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Pulp Wardrobe and Travel Items

Page history last edited by Michael 3 years, 11 months ago

back to Booty and Swag

 

the Au Bon Marche department store in Paris, circa 1930

 

 "Godspeed the Well-Dressed Man."

-- Noël Coward, in a letter to Dorothy Parker 

"Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman."
-- Coco Chanel

 


     Some of these values are created by taking the 1921 prices in francs and adding 65% to approximate 1932-33 prices.

 

Lower Class

 

     The employed urban poor (sewer workers, dishwashers, bus boys, house maids, janitors, street-sweepers, etc.), or rural/agricultural laborers. A sufficient set of clothes for travel might cost 347 francs (or $14, or £4) new, at a guess; used items, purchased at a second-hand store or pawnshop, are two-thirds that cost (if they're still in good condition).

     Once they have ineradicable stains, holes and rips, the cost of a set of vagabond or tramp's clothes might be 30 fr to 50 francs ($1.20 to $2, or 6s to 11s).

 

Lower Middle Class

 

     Credit Rating at least 15% (base for player-characters in Call of Cthulhu 5th Edition).

     Their entire wardrobe would be worth 1650 francs (or $66, or £19) in 1933. For travel, perhaps 825 francs (or $33, or or £9 10s)

    • Someone dressing as a locomotive driver, auto mechanic etc. might be wearing a union suit, boiler suit, donkey jacket, heavy wool socks, heavy work boots or rubber galoshes, a cap or beret, sturdy leather gloves or gauntlets, and a cotton handkerchief. Total cost 380 francs (or $15.20, or £4 6s); only one-third of this price if purchased used but in good condition.

       

Lower Middle Class Examples

 

     The Marks and Spencer stores sells clothing and household goods in the UK for 1p to 5 shillings, mostly cheap goods. F. W. Woolworth in the UK sells goods, including clothing, on a "nothing more than sixpence" plan. Other low cost clothing sources in the UK:  C&A, British Home Stores, and Littlewoods Ltd.

    Some prices for lower-middle-class ladies' wear in the mid-Thirties: 

 

  • rayon crepe afternoon dress, 12s 11d

  • two-piece wool knit suit, 8s 11d

  • crepe afternoon gown, 8s 11d

  • velvet afternoon frock, 10s 11d

  • "smartly cut and finished" spring frock, 2s 11d

  • wool suit, 12s 11d

  • lightweight angora-mix wood dress, 8s 11d

  • wool fabric spring frock, 7s 11d

  • "art silk" (rayon) frock, 12s 11d

  • simple wool skirt, 1s 7d

  • better wool skirt, 3s

  • plaid wood dress skirt, 7s 11d

  • blousettes, 3s and up

  • ladies' slacks, 4s and up

  • "art silk" (rayon) underwear, 5s and up

  • wool short-sleeve jumper, 2s 3d to 3s

  • "art silk" (rayon) 'Macclesfield' frock coat, 11s 6d

 

Middle Class

 

     Credit Rating at least 30%

     Entire wardrobe 3630 francs (or $145, or £41 10s) in 1933. Sufficient for traveling, 1815 francs (or $72.60 or £20 15s).

 

Middle Class Examples

 

      An "average man" will see advertisements for a "factory tailored" suit for £1 17s 6d, up to £2 5s or £2 10s. A tailored dinner jacket suit would cost £3 15s.

     The typical middle-class person in America spends 13% to 15% of their income on clothing.

     Some men's wear prices for catalog goods in the UK for 1933:

 

  • two-piece cotton pyjamas (white, blue or tan), sort of hospital-style, 5s to 8s

  • men’s coat:  £2 17s to £6

  • men’s basic wool 3-piece suit:  £2 2s to £4 12s

  • men’s felt hat:  9s to £1 5s

  • dress shirt:  5s to 10s

  • detachable collar:  1s 3p to 3s 4p

  • necktie:  2s to 7s

  • boxer cotton shorts, wool chambray:  1s 6p to 3s

  • wool everyday socks, per pair:  2s 10p to 4s

  • heavy wool mackinaw socks:  5s

  • lined felt boots:  5s to 8s

  • 9" high boots, with rubber sole, vamp and quarter, and leather lace-up uppers:  12s to 16s

  • four-buckle red rubber "arctic" overshoes: 18s to £1  

  • oxford shoes:  14s

 

     We have a page for the spring-summer catalog of 1935 for Au Bon Marche, about the highest-class department store in the world. In March of 1935 the currency conversion was £1 = 71 French francs = $4.90 U.S.

     Prices in Paris, from the 1933 spring-summer catalog from High Life Tailor (a notable department store), for women's wear made to measure (£1 = 84 francs):

 

  • tailored suits, natural silk, 325 francs (£3 17s)

  • wool or Moroccan silk dresses, 225 francs (£2 14s)

  • long lined coats, 325 francs (£3 17s)

  • scarf and overcoat, 295 francs (£3 10s)

 

Upper-Middle Class

 

     Credit Rating at least 40%.

