I know lots of bloggers do this kind of post but I will be honest it’s a favorite read of mine. I LOVE seeing what others are pinning on their boards and gathering ideas for my home, vintage style etc. So with that, I thought I would do a post this week of some of my favorite vintage clothing items found online that I have pinned on my Pinterest board “Women’s Vintage Fashions 1920s-1960s“.

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy , eBay are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Note: If you click on a product link and it is no longer available, don’t fret! Etsy & eBay are updated daily with new vintage items so you are bound to find something else you will love just as much.

First up to start the vintage parade is this STUNNING 1940’s Vintage Silk-Rayon Couture Asymmetric Peplum-Wiggle Cocktail Dress.

This dress is so me, I cry a little bit knowing it could never be mine (price, size and now sold).

1940s Fashion: 1940's Vintage Silk-Rayon Couture Asymmetric Peplum-Wiggle Cocktail Dress. — Source Etsy-No Longer Available

What drew my eye to this 1940’s Rayon Gown was the red & black bird sequin detail. Isn’t it just a wonderful conversation starter??

1940s Fashion: 1940's Rayon Gown was the red & black bird sequin detail. — For Sale on Etsy-dethrosevintage

Who does not love a little Carmen Miranda in their lives?? This dress would be so wonderful to wear on an island vacation or maybe even to your next Tiki Party?

1950s vintage dress with applique of a woman that looks like Carmen Miranda — Source Etsy

I stumbled upon this dress on Etsy while looking for something to wear to my friend’s wedding in Spain and boy am I glad I did! Wow! A 1950’s Circle Skirt with 3D Spanish Dancer Appliques by “Juli Lynne Charlot of California“. Absolutely amazing!

1950s Fashion: 1950's Circle Skirt with 3D Spanish Dancer Appliques by "Juli Lynne Charlot of California" — For Sale on Etsy- Wear It Again

I’m always on the hunt for the perfect 1940’s Tailored Suit and this beauty fits all my requirements (expect for the part where it should fit me). The somewhat random (but not so random) orange/red lines throughout the suit is what really caught my attention. Adds something very different to what would have been just a plain BUT beautifully tailored suit.

Further Reading:

The Skirt Suit a Fall Fashion Trend. The 1940s Edition
Plaid…A Fall Fashion Trend-The Vintage Edition

1940s Fashion: 1940s Tailored womans Suit in a Plaid Pattern. — Source Etsy

I would wear this 1950s day dress to work, grocery store, to dinner and to bed because I would never want to take it off…ever. Love! My favorite part of this dress is the lovely navy and white gingham accents. I’m a sucker for a good gingham.

1950s Fashion: 1950's Day Dress. Navy Blue ottoman with navy and white gingham taffeta tie and skirt panel. Narrow cut sleeve with full mid calf skirt. — Source Etsy-Fashion Back Vintage

I don’t know if I can pull off a yellow dress but that does not stop me from wanting and adoring this cute 1940s vintage yellow summer dress. The flower detail on the pockets are just delightful!

1940s Fashion: 1940s vintage yellow summer dress. The flower detail on the pockets are just delightful! — Source eBay

GREEN! I love GREEN! I love THIS GREEN! Oh my, I’m fanning myself over here on how outstanding this Vintage 1940s Wool Felt dress is. If someone who reads my blog knows who purchased this please find them and tell the them to send me pictures of them looking all stylish and fantastic. Because seriously how could you not in this number?

Swoon….

1940s Fashion: Vintage 1940s Wool Felt dress — Source Etsy

Vintage 1950s Renee Marcil Full Skirt Cotton Dress. YES this dress exists somewhere in this world and yes it’s one of the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen in my life. I thought the green dress above was going to do me in, but nope! This will do it, please have someone pick me off the floor.

According to “Couture Allure” Renee Marcil was a Miami based designer who was born in France. She had a wonderful sense of style and designed and wore what she liked, not what fashion dictated. Her pieces are exceedingly rare and highly collectible today.

