With the world at war, London crumbling, and time bombs being dropped a
stone's throw from its office,
Vogue put its faith in 1940s fashions and dresses fashion in the 1940s pulse beats with
imperishable vitality. As long as there is
desire for change and love of self expression, a sense of fitness and sense of fantasy
there will be clothes fashion.' Before the outbreak of war in 1940s
decade,
fashion trends
was elitist and escapist. Now, clothes were part of the rallying cry for unity.
The 1940s fashion industry was frozen, fertile imaginations cut short for
fashion decade 1940s. Sketchbooks
were closed and fashion and 1940s clothing had metamorphosed into the unlikeliest of symbols morale booster and government
tool.
After decades of free reign and prolonged periods of decadence, the fashion industry
had to be creative
within the constraints of economic responsibility and social rules
and 1940s style dress code and dress form.
The new words austerity, rational
and utility were delivered in Churchillian
fashion the concept of common sense was new. During the 1940s women were in
uniform as 1940s day dress and men were taken aback by women in uniform and
soldiers and military fashion in 1940s. In 1940, in a two sided
argument on the subject of women in uniform skirts, Patrick Balfour talked about the downside
as a sociological fallacy called feminine
emancipation, followed by the ultimate insult Hitler is very probably a woman. In figure, in stridency
and in barbarous singleness of purpose, he is the equal of any Fraulein in military uniform.'
In fashion during the 1940s women's fashion were valiantly clinging to the last bastions of femininity.
For women's fashion in the 1940s, in 1941 Vogue pronounced that silk was
on its last legs for women uniform as soldiers fashion in 1940s.
1940s fashion women stockings were to be the sacrificial lamb of the ladies fashion clothes industry
including 1940s womens fashion dress, party and day dress and fancy dress. Fashion 1940s `Will it come to
this?' said Vogue, pointing a finger at a woman taking tea in a pair of frumpy Fair Isle stockings.
`The ban on silk stockings came as a great shock to feminine pride and dress code. It is a great topic
of feminine conversation. "What will we look like?", "Thick wool legs in the Ritz?", "I can only bear
sheer silk," "My dear, my ankles."'
While Britain was buckling down to austerity and clothing 1940s coupons, America alien to belt tightening
provided the glamour. Vogue trod the fine line between aspiration and reality, 1940s fashion ladies
reporting that American
women are wearing a revolutionary new silhouette with sloping shoulders shirt waist 1940s dresses.
1940s dresses, they always wore them they always will dressed up with jewelled buttons and a lyrical,
hysterical hat. On 1 June 1941 rationing of cloth, clothing and footwear was introduced.
1940s clothing requirements and 1940s dress code had been reduced to 66 coupons.
To add insult to injury, this was the same quota as margarine.
In 1942 Vogue had already coined the phrase `The New Look' to describe the current state of mind.
1940s fashion trends became the `Dressiness is demode. It looks wrong to look wealthy.
Understatement has a chic denied to overemphasis.'
Within the financial restraints, there was still room for creativity. Propaganda prints were designed to
get the message over `Dig for Victory', `Home Guard', `Happy Landing' and Vivien Leigh in a `66 coupons'
design illustrated with rare and rationed items. Necessity became the mother of invention.
`Clothes from Chemicals' was a new idea pioneered in America, as a way of making tough materials that
didn't deplete natural resources Nylon, a versatile chemical product which has already been proved
in hairbrushes, toothbrushes and the best wearing stockings in the world, is now being turned into soft,
woolly fleeces.
These make coats with almost magic properties.'
In 1941 the British Government was desperately trying to keep the fashion industry,
and 1940s dress form alive.
The London Fashion 1940s Collection, representing nine British designers including Norman Hartnell,
Edward Molyneux, Lachasse and Digby Morton, toured Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro and
Sao Paulo.
By 1942 the British Government was forced to take direct action closer to home, and leading designers
Hartnell, Molyneux, Morton, Hardy Amies, Victor Stiebel, Bianca Mosca and Peter Russell put their heads
together to come up with a Utility wardrobe.
Extract from “Twentieth Century Fashion”, written by Linda Watson. London: Carlton Books Limited, 2003.
It’s time to change your wardrobe and music
collections. There’s a huge scene being
revived in Brighton. And no, it’s not rave.
