Mildred Pierce (Kate Winslet) from ‘Mildred Pierce’

Outside of the swells in Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies, most people during the Depression did not have excessive wardrobes. Rather, they had style.
Style comes in wearing a hat cocked just right and shoes that are shined, and putting yourself together before leaving the house.
The 1930s also had terrific dresses, sensible yet feminine shoes, and cloches. All of that style is on display in HBO’s miniseries “Mildred Pierce,” continuing Sunday, April 3.
Despite the ’30s setting, so many parallels ring true today. Given how many people love vintage clothing, there’s much to admire and try to copy about Mildred (Kate Winslet), a most determined and complex woman.
“The word ‘vintage’ wasn’t invented until I found a guy in the ’50s, down under the Manhattan Bridge sending clothes to Europe,” costume designer Ann Roth says. “I bought a truckful, and they were from some house in Long Island.”
And so the designer, who was trained by Hollywood legends and became one herself, started her collection of older clothing.
“I sort of kick-started vintage,” Roth says. “I don’t want to take credit for changing the world.”
To get the look right, Roth starts with the right foundations. Back then, women wore girdles, and stockings hooked onto garters. The bras have to be right, and slips are worn. Roth is adamant the foundations be correct.
For those who want to check online for the correct underpinnings, try Girdle Shop. Some vintage is available on other sites, but caveat emptor – fabric doesn’t hold up to the decades.
Roth’s keen eye – which won her the Oscar for costumes for “The English Patient” – wows Winslet.
“She’s such a brilliant, amazing woman,” Winslet says. “Her attention to detail is just remarkable, and it’s such a privilege to be dressed by her and to discover a character with her.” (Roth also designed for Winslet for “The Reader.”)
Among those details she looks for are the right shoes. She suggests Tip Top Shoes in Manhattan and starting with the Eneslow brand.
The dresses, though, are hard to fine. Sure there are vintage shops, but if you want to be authentic for the 1930s, look for dresses with no back zippers. The dresses had side zippers. And while we’re talking about the genuine silhouette of a dress then – no shoulder pads, please.
The dresses were often made from rayon print, which is not easily found anymore.
One could replicate the dresses with polyester “if someone wanted,” Roth says, not thrilled with the notion.
She concedes you “could look for a silk print polyester. It doesn’t hang as well. Valentino used it now, so what the hell?”
The key to dressing like this, though, is how one gets dressed.
“I do think it takes time to dress,” Roth says. “A side zipper dress you don’t throw on.”   

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Posted in Vogue Style