How 1940s women afforded nice clothes!

[snoodledumpling]

And never forget the economical joy of separates. If you have seven tops and seven skirts/trousers, then you have 49 outfits.

[gabbyfringette]

Being a bookkeeper back in the day was no joke. I took care of a lady from your aunt's generation who bought herself a new Chrysler on a bookkeeper salary and raised two kids on her own

[TheDriftwoodlover]

My mother was a secretary in the early 1940s. She told me the rule of thumb was that one outfit cost a week’s wages. The quality was much higher, as you can tell when you look at vintage items. They also typically owned five work outfits.

[bethknight]

In those days, a dress could cost as much as a week’s wages. Plus, every woman had to have a suit - for funerals, church, court, etc. Fortunately, if a woman did not sew, somebody in her family surely did. Even myself growing up in the 50’s, I had very few pieces of clothing in my closet. A dress for church and birthday parties, a few skirts and blouses for school, a cardigan sweater, school shoes, church shoes and a pair of sneakers for gym class and summer. We considered ourselves middle class but clothes were very expensive and children never stopped growing, so….. things have changed a lot.

[Solutad]

I deeply appreciate Great-Aunt Stella's possession of what is clearly a dedicated "rich third husband's funeral after he died suddenly" outfit

[camillewinnie]

Beautiful clothes! And still timeless.

[BellaRSwiftie]

Why don't they bring back these outfits they are literally amazing I want to see this in stores

[elliotwarren]

Fun fact: You can still have sales associates call you when something you’ll like comes in for more higher end stores. Source: I was a jewelry seller for a couple years and that’s how some of my more fun sales were done :)

[spacelinx]

My mom and her family grew up as Depression era kids. She said they shared clothes as a family. She also learned to sew, so she could patch up existing clothes, and even sew up some for herself and her siblings. When she got older, she would take my sisters window shopping for clothes to see what they liked, bought the appropriate fabric, and copied the patterns according to what my sisters liked. They saved a lot of money this way.

[marshatolbert]

Such gorgeous classic pieces 😊 Stella had great taste. You can still wear all those pieces and with clever styling they won’t look costume-y. The red and black evening gowns are especially lovely and look great on you! Glad you appreciate them!

[AliciaMajo]

The red and black dresses at the beginning are STUNNING!

[chriscambell]

I absolutely love this lady’s eye for smart and sophisticated designs. The vintage re design collections are amazing. It deserves to be featured on a run way.

[callmeskullz]

I cant believe your family saved all these, such amazing and beautiful pieces.

[laurenskee]

My great grandmother (recently passed) kept her clothes for 20+ years. She was so particular with what she washed them with. Every outfit had a purpose and she only wore them for that purpose.

[isabelleon]

How wonderful that you honor your relatives like this💗 The clothes are gorgeous.

[BallerinaValkyrie]

I want those dresses. Also, 40's fashion is actually really good for hourglass ladies.

[Canuckmom]

Your great, great Aunt must have had one hell of a cedar-lined closet. Those clothes are in mint condition and oh so gorgeous.
30s to 50s were some of the BEST decades for fashion. Both the black and red dress are Oscar worthy.

[leslieholland]

That red dress is EVERYTHING! It so gorgeous.

[Bear-cmvl]

Stella also was very likely to have mended and modified her clothing to her liking and changes in her body, either herself &/or with the help of professional taylors, so she could afford to spend more on the quality of the initial items and get longer life from each garment. In both the British Isles and the US, it was not unusual in the late war and post war eras to make use of "found" fabric to make clothing, such as food sack material, to the point that many grain packagers would use attractivly patterned cloth for their sacks and water soluble glue to attach the labeling, making the fabric easy to reuse by the lady who was handy with needle and thread.

[Mh]

Bless her for preserving them so well to be passed on.