TV drama forgets 1940s ladies had creativity to spare
MEETS AN ELLAND-BASED FASHION EXPERT WITH PROOF THAT WARTIME CLOTHES WERE NOT AS DRAB AS WE THOUGHT
THE dark days of the Second World War were so austere the Government even dictated fashion trends in a desperate bid to save as much cloth as possible.
The clothes certainly often look frumpy on World War Two dramas – and the fashionconscious would have noticed that on recent Channel 4 drama Traitors too.
But the reality is that fashion was far more colourful and creative than you’d imagine.
Clare Quartermaine, of Scapegoat Hill, and creative director of Elland-based vintage clothing websites The House of Foxy and Pretty Retro, reveals the Government was so proscriptive that clothes manufactured during this era had to carry the distinctive CC41 label stitched inside them.
This stood for Controlled Commodity which came from the regulations in a Limitation of Supplies (Cloth and Apparel) Order 1941 from the Government but the CC label was commonly known for what it really was – cloth and clothing.
Women’s dresses had to be made from wool or rayon – which we now know as viscose – manufactured from wood pulp and can imitate the feel and texture of silk.
Proper silk was mainly used for parachutes, which led to a drastic shortage of silk stockings.
This led to women creating the illusion of wearing them by drawing the stocking line and covering their legs in gravy browning. That’s part of the reason American GIs were so popular with the ladies when they arrived armed with silk stockings as gifts.
Clare said: “Many people now don’t know this brand of what the Government called ‘utility’ clothing ever existed. But there were