Our ultimate destination for the day was the Nevada Museum of Art but first we paused for lunch at Great Full Gardens, a "little eclectic new age diner kind of feel with really yummy food and tons of great vegan and gluten free options."
Besides a delicious lunch, we were there to celebrate Sharon's birthday.𝅘𝅥𝅯 The singing made it that much more special. 𝅘𝅥𝅮I am a huge fan of this place. Founded in 1931, the Nevada Museum of Art is the only art museum in Nevada accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). Co-founded by Dr. James Church, an early climate scientist, humanist, and lover of art, the Museum, in its early days, was run by a small group of outdoor landscape painters. As a result, the Museum has long understood the importance of examining how humans interact with their natural, built, and virtual surroundings. Each time I return, I'm even more impressed.While we were there to attend a lecture, we quickly sampled all the museum had to offer... it is never long enough.A must is to experience Swell which transports visitors to a different time and place. Inside a darkened gallery, beams of light intersect with a hazy mist to create a mesmerizing interplay of light and shadow. For some visitors, Swell evokes the experience of slowly floating across an ocean current or soaring through an expansive galaxy beyond our universe. We were all thoroughly entranced. Wow.Dorothea Lange: Seeing People is an exhibit I savored the last time we were at the Museum... another must!During her long, prolific, and groundbreaking career, the American photographer Dorothea Lange made some of the most iconic portraits of the 20th century. This exhibit reframes Lange’s work through the lens of portraiture, highlighting her unique ability to discover and reveal the character and resilience of those she photographed. Featuring 100 photographs, the exhibition addresses her innovative approaches to picturing people, emphasizing her work on social issues including economic disparity, migration, poverty, and racism. I plan to return for a more thorough ogling.We had traveled the 60 miles in order to witness the exceptional lecture- Glamour and Grit: 1930s Fashion."The 1930s marked a pivotal period in the history of fashion. The Great Depression left a lasting impact on society and the fashion industry, alike. It was during this period that popular Hollywood stars became a major influence on fashion trends. Join us for a discussion with Megan Bellister, Nell J. Redfield Curator of Learning and Engagement at the Nevada Museum of Art, on why the Great Depression reshaped 1930s American fashion through practical necessity and Hollywood glamour."%20(Medium).jpg)
Times were turbulent for the significant majority of Canadians and Americans in the first half of the 20th century, especially during the Great Depression that followed the infamous stock market crash of 1929. While some women were able to afford the newest fashions, most women (especially those in more rural areas) had to make do with what little they could afford, and recycle what they had. As early as the late 1800s, flour and animal feed began to be sold in rough fabric sacks rather than wooden barrels. These bags were often recycled into rags and towels. By the 1910s, some goods like flour and sugar were packaged in lighter, softer cotton sacks, and poorer women creatively recycled these cotton sacks into things like undergarments, bed sheets, and curtains.
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Megan shared so much interesting information, I wish I would have taken notes. For instance, the annual salary in 1937 for a working woman was $936.00. On average she spent $78.00 per year on clothes. This typical Day Ensemble cost at total of $22.25 and consisted of: Coat: $12.50, Hat: 2.00, Gloves: $0.50, Shoes: $3.00, Dress: $1.40, Stockings: $0.80, Garters: $0.10, Slip: $0.60, Girdle: $1.00, and Bra: $0.35. That $78 in 1937 is equivalent to $1,750 in today's dollars. Wow.
Then, like now, Hollywood influenced daily life. Movies and pop culture offered an escape. One of the clearest examples of that influence was seen in fashion. Department stores sold clothing and dress patterns modeled on designs seen on the silver screen. Female actresses and their on-screen personas were strong, exciting, and sometimes dangerous. Everyday women aspired to look like their favorite film heroines, even if they could not afford a Hollywood lifestyle.
In 1932, movie star Joan Crawford starred in the movie Letty Lynton. The movie is about a woman who murders her abuser and gets away with it by pretending to be innocent. Many women related to Letty Lynton, a character who wanted to escape a hard life for a new one. And they all wanted her dressed which then became known as the Letty Lynton Dress.
Department stores quickly designed cheaper versions of the dress, and Macy’s claimed to sell over 50,000 Letty Lynton lookalikes. The layers and layers of fabric used in the original dress was difficult and costly to replicate, so only the big sleeves and elegant shape were copied. This dress is made of rayon and cotton, inexpensive materials that made it affordable for middle-class shoppers.In 1933, Sears offered a cheaper version in its catalog, making the style accessible to a wider audience during the Great Depression.Even pattern making companies joined in. This dress sparked a "symbiotic relationship between fashion and film" like never seen before. Who knew?
Megan covered all parts of women's fashion, including shoes. Emphasis was on comfort and durability of 1930s shoes as well as price during this Depression era. Women’s shoes in the 1930s were all high heels, and even sport shoes had a small flat heel (usually made of wood).Several references were made regarding Dorothea Lange. Dorothea was all about comfort while 'on the job' and found the only shoes that worked for her were men's. She was photographed wearing the Keds Conquest. What fun.
What's a fashion talk without mentioning stockings? During the 1930s Depression era, women's stockings were predominantly made of silk or rayon, featuring a back seam and available in dark, nude, and grey shades. Hemlines rose, making stockings a necessary, albeit delicate and expensive, accessory that was often secured by garters or girdle clips. The economic hardship led to ingenious solutions, including women wearing "painted legs" and drawing on seams to mimic stockings, a trend that persisted even after the war when nylon and silk became scarce for civilian use.%20(Medium)%20(1).jpg)
We all chuckled at the eyebrows of the 1930s. Wild.
This slide was a surprise. In the 1930s, Shirley Temple's parents partnered with the Rosenau firm of Philadelphia to produce a line of girls' clothing, with the "Cinderella" frock being a prominent feature. The dresses were known for their high quality and exquisite workmanship, making them more expensive than other girls' dresses. Between 1934 and 1941, approximately 15 million "Cinderella" dresses were sold, making the brand one of the most successful. The designs were adaptations of the garments Temple wore in her films, such as The Good Ship Lollipop and Little Miss Marker.
What a fantastic day of learning, sharing, and experiencing such interesting things in the company of some wonderful women. I loved this Girls' Day Out.
"Fashion anticipates, and elegance is a state of mind...
a mirror of the time in which we live,
a translation of the future, and should never be static."
-Oleg Cassini
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