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How to Dress Like You are From the 1930s

Dressing like you’re from the 1930s isn’t very hard. Basically, you throw on an outfit of old rags and you’re ready to go. The 1930s were one of the darkest decades in United States’ history and certainly not a time of outrageous fashion.  In the 1920s, people really went all out. They partied all night and drank bootlegged liquor all day. It was a time of decadence, to be sure. Well, for some anyway. To their credit, the 1910s were an absolute mess and they were excited to see the other side of the First World War. However, the break didn’t last long, because a virtual bomb dropped just ten years later in 1929.

The stock market crash of 1929 brought all of that partying, dancing, drinking, and spending to a grinding halt. Across America, people were out of work and the future seemed pretty grim. As if an all out economic depression weren’t enough, many folks were busy digging themselves out of a dusty mess.

The Dust Bowl helped give the 1930s the extremely literal nickname of “The Dirty Thirties.” Bad farming and an alarming drought resulted in more than five years of uncontrollable dust storms that wreaked havoc on the American landscape, much less the agricultural and economic systems. Farmers in the High Plains had to run for cover and abandon their homes in order to find refuge from this raging disaster.
Needless to say, the 1930s were a mess. The country was all but torn apart and the morale of the American people was at an all time low. To say that times were tough would be an understatement.

However, despite national hardship, the 1930s were the era for what we now refer to as Old Hollywood. Hollywood glamour contrasted the basic wardrobes of wandering “Okies”. The golden suntans and bare shoulders of Hollywood were all the glamour this destitute era needed to help stay afloat.

For the ultimate outfit the truly embodies the 1930s, your ensemble should symbolize the devastation of the Depression and the Dust Bowl as well as the glamorous Hollywood scene. With a few rollers in your hair and a set of heavy duty shoulder pads under a basic tee, your outfit will definitely look like a modern interpretation of the 1930s.