1930s Travel Pt. 2 - Clothes

In packing for travel in the 1930s, most experts advocated “travelling light,” although we suspect their definition of “light” would not be compatible with today’s one-carry on rules.

Suggestions for what and how to pack for travel are plentiful. For example, from Designing Women: The Art, Technique and Cost of Being Beautiful by Margaretta Byers, 1938:

"The cosmopolitan attitude toward traveling is to travel light. . . a suit and a topcoat is the perfect travel costume. In cold weather, a tweed suit with a furred or fur topcoat is ideal. In semi-tropical climates like California, a thin wool suit or cotton tweed suit is unbeatable. The wool suit might have a furred matching topcoat. The cotton tweed might have an unfurred cotton reefer. In the tropics, a Palm Beach suit does well all by itself. (All of these clothes are practically immune to wrinkles, In choosing a cruise coat, be careful to get one with a lap generous enough to cover you comfortably as you recline in your steamer chair.

Norma Shearer

For evenings on shipboard, lace is the fabric par excellance because it solves your pressing problems. Shoes are the things that take up space and break porters’ backs and turn aviation officials gray from worrying about excess poundage. Try to compromise on two pairs beside those you’re wearing; evening shoes and sports shoes, perhaps, besides the inevitable mules. Naturally, you will wear medium heels on the ships deck, if you value your neck.

Hats should be packable, like those much advertised fold-up affairs, and non blowable; close fitting cloches or small hats well anchored with a backstrap. And on a cruise take plenty of large handkerchiefs to tie up your curls securely.

Casual slacks and halters, from McCall's, April 1934

For a train or a boat. Dishabille should include Pullman pajamas of some dark silk with a matching robe – something discreet that won’t take the porter’s mind off his work when you lurch down the aisle to do your face in the morning.

Through it all the big idea is to work out a minimum of suitable, adaptable clothes and toilet accessories."

Miami Beach resort-wear shop Burdine's used the slogan "Bring Them Empty" for years - adding that as styles change so rapidly, your travel things might be out of fashion by the time you got there, anyway.

Beach coats, from McCall's April 1936

Plenty of publications were ready with specific advice about what that minimum should be. The 1936 edition of Harmony in Dress (published by the Women’s Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences in Scranton, PA) had these suggestions:

The Travel Outfit

BY TRAIN
1 dark coat of proper weight
2 dark silk dresses or
1 dark silk dress and
1 suit
1 semiformal dress
1 hat for traveling
1 hat for wear with dress-up frocks
4 sets of undergarments
3 silk slips in colors to match the dresses
4 to 6 pairs of hose
3 or 4 nightgowns, or pajama suits
1 dark, light-weight kimono or Pullman robe
2 pairs slippers for daily wear
1 pair pumps for dress-up wear
1 pair bedroom slippers or mules
1 pair overshoes
1 pair service gloves
1 pair dress gloves
Handkerchiefs
1 scarf of silk, wool, or fur
1 umbrella
1 purse of generous size

BY BOAT
Same as for travel by train, except to add
1 wool dress
1 heavy coat for warmth
1 evening gown of a material not affected by dampness

Kay, looking ship-shape

One new note that crops in the 1930s is “cruise clothing,” due to the rising popularity of pleasure cruising – which differed from other kinds of shipboard travel in that it was simply a means to get from here to there; it was leisurely and usually quite long in duration, it typically occurred in warm climates, and included shore excursions. So, the cruise passenger had different needs than say, the transatlantic passenger.

Bullock's Wilshire ad for cruise-wear February 10, 1937 , includes "romper leg" playsuit with matching coat, linen "trip dress" buttoning from neck to hem, and tropical leaf bolero linen evening print in jade, navy or native red.

In January 1934, Good Housekeeping magazine offered the following suggestions, noting “There is no holiday in the world more carefree than that spend on a boat, especially if your wardrobe has been so well planned beforehand that you have everything ready for all occasions.