Yes I can see what her pieces are highly collectible…wow!

1950s Fashion: Vintage 1950s Renee Marcil Full Skirt Blue & White Cotton Dress — No longer for sale but description of item can be found at “Couture Allure” (click image)

That my friends is the Pinterest Fashion Parade for this week. If you enjoyed the images I posted and curious on what I post next, then follow my board seen below.

So what was your favorite piece from this post?

Further Reading:

Liz 🙂

I’m currently in the middle of the amazing and well written book “1940s-Fashion-The-Definitive-Sourcebook” by Emmanuelle Dirix & Charlotte Fiell and I just read a wonderful section on “why floral (and figurative) patterns in the 1940s were favored“.

The simple reason stated in the book was that designs with floral or figurative patterns were easy to match up and hence generated less wastage in garment production. In a time when “Make do and Mend” was becoming the norm, this makes a lot of sense.

After the war was over floral could still be found on many of the women of the 1940s because 1. There was still a shortage of fabric for a while after and 2. Floral dresses were an “Understated Elegance”. Not flamboyant, just wonderful as is.

On a personal level I LOVE a beautiful 1940s floral dress and I own a couple personally and I’m always hoping to add more. So lets take a peak at what beautiful floral dresses were available to the ladies of the 40s, shall we?

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

1940’s Floral Dresses

The 1940’s Images

Let’s start with the stunning woman from the 1940s that I found on Flickr. Her off the shoulder floral gown is simple but just pure perfection on her. I love the black ribbon belt and the ballet slippers with the ties to bring it all together.

1940s vintage photo of a young woman posing for a photo in a an off the shoulder floral dress with a ribbon belt. She is wearing a choker as well. — Source: Flickr-Hans

1940s photo. How stylish is this beautiful woman? Look at that jacket…wow! And her accessories are amazing (I want that purse!). I love the floral pattern in this dress and I’m sure once the jacket came off the dress was just breathtaking on her.

1940s vintage photo of a young woman in a floral dress and stunning 1940s jacket and hat and purse. Fantastic 1940s fashion inspiration! — Source: Flickr-Jasperdo

Beautiful 1940s Floral dresses times 2! Love these two stylish Black ladies posing together on a chair.

1940s vintage photo of 2 Black Women in 1940s Floral Dresses. Super 1940s fashions

Source: Pinterest

1940s photo. From the same Flickr account, the below image is the wonderful woman above’s, neighbours. Well well what stylish neighbours she had! I cannot tell if her dress is really a floral pattern ( I initially thought it was tropical) but does not really matter the pattern is still fantastic.

1940s vintage photo of a man and woman posing together in 1940s fashions. The woman is wearing a pretty 1940s dress and cute peep toe shoes. Our man is in a stylish suit. — Source: Flickr-Jasperdo

1940s photo. One more photo from the same account shows the friend of our floral dress jacket wearing fashionista, two photos above. What a collection of fantastically dressed ladies she hung out with! The floral dress in this photo is beautiful and I love her pose too. I wonder what she is thinking?

1940s vintage photo of a young woman sporting a pretty 1940s hairstyle and 1940s dress in a floral pattern and cute 1940s peep toe shoes. — Source: Flickr-Jasperdo

1940s vintage photo of 4 women in 1940s fashions posing together at a Garden party.

Pick your favourite dress or fashion accessory out of this photo (I can’t, they are all too amazing).

Source: Etsy – LightSilverAndPaper

1940s Photo. First up…COLOUR! And now..what a dress! That green floral pattern is just wonderful on this mother with her son at the beach. I would totally wear that to work or even a night of dancing.

1940s vintage photo of a woman in a green floral dress posing at the ocean with a child. Lovely 1940s fashion inspiration.

Source: Flickr-Ross B. CARE

I have shared this image in a past post (link below) but it’s worth sharing again because her floral dress AND matching headscarf during what I imagine to be a USO dance is a favorite of mine. Another great example of how a simple floral style like this can look just pure perfection.

