Mittwoch, 28. Januar 2015

Inspirations From The Past // 1944












it's time for some new inspirations from the past ... 1944 - a magazine from the late years of WWII. the topics of this issue are all about creating new clothes from old garments, patterns that need just a little fabric and designs, especially made for two different fabrics and scraps...
isn't it interesting to see, that finally the shortage of resources had changed the face of this magazine? earlier magazines were quite full with colourful fashion prints (here, here, here) - it went to just black, red and green. ... but, it was still there. between bombings, burned down homes, killed family members - there was still a sewing magazine.

my dear friend jessica from chronically vintage wrote in one of  her past comments on my blog, that she had read about ... that in WWII .... exceedingly few of the garments in their fashion magazines during the time were actually available and that that these magazines were more like propaganda tools unto themselves to keep up the appearances of society operating like usual in some respects. she also asked me, if i think there is truth in this case. yes, i'm pretty sure there is truth in this statement. the nazi propaganda machine in this time was still big and constantly working ... but i have to say, that i have never found a fashion magazine from this era - just sewing/handy craft magazines!

the bombings of the bigger german cities got more intense in 1944, people/women spent a lot of their time waiting in air raid shelters or the cellers of their houses during the alerts fearing death. i remember that my granny once told me, that next to talking about food, chatting about clothes or "where to get a scarf, a pair of shoes, a piece of fabric, an old coat or whatever ... and what to create ou of it" was a big topic.  
she also told me, once she had to stand in line for an entire day and night to get a ration card for a pair of shoes. then when she was lucky to get a card, she had to spend another day waiting in line to get shoes. sometimes the little wooden booth was already almost empty, when it was her turn to run in. she actually didn't have the time to look at size, material or style of the shoe - she had to grab a pair before someone else could grab it! but the young teenage lady she was, had always a good and fast eye for fancy pieces. she came home with a tiny pair of beautiful brown snake skin pumps. i hope, her feet were tiny enough for those ...

whatever women went trough in these times, keeping a nice and neat appearance seemed to be quite important ... don't we still know today, that dressing up makes us feel better on bad days.

8 Kommentare:

Anonym hat gesagt…

I love these so much! Women's clothes used to be so feminine without being too revealing! <3

unknownprettylies.blogspot.com

Stephanie Lynn hat gesagt…

I especially love the green and white polka dot blouse with the interesting yoke.

In the Ruins of Berlin hat gesagt…

it was defintive propaganda like . in the GDR, eastern germany times we had also fashion magazines full of clothes you cound'nt buy anywere... and yes keeping you dressed up is always good for the moral

Witchcrafted Life hat gesagt…

Sweet dear, I'm honoured that you answered my question so thoroughly and even centered a whole post around it. Thank you very, very much. I find it extremely interesting that you have not encountered a fashion magazine from that era. I would imagine that they weren't printed in vast copies and that those that did get into the hands of German ladies, probably weren't a huge priority for long in the wake of the endless problems that the country was facing then. It makes me want to try to find one now all the more though. If one of us ever does, let's be sure to tell the other person about it right away.

Thank you again. This is a wonderful post and selection of 40s fashions.

Have a beautiful day!
♥ Jessica

Unknown hat gesagt…

I've found recently a "Marie Claire "(french magazin) from 1940, the topics are about how to cook, sew, knit, cure your child with the restriction of the war. You can read how to keep à good moral even if your husband is a far away as a soldier!
Thank your for share the story of your granny, it's very interesting and touching.
Amitiés de Normandie, France.

Emileigh hat gesagt…

This is so interesting! I didn't know about the "keeping up appearances" part of WWII, and it's wonderful to hear about things from a German perspective. Thank you for sharing all of this great info!

Jessica hat gesagt…

That is a really interesting comment. I don't usually think of fashion as propaganda, but I can definitely see how the idea of normalcy, of keeping up appearances, would have been very important both to the government and to the people.
It's interesting how you could easily tell someone this is a British or American sewing magazine from the same era, and no one would question it. I guess fashion is fashion, even during a war.
By the way, I tagged you for this Vintage Tag/20 questions thing, if you're interested in doing it.
Cheers,
Jessica, Zella Maybe

Joanna hat gesagt…

What a great story about your granny. Very interesting side of fashion..propaganda. Given all the limited resources, it is amazing to see some of these images in fashion magazines showing the beautiful styles and fabric.