Specifically, Vogue goes on to explain key methods with which a fashionable woman-about-town could update her look during the depression without a penny to spend:
For those in reduced circumstances, the magazine recommended adding a tulle flounce to an out-of-date lace frock, with a matching scarf over bare shoulders; alternatively, as fashion was shifting from short lengths to long, “The best way of letting down a skirt is by introducing a fitted hip yoke of material stolen from elsewhere on the frock ...” The magazine [also] advocated buying a “really good frock,” and then reinventing it with accessories. “Starting with a black crêpe evening dress of good material and excellent cut, you can wear it unadorned as one costume. For its second appearance you add a long white crêpe scarf, tied diagonally, and carry it with a white bag. Then you can achieve an entirely different, romantic-looking costume by means of pink roses and a pink bag.” The same issue also contained instructions on how to knit your own striped jumper (the design, incidentally, would look just as chic now as it did in 1932).