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No Accounting for Taste

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  • I love a good chunky coat this time of year 🧣 Big thanks to Terra at @relicvintage for this fabulous example of a car coat (see previous post) by Claire McCardell, scarf from @revellecollection, with 1950s wool trousers // #ootd #truevintageootd #1950sstyle #wearvintage
  • The term “car coat” was in use almost from the time cars became available, but didn’t gain widespread popularity in women’s fashion until the 1940s as travel became a bigger part of everyday life. Designed to be comfortable sitting or standing, Harper’s Bazaar described it in 1953 as one with “straight and easy loose lines for slipping on over tweeds in and out of cars.” They were initially long, hitting between the knee and ankle, but by the mid-1950s it was generally accepted that a car coat hit above the knee and was particularly chic with slim pants. Here, “The three-foot coat, a double-breasted run of scarlet, seen through the cockpit of a car that stands less than three feet high. Coat, in Mayflower broadcloth, about $110; toothpick slim covert pants, about $35.” Photo by Gleb Derujinsky for Harper’s Bazaar, September 1954 // #derujinsky #1950sfashion #fashionhistory
  • Perfect seasonal #vintagepalette: grey flannel with red. Photo by Irving Penn for Vogue, August 1, 1950 // #1950sfashion
  • In the late 1940s, despite the taboo of wearing white after Labor Day, AAA recommended that pedestrians wear white while doing their Christmas shopping so as to be better seen by motorists. “Many pedestrians just do not realize that drivers cannot see them at night until dangerously close and that they are even more difficult to see when wearing all dark clothing,” said AAA representative W. A. Jones in 1949. Hopefully this Gentlewoman Skirt from @revellecollection has me covered 🐩🥼☁️ 1940s blouse by Janice Brent (see previous post) from @fabgabs, corduroy tote from @deargolden // #ootd #vintagestyle #1940sfashion
  • Janice Brent was, like many other labels, not an actual person or designer but just a label, a division created in 1947 of what was then Lerner Shops (now New York & Company). Lerner was a national chain, with stores from California to Rhode Island, but it appears they did no print advertising whatsoever around that time so I couldn’t find any visual references for this one 🤷🏻‍♀️ // #vintagelabel #1940s
  • “A snow-white cape, smart anywhere over day or night clothes. By Vera Maxwell, in Stroock’s wool fleece with a black velvet collar and wool lining. $49.95.” Photo by Herman Landshoff for Mademoiselle, December 1944. // #1940sfashion #veramaxwell
  • Wondering what to wear to those holiday parties? Here are two solid options by Ceil Chapman, circa 1945. First photo by Louise Dahl-Wolfe, second uncredited advertisement for Bergdorf-Goodman // #ceilchapman #1940sfashion
  • 1940s handmade trousers in THE BEST fall color. I’m gutted to let these go but I haven’t looked like this for three years so 🤷🏻‍♀️ Really nice warm cinnamon butternut color in a soft medium weight fabric, could be a cotton or a wool gabardine blend. Side metal zip with one side pocket. These are short and are cute as cropped pants if that’s your thing, or as regular pants if you’re smaller than about 5’2”. [sold]
  • I rarely part with anything in my McCardell collection, but this color doesn’t work for me and it feels like good karma to let some things go 😆 [sold] // #clairemccardell #1950sfashionn

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About Me

My name is Jessica, and I love old things. I wear, collect, research and sometimes sell vintage clothing. This is some documentation along the way.

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No Accounting For Taste is a personal blog of Jessica Parker. All words and original photographs are copyright Jessica Parker, 2007-2018