Wartime Fashion: From Haute Couture to Homemade, 1939-1945

(Paperback)

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Description

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.

Reviews

This is not another book about wartime fashion, but a social history of wartime clothing as worn by the civilian population in the UK and the cultural conditions that produced it. As such, it is without equal. -- Marie Mcloughlin, University of Brighton * Textile History *
Readers interested in dress history, or in a more gendered or class analysis of the UK's home front during the Second World War, will find this book well worth their time. * TRC *
A rigorous, meticulously researched - and fantastically well referenced - text which will make a significant contribution to existing studies on women's dress during wartime Britain. * Professor Amy de la Haye, Rootstein Hopkins Chair of dress History and Curatorship, London College of Fashion *
BERG TITLES ARE of a more academic bent, so Geraldine Howell's new book may not be for those seeking an introductory guide to the make-do-andmend era. That said, it would still be a highly readable account for the uninitiated - just be aware that it is deemed a 'comprehensive analysis', and that it most certainly is! * Your Family History *

Author Bio

Geraldine Howell taught Theoretical Studies for over twenty years on the Fashion Design course at the University of Westminster, UK and recently became a freelance writer on Dress History.