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

Howell, Geraldine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0857850717 ISBN 13: 9780857850713

Publisher: Berg Publishers, 2013

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Book Description:

From rationed and repurposed fashion to high-end glamour, this accessible book examines the ways in which dress and appearance changed during the Second World War and reflected new attitudes to class, gender and taste.

About the Author:

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Berg Publishers
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0857850717
• ISBN 13: 9780857850713
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272