Women's dresses had gone to great extremes in the 1920s, with very short hemlines and boyish styles. The change in dress styles in the 1930s was thus very dramatic, for the decade saw a return to femininity and distinct changes in cut and hemline. The depressed economic circumstances of the decade and later of the war years required simplicity in dress styles, but talented designers turned these constraints to their advantage, making slim-fitting but stylish dresses in a variety of styles.

Perhaps the single biggest change in the 1930s was the lengthening of the hemline, which fell to mid-calf for day wear and to the floor for evening wear. Silk Dresses were tube-shaped and very sleek, fitting closely through the torso and lacking billows