Forum > WWII Civilian Area
Rationing and general men's fashion trends
marloes:
Here I am!
There is very little difference in fashion between the US and western Europe... at first sight.
99% of the people wont notice any difference.
And most differences are very tiny, in general American clothing is already leaning towards the 1950s by the end of the 1930s.
In Europe fashion sort of stood still since 1938 while in the US it went onwards.
So you can ignore 1940s fashion photos and pictures from the US.
In general clothing was easily available in most western european countries till 1944.
Of course some materials (such as nylon and rubber) were not available.
Because some materials were hard to get it became difficult to get new shoes with nice rubber soles, etc.
And because of rationing (and the general attitude of people back then about wasting money) most clothing would be used, reused and used again after being repaired, rebuild, and repaired again.
This is also why more and more women were wearing trousers in public, why skirts became shorter and why women started wearing socks in stead of stockings.
Knitting became very populair.
This site is a Must See; www.swingstyle.de
Philonivs Maximvs:
Thank you Joeri....
I suspected that there wasn't too much progress in fashion until after the war & reconstruction.
Love that Swingstyle site! Ahhh... people today don't wear enough hats or drink manhattans often enough 8)
On a side note: right after the end of the war here in the US, you can see almost 50's style casual shirts & jackets becoming popular, and a lot more colors. Those 2-tone "bowling" style shirts, for example. I've been collecting a few of those for everyday wear, but need to get something more 1930's too, especially for reenacting.
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