fashionable reading: forties fashion

Forties Fashion has long been on my wishlist, but after being able to borrow a copy recently and read it, it’s definitely gone on my “must add to personal library” list! The book by Johnathan Walford and subtitled “From Siren Suits to the New Look” is one of those rare books that I feel satisfies both visually and manages to also pack quite a punch in the text. Though the book encompasses the entirety of the 40s, it focuses mainly on the wartime fashions, and the impact the conflict had on design and ingenuity within fashion. I think what I found most fascinating was that the book dealt with both “Allied” and “Axis” fashion; most books on the 40s tend to fall into the category of one or the other, or focus more on the Hollywood fantasy fashion created during the era (which is fun, but doesn’t accurately reflect what most people–especially those outside of the US–were able to afford and find during the war years).

Rationing, of course, is a big theme throughout the book. I’ve been somewhat acquainted with it over the years–more peripherally than anything else (and having heard stories from those in my grandparent’s generation about not being able to buy/source certain garment pieces, and having to make do). Susannah over at Cargo Cult Craft has written some great posts on rationing and austerity in Britain during the 40s, but Forties Fashion better acquainted me not only with the British and American restrictions, but other countries as well. Realizing just how little many people had to make do and get by on (and even less and less towards the end of the war), was not only sobering but a bit of a smack in the face of our consumeristic tendencies as a collective society. These severe restrictions on materials and manufacturing within the fashion industry at the time, of course led to the famous “make do and mend” campaigns in many countries (in their various permutations).

I know I’ve said this before (and I daresay you’ll hear me say it again), but the ingenuity that limited resources encourages is always stunning to me. Making something out of very little is a gift that I think more recent generations (and I can safely say mine, having collectively been a relatively well off generation) have lost and perhaps have no appreciation for outside of the history book facts. The way people were able to scrounge and remake things, particularly garments, in order to keep things fresh and exciting, furnishes a lot of fodder for my imagination. I have to honestly say that reading about the French fashion “make do’s” was particularly intriguing; not only did they have severe restrictions that most of Europe dealt with, but many of the fashions coming out of France had that theatrical flair that is particularly unique to them.

Forties Fashion of course does deal with the immense impact that the postwar changes in silhouette had on women’s clothing. Thankfully too, the author does not just tag Dior with being the only innovator of the “New Look” silhouette and let it go at that (in the very late 30s a similar silhouette had begun to develop, but was interrupted by the war, but was taken up by designers post war again). He digs a bit deeper into the subject and gives a more satisfying overview of the change. There are even pictures of garments that were altered from the wartime silhouette to fit within the New Look’s lines.

If you haven’t had a chance to get your hands on a copy of this book, I highly recommend it not only from a fashion history perspective, but also a visual history as well. Fashion books, for me at least, are best when they’re a blend of the two, and Forties Fashion does an excellent job of this!

So tell me: what have you been reading lately?

July 12, 2010 · 16 lovely thoughts
posted in books,misc · tags: 1940s, books