Rationing Fashion: Women's Clothing of WWII

Image Source: Huzzah Vintage on Flickr

When I think of the fashion of the 1940s, I think of sleek lines and square shoulders. The sleeves are fitted instead of puffed or draping. The simple simple A-line skirts fall just below the knee, or the skirt is forgone in favor of slacks. I imagine good, solid shoes with a square heel or a wedge.

I'd always imagined this to be the influence stars like Kate Hepburn and Rosalind Russel, and to be sure, they played a part. What I didn't realize is that 1940s fashion was highly economical. The sleek lines saved precious material. The solid shoes were practical for women going to work for the war effort. Even certain combinations of color and fabric, which look odd --even outlandish -- to my modern eyes, can be explained by creative women who lived by the slogan "Make Do and Mend".

Suit, Utility Scheme, 1942. Museum no. T.43-1942. Victoria and Albert Museum.

When the United States entered World War II in late 1941, the War Production Board was created to convert civilian industry to war production. It also ensured that necessary resources, such as textiles, were diverted to the war effort. Wool, needed for military uniforms, as well as silk and nylon, needed to make parachutes, became rare in civilian life.

The Office of Price Administration was created to oversee rationing of certain foods, metal, gasoline, and shoes. Leather and rubber were needed for the war effort, so American consumers were restricted to buying three pairs of shoes per year.

Americans on the Home Front faced a situation much less dire than their British counterparts. The United States was rich in natural resources, and was not relying on imports of raw materials for war production. As a result, the OPA and the WBP were able to take a more lenient approach to rationing in the States.

Instead of limiting the number of outfits each person could purchase, the War Production Board required clothing manufacturers to adhere to certain fabric-saving guidelines when making clothing. Skirts, jackets, and slacks could not exceed a certain length, and the amount of fabric used in hems was kept to a minimum. Certain fabric-intensive styles of sleeves were prohibited altogether. Garment-makers who violated these restrictions were subject to fines or even imprisonment.

Consumers faced no rationing or restriction on what items of clothing they could buy. My grandmother, who was in her mid to late teens during the war, says that she never had any difficulty getting what she wanted at the dressmaker's shop. Additionally, the WPB restrictions did not apply to garments sewn at home for personal use. Natural fibers were diverted to the war effort, but many synthetic fabrics, like polyester and rayon, were available. The cost of goods in war time was nonetheless quite high, so the government issued publications to advise the public on how to get the most out of their clothing and textile purchases.

As in Great Britain, the government of the United States could rely on social norms to do much of their conservation work. Reusing and restyling old garments into new ones came to be seen as an act of patriotism. That "Menswear Look" in 1940s fashion exists for a very good reason: men in uniform didn't need their suits anymore, and suiting fabric was expensive and difficult to find, so many designers and creative seamstresses simply remade men's suits into outfits for women.

Image retrieved from costumes.org

Shoes were rationed starting in 1943 in order to conserve leather and rubber. Espadrilles, a style of shoe with an upper made of fabric and a sole made of jute, became very popular because they were not subject to rationing. Wedge heels, made of wood, were also popular. Shoes in "victory colors", such as the ones available in red, white, and blue at the top center of the above image, made a statement that was both stylish and patriotic.

image retrieved fromjuliastarkey on flickr

This poster informs consumers that shopkeepers who did not collect their ration coupons were probably selling black-market goods.

Not everyone was on board with the ration system -- at least, not everyone, and not all the time. In Britain and in the United States, people got around the ration scheme by trading coupons or resorting to the black market. Many people saw nothing wrong with paying under the table for a special item for a "special occasion". While this was technically illegal, prosecution for selling or purchasing black market consumer goods was rare.

This led to organized crime taking an interest in the black market. The petroleum market was particularly lucrative, and organized crime groups began to make counterfeit coupons which they sold to gas station owners and to drivers. At one time, the OPA estimated that 5% of all gasoline sales in the country was being purchased with fake coupons.

Image from Northwestern University's Digital Library

Image retrieved from bmeabroad's photostream

Most Americans, even those who dabbled in the black market from time to time, saw themselves as patriotic, upstanding people. Even if they could afford enough fabric to sew extravagant outfits at home, free of any War Production Board garment restrictions, clothing with too many frills was considered wasteful. Worse than that, it was unpatriotic. Worse even than that -- it was in bad taste.

The famous Zoot Suit flew in the face if wartime convention. The long jackets, full-cut trousers, and wide ties were popular in African American, Italian American, and Latino American communities. Throughout the 1930s, the zoot suit gained visibility when worn by Black jazz band leaders such as Cab Calloway.

By the 1940's, zoot suits became an iconic form of dress among the Pachuco youth subculture. These youth, often the children of Mexican migrant workers, were neither culturally "Mexican" or culturally "American". Pushed to the margins of both cultures, Pachuco youth responded by flaunting their difference. They developed their own Spanish dialect, they formed gangs, and they continued to wear zoot suits.

Image retrieved from Racism On The Home Front WWII: Zoot Suit Riots

In June of 1943, Los Angeles was the scene of riots directly related to the zoot suit. Due to War Production Board regulations, zoot suits were only available through bootleg tailors dealing in black market goods. Wearing one was to defy the laws of rationing, to challenge the status quo, and to snub mainstream White culture.

Like other port cities in California, Los Angeles had become rapidly overcrowded with war laborers and service members. The police and press at the time characterized all Mexican American youth as petty criminals, and White sailors and Marines, who were offended by the very idea of zoot suits, were only too happy to have their stereotypes confirmed. When a group of sailors got into an argument with a group of young men in zoot suits on the night of June 3, 1943, the Zoot Suit riots were just waiting to happen.

The group of sailors claimed that the zoot suiters had jumped them. The next day, 200 members of the US Navy got into 20 taxis and heading into East Los Angeles. Their first victims were a group of 12- and 13-year-old boys. The sailors beat the boys and any adults who tried to help them, and then stripped the boys of their suits. In the days that followed, thousands of service personnel, accompanied by police, took to the city and beat up any Latino males they encountered. The beatings escalated to include African American and Filipino men as well. On June 7, the Navy and Marine Corps confined all personnel to barracks, but the official position remained that the rioters were acting in self defense.

Image retrieved from Northwestern University Digital Library

In the United States, the War Production Board was replaced by the Civilian Production Administration in October of 1945. The Office of Price Administration was abolished, along with rationing, in June of 1947. The Zoot Suit Riots became a historical footnote. When Christian Dior (who had spend the war in Paris, designing for the Vichy regime and the occupying Nazis) debuted his "New Look" in 1947, Americans were ready for the long, full skirts and opulent designs he introduced.

The "New Look" was simply not an option for most British consumers. The CC41 Utility Scheme was continued until 1952, with other forms of rationing continuing until until 1954 -- a full nine years after victory was declared in Europe.