Wartime fashion : From haute couture to homemade, 1939–1945

Author

• Howell, Geraldine

Additional Author(s)

-

Publisher

London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2012

Language

English

ISBN

9781472572448

Series

Subject(s)

• CLOTHING AND DRESS
• GREAT BRITAIN
• MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
• WOMENS CLOTHING

Notes

. .

Abstract

A comprehensive analysis of Second World War dress practice and appearance, this study places dress at the forefront of a complex series of cultural chain reactions.

As lives were changed by the conditions of war, dress continued to reflect important visual narratives regarding class, gender and taste that would impact significantly on public consciousness of equality, fairness and morale. Using new archival and primary source evidence, Wartime Fashion clarifies how and why clothing was rationed, and repositions style and design during the war in relation to past expectations and ideas about clothes and fabrics. The book explores the impact of war on the dress and appearance of civilian women of all classes in the context of changing social and economic infrastructures created by the national emergency.

The varied research elements combined in this book form a rounded and definitive account of the dress history of British women during the Second World War. This is essential reading for anyone with an active interest in the field, whether personal or professional.

Physical Dimension

Number of Page(s)

1 online resource (xiv, 246 p.)

Dimension

-

Other Desc.

ill.

Summary / Review / Table of Content

Wartime Fashion; Contents;
List of Illustrations;
Acknowledgements;
Introduction;
1 Buying into Fashion: The Social Background;
2 Shopping for Fashion in the Pre-War Years;
3 Being Chic and Being British;
4 The Healthy Body and the Politics of Fitness;
5 Evacuation;
6 Fashions for a Phoney War;
7 Calls for Rationed Fashion;
8 Setting the Ration;
9 The Utility Clothing Scheme;
10 Assessing the Impact of Clothes Rationing;
11 Home Front Clothing Initiatives;
12 Clothes for Coupons;
13 Keep Smiling Through: Good Health and Natural Beauty;
14 Utility and Austerity;
Conclusion;
Notes;
Bibliography.

Exemplar(s)

#	Accession No.	Call Number	Location	Status
1.	01546/21	391.209410904 How W	Online !	Available