! When Christian Dior released his game-changing debut collection the ‘New Look’ in 1947, gone were the limitations on fabric consumption and frugal cuts, and in came softer rounded shoulders, a tiny cinched waistline and an ultra-feminine very full skirt that celebrated and exaggerated the female form. This style is probably the most conjured when thinking about vintage dresses.

Born is the ‘Shirtwaister’ or shirt dress as we know it; dresses that became synonymous with mid-century style. Classically a button through front, with notched or shawl collar, nipped in waist with a full gathered on swing skirt (with pockets) that swished and swayed, perfect for dancing. Shirtwaister dresses became shorthand for the classic 1950s housewife look, often layered over a full petticoat and paired with a matching apron to keep Mommy’s dress clean. More glam versions were known as hostess dresses for entertaining.

Those boomtime babies grew up, became teenagers and fell in love with Rock ‘n’ Roll, you’ve all seen Back to The Future…

“I Guess You Guys Aren’t Ready For That Yet. But Your Kids Are Gonna Love It.” Marty McFly

Montana Rainbow Stripe Shirt Dress, Berlin Belted Denim Shirt Dress, Natalie Cotton Tea Dress

The Swinging 1960s Shift Dress

A new generation is formed from the so-called ‘Youthquake’. Attitudes shift and so do the dress shapes. Whether it be the Beatniks in New York, the Mods in London or the Space Age futurists in Paris, the 1960s dress shape is more relaxed with a slim or A-line ‘shift’ silhouette. Gone are the forced waists, up go the hemlines and in come the mini skirts. Futuristic feeling, often in brightly coloured, innovative or stretch fabrics, and feature large zips or collars and bold prints.

Vartan Red Stripe Polo Dress, Purdita Rainbow Print Shirt Dress, Olive Navy Velveteen Scallop Pinafore Dress

The 1970s - That’s a Wrap!

As the sixties rolled into the seventies, lines blurred, forms soften and a more bohemian feel takes over, powered by flowers and LSD. Inhibitions lost and as sexual freedom rules, bras are burned. As necklines take a plunge and hemlines hit the floor, maxi length dresses and jumpsuits become the go-to garments of ‘hippy chic’. Bold prints and colours became the ‘in’ thing.

The one garment that really reflected that freedom (due to its ability to be easily removed) was the wrap dress. Diane Von Fürstenberg, queen of the wrap dress, stated that she designed it ‘for the empowered woman seeking a little dress that whipped off in an instant, and more usefully, could be swiftly and silently pulled back on in a dark bedroom without waking last night’s sexual conquest’.

Straight from the office to Studio54? It was the seventies - Buckaroo!

Mars Colourful Star & Moon Print Midi Dress, Dent Colourful Stripe Wrap Dress, Arianne EcoVero™ Lightning Bolt Print Jumpsuit

The 1980s - Power Dressing to the Max

Economic success, perms, mullets, shoulder pads, ‘buy, buy, sell, sell!’; the eighties is home to the ‘power dress’. To ‘dress for success’ meant having the confidence to express your new position in the workplace through the clothes that you wore. Yes, those polka dots showed you really did ‘mean business’. Celebrity exponents ranged from Maggie Thatcher to Lady Di. Nothing show’s ‘em who’s boss like a pussy bow neckline. Styling tip, layer over a black turtleneck and pair of 10 denier tights with court shoes to turn the power up.