Photo on left from this great article on wartime looks.

After writing my last post I got a few messages telling me that getting fashion inspiration out of a photo exhibit on Occupied Paris is in poor taste. Which may be true, but I certainly didn't mean it that way (and I apologize to anyone who may have been offended). I probably should have included more information on the Zucca exhibit as well as back story on the photos. In any case this blog post I just discovered on the fantastic blog Cafe Mode does a much better job of presenting the photos than I did. Mainly by explaining that war or no war, women still cared about fashion, still tried to look good. Many felt that it was only patriotic for them to look their best.

That said I have to say that I don't think that it's in poor taste or off limits to take inspiration from fashion of the World War II era. Any book covering 20th century fashion history is bound to have at least a chapter devoted to the way that WWII changed fashion. Now in the old days when I used to naively hate '40s fashions (I was just mad that they didn't work on my body type) I would picture war time fashions as all masculine tweeds and utilitarian (fake) leather shoes. What I managed to overlook was the huge d.i.y. movement--only in those days it wasn't called d.i.y. The British Ministry of Information used the slogan "Make Do and Mend" and wrote a book by the same name, urging citizens to conserve resources (and ration coupons) by re-fashioning dresses rather than buying new ones.

I've been trying to get my hands on a copy of the book. I love the idea of, say, cutting the collar off of one dress and sewing it onto another . . . maybe changing up the cuffs to make a blouse look new.


1940s knitting patterns available on the V&A website.

It's hard to imagine a time when knitting your own sweater was actually less expensive than buying one in a store, but that's the way it was back in the '40s, when the knitting and sewing industries boomed and it became patriotic to be self-sufficient, clothing-wise. I love the idea of knitting up fishnets to make up for the absence of nylons. It's such a pretty alternative to the makeup-covered legs with "seams" drawn up the backs!