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As for women, clothing was rationed. In the
first half of the 20th century, clothes were made to last. Men
traditionally wore suits of plain dark colours, maybe with a stripe.
The material was so much thicker than suits made today. Suits also
tended to be handed down from father to son, and style changed very
little. Although double breasted suits had appeared in the
mid-1930's, wartime rationing dictated that these used too much material
in their manufacture, so only more traditional single breasted jackets
were allowed to be made during the war years. Those who had double
breasted jackets had purchased them before wartime rationing started.
When going out anywhere in public,
for example, on a train or even just shopping, men would wear their suit
or best clothes.
Another point to remember is that until the late
1920’s men’s braces were rarely seen on middle/upper class gentlemen
except in their own house as they were classed as "underwear" – this is
why waistcoats and sleeveless pullovers had been invented! Working
class men, however, were less concerned with social etiquette and did
wear them without waistcoats – usually if they were particularly busy
doing manual work in warm weather. It was the war itself, and everyone
just getting on with the job that resulted in what many regarded as a
“slip in standards” being becoming acceptable.
And remember, clip-on braces did not appear until
1953/4 – so you can only use those which buttoned to your trousers. There
is nothing more annoying at re-enactment events seeing the effort people
have gone to in order to get clothing that looks like 1940's, only to go
and ruin the effect with "modern" clip-ons!
Don't forget small things like shirt sleeve
holders, and pocket watches. Wristwatches never contained
batteries, nor had digital number faces!!
Shirts with fixed collars had appeared in the previous decade –
particularly for use on less formal occasions, so you don’t always have
to wear shirts without collars. Plain colours, occasionally
striped. Ties were either sombre colours, or occasionally bright
and brash if imported from America - but definitely no cartoon characters and pictures!
As with women, when going outside of the home, a hat was regarded as a
mark of status - particularly for men. Working class men invariably
wore cloth caps, whilst the middle classes wore trilbys or other.
Find out more about braces and
why you shouldn't wear clip-ons at re-enactment events. |
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Mark with his daughter Shannon
wearing a trilby (above) and a straw summer hat in the hot weather at Severn
Valley, 2005.
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