Dressed For Success

The June 1947 issue of Woman's Home Companion had a series of articles about women in the workplace. Here is the accompanying fashion spread, Cotton To A Career, by fashion editor Mary-Alice Hamory.


The much-desired 'efficient as a filing cabinet' look. I think she looks nicer than the cabinet, incidentally.


Another nice dress upstaged by the filing cabinet


Hamory described the main feature of this after-work look as an 'impertinent bustle'!


Catch his eye at the soda shop

BONUS! for all you Mad Men fans. In A Year Of Your Own by Beatrice Green Taines and Jean Beck, several women's careers were described, including advertising, medicine (as receptionist or nurse), fashion design, theater, teaching, personnel work, and merchandising (retail). Here is what they had to say to ladies considering work in advertising:

The Cotton Dress Club

From Woman's Home Companion's 'Cotton In Action' by fashion editor Elizabeth Ambrose (May 1947 issue)


Skip, skip, skip to your lou in this gingham party frock (flies in your buttermilk not included)!


Dazzle that rugged out-of-towner at the picnic with your skimpy basket and severe pleated skirt!


Playtime in a 'mimosa and heliotrope'-colored playsuit with wide suspenders (with a giant 'red' balloon)


You'll 40-Love this cotton culotte tennis outfit!

They Came From Beyond The Garden

Four Sure Tricks In A Suit by Lucie Lyons for Woman's Home Companion masquerades as a blouse pattern article, but the models'-heads-swapped-for-flower-pots look seems like a mad doctor's dream. Despite its January 1947 publication date, I think it was published a few months too late. It should have been the spotlight of their Halloween issue as a collection of disturbing floral costumes to scare young trick or treaters.

Bewitched by this creepy-crawly idea? Not only could these sketches be inspiration for striking costumes, but you could also populate your porch or front yard with freaky flower people decorations. Create a bevy of Burtonesque figures to hold your candy bowls or even dangle fake cobwebs and insects (or even more macabre accoutrements) from their wormlike fingers. All you'd have to do is acquire mannequins or dress forms, remove heads, and attach flower pots filled with various blooms. The more unassuming the bloom, the creepier the effect.

I do believe the model is holding a dead bird

Bring Back My Bonnets To Me, To Me

The Hats Came Back! Elizabeth Ambrose, Woman's Home Companion fashion editor, introduced the newest hat styles of the day in the April 1947 issue of the magazine. Here are four of the newest looks that you're sure to see donning some of the loveliest heads. And, if you're looking to dress your own naked head, be sure to ask for these styles by name!

Pilgrim's Progress - With an eye-catching velveteen train of crackly autumnal foliage

Wing Tip - Let everyone know you're 'here' with this delicate dove attention-getter!

The After-Storm Stroll - Sailor hats are never more charming than after a jaunt through some debris!

After-Dinner Mint - This hat lends a zing of freshness to your ensemble

Balderdashery!

Chocolate boxes and rose bouquets are the standard go-to gifts for Valentine's Day sweethearts. But, soon those boxes will be littered with crumpled wrappers and the flowers will be wilting in their vases. Why not give her a distinctive gift she can wear all year? No, not jewelry! A hat! Woman's Home Companion (March 1948 issue) has a few styles that will complement any face you could possibly wish to hat.

"The Cat Toy"
My favorite part of the caption is when the flower is described as 'arrogant'. Is that a positive adjective for a hat? Also, I'm wondering why the model is poking herself in the chin like that. Is this her Robert Mitchum impression?


"The Old Man of the Mountain"
If you look closely, she has a little friend on the top of her head. She hears him calling out to her when she's alone.


"The Taco"
This hat is ridiculous, and the model knows it. She's looking at her beau and thinking, 'You just don't get me, do you?'