1940-49 fashion

By Toko Karawita and Teagan Crump

• 1940Wide shoulders and skirts that only just cover the knee. To make up for the short skirt, the neckline was high

and this continued to be high the whole decade.• 1942The angular, masculine line that had started in the 1930s is perfectly suited for this warlike era in which women

stand in for the men that have left for the front line, just as they had done during WWI.

• 1943In the fourth year of the war, fabric become an expensive commodity. Fabric economy was essential; as

magazines offer advice on how to recycle old clothing. Most models are made up of two different fabrics so that they can be made by re-using parts of older garments.

• 1944Ongoing scarcity of fabric supports close-fitting garments made of two different fabrics. Even shoes are recycled

and done up and therefore look somewhat plump. Fashion magazines simply declare these necessities to be the current trend.

• 1947After two years of scarce interest in fashion grows again. Fabric economy and recycling are still important since

the textile industry is not up to the demand yet. Shoes are still plump, with thick soles. • 1948A year after its invention, Dior's "New Style" has finally reached the common household. Since not everyone can

afford the fabric for a new-style wide skirt yet, narrow skirts are still permissible if only the bodice/jacket cinches the waist. After 10 years, the strict vertical and wide shoulders finally give way to a more female line again.

• 1949Wide skirts, narrow waists, horizontal seams either above or below the waist. For the first time, two silhouettes

exist side by side: The narrow skirt on the one hand, the wide one that we nowadays usually associate with the 1950s on the other.

1940-lady posing

1945.

This Shoe has been worn since 1949.