1947 fashion.

In 1947 the great photographer Arnold Newman went to Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY to document the then current fashions. Skidmore was still an all girls school, going co-ed in 1971 as did many such institutions. Interestingly some of our finest schools remain all girl to this day, and they include Barnard, Wellesley, Smith, Bryn Mawr, and Mount Holyoke, all in the bastion of American higher education, the northeast.

The women are rich, beautiful, entitled and perfectly poised. There was no PC nonsense back then – these young women are going on to breed the next generation of America’s leaders:

College fashions in 1947. Click the image for Amazon.

The generous – nay, profligate – use of copious amounts of cloth in the skirts speaks to America’s newly found prosperity after the war. The picture is from the book ‘Arnold Newman: At work’ and I am delighted to see it now sells used for ten times what I paid for my new copy two decades ago.