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Abstract

This segment from a 1932 newsreel presented outfits from a collection of women’s daytime, athletic, and evening wear, and it highlighted important fashion trends in the early 1930s, as well as the new types of synthetic material that went into making them.  As ready-to-wear clothing manufacturers took advantage of these fabrics to produce stylish-looking outfits at more affordable prices, it had an overall democratizing effect on men and women’s fashions by enabling even those with modest incomes to appear well-heeled. A particularly thriving industry for ready-to-wear clothing [Konfektion] emerged in Berlin, where legions of contracted seamstresses, many of them working from home, made the latest looks available for the mass market. Women’s fashion reflected changing economic roles at the time, too, as their workplace needs demanded simplicity, functionality, and physical mobility.

Newsreel Report about New Synthetic Fabrics in Women’s Fashion (1932)

Source

Presenter: Simplicity is the style of today's fashion, which is based on the material. A particularly interesting material is Vistra, from which this dress is made. The Vistra fiber combines the characteristic demands of fashion. It is supple, has a subtle sheen and a wool-like character.

The latest fashions in suits, sports outfits and coat-like trotteurs are most tastefully realized in Vistra. Cedelin, a durable cotton fabric, is particularly attractive in its patterning. It livens up a woman's working day. By the way, do you know Bobby? I'm not referring to a boy, but a fabric. Bobby is the new material for the coming season's beach suit, for the sports dress.

Despite the emphasis on plain colors, fabrics with flowers and ornaments will continue to be the joyful expression of summery and festive hours. Crepe Oriental, in solid colors and patterns, satisfies both desires. Flamenga and Dorona, blended fabrics of rayon and wool and rayon and cotton, are typical fashion fabrics for women's day dresses. It is often enlivened by an original scarf. Fleurette and Travisette effectively embody the floaty trend of summer and evening dresses. Fashion is a woman's specialty. But what should interest men equally is the fact that these German products have been taken up by the fashion center of the world and incorporated as novelties into the Paris collections for the first time.

Source: Deuligton-Woche No. 9 (clip), March 1932. Bundesarchiv Filmarchiv Filmwerk ID: 626497 https://digitaler-lesesaal.bundesarchiv.de/video/626497/665631

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