Here are the historic fashion design trends of 1932. The
pictures of these vintage dress styles were offered to the readers of the
Ladies Home Journal in May of 1932. Most of the fashions illustrated were for
dress patterns as many women of the Great Depression made their own clothing.
The world, then, was deep into the grip of the Great
Depression. It was a terrible time with a 25 % unemployment rate. People who
did work often had their hours and pay reduced. Others worked harder for less
pay. Tent cities and shanty towns grew in areas around the country where
refugees looked for work. Nearly half the banks in the United States failed, and
withdrawals even at safe banks were often restricted due to the fear of bank runs.
Fashion design moved toward simpler lines to reflect the
simpler lives of the public. However, there was a great interest in the glamour
of the wealthy as well as in the glamour portrayed by Hollywood . People dreamed of the luxurious
past, but lived with a new economic severity.
The magazine displayed the types of clothing that regular
middle class women appreciated. Just like the middle class magazines of later
years, LHJ portrayed the kinds of fashion designs that most women might
actually wear or hope to wear - not the expensive, out of reach costumes of the
more stylish magazines.
