The no-waste world of fashion on the ration
From the amount of metal allowed in a corset to the length of a pair of socks, even the width of the gusset in a pair of women's knickers, the government exerted absolute control over what people wore during and after the Second World War. Historian and biographer Julie Summers explains to Rosie Allsopp how wartime women used ingenuity to cope with rationing and keep looking stylish
WE ARE all familiar with the phrase make-do-and-mend, and while it's a movement that's experiencing something of a resurgence in 2017, during the Second World War it was a matter of survival.
Nothing could be wasted, from scraps of food to the smallest pieces of fabric. Profligacy was out as the government sought to ensure the population was properly fed and clothed so every citizen could do their bit for the war effort.
While most people know that food rationing was an essential part of the British war effort, less is known about the government's efforts to ensure that as well as staying adequately fed and healthy, the population was also properly dressed.
It's a subject that author, biographer and historian Julie Summers knows plenty about. Her book Fashion on the Ration – one of The Times newspaper's books of 2015 – was written to coincide with an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum.
Julie has written several books, many of which look at the human stories behind the war, including Jambusters, adapted for television and renamed Home Fires, which was broadcast on ITV.
For Fashion on the Ration, Julie painstakingly sifted through reams of material from the museum and other sources during her research for the book.
'It has a fantastic archive, and I also read letters from the time which were incredibly detailed. Quite often wives would write very detailed letters to their husbands where they would talk about clothes rationing and how they would make clothes. Letters were a really useful source. I also used the Westminster library and read Vogue from 1939-1949 as well as Harpers Bazaar and Woman's Own,' she said.
'I also found published but little-known memoirs, for example from a woman who was a tram conductor, who wrote about wearing a uniform and suddenly finding respect from people, whereas before she was just a wife. I also talked to several people who have memories of making clothes.'
It was undoubtedly a time of make-do-and-mend which necessitated using every available scrap of fabric. Nothing went to waste, even sheep's wool from barbed wire and pet hair.
'You can knit with dog hair – the WI tried it as an experiment and researched which dogs' coats made the best wool. Collies and Pekingese were best, but poodles and Labradors were less easy to spin.'
Julie's illustrated talk on Fashion on the Ration takes place tomorrow evening at St James, starting at 8pm. Tickets are £9 (£8 for FOSJ) including a drink on arrival. Doors open at 7.30pm. For further information call 711361.