     Entire wardrobe 16,500 francs (or $660 or £190) in 1933. The price of a traveling wardrobe is at least 8,250 francs (or $330 or £100). They have outfits for formal events, golf, tennis, yachting, etc., most of it custom-tailored.

 

Upper Middle Class Examples

 

     The wife of a British professor teaching in India needs to spend £215 per year on clothing; her wardrobe is probably worth £250 or so.

     "... the many establishments on the Champs Élysées, where dresses are sold for 50, 150 or 250 francs and to which more than one smartly-dressed Parisienne has recourse to when she finds she hasn't got just the dress she wants at that precise moment." -- Fodor's "On The Continent", 1936. These are impulse purchases, not the "regular" expensive wardrobe items.

     Per a Fall 1935 article in Vogue (for the upper-middle class), some prices for new women's clothing:

 

  • bargain suit, £7 17s = 560 French francs.

  • dresses for married women, £14 to £25 = 1000 to 1750 French francs.

 

     For the summer, an upper-middle class woman might want to own five complete ensembles:  Town, Active Sports, Spectator Sports, Afternoon, and Evening.

 

Upper Class

 

     Credit Rating at least 60%

     The wardrobe of a rich person is more variable than that of the lower classes, but let's say 82,500 francs (or $3300 or £942) in 1933. The traveling wardrobe, along with accessories (wrist watch, cuff links, razors, ties, etc.), is about 41,250 francs (or $1650, or £471).

 

Upper Class Examples

 

     Diana Churchill (Winston's eldest daughter) purchased a white evening dress, sash and flowers from a London dressmaker in May of 1935 for the sum of £22 1s (the equivalent of about 2000 French francs at the time). She was age 26 at the time, and had just gotten divorced from her first husband.

     A very expensive haute couture dress from Paris, sold in 1939 London, would cost about £45 (probably about 4000 francs in Paris a couple of years earlier).

 

     "The primary rules regarding (ladies') trousers were that wearers were to be under fifty, weigh less than ten stone and never wear them on a grouse moor."

 

     From advertisements in The Polo Monthly, for various issues of 1933:   

 

  • "Camel Fleece Coat - A useful Coat Wrap of good weight. Ideal for wear after Polo, Riding, Golfing, etc. 7-1/2 gns.; For Ladies 6-1/2 gns."

  • turtleneck "Hacking or Exercise Sweaters, in popular Reds, Blues, Yellows, etc.; Price 25/-"

  • "Four Fold Polo Scarfs, for use after the game; Also for hunting, hacking, shooting, and all country pursuits. In Foulard Silk, price 17/6 each; In Spotted Cashmere, price 10/6 each. Also in Squares at the same price."

  • "Gentleman's Dressing Case in Limp Polished Pigskin with Zipp Fastener, fitted with Cochinelle Brushes and Chromium Plated Toilet Requisites. Size closed, 12 x 7-1/2 ins. £5.17.6"

  • Kershaw's Wide Angle Prism Binoculars, complete with leather case and sling, £11/10/0.

     

Soldier

 

     An ordinary American, French or British enlisted soldier will have a uniform costing about 532 francs (or $21.25 or £6 2s). This is not all of a soldier's gear or clothing, just one khaki or olive drab outfit for going on leave (or, heh, impersonating a soldier) and doesn't include weapons, ammunition or field gear. Prices are for new or unused items.

 

Policeman

 

     The uniform of a patrolman for the Chicago Police Department. Trousers, single-breasted coat, black leather Sam Browne belt and holster, baton and baton ring, nickel-plated brass traffic whistle, German nickel coat insignia and six-pointed badge (with copper numbers riveted on) and coat insignia:  $14. The shoes and cap are not included at this price. As far as I can tell, ammunition (12 spare rounds) and handcuffs were carried in coat pockets.

     Note that the officer's rank is part of the badge design -- patrolmen, sergeants, detective and inspectors don't have any other rank insignia on their uniforms (no chevrons, for example).  Lieutenants and above have five-pointed badges with their rank indicated on the badge; we don't know enough about their uniforms to describe any other differences, though apparently "officers" have a belted raincoat much more like a trench coat than the rubberized raincoat of the patrolmen.

     For "dress" events such as funerals, other items may be required, such as white gloves, lanyards, etc. .

     Waterproof rubberized policeman's raincoat (with badge loop), with double "all around" cape and through pockets (holsters are worn under this coat), $5.75.

     Peaked cap, with cap insignia, $2.50.

     Black service shoes, $3.50.

     The service pistol for patrolmen would be Colt Police Positive or Official Police revolvers, in .38 Special caliber. Cost about $29.

 

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