Visit a rockabilly night and you’ll see from the heaving crowds
and packed dance oor just how popular rocking à la fties
is becoming. Is it just a retro novelty? Well, a lot of Brighton
trendsetters are certainly to be seen tripping the streets in pricey
vintage fties gear that they could have pulled out of their gran’s
teenage wardrobe. However, the fantastic rockabilly DJs in Brighton,
well-stocked second-hand clothing shops and lively club nights
suggest that this could be a movement deserving of more than a
passing look.
The perfect soundtrack to getting ready for a rockabilly night out
would cover tracks ranging from The Sharks to the far more acoustic
music of Johnny Cash. In case you were confusedly imagining some
sort of cowboy themed music, let me brie y and crudely explain
this genre. Rockabilly music is a combination of various southern
American genres. Way back when the Scottish settlers in America
took themselves deep into the south to become hillbillies, they
took with them their musical traditions. In their isolated habitat they
preserved their music. This is then met with American country and
blues to form early types of rock and roll, which evolved into
the ever-so-danceable rockabilly. And once you are on a
dance oor with rockabilly music playing, you realise
that this music is meant for young people. It’s fast and
it demands you to dance, twirl around and clap (or
so I’ve always thought - I don’t exactly know why
I’ve elected myself as some sort of authority on
the dancing aspect - it’s probably safer to how this
works out on an individual basis). The main point is
that this is certainly a genre of music worth a revival
- it’s made for dance halls (stretch that to grimy Brighton
clubs). It’s made for girls in big skirts and guys in
braces… Or even girls with black hair, lip-piercings
and neckerchiefs and guys with ripped jeans and
tattoos.
I can’t deny the more aggressive side to
rockabilly as it merges with the modern day
pyschobilly, a genre generally described as
a mix between American rockabilly and the
British punk rock of the 1970s, characterized
by sardonic references to horror lms, violence,
exploitation lms, lurid sexuality and other
topics generally considered taboo. However,
from my experience of our club night of choice,
Born Bad at the Engine Rooms, they save the heavier music for the
end of night, so it’s safe to revel in a cloud of fties delights. Getting
ready for a rockabilly night out can be very like a military operation
if you intend to go for the serious style experience. I nd myself
standing over my friend Rosie, checking on her curlers, then barking
orders of ‘hairspray!’, ‘beads!’ and ‘curling irons!’. I’ve turned into some
kind of Hitler stylist. Don’t get me wrong - I’m a drama queen who
secretly loves all this stress. It requires making an e ort and feels
ridiculously special.
We end up wearing so much make up I’m half afraid we’ll be
mistaken for some of Brighton’s nest drag queens. The rockabilly
make-up is the antithesis of the natural, fresh look of the early 21st
century; the total opposite of the ‘Rachel Zoe Breed’ that is taking
over LA and fashion columns alike. Although with icons such as Dita
von Teese and Christina Aguilera the fties glamour is very much in
vogue once more, it’s hard to nd opportunities to follow that trend.
Sure, subtly on some nights out you can go for the red lips or go a
little thicker with the eyeliner, but in my opinion, the fties look is
such that if you’re going to do it, you have to do it all the way. So we
nd ourselves fretting over the symmetry of our eyeliner icks and,
of course, the dresses - my favourite being a chequered black
and white shirtdress with a tied-in waist. Once my friends
and I are all dolled up in our out ts we’re suddenly not
students; we feel like ladies, or all-American gals going to a
barn dance.
That’s the key to the getting to rockabilly
look for a girl: mix the dramatic and striking
aspects of fties glamour with the more
casual, country look. This fusion captures
the edgier side of the rockabilly world, without
looking either over-dressed or frumpy. For boys the hair can
either be slicked over or qui ed up and over. Shirts should
be tucked into trousers, worn with the thinnest of ties.
I can’t believe that there has come a point in my life
where I would advise any guy to wear this but here
goes: leather motorcycle. It’s a great moment of
satisfaction when it all comes together and we’re
ready to go out (which is naturally signi ed by
someone saying, ‘Where’s my camera? I want
photos for MySpace.’)
As we’re dancing in our circle with our vintage
handbags in the middle, surrounded by people
of all ages but notably a signi cant amount of
students, nobody looks bored – everyone’s more
Brighton likes to rock
a rock a Rockabilly!
By Claire Farrell
music
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