40s Fashion

Before World War II, Paris was the fashion capital of Europe and North America.  Top 40s fashion designers based their businesses in Paris, as did 1930s fashion designers.  All that changed with the onset of World War II.  German occupation of France cut the world off from Paris, which became isolated since travel was difficult under enemy occupation.  Paris couture houses tried to keep going but soon the center of couture shifted to New York.  Many Paris designers tried to keep going so their workers would not have to do other types of work for the Germans.  Some, like Elsa Schiaparelli, moved their operations to New York.

German occupation of France meant limited communications and hardly any travel at all between the US and France.  That made things difficult for US-based fashion designers who were used to traveling to Paris to copy the latest 40s fashion designs.  Suddenly, they were on their own and American (US) fashion designers had to develop their own styels.  The American ready to wear style evolved out of this severance from Paris, and from the necessities of wartime era fashion restrictions and influence in general of the War on every aspect of life in the mid 1940s.

Women were working in factories doing manual labor…like drilling holes as in the picture here.  This is a bona fide picture of a real Rosie the Riveter in action.  She is wearing a sturdy, utilitarian uniform that allows her to climb ladders and do other physical things safely and easily.  However, the uniform is very cute!  Notice the puffed sleeves and tailored waist with awesome side buttons.  And she’s wearing perfect makeup.

Women working in factories also had to keep their hair out of the way, hence the big head scarf trend in 40s fashion.  Hats, hair nets, scarves…all popular not only in the factory but also in street clothing.  There just wasn’t a whole lot of extra time for doing one’s hair in those wartime days of the mid-1940s.