5/21/11

We Can Do It!



Before Ms. Beyonce Knowles started empowering all the single ladies, there was little miss Rosie the Riveter bearing her muscles and taking one for the team during World War II. She's strong. She's iconic. She's beautiful. All things that women today still appreciate and many strive to be, but during WWII this came with much more difficulty and many more burdens as it was the women maintaining the economy. Clothes were rationed, tights were no where to be seen, and all those single ladies were stichin' themselves new dresses out of old curtains. So on this note (and seeing as I've racked up all of this information from the term paper I just finished), here comes a long list of reasons why we should keep looking up to Rosie and the other ladies who have earned the right to call themselves the original reccesionistas.
*all photos from this post were found from various other sources



Make Do and Mend: a scheme created by Vogue for the English in response to the Utility Clothing Scheme imposed at the end of 1941, a strategy to control and regulate the amount of available resources and limited income by essentially creating a civilian uniform. This pamphlet taught women how to make anything out of anything!




Great examples of wartime fashion. Plain, boxy, respectful, put together. 


Hats were a popular way to spice up an outfit as their production was not regulated 
since they used so few materials. During this period the hats were pretty wild. 









Since there were no stocking available, women would paint their legs to make it appear as though they were wearing tights! Leg makeup came on the market and eye liner could be used to draw on the seams. 


Women sitting in the entrance to a bomb shelter, wearing protective masks 
for shrapnel and debris... Photograph taken by the famous Lee Miller


Lee Miller herself in Hitler's bathtub on the day his suicide was announced. Such an 
interesting topic, and woman... if interested definitely look into her (see citation below).

Gallagher, Jean. “Vision, Violence, and Vogue: War and Correspondence in Lee Miller’s
Photography.” The World Wars Through the Female Gaze. USA: 1998. Print. 



What a clever way to take advantage of the lack of resources... men. 


Poster from the American version of the rationing/recycling schemes, Sew and Save. 


An advertisement for patterns encouraging women to 
cut up their old clothes in order to create new styles. 




Girl power. 'Nuf said.