Fashion in the 1940s
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Fashion in the 1940s - Jayne Shrimpton
VISIT
Parisian fashions are defiantly displayed on this Vogue magazine cover from March 1940, shortly before the fall of France.
INTRODUCTION
FASHION DURING THE 1940s was dominated by the Second World War. Britain was fortunate compared with some countries at war, being neither occupied by enemy forces nor experiencing significant fighting on home soil, but the march of global events and the tremendous effort needed to support her participation in the conflict between September 1939 and May 1945 transformed everyday civilian life: never before had the home front been so completely involved in a war. By 1941 the entire populace had been mobilised in a common cause – that of conserving precious resources and ensuring their allocation to the industries where they were most urgently needed. Stopping just short of nationalisation, the British government controlled textile and garment production with regimental precision, decreed what should and could not be worn and attempted to influence the nation’s whole perception of fashion, not only during the war but in the years of shortages, debt and inflation that followed. Winning battles over fashion, while maintaining morale, was essential to the greater war effort and would afterwards aid the nation’s economic recovery.
At the dawn of the new decade Paris was the acknowledged leader of fashion, but following the German occupation of France in June 1940 French industry was redirected towards the needs of the Third Reich. Some Parisian fashion houses continued to operate but they no longer served an international clientele and for the remainder of the war French haute couture became strangely insular, evolving along extravagant lines that diverged from dress elsewhere. Meanwhile, in Britain the traditional concept of fashion, with its implied freedom of choice and expression of personal taste, was being challenged. After the Blitz began in August 1940, there was little time for fashion: opportunities for leisure activities and dressing up were few and there was less to wear as material shortages escalated. Whether an individual’s garments were made to measure by professional tailors and court dressmakers or bought from upmarket London shops, local outfitters, popular chain stores or market stalls, they became less formal and more functional, shaped by the exigencies of war.
Military uniforms strongly influenced women’s fashions, as demonstrated in this 1946 advertisement by British clothing company Windsmoor.
London design talent was harnessed by the government to help create economical styles. Military uniforms strongly influenced female dress as the sharp, tailored silhouette of the late 1930s developed into classic 1940s civilian fashions, a disciplined style that was trim and smart.
Suits featured a narrow or modest A-line knee-length skirt and a fitted jacket with padded shoulders and nippedin waist; coats and daytime dresses followed similar lines. Hats also evolved a martial air: for example, when Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), her peaked cap inspired a fashion for cap-shaped hats, while her adoption of a simple scarf tied under the chin awarded the practical wartime headwear the royal seal of approval. As Princess Elizabeth (born in 1926) and Princess Margaret (born in 1930) reached their formative years they engaged increasingly with 1940s style trends, observed by an admiring public.
King George VI and his family maintained a highly visible profile during the war, declining to move out of London and sharing in the city’s experience of air raids and bomb shelters, presenting an exemplary image to the nation. Queen Elizabeth radiated confidence and grace, kindness and strength, her personal sense of style reflecting traditional