FURTHER READING: What to wear Lindy Hopping -1930s/1940s Real-Life Vintage Images

1940s vintage photo of people swing dancing in the 1940s. The woman is wearing a floral 1940s dress and matching hair turban / hair scarf.

Examples of 1940s Dresses in Real Life

Now for a small sampling of 1940s Floral Dresses you can buy off Etsy (Updated March 2024)

Vintage Shopping: If the outfit is gone, don’t fret! Etsy is updated daily with 1000s of vintage clothes. Just do a simple search and see what pops up. You can also visit my 1940s Fashion Collection that I update monthly of outfits I like that are for sale on the site. You can find that HERE.

1940’s slinky plum bias cut satin floral asymmetrical dress with all the BEST colors and details of the era.

Source: Etsy – traven7

1940s Dress – Homemade Cotton Floral Day Dress.

Source: Etsy-FabGabs

1940s Dress – Gorgeous 1940s Rayon Crepe Dress in Banded Floral with Heavy, Pleated Skirt.

1940s Dress - The Midsommer Dress - Gorgeous 40s Rayon Crepe Dress in Banded Floral with Heavy, Pleated Skirt

Source: Etsy-FabGabs

Vintage 1940s Floral Print Dress.

Source: Etsy

Gorgeous 1940’s printed rayon dress. This dress features a unique all over print that has a floral motif and trees in a muted soft blue, green and brown.

1940s Fashion: Gorgeous 1940’s printed rayon dress. This dress features a unique all over print that has a floral motif and trees in a muted soft blue, green and brown.

Source: Etsy

Vintage 1940’s Gray Floral Novelty Print Cold Rayon Day Dress. This is my kind of silhouette.

1940s Fashion: Vintage 1940's Gray Floral Novelty Print Cold Rayon Day Dress WW2 Era

Source: Etsy

Absolutly devine original 1940s swing dress with a floral pattern.

1940s Fashion: original 1940s swing dress with a floral pattern

Source: Etsy

What a wonderful 1940s sun dress. This dress would be perfect for the summer time picnic or to wear dancing on a beautiful night under the stars.

1940s Fashion: 1940s womans floral summer dress — Source: Etsy-Ella and Frank Vintage

The fabric on this dress is actually flowers AND umbrellas. Fantastic! The label states that it is a “Brucewood Custom” dress.

1940s Fashion: 1940s floral dress — Source: Etsy-Planet Claire Vintage

The floral detail is again beautiful but the ruffle detailing really takes this dress to the next level. Don’t you agree?

1940s fashion: 1940s Ethel Lou Jrs cotton dress features a colorful floral print. Ruffle detailing with eyelet trim at neckline and front skirt. Metal zipper up side of dress — Source: Etsy-Tuesday Rose Vintage

Lastly here are a couple of vintage advertisements for 1940s dresses (and one that is not a dress):

1940s Playsuit with matching over skirt. WANT! Love! So cute! Can I also have the adorable hat with the palm tree and fish on it??

1940s womens fashion: 1940s Playsuit with matching over skirt in a floral pattern. — Wakes of Melbourne catalogue, Summer 1946-47

Pretty frocks for all your pinching pennies needs.

BTW if this is a bargain look then sign me up!

1940s cotton house dresses as seen in a vintage catalog page from the 1940s.

And with that ad, that concludes are journey into 1940s florals.

So lovely readers are you a fan of the florals in 1940s dresses? Or do you tend to sway more towards the sequins and simple elegant styles? Or maybe you love them all! Share in the comments section below!

And with that ad, that concludes are journey into 1940s florals.

FURTHER READING:

Vintage Fashions 1920s-1960s – Archived Blog Posts
Vintage Fashion Designers – Archived Blog Posts
Vintage Photo Archive -1920s to 1960s

Liz 🙂

Category: 1940s

My 1940’s/50s Vintage Style-Pinterest Posts of the Week