How did WW2 change the way people dressed?

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by dbf, Mar 5, 2015.

  1. Shiny 9th

    Shiny 9th Member

    I went to this exhibition at the IWM.Made an interesting comparison with all the military hardware there.I expect they are aiming to widen their visitor base. The shop had replica headscarves on sale as well as other items.Would think yuo could get them from their online shop.Thanks for the video re tying the headscarf.Can start practicing for a WW2 themed event I am attending soon.
     
  2. jetson

    jetson Junior Member

    When I was growing up in WW2 my mother and her sister always looked like a million dollars when they were doled up to "go out." Clothes rationing never seemed to bother them one iota. My aunt worked for the American Red Cross in their local US forces club and would never have dreamt of going anywhere near there unless she looked as stylish as American servicemen would have expected of the female staff. She had numerous GI friends who would call in at her home; her husband, my uncle was a patient rather long suffering man but there was never any impropriety in question on her part. All were welcome there to make them feel at home. I don't know if it was a general rule but at the war's end in token of her loyal service, she and her family were invited, expenses paid to resettle in the USA. They did not take up the offer but it was much appreciated.
     
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  3. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    I was involved in the Clothing Industry virtuallly most of my working life and the last job I had before being called up in October 1942 was in my dad's clothing factory.

    One of the fabrics available to use for making women's outerwear was surplus army blankets that had been dyed navy .

    Not only was the fabric itself used to great effect but the red wool that neatened the blanket's edges were carefully un-ravelled by the woman workers and then knitted into a variety of garments.

    And not a lot of people know that !

    Ron
     
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  4. Shiny 9th

    Shiny 9th Member

    A very good example of war time "make do and mend".,Ron.Its good to learn that the clothing industry was doing the same thing as people at home. I think we have a lot to learn from that generation's recyclers.
     
  5. Drusus Nero

    Drusus Nero Banned

    Stupendous work!

    One thing that i must ask.

    Cityfolk would get all this info through newsreels, yes? Were they actually preaching to the coverted?

    Britain went through the Great Depression just as other Western countries did. Any child that survived it's privations came out of it as a psuedo hoarder, not able to throw away anything for it's potential usefulness. Depression era kids also were also given home schooling in domestic sciences, (using old garments again, sprucing up the tired looking dresses at the back of the cupboard, using leftovers, growing vegetables to supplment inadequate diets, using public transport and keeping the car at home; if you were affluent enough to have a car, that is.

    country people had done things this way for many generations anyway. Here in Australia, the CWA, (Country Women's Association) had their equivilent of government sponsored scout halls, built in every rural township and population center. Nothing like that existed in the cities. When wartime came along, the CWA was more than ready to advise, support and bring together wartime women on a grand scale.

    We still have an old CWA in the center of Darwin. It's a cafe' now, but the bones of the building, and the CWA crest, remain for all to see.

    I always laugh when I think of the word Austerity. It always conjures up images of drabness, colorlessness, tight fitting clothing in plain colours. But the truth is, that wartime pressures were changing the way that women could dress to an even greater degree than one might suppose. If we combine this with a more open and 'liberated' attitude to sex, what comes out the other end are fashion attitudes that were far more daring, far more figure hugging than ever before. Plain and simple they might have been, but the fighting man wasn't interested in prudishness anymore. The number of marriages exploded with sailings and overseas postings, and wartime nightlife was legendary for its 'looseness'.
    Also, women had far more disposable income than ever before. With so many women working to support war industry, fashions also moved in the direction of safety, which dovetailed nicely with the figure hugging austerity garments. The standard hairstyles moved to meet the challenge. Many women wore a "Veronica Lake" style. I'm sure the tied up headscarf was more than just fashionable. It was a sign of distinction, the mark of a working woman doing all she could for the war effort, tying her hair up to conform to the safety standards of her workplace, rather than simply being a 'slave' to fashionability.

    Starnge how todays modern woman trys to use as little make-up as possible, the 'natural' look. Wartime women would have had to do this as a matter of ncessity. funny how fashion goes in cycles.

    I also believe, (correct me if wrong), that shoes changed drasticall, too. One cannot run to an air-raid shelter in high heels, nor go to the workplace in footware that does nothing for safety? I'm not that familiar with shoe fashions, but I'm darned sure they were in for some drastic changes as well.

    All in all, a fascinating topic when one considers that many of these changes actually stayed in place, for it was only 25 more years, one more generation, until the sexual revolution came along and cemented in society many of the changes that had first been put in place out of wartime.
     
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  6. TriciaF

    TriciaF Junior Member

    I can't remember about footwear, apart from Clark's sandals. We probably had a pair of sturdy shoes for winter, and sandals for summer. Plus wellies. No furlined boots, so everyone had chillblains.
    Another thing we should thank this period's fashions for, is that women started to wear trousers ( literally and metaphorically ;) )
     
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  7. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

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  8. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    A part of this week's "Book of the Week" - on Radio 4.... on "how fabrics have shaped the world we live in"

    This episode deals with WW2: BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, The Golden Thread, Episode 4

    Episode 4
    Book of the Week - The Golden Thread

    All cloth begins with a twist.
    Kassia St Clair explores the murky wartime history of rayon as she reveals how fabrics have shaped the world we live in.

    Read by Francesca Dymond
    Abridged by Laurence Wareing
    Producer: Eilidh McCreadie


    (Nb. This 13 min audio episode also includes a section on German rayon production during WW2 - and Agnès Humbert)

    Agnès Humbert - Wikipedia

    "Trials and imprisonment: The leaders of the resistance cell were betrayed and arrested in April 1941. Humbert then recruited Pierre Brossolette to continue with the last number of Résistance before being arrested herself. The Museum group were sent to the harsh Cherche-Midi prison and then Fresnes Prison in Paris where they were tried by theWehrmacht and in February 1942, along with seven members of the group,[8] sentenced to death. However she was transferred to the Prison de la Santé where conditions were better and she was visited by her son Pierre and her mother, but she learnt that the men had been put to death by firing squad (they sang "Vive la France" in their last moments). The women were sentenced to five years slave labour and deported to Anrath prison in Germany. Humbert was made to work in appalling conditions at the Phrix rayon factory in Krefeld: there workers died, went blind, and developed horrible skin conditions. After four years, in June 1945 she was liberated by the Third United States Army and her diary records how she took part in the "Nazi Hunt" at Wanfried in 1945. She set up soup kitchens for refugees and expressly stated that everyone was to get a share, even the German civilians. Later she helped to start the denazification process"
     
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  9. Old Git

    Old Git Harmless Curmudgeon

    Interesting to note that no-one has mentioned the use of Denim workwear during WWII and it's impact on fashion after WWII? What are denim Jacket's (Levi's and Wranglers) if not copies of the 'Ike Jacket' which was itself a copy of the British Battle dress. Clarke's 'Desert Boots' much in use in North Africa became a major fashion item in the post-war period also.
     
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  10. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    The styling may have changed, but denim jackets seem to predate WW2.
     
  11. Old Git

    Old Git Harmless Curmudgeon

    Most pre-war jackets identified as denim were in fact Dungaree (also Cotton but slightly different from Denim) but you are correct Denim had been around for quite some time and certainly in use before the war as work wear, which is why it was employed as work wear during the war.
     
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