Swedish Fashion Archive of 1940’s War Era Women-

An interesting time capsule of photographs from the war years in neutral Sweden. As in the 1920s, it’s always difficult to say whether it was the hair stylists who dictated to the milliners or the other way around, but by the late 1930s and on to 1945, the hairstyles had taken on a decidedly retro pompadour style, which in turn decreed hat styles to sit or be fastened on, rather than to cover the hair. From pillbox hats to berets, from smart sombreros and stetson styles from America to the Edwardian French inspired Picture hat, the 1940s updo hairstyle encouraged a very retro nostalgic millinery for dress occasions. Bear in mind that these hat styles were over-shadowed for the war years by the handy turban and snood worn by women in the services.

1941 ladies riding hat — 1940s Victorian inspired riding hat fitted with a wide hat band with fringes 1941

Ladies Pillbox hat combined with turban 1943

1940 Fedora style hat with scarf banding – Sweden

Small sombrero hat with veil 1943 Sweden

1943 sombrero with feather detail and veil

1944 Stetsun hat from Sweden — 1944 Stetson hat from Sweden

Portrait-of-woman-in-checkered-hat-with-dock-1941 — Photo of a woman modelling a checkered hat in 1941 Sweden

1945 Edwardian inspired Picture Hat with wide brim

All images courtesy of the Nordic Museum