Garters and Spats: De Rigueur a Century Ago

The year was 1921. The U.S. population was 108 million. Warren G. Harding was president. Adolf Hitler became fuhrer (leader) of Germany’s Nazi Party. Actress Donna Reed was born; German composer Engelbert Humperdinck died. The Tulsa Race Massacre killed thirty-six people officially (but possibly 100-300). The world’s first fast-food restaurant—a White Castle—opened in Wichita, Kansas. Coco Chanel launched Chanel No. 5. Prohibition was the law of the land. A new Hudson cost $2,180 at Fain-Bender Motor Company on Commerce Street. For the second season in a row, the Fort Worth Cats were champions of the Texas League. The silent film The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino, premiered. Hit songs included “Wang Wang Blues” and “I’m a Jazz Vampire.”

And Fort Worth newspapers and department stores showed readers the latest fashions:

“In olden days a glimpse of stocking . . .”: As the twenties began to roar, in 1921 haute couturier Mme. Frances decreed “ankles only”: Longer skirts were de rigueur. Madam Frances Spingold’s clients included Columbia Studios and Marjorie Merriweather Post.

Sanger Brothers was one of the town’s upscale stores for clothing in 1921, carrying brands such as Kuppenheimer. In this ad, just look at that decked-out dude as he returns the gaze of an admiring woman. And why is she admiring? All together now: “’Cause every girl’s crazy ’bout a sharp-dressed man.” (RIP, Dusty Hill.)

This page is flush with fashion. It includes photos and text about the upcoming Spring Style Festival. Reigning over the festival as fashion goddess and fashion nymphs were these socialites: Florence Scott, daughter of attorney Walter B. Scott; Josephine Lehane, daughter of John F. Lehane, vice president of the Cotton Belt railroad; Ruth Haltom, daughter of jeweler George W. Haltom; Venita Saunders, daughter of T. B. Saunders II, the first cattle dealer at the stockyards; and Mary Louise Johnson, daughter of J. Lee Johnson. The page also includes an ad for the Spring Style Festival and a clothing ad for Farley’s clothing store, located next to the J. C. Penney department store on Houston Street.
(About the prices in these ads: $1 in 1921 would be about $14 today.)

Meacham’s department store also ran a big ad for the Spring Style Festival.

Sanger Brothers department store promised that “Milady will always find the correct interpretations of the mode in footwear for all occasions in our large shoe department” as ubiquitous socialite Josephine Lehane modeled the Lille slipper (“one eighth Louis XV heel”) for women.

Pointy-toed shoes at Monnig’s department store.

High-button shoes for both men and women at Penney’s.

But at the Florsheim shoe store, a more modern style for men.

Spats were in style for both men and women.

Women’s hats at Stripling’s department store.

Men’s hats.

A Conehead flapper.

In 1921 not all men’s shirts were made with the attached collar we know today. Some shirts were designed to be worn with a detachable collar, which was sold separately. Note the low stub of a collar on the shirts at Taggart-Lintz. A shirt with “fancy collar attached” cost more. The collar of a shirt is one of the most visible parts of a shirt and a part likely to become soiled. A detachable collar could be laundered (and starched) separately from the rest of the shirt.

Washer Brothers sold the latest look for boys: cloth caps and knickers with long stockings. (The word knickers comes from the name of a fictional Dutchman, Diedrich Knickerbocker, created by Washington Irving. Knickerbocker was depicted wearing baggy-kneed trousers.)

Popular brands among young people were Buster Brown shoes and Jack Tar Togs clothing.

“Next floor: Foundations. Brassieres, corsets, petticoats, union suits with open or closed seat, bloomers. Watch your step, please.” (Bloomers were pantaloons named for suffragette Amelia Jenks Bloomer, who advocated them as women’s wear because bloomers were less restrictive than corsets and dresses.)

Dresses at Stripling’s.

Hosiery was made of wool or silk and sold in two-leg pairs. No synthetic fibers (nylon) or pantyhose in 1921.

Men and women kept their socks and hose up with garters worn either on the legs or waist. And the kiddos weren’t left out. The A. Stein company (maker of the Paris garters above) sold the Hickory “waist and garters” for children. It was essentially an undervest to which garters were attached. A cross strap kept the undervest from slipping off the shoulders.

Pants and knickers could be held up by suspenders.

On the “Woman’s and Magazine Page,” sandwiched between the syndicated columns “Holding a Husband” and “Efficient Housekeeping” was a feature about a “lady’s slip-on dress.” Readers could mail fifteen cents to the Star-Telegram Fashion Department and receive a pattern for the dress in the mail.

Likewise, a “busy mother” could make “togs” for her children by buying McCall patterns—and the “appropriate materials and trimming”—at The Fair department store.

The well-dressed construction worker.

The Hanes company sold union suits (one-piece underwear) for men and boys.

“It was an itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie, yellow polka-dot . . .” shoulders-to-knees bathing suit?

Yes, in many cities in 1921 in the name of modesty male bathers were required to wear a top and trunks, and female bathers were required to wear a top and a skirt. One-piece suits, which ended high on the hip, were forbidden.
For example, Lake Worth custodian E. C. Dayton banned one-piece bathing suits at his beach. Female bathers had to wear a skirt. Naturally the minimum legal length of the skirt was debated.
And in December of 1921, as the new public “bathing pool” in Forest Park was nearing completion, parks superintendent George C. Clarke echoed Dayton: no one-piece suits. The Clarke story reports that bathers at Lake Worth the previous summer had tried to, well, skirt the law with “queer fringes and ruffles.”

“But, Hometown, why on Earth,” I hear you ask, “would people in Texas swelter—and itch—in bathing suits made of wool?” My understanding is that two factors were: (1) There were fewer affordable fabric options then (no synthetic fibers). (2) Wool when wet is less revealing than thinner fabrics.
’Nuff said.

Posts About Stores

 

This entry was posted in "Read All About It", Advertising, Life in the Past Lane. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *