20th-Century Polish Fashion in 10 Phrases
The way we dress reflects historical changes, important social events, culture, economy, and politics. This is especially the case when looking at Polish 20th-century fashion.
It’d be a cliché to say that fashion is something more than the changing styles of dresses and suits or designs of bags and hats. Clothing may provide a certain statement, an expression of rebellion or, on the contrary, the desire to fit in with a particular group. It can be a manifestation of not only trends, but also social moods and aspirations, even a memento of important events. With the help of fashion, one can shape people’s thoughts, awaken new needs, or encourage creativity. Inspecting past trends becomes a kind of encyclopaedia of social, economic, political, and cultural changes.
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Showing of the 1989 spring collection of Moda Polska (Polish Fashion), Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw, photo: Tadeusz Zagoździński / PAP
It was no different throughout the turbulent 20th century. Looking at the evolution of fashion, it is easy to notice the traces of events and political, social and technological revolutions when looking at how fashion has evolved. The transition from the era of elegant, private fashion houses, through state-owned companies and market stalls, to international chains in shopping centres is, after all, a record of the socioeconomic history of our part of the world.To this day, fashion magazines provide a valuable source of information about the everyday life of subsequent generations, and countercultures show what the young rebelled against and how their values evolved.
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Catalogue of Bogusław Herse Fashion House in Warsaw, 1906/1907 season, in German, photo: courtesy of the National Museum in Warsaw
The first fashion houses began to appear in Europe in the first half of the 18th century. This business idea arrived in Poland just a few decades later, and one of the oldest, the élite Herse Fashion House, opened in Warsaw as early as 1868. Stylish city dwellers dressed at elegant fashion houses, but shopping at Herse and visits to the Bracia Jabłkowscy (Jabłkowski Brothers) or Zmigryders department stores were equally important for building one’s image and social position.
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Cover of ‘Moda i Życie’ (Fashion and Life) weekly and spread titled ‘School Clothes for Students’ from the ‘Moda i Życie’ weekly, 1949, reproduction: FoKa / Forum
Writing about appearance and grooming emerged in the press at more or less the same time as fashion houses. The first publication positioning itself as a ‘women’s magazine was Bluszcz (Ivy), published in 1865. Over the course of the 20th century, there were dozens of women’s magazines (in those days, there were no other publications for women), and each certainly had an impact on shaping popular opinion and lifestyle – they were popular and readily available. 4
The magazine Moda i Życie Praktyczne (Fashion & Practical Life), which appeared since 1945, published advice on how to look nice in the post-war reality, but also how to make children’s toys from household waste. Popular in the 1960s Ty i Ja (You and Me) shaped tastes and introduced new cultural phenomena; the regular columns in Przekrój (Cross-Section) presented fashionable clothes, but also advised on how to sew them, and Zwierciadło (Reflection), Kobieta i Życie (Woman and Life), and Przyjaciółka (Best Friend) featured fashion advice, but also interior design, cooking, savoir-vivre, etc.
2. Tomboys & ‘bikiniarze’
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‘Bikiniarz’ in colourful socks & a tie, photo. F. Koziński
Clothing is the easiest way to demonstrate one’s attitude towards life, views, and belonging to a certain group. Before fashion was democratized, even in the 1920s or 1930s, it was easy to guess one’s social standing by the clothes one wore. Similarly, even before WWII, women wearing trousers or showing their legs were considered indecent; and in the 1950s, an outfit or hairstyle revealed a beatnik or a Teddy Boy. The 1980s, the era rich in subcultures, saw clothes become the ‘official message’ defining a person.
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Miss World 1989 Aneta Kręglicka & actor Bogusław Linda as presenter, concert at the Studio Theatre ‘Poland Welcomes Miss World: Miss World 1989’, photo. Jan Bogacz / PAP
The first nationwide beauty contest in Poland was organized in 1929. It had four more editions before WWII, but attempts to revive it in the 1950s were unsuccessful until 1984, when it became a cyclical event. Today, the popularity of the competition has faded, but for decades this ‘appraisal’ of the beauty of young women aroused great interest and emotions, and the winners became celebrities. The Miss Polonia competition is also an encyclopaedia of shifting make-up looks, hairstyles and outfits that were then eagerly imitated.
In the second decade of the 21st century, handicraft is experiencing a renaissance – sewing, making cosmetics or candles and modifying existing items in the spirit of ‘zero waste’ are currently quite trendy.
Looking at the history of Polish fashion, the spirit of DIY was popular more than once throughout the 20th century – mainly due to the need to meet simple needs and eternal shortages. Shortly after WWII, clothes were ‘created’ (sometimes it wasn’t even possible to sew) from anything that could be found – for example, a coat fashioned of duvets and blankets. During the 1980s crisis, almost every family had a sewing machine, many women knitted, and DIY ceased to be a hobby, and it became a way to equip the house with the necessary garments and goods.
DIY and needlework, the simplest forms of alteration, emerged in the wake of fashionable 19th-century hobbies. These, in turn, resulted from the new phenomenon of leisure – that is, the hours of free time that the middle classes could devote to something that was neither labour nor household chores.
5. Market-stall fashion
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Jarmark Europa at the 10th Anniversary Stadium in Warsaw, 1994, photo. Maciej Belina Brzozowski / PAP
The long-awaited political and economic transformation of 1989 was supposed to bring, amongst many other positive changes, access to goods ‘from the West’. But before the arrival of shopping centres offering such products, bazaars and markets shaped the way Poles dressed during the transitional period between the newly collapsed state trade system and modern, capitalist stores.
The characteristic metal market stalls (known as szczęki, i.e. jaws), camping beds, tents, but also plastic sheets laid out on city pavements were the most popular fashion houses’ of the 1990s and dressed an entire generation. While it may seem embarrassing today, this was important stage in the development of Polish fashion and, above all, the Polish economy – these metal ‘jaws’ were the birthplace of Polish capitalism.
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Hoffland fashion show, Domy Towarowe Centrum (Centre Product Houses), Warsaw, 1990, photo: Andrzej Wiernicki / East News
One of the oldest fashion brands in the world is Hermès, created in 1837, followed by Louis Vuitton from 1854. Poland doesn’t have such brands; nevertheless, there are some brands that were important, expressive, and recognizable on Poland’s fashion map and history. These include the Herse fashion house and Bracia Jabłkowscy department store (the latter was reactivated in 1990, which proves the strength of this brand).
Established in 1958, Moda Polska was for many decades the most important fashion company in the country, providing clothing, but also shaping the way of life. The Telimena fashion house was founded in the same year; CORA Clothing Industry was founded in 1949 and even offered Polish jeans, but their popularity could not be compared to Hoffland – which achieved, at one point, cult status among the country’s youth.
7. Pre-Internet influencers
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Actress Pola Negri on the beach with her dog, 1927, photo: National Digital Archives
Although the Internet only became available in Poland in the second half of the 1990s, phenomena now associated with its development had existed long before. These include the recently popular ‘influencers’, influencing and inspiring fashion, tastes, and attitudes with images they post online and are sometimes imitated.
There were many such influential figures in the history of Polish fashion – before WWII, Pola Negri and Zula Pogorzelska. It was no different after the war. The choice of a role model depended on temperament and character: some women strived to imitate the alluring Kalina Jędrusik, others – the mysterious Pola Raksa. In the 1990s, rock singer and musician Kora appealed to rebellious youth, but disco-polo icon Shazza also had quite a few followers. Getting to know these celebrities tells us more about those times than knowing what stage costumes were eagerly imitated.
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Małgorzata Braunek in the movie ‘Hunting for Flies’, directed by Andrzej Wajda, 1969, photo: Renata Pajchel, Zebra Film Studio / National Film Archive / www.fototeka.fn.org.pl
Historical exhibitions in museums often include simple, everyday items such as clothing, because they can also be historical documents and recognizable symbols of their era – the most striking example is the hat worn by Napoleon. Polish history, too, can be told with the help of a piece of clothing. Everyone will understand the significance of women wearing trousers, and later, mini-skirts – the importance of these changes goes far beyond the question of appearance.
The icons of Polish culture are Leopold Tyrmand’s colourful socks, Zbigniew Cybulski’s army jacket, but also Maryla Rodowicz’s so-called banana skirt and Małgorzata Braunek’s oversized sunglasses. Other examples of a symbolic meaning related to historical events are black woollen sweaters worn by opposition activists and… white socks, following the transformation, the trademark of the first Polish ‘biznesmen’ (businessmen).
10. Iconic fashion shoot locations
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Barbara Hoff fashion ad, 1967, Warsaw, model: Lucyna, photo: Tadeusz Rolke / Agencja Gazeta
Few people consider the locations of fashion shoots featured in magazines, but the scenery is often of great importance. It creates a certain mood, atmosphere, reflects the spirit of a given trend, can be used to evoke specific links and says a lot about the generation for which it was created. Collections presented in the ornate halls of the Palace on the Water in Łazienki Park in Warsaw will be understood differently against the background of modern buildings. There are places in Poland, and above all in the capital, that were often selected as fashion shoot locations – and their popularity was closely related to the particular period.
The halls of the Royal Castle or the aforementioned Łazienki are evergreens, but such spectacular places in Warsaw as Constitution Square or the Eastern Wall also had their ‘five minutes of fame’. For many years, the ultra-modern, modernist terrace of the Central Department Store (later ‘Smyk’ [Kid]) enjoyed great popularity as a venue for photo shoots and fashion shows. At the end of the 20th century, the Świętokrzyski Bridge was ranked high amongst favourite locations.
Originally written in Polish, Aug 2021, translated by Joanna Figiel, Sep 2021
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