A Well Dressed Visit

From the Schavey envelope collection.


(Click on images to enlarge)
Images courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.



One unknown couple visited another unknown couple in an unknown place at an unknown time, and all that remains of that happy day are these two photos testifying that these people knew how to dress, even though (I'm guessing) this was in the 1920s.

I say "even though…" because (in my personal opinion) women's fashions of the 1920s were aggressively unflattering. Dropped waists and flat silhouettes looked just passable on the ideal women in the catalogs; in real life, on real women, they rarely looked anything but unfortunate, and the brimless, close-fitting "cloche" hat had all the charm of a rubber bathing cap. Men's fashions were less extreme, though you could find men of the 1920s making themselves ridiculous with golf apparel or "Oxford bags."

But here we see a woman (in the first photo, and at left in the second) wearing a dress that is classic — simple, well cut, tasteful. Where the devil did she find it, in the 1920s? Only by those two dark stripes at her hip do we find this natural-waisted dress acknowledging the currently fashionable point of emphasis.

The other woman, at right in the second photo, is a bit more trendy, but I think her ensemble would be flattering if it fit her better. She's got excess fabric between her arm and her waist.

And these well-turned-out people are standing in front of a mud-caked car. Perhaps they had to travel on country roads for this visit.

I love the side curtains on the car, and the brick-paved street.