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.

In September 1939, just three weeks after the outbreak of war, Gladys Mason wrote briefly in her diary about events in Europe: 'Hitler watched German siege of Warsaw. City in flames.' And, she continued, 'Had my wedding dress fitted. Lovely.' For Gladys Mason, and for thousands of women throughout the long years of the war, fashion was not simply a distraction, but a necessity - and one they weren't going to give up easily. In the face of bombings, conscription, rationing and ludicrous bureaucracy, they maintained a sense of elegance and style with determination and often astonishing ingenuity. From the young woman who avoided the dreaded 'forces bloomers' by making knickers from military-issue silk maps, to Vogue's indomitable editor Audrey Withers, who balanced lobbying government on behalf of her readers with driving lorries for the war effort, Julie Summers weaves together stories from ordinary lives and high society to provide a unique picture of life during the Second World War. As a nation went into uniform and women took on traditional male roles, clothing and beauty began to reflect changing social attitudes. For the first time, fashion was influenced not only by Hollywood and high society but by the demands of industrial production and the pressing need to 'make-do-and-mend'. Beautifully illustrated and full of gorgeous detail, Fashion on the Ration lifts the veil on a fascinating era in British fashion.

Looks at the different modes of dress in America in the mid twentieth century, from every day clothes to high fashion.

Lee Miller?s photography of British fashion for Vogue during World War 2 was prolific yet few are aware of the full extent of this body of her work.00Many know Lee Miller?s name in connection to her inspirational World War 2 reportage. Few are aware of the volume of her British fashion images that were published on British Vogue?s pages from 1939 to 1944. This beautiful book of her wartime fashion work addresses Lee Miller?s contribution to the fashion industry in these years and her significant service to the survival of British Vogue magazine.00?she [Lee Miller] has borne the whole weight of our studio production through the most difficult period in Brogue?s [British Vogue?s] history?. Wrote Audrey Withers, Lee Miller?s editor at British Vogue, in 194100Containing over 130 images, with the majority printed full page this book also contains accompanying text by Lee Miller?s granddaughter, Ami Bouhassane, Co-Director of the Lee Miller Archives, who provides insights into Lee Miller?s work process. In two additional essays, fashion historian Amber Butchart writes on the fashion of the period and Robin Muir, contributing editor to British Vogue, discusses Lee Miller?s work for Vogue.00Exhibition: Farleys House & Gallery, Chiddingly , UK (20.05.-08.08.2021).

An illustrated history of World War II-era women’s fashions, featuring ladies from all nations involved in conflict. What would you wear to war? How would you dress for a winter mission in the open cockpit of a Russian bomber plane? At a fashion show in Occupied Paris? Singing in Harlem, or on fire watch in Tokyo? Women’s Lives and Clothes in WW2 is a unique, illustrated insight into the experiences of women worldwide during World War II and its aftermath. The history of ten tumultuous years is reflected in clothes, fashion, accessories, and uniforms. As housewives, fighters, fashion designers, or spies, women dressed the part when they took up their wartime roles. Attractive to a general reader as well as a specialist, Women’s Lives and Clothes in WW2 focuses on the experiences of British women, then expands to encompass every continent affected by war. Woven through all cultures and countries are common threads of service, survival, resistance, and emotion. Historian Lucy Adlington draws on interviews with wartime women, as well as her own archives and costume collection. Well-known names and famous exploits are featured—alongside many never-before-told stories of quiet heroism. You’ll indulge in luxury fashion, bridal ensembles, and enticing lingerie, as well as thrifty make-do-and-mend. You’ll learn which essential garments to wear when enduring a bomb raid and how a few scraps of clothing will keep you feeling human in a concentration camp. Women's Lives and Clothes in WW2 is richly illustrated throughout, with many previously unpublished photographs, 1940s costumes, and fabulous fashion images. History has never been better dressed.

Fashion model, surrealist artist, muse, photographer, war correspondent—Lee Miller defies categorization. She was a woman who refused to be penned in, a free spirit constantly on the move from New York to London to Paris, from husbands to lovers and back, from photojournalistic objectivism to surrealism. Midcareer, she made the unprecedented transition from one side of the lens to the other, from a Condé Nast model in Jazz Age New York to fashion photographer, creating stunning images that imbued fashion with her signature wit and whimsy. Miller became a celebrated Surrealist under the tutelage of her lover, Man Ray, and then joined the war effort during World War II, documenting everything from the liberation of concentration camps to the daily life of Nazi-occupied Paris. Miller was recognized as “one of the most distinguished living photographers” during her hey-day as a fashion photographer, but an astonishing number of these images have remained unpublished. Lee Miller in Fashion is the first book to examine how her career as a model and fashion photographer illuminates her life story and connects to international fashion history from the late 1920s until the early 1950s. The world of fashion emerges as the backbone of Miller’s creative development, as well as an integral lens through which to understand the effects of war on the lives of women in the 1940s and 1950s. Miller witnessed incredible acts of resistance born out through fashion—and her photographic record of women’s indomitable spirit even in times of war has remained an invaluable resource in fashion and global history. Lee Miller in Fashion presents these striking archival fashion photographs as well as contact sheets, memos, and Miller’s published illustrations, vividly setting the wit, irrepressible creativity, and daring of Miller within the larger story of women’s experience of fashion, art, and war in the twentieth century. “In all her different worlds, she moved with freedom. In all her roles, she was her own bold self.” —Antony Penrose

"First published by the Ministry of Information in 1943"--T.p. verso.