1940’s in fashion for women in WW2. Trends, utility dresses, seamed stockings, peplum’s, shoulder pads, and the post war New Look.
Women in World War 2 left us an iconic and beguiling style which is forever celebrated in movies, books and magazines. Rationing encouraged women to “make do and mend”. With all resources going to the war effort, Fabric shortage meant longer skirts and less revealing evening dresses. Austerity was reflected by a more austere fashion in the early 1940’s. Makeup and hairstyles however never looked better.
Browse the 1940’s fashion trends as worn by women in that troubled decade. Find inspiration for your next 1940’s style dress, victory rolls hairstyle.
Now you know the highlights, dive in to our archive of 1940’s fashion history. Find out how women in WW2 lived, worked, served in the forces and of course dressed.
Americans bask in the snow in 1942 – As the vast snow fields of the Sierras melt, skiers simply climb higher and higher until they reach the permanent snow regions. It’s the perfect place for fashionable girls to strip down to their summer beachwear again and top up their tan. Two of Americans fave places in …
Sheer Stocking Solution in 1940 – When the temperature warms, a woman has three choices when it comes to leg beauty: stockings ( cotton, silk, or the new Nylon); she can go bare legged, or she can paint on a variety of cosmetic liquid stockings. Above are a comparison. To the male eye a pair …
Life visits Lake Shore Swim Team Chicago 1944 Very few cities get as searingly hot in summer time as Chicago does. Even fewer cities have as many swimming facilities. More than 40 Outdoor public swimming pools and 15 Indoor. All summer long Chicago becomes one vast city of bathers trying to beat the heat and …
Scant new French swimsuit arrives in the USA – Louis Réard, the French auto-mobile engineer and now fashion designer may well be cursed by some women since his invention of the Bikini swimsuit. A scanty two piece which leaves little to the imagination and is all the rage in France. Hollywood has adopted it as we …
Cheap Dresses in the era of high inflation – It’s 1948 and Life magazine sets out to discover just how well dressed US women can be during a period when inflation is battering the family budget. The answer appears in these pictures of dresses which are on display in department stores across the country and …
Plaids, Checks and Stripes for students – 1940’s fashion report – Marjorie Ripples The styles, the fabrics that are going places this seasons Sears catalog. Concentrating on young women for spring-wear, we see plenty of plaids, checks and stripes. Tried and true cottons you can easily wash and care for in these times of war …
Oxfam seeks vintage style bloggers – In 2015, Oxfams online shop ad campaign featured six real Oxfam customers. This year Oxfam is calling on all vintage style bloggers. Sophie Bratt, project coordinator, encourages all those glamorous vintage blogging ladies ( & gents) who blog about their vintage passions, to enter a fabulous competition – Decades of Vintage Fashion …
Hollywood designer suits modelled by Jane Wyman – Hattie Carnegie presents suits incomparable in every detail. Jacket lines have a pleasing variety. Some are snug, button-down-the-front affairs; some nip in at the waist and flare slightly below it – some are cutaways with elbow-length sleeves, and some are cut wide in the bodice to serve …
What dresses to step out in for January 1941 – 1940’s Fashion Report. Three lovely outfits to start with. Like an expensive English classic with its impeccable tailoring, soft wool and cashmere jersey, rib-boned cardigan front. A natural for year round wear. P stands for pinafore dress, pleated ruffs n pockets a-plenty. In other wards …
Carousel Film Tribute to Paris – Anaïs Nin -“Paris intimate like a room.” Stills and Stories and a video tribute to Paris. Carousel – 140 Years of Parisian Cafe Culture – 1877 to 2015 Think of France, and you think of Parisian cafe’s, the Belle Epoch era, the paintings of Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas and Renoir, …