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.
The Top 1940s Hollywood Beauties – Bearing in mind that the color barrier had yet to be broken, the look of the typical 1940s woman on screen was of course ‘white’. While we have picked our favorites here and not in order of preference or beauty, you will probably feel there were many that should …
Paris Fashion Rises Again – After virtual domination for some years by the Americans, there is no better way to sum up the new post-war Paris fashion explosion, and the panic and incredulity which the Dior New Look triggered, than in this defensive fashion review from 1947. Procured from that great archaeologist of all things papery …
Soft silhouettes for the Summer 1948 – Vanessa Brown poses in a flirty black ruffled bathing suit. It’s rayon jersey, so it has the flattering softness so many of us want. The back is faille, for firmness. it comes in pink, aqua, lime or yellow with black flounce and edging. By Sea Goddess. Carole King …
Summer style for the beach! – If you’re a vintage style fan, and summer is beckoning toward refreshing your wardrobe, then you’ll most certainly be looking for 1940s/1950s style pants, frocks and tops. Our friends at Cats Like Us have a veritable feast of clothing to choose from. We’ve picked out just a few favourites …
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 …