Fashion In 1940's

Make, Do & Mend

Make - Make something new to wear using old material
Do - Make do with what you have
Mend- repair clothes that are damaged





Fashion in 1940s changed due to the world war, women had to go out and work in factories and farms to provide equipments and food for the country "It became much more the norm to wear trousers as your clothes has to be practical if you were working in a factory or farm". Men couldn't work in such places because they were all fighting in the war. Clothes had to be worn again and again. Women would make new clothes out of old fabric such as turn old trousers into a dress "Old jumpers were unravelled to provide wool for new ones, blanets made good coats an if you could could get some parachute silk you could make yourself some luxurious underwear". They would also mend clothes that were damaged. If they were bored of their old clothes there was not much they could do about it but to make do with what they have. The government spent all the money on the war so families were low on mone so they couldn't go food shopping so they wood grow their own food and vegetables on their gardens "We have to accept it was a waist of precious time as well as resources as some 400,000 workers were diverted from the clothing industry to vital war work". They also wouldn't have money to buy new material and fabrics so they would have to work with the meterials they already had at home "I fear that unless either supplies are increased or the distrubution of existing supplies is equalized (which means rationing), some part of the population will have to go short of clothing". Backing my information i have collected some quotes from the book '50 years of everyday fashion'. 

1) What is in fashion in the 1940s?
"Old jumpers were unravelled to provide wool for new ones, blanets made good coats an if you could could get some parachute silk you could make yourself some luxurious underwear".

2)What jobs did women do in the 1940s?
"It became much more the norm to wear trousers as your clothes has to be practical if you were working in a factory or farm".

3) How did the war effect fashion?
"We have to accept it was a waist of precious time as well as resources as some 400,000 workers were diverted from the clothing industry to vital war work".

4) What is rationing?
"I fear that unless either supplies are increased or the distrubution of existing supplies is equalized (which means rationing), some part of the population will have to go short of clothing".

The 'make, do and mend' technique interests me, this is because i think it got women to be more creative and make interesting things putting their mind to it. i also thing women were more hard working instead of always relying on men to do everything for them.