1940s Vintage photo of 4 women in 1940s fashions Celebrating VE Day on Bay Street in Toronto — Source: Wikimedia

While looking thru Flickr the other day for some inspiration I stumbled upon this absolutely wonderful photo of 8 of the most stylish men and women 1940s Toronto has ever seen! Aren’t they just fantastic?? My favorite is…all of them 🙂

1940s vintage photo of a group of men and women in 1940s fashions posing in front of the house in Toronto, Canada. — Source: Flickr-Mary-Doug Wright

The post inspired me to gather up other images of stylish folks in Toronto during the same time period and put them together into one giant fashionable post.

Now lets see who was in “Vogue” shall we? 1940s Toronto storefront window display for Vogue designs (Stunning Women’s two piece suit).

1940s Toronto storefront window for Vogue designs. The window features a women's 1940s two piece suit. — Toronto Store Front Window 1940s. Source: Flickr-Jessica

The below image is of Betty Willis (vocals) and Frank Wright (vibraphone), two early stars of the Toronto jazz scene in the 1940s and ’50s.

I’m not 100% sure what is on her dress, but I do know I like it on her (great hair as well). Great examples of 1940s suits as well, such well dressed men.

1940s photo of Black Jazz musicians of Toronto -Betty Willis (vocals) and Frank Wright (vibraphone), two early stars of the Toronto jazz scene in the 1940s and '50s. Super 1940s Fashion — Source: National Post

Of course you must have a Beauty Pageant or 2 to showcase more great style (see a past post on Miss Toronto). In this case, great swimsuit style.

1940s vintage photo of Miss Toronto pageant winner of 1946 — Miss Toronto 1946

Even if you had to do your part for the war effort, true style still shone thru (even if it was how you did your hair or the colours of your nails). Here is the “Miss War Worker Beauty Pageant of 1942”, showing just that.

Further Reading: Vintage Canadian Beauty Pageants

1940s vintage photo of the 1942 Miss War Worker Pageant held in Toronto during WW2.

We cannot leave out Toronto’s very own Rosie the Riveter-“Veronica Foster the Bren Gun Girl”. You can read all about Veronica HERE. This is her “after work is done look”.

1940s vintage photo of the Canadian Rosie the Riveter-Veronica Foster the Bren Gun Girl in a 1940s hat and 1940s coat. Super 1940s fashion. — Source: Library and Archives Canada

Remember Miss Toronto 1946 in the swimsuit above? Well here she is again, modelling our Transit system very stylish uniforms for women in 1946. Pretty smart, right?

1940s Vintage Photo of the Miss Toronto winner of 1946 in a TTC Uniform — Source: Blog TO

More ladies in the uniforms of the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission).

1940s vintage photo of TorontoTTC women workers in their uniforms. — Source: Blog TO

Off to school? With storefront windows like this one in Toronto in 1942 you were guaranteed to not miss the hottest looks on campus. How do I make the look on the right mine?

1940s vintage photo of a window display for young women's 1940s fashions / college student looks in Toronto, Canada. — Source: archives.gov.on.ca

Have children and think you don’t have time to be stylish? Not a problem for the lovely lady Mrs. Jack Wright and her two sons Ralph Wright and David Wright in 1943 doing her shopping in Toronto in a stunner of a dress (source). Aren’t her kids just adorable??

1940s vintage photo of a Toronto street in 1943 featuring a woman in a 1940s dress walking down the street with her child in tow. — Source: Flickr: BiblioArchives

Think being stylish is only reserved for adults? Pish Posh, look at these 2 well dressed boys doing some reading of some very important books for their generation.

1940s vintage photo of Two young boys, seated with books, in the children's department of a Toronto public library, Toronto, Ontario — Source: Flickr-BiblioArchives

This last image is of a young couple with a lovely lady who was a member of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps in 1944. Can we take a moment to admire the 2 doves on the one woman’s dress? Fantastic!

