--- description: From innocent saddle shoes to somber wartime fashion, a look at the fashion trends of the 1930s as seen on the cover of LIFE Magazine. title: See the Best Fashions of the 1930s image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3578c745d4ed5317/69886797f887dc22dbe92ca2/151009-life-fashion-covers-11.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [fashion](/tag/fashion/) ## fashion Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See the Best Fashions of the 1930s  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Oct 13, 2015 1:00 PM CUT  March 27, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine. March 27, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine.Alfred Eisenstaedt—LIFE Magazine  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Oct 13, 2015 1:00 PM CUT Henry Luce’s goal for LIFE Magazine was, according to its tagline, as much to cover news of lasting consequence (“to eyewitness great events”) as to marvel at cultural curiosities (“to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed”). As one of those curiosities, the world of fashion enjoyed extensive coverage across the five decades the magazine witnessed. Though LIFE only caught the tail end of the 1930s—its first issue was published in November 1936—the remaining years of that decade saw the confluence of a host of influences on fashion. The Depression years had seen a shift to more conservative hemlines than those of the looser 1920s. At the same time, the fashions favored in Hollywood were increasingly reflected in the everyday streetwear of the masses. And as the decade drew to a close, the shadow of war began to reach all the way into the wardrobe. LIFE’s fashion covers of the 1930s capture a variety of trends, from the saddle shoes of schoolchildren to the continental influence on college students to the formal details that completed a gentleman’s look. And if the occasional strong brow or high-waisted swimsuit looks familiar—well, as the saying goes, everything old is new again.  October 18, 1937 cover of LIFE magazine. Alfred Eisenstaedt—LIFE Magazine  June 7, 1937 cover of LIFE magazine. Alfred Eisenstaedt—LIFE Magazine  June 28, 1937 cover of LIFE magazine. Herbert Matter—LIFE Magazine  July 12, 1937 cover of LIFE magazine. Alfred Eisenstaedt—LIFE Magazine  April 11, 1938 cover of LIFE magazine. Alfred Eisenstaedt—LIFE Magazine  May 9, 1938 cover of LIFE magazine. Alfred Eisenstaedt—LIFE Magazine  July 18, 1938 cover of LIFE magazine. Dmitri Kessel—LIFE Magazine  September 5, 1938 cover of LIFE magazine. Herbert Gehr—LIFE Magazine  January 2, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine. Alfred Eisenstaedt—LIFE Magazine  January 16, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine. Rex Hardy Jr.—LIFE Magazine  March 27, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine. Alfred Eisenstaedt—LIFE Magazine  May 8, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine. Alfred Eisenstaedt—LIFE Magazine  June 26, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine. Walter Sanders—LIFE Magazine  July 3, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine. George Strock—LIFE Magazine  October 23, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine. Fritz Henle—LIFE Magazine ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4067791/life-fashion-covers-1930s/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4067791/life-fashion-covers-1930s/"},"headline":"See the Best Fashions of the 1930s","datePublished":"2015-10-13T13:00:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:55.121Z","description":"From innocent saddle shoes to solemn wartime fashion, a look at 1930s style through the covers of LIFE Magazine","url":"https://time.com/4067791/life-fashion-covers-1930s/","keywords":["fashion","Newsfeed","photography","LIFE Magazine"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3578c745d4ed5317/69886797f887dc22dbe92ca2/151009-life-fashion-covers-11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3578c745d4ed5317/69886797f887dc22dbe92ca2/151009-life-fashion-covers-11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"March 27, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine.","caption":"March 27, 1939 cover of LIFE magazine.","creditText":"Alfred Eisenstaedt—LIFE Magazine","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/fashion/","name":"fashion"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4067791/life-fashion-covers-1930s/","name":"See the Best Fashions of the 1930s"}}]}] ```