Below, from Good Housekeeping, 1934: Since everyone dresses almost every night for dinner on cruises, evening clothes assume great importance. And a plain white gown is a real stand-by, especially if accompanied by a charming wrap. The first gown is Lelong’s, of flamisol crepe, and the wrap is velvet striped in black and nasturtium. With the standing ruffed collar and wide sleeves, it ties in front. A net frock is extra practical because it gives the desired fluffy effect of chiffon but does not need pressing. Chanel, famous for her net frocks, designed the one in black with a full ruffled skirt and a simple bodice (extreme right. With it is a brown runched and ruffled jacket. It is these jackets that vary one’s evening gowns. [Note: the designers names are reversed in the illustration]

Indispensible to the cruise wardrobe, or to any smart wardrobe, is the knitted dress or suit, and here is one (first, below) from a new designer, Mme. Nagornoff. Interesting are the suits she makes of unbleached cotton thread, and particularly good are suits with short fitted jackets worn with knitted cap and tri-colored knitted scarf. Useful for general travel is a coat and dress costume like the one below [right] from Molyneux, of beige djalap. Djalap is a thin, hairy-surfaced material, smart for traveling, and beige is always a delightful color. The tunic frock is laced up in front with moiré, and since the skirt is separate, it may be worn with other blouses.

For a cruising wardrobe, adaptable jacket costumes are ideal, and Lyolene has made one in creamy white jersey with short-sleeved jacket and a skirt – a costume to be worn with different blouses. Alpaca, that most durable of fabrics, has been smartly revived by Lucile Paray for the jacket dress. It is an indefinitely striped iron gray, with plain white pique vest, and edged with white pique.

Ruth Seder of Delineator, in January 1935, also tackled the cruise wardrobe question and came up with these recommendations:

“The first thing to do is pick a basic color, and then your wardrobe will fit together as neatly as a jigsaw puzzle. You’ll need very few accessories, for you can wear the same ones with several outfits. We’ve chosen navy blue because it’s smart and well-liked, but you can switch to brown or dark green or black if one of them is more becoming to you than blue.

You’ll need a tweed suit for embarking and disembarking and for the first cool days on board. A navy and green and white checked jacket (6016) is smart with a plain blue skirt (5615). For the deck, you’ll need a red, natural and blue checked linen shirt and shorts (6042) and a white pique tennis dress (6041) with a sun-back.

When you’re not being active in the boat you’ll want a shirtwaist dress (6035) in pink linen, the crepe kind that doesn’t muss, and a jacket dress (6017) of plaid silk gingham.

A white wool coat (6032) of the swagger type is a necessity. For shore trips, a navy on pink printed crepe, jacket dress (6021) is the smart thing. At night, wear a white lace dress (6005), not too formal.

The accessories you will need are: One pair navy calf oxfords. One pair navy and white pumps. One pair white rubber soled oxfords. One pair crepe or satin evening sandals. One navy felt hat. One white felt hat. One pair beach sandals. One navy fabric or straw hat. One Basque beret. One navy calf bag. One pair navy fabric gloves. Three pairs white fabric gloves. Also a bathing suit, sweaters, socks, scarfs, clips, a bathrobe, mules, a raincoat, stockings, lingerie.”

I. Magnin suits for cruise-wear, January 11, 1935

An additional footnote on shipboard clothing: per Emily Post’s 1931 revision of Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage, “on the de luxe steamers nearly everyone dresses for dinner; some actually wear ball dresses, which is in the worst possible taste, and like all overdressing in public places, indicates that they have no other place to show their finery. In the a la carte restaurant, which is a feature of the de luxe steamer of size, fashionable women wear semi-dinner dresses, but in the regular dining saloon they wear ordinary house dresses with or without hats.

Lastly, if travelling with a lady’s maid, Vogue’s Book of Smart Service (Condé Nast Publications, 1930s) mentions specifically that “a maid when travelling does not wear a uniform. On steamer, or in hotels, she wears quiet clothes of the ordinary kind.”

Coats for travel - equally suitable for Town. June 24, 1934.