Vintage Sportswear - 1936

A typical women's riding habit from the 1930s.

When you think of clothing in the 1930s, your mind probably conjures up an image of a tall slender woman wearing a slinky bias cut evening gown. Or maybe you picture her in a floral print tea dress made of a sheer cotton or rayon that floats over a slip. But sportswear was also an essential part of most women's wardrobes. Sweater knits were very popular, as were split skirts and ski pants. Here's a look at some sportswear outfits from 1936.

For hunting and fishing, women wore menswear inspired wool suits with split skirts.

Instead of boots, spats were worn over the shoes to protect the lower legs
when walking in the woods.

A typical ski jacket and pants in heavy wool loden cloth.

Heavy wools like this fell out of favor for skiwear by the 1940s,
as snow tended to clump and stick to the fabric.

That probably wasn't a concern if you could afford fur ski clothes!

Split skirts were also popular for skating, whether on the pavement or the ice.

Here, a suggested outfit for roller skating in New York consisted of a turtleneck sweater, plaid culottes, a matching hat and belt, plaid socks, and suede oxford shoes. Sounds like fun to me!

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Ski Fashion - 1949

If you watch the news, then you probably know that much of the Eastern Seaboard got buried under snow over the weekend. Here was the view out my back door yesterday morning. It was snowing at a fast clip of about 1" per hour with high winds and blizzard conditions.

It seems appropriate this morning to talk a bit about skiing, as I'm sure many folks who are on vacation this week will be heading to the hills. Skiing in America did not become a popular sport until after the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, NY, when the American team performed dismally against foreign teams from Scandinavia.

In 1933, the country's first rope tow was installed at Woodstock, Vermont. Other ski areas quickly followed the T-Bars, J-Bars, and aerial trams. Before that, this was how you got up the mountain.

In 1933, Saks Fifth Avenue played a big role in garnering interest in the sport by installing an indoor ski slide and hiring European ski instructors to give lessons to beginners. Macy's followed suit the following year, and both stores promoted ski equipment, and more importantly, ski clothing.

Early manufacturers of ski fashion thought that, since one was out in the cold, heavy fleecy woolen fabrics would be the best to use. But snow tended to cake up and stick to the wool, and skiers weren't happy. Manufacturers paid attention and gradually turned to hard-finish water repellant fabrics like gabardine and poplin, with nylon coming into play in the late 1940s. Simple, functional styles were the result. Here are a few examples from 1949.

Left: Ernst Engel nylon jacket with a clever tunnel belt that attaches to the belt loops on the wool gabardine trousers. Each piece sold for $16.95 in 1949 (about $152 in today's dollar).
Right: Frederic J. Dormer jacket in Byrd Cloth (a heavy and dense cotton twill) with wool gabardine trousers. Jacket sold for $25.00 and trousers for $16.95 in 1949 (about $224 and $152 in today's dollar).

White Stag brushed wool coat for cross country skiing. Sold for $22.50 in 1949 (about $202 in today's dollar).

Bloomingdale's offered this beige poplin jacket with attached surplice wrapped vest from Switzerland. Sold for $35.00 in 1949 (about $314 in today's dollar).

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Ski Wear from 1959

We're supposed to get more snow this weekend in Boston, which means lots of people will head up to the slopes in New Hampshire and Vermont. Here's a look at some ski wear from 1959.

Above: A bright knit Swedish sweater by P&M over wool/nylon stretch ski pants. A knitted cowl hood keeps the neck and ears warm.

Here a white lambskin jacket to wear off the slopes by Georges Kaplan. Worn with White Stag wool/nylon stretch ski pants and red suede booties.

On the left, a pigeon blue nylon parka by Ernst Engel is belted over wool/nylon stretch ski pants. The parka's hood can convert to a collar or a muffler too. On the right, beige nylon reverses to bright orange wool on this quilted parka. Worn over tangerine stretch pants by White Stag.

Whatever your weekend plans, have fun!

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