If you love war film like “Saving Private Ryan”, you must know that the year 2014 is the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings. If you love fashion, you must be very impressive with the 1940s fashion spirit. In 1940s, the war and fashion were closely related at that time. The fashion is always closely related with the age background. Nothing can prevent the pursuit of beauty. In this post, I will bring you back to the memorable 1940s and recall women’s fashion during World War II.
In war time, people were lack of supplies, so in 1941, the British government promulgated thrift regulations to limit thrift clothing styles, fabrics and clothing details. In 1942, the U.S. War Production Committee also promulgated regulations to restrict the use of wool. In a variety of harsh conditions, the European and American women still wanted to use modern clothes to dilute the pain of war. So the London Fashion Association members designed a series of simple and practical but yet elegant daytime clothes for women, declaring to the world that even simple clothing can also be very fashionable.
In war time, people were lack of supplies, so in 1941, the British government promulgated thrift regulations to limit thrift clothing styles, fabrics and clothing details. In 1942, the U.S. War Production Committee also promulgated regulations to restrict the use of wool. In a variety of harsh conditions, the European and American women still wanted to use modern clothes to dilute the pain of war. So the London Fashion Association members designed a series of simple and practical but yet elegant daytime clothes for women, declaring to the world that even simple clothing can also be very fashionable.
During that war time, uniform style was particularly prevalent. In order to save money, the clothes were all made of cheap manmade fabrics. The most popular dress colors were grey, blue and brown. Most suits were single-breasted suit, without adding any decoration. Some even truncated sleeves or canceled chest patch pocket to save fabrics. The shoulder pads on the suits also added endless courage to women. After the world war, the suit designs became more and more feminine. And the dress colors became richer and richer. Originally tough line became softer overall.
As the war continued to spread, uniform style also affected women’s dress designs. Beautiful lace disappeared, and even the number of seams and folds on the dresses were also strictly controlled. Due to the economic recession caused by the war, most women could only pay for a dress, so the practical jacket-style dresses had come popular. Someone once praised the coat style dress: “This is the most sensible wartime dress!”
In war time, many women joined the army and actively engaged in a variety of tasks. To facilitate the work, comfortable loose pants and Siamese pants became popular. The pants using straight cut could be worn with all kinds of shirt or jacket, creating a valiant women working image.