Forties fashion - from siren suits to the new look

Some 250 illustrations reveal the wide range of fashions and styles that emerged throughout the Second World War and throughout the world, in Europe, North America, Australasia and Japan. During this period of international conflict, fashion managed to express ideals of beauty, femininity and luxury even though patriotic and practical considerations came first. Between the air raids and ration queues, fashion found creative expression that has new resonance today as the world responds to the new climate of limited resources.

The lively text, by fashion specialist Jonathan Walford, details how fashion was considered not a frivolity but an aesthetic expression of circumstances in the 1940s. While Fascist states tried to create 'national' styles before the war began, by 1940 the pursuit of beauty was promoted on both sides of the conflict as a patriotic duty.