1940s vintage photo of A member of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps feeds a treat to a cat as a couple seated on nearby loveseat watch — Source: Flickr-BiblioArchives

And there it is, Stylish Toronto of the 1940s. Did you have a favorite photo from this collection? Or maybe you have your own photos of stylish folks from your town or even a favorite image. Do share!

Would you like to own a vintage 1940s fashion item (or a replica of one)? Then take a look at the items for sale in my 1940s Fashion Etsy collection page (updated regularly), found HERE.

Further Reading:

Liz 🙂

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy , eBay are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Here are some really cool images I have been recently pinning to my Pinterest board “1920s-1960s Vintage Photos” that I wanted to share with you today.

Off we go on a vintage image adventure!

Vintage Images on Pinterest

I did mention Summer above so lets start with a great summer photo of a couple enjoying Banff, Canada in the 1950s.

Further Reading: Vintage Images of Swimming Pool Life!

1950s vintage photo of a couple posing by a pool in Banff, Canada in 1950s swimsuits. — Source: Nag on the Lake

1940s Vintage Photo: Need a vintage beach look for your summer pool parties? These ladies have it down pat. Look at those cool 1940s sunglasses and the fun 1940s hairstyles and their two piece outfits are so cute!

I love bowling, I’m terrible at it, but I love it and now I know what I want my next “vintage bowling look” to be. Don’t you just love her look, especially with her adorable snood? But I do wonder how she is going to bowl only in her stockings?

Further Reading: 1940s & 1950s Bowling Fun!

1940s vintage photo of a woman in 1940s dress, 1940s snood getting ready to bowl. Fun vintage bowling style. — Source: The girl with the star-spangled heart

Up next an Image from my blog post “Ontario Vintage Dance Hall – Kenwick on the Lake“.

Before it was razed Kenwick-on-the-Lake in Bright’s Grove was the place to be in Sarnia for entertainment and dancing. At a “Rock ‘n Roll Nite” held on July 24, 1956, as many as 1,700 teens danced the night away to the sounds of the Jack Kennedy Orchestra (source).

1950s Vintage Photo of teens dancing at Kenwick on the Lake. Before it was razed Kenwick-on-the-Lake in Bright's Grove was the place to be in Sarnia for entertainment and dancing. At a "Rock 'n Roll Nite" held on July 24, 1956, as many as 1,700 teens danced the night away to the sounds of the Jack Kennedy Orchestra — Image courtesy, Sarnia Observer Negative Collection, Lambton County Archives, Wyoming.

This 1950s image instantly caught my attention because I thought the Black woman in the photo was strikingly beautiful and also possessed great style.

1950s vintage photo of a beautiful Black Woman posing in 1950s fashions. — Source: Messy Nessy Chic

This Sunday I’m back at the “Ascot like event” being held here in Toronto called “Hats and Horseshoes” for the big Queens Plate Race at Woodbine Racetrack. And once again I’m back to Pinterest looking for amazing Racetrack Fashions for inspiration like these very well dressed ladies from the 1930s.

1930s racetrack fashion- 1930s vintage photo of two woman in 1930s fashions writing down their bets at the racetrack. — Source: Flikr-State Library of Queensland

One of the things I love about summer is all the festivals that are put on that never happen in the winter time. Like the Grilled Cheese Festival and the Poutine Festival (mmm Poutine). As a half German I also support festivals like this Sauerkraut Festival that was held in 1947, complete with the Queen of Sauerkraut.

All Hail the Queen!

1940s vintage photo of the Sauerkraut Festival Queen, 1947

I will now end my post today with this fantastic photos of young ladies from the 1950’s having a fun time together.

I love photos that maybe are not perfect but clearly capture a wonderful moment in time.

1950s vintage women having a party together in 1950s hairstyles and 1950s fashions. — Source: Tumblr

Do you have any favorite vintage photos you stumbled upon recently? If you did please share, I would love to see them.

Have a wonderful rest of the week friends!

MORE PINTEREST POSTS:

Liz 🙂

Tag: 1940s

The Stylish Toronto of the 1940s

My Favorite Vintage Images on Pinterest (June/July Edition)

Vintage Images on Pinterest