Fashion (WWII)

Find archive articles on WW II Fashion from the 1940’s. Our site has great information from old magazine and newspaper articles on WW II fashion trends.

W.W. II Button Restrictions and Button Decorations (Click Magazine, 1943)

A well-illustrated article from the home front fashion-filled pages of Click Magazine that served to document the contradictory days when wartime button-rationing coincided with a wide-spread yen for decorating with buttons:

In a frantic bid for individuality, fad-loving women are rediscovering the decorative button. Buttons are no longer just a practical devices for holding clothes together. They pep-up simplified silhouettes and restyle dated fashions.

W.W. II Button Restrictions and Button Decorations (Click Magazine, 1943) Read More »

W.W. II Button Restrictions and Button Decorations (Click Magazine, 1943)

A well-illustrated article from the home front fashion-filled pages of Click Magazine that served to document the contradictory days when wartime button-rationing coincided with a wide-spread yen for decorating with buttons:

In a frantic bid for individuality, fad-loving women are rediscovering the decorative button. Buttons are no longer just a practical devices for holding clothes together. They pep-up simplified silhouettes and restyle dated fashions.

W.W. II Button Restrictions and Button Decorations (Click Magazine, 1943) Read More »

W.W. II Button Restrictions and Button Decorations (Click Magazine, 1943)

A well-illustrated article from the home front fashion-filled pages of Click Magazine that served to document the contradictory days when wartime button-rationing coincided with a wide-spread yen for decorating with buttons:

In a frantic bid for individuality, fad-loving women are rediscovering the decorative button. Buttons are no longer just a practical devices for holding clothes together. They pep-up simplified silhouettes and restyle dated fashions.

W.W. II Button Restrictions and Button Decorations (Click Magazine, 1943) Read More »

W.W. II Button Restrictions and Button Decorations (Click Magazine, 1943)

A well-illustrated article from the home front fashion-filled pages of Click Magazine that served to document the contradictory days when wartime button-rationing coincided with a wide-spread yen for decorating with buttons:

In a frantic bid for individuality, fad-loving women are rediscovering the decorative button. Buttons are no longer just a practical devices for holding clothes together. They pep-up simplified silhouettes and restyle dated fashions.

W.W. II Button Restrictions and Button Decorations (Click Magazine, 1943) Read More »

W.W. II Button Restrictions and Button Decorations (Click Magazine, 1943)

A well-illustrated article from the home front fashion-filled pages of Click Magazine that served to document the contradictory days when wartime button-rationing coincided with a wide-spread yen for decorating with buttons:

In a frantic bid for individuality, fad-loving women are rediscovering the decorative button. Buttons are no longer just a practical devices for holding clothes together. They pep-up simplified silhouettes and restyle dated fashions.

W.W. II Button Restrictions and Button Decorations (Click Magazine, 1943) Read More »

W.W. II Button Restrictions and Button Decorations (Click Magazine, 1943)

A well-illustrated article from the home front fashion-filled pages of Click Magazine that served to document the contradictory days when wartime button-rationing coincided with a wide-spread yen for decorating with buttons:

In a frantic bid for individuality, fad-loving women are rediscovering the decorative button. Buttons are no longer just a practical devices for holding clothes together. They pep-up simplified silhouettes and restyle dated fashions.

W.W. II Button Restrictions and Button Decorations (Click Magazine, 1943) Read More »

That Slim Wartime Silhouette (Click Magazine, 1943)

Five fashion photographs and a few words on the government-approved look for the autumn of 1943. The wartime fashion news for 1943 was apparel order L-85 that had been issued by the War Production Board in order to conserve material for victory.


To read another article about 1940s fashions and the hardships of fabric rationing, click here. Click here to read about the fashion silhouette of the early Fifties.

That Slim Wartime Silhouette (Click Magazine, 1943) Read More »

Fashion Symbolism in Wartime Attire (Yank Magazine, 1945)

This was an unusual article for Yank to run with but it is a wonderful read nonetheless. The column concerns fashion as a reliable barometer of societal direction and starts out with a quote from Basil Liddell-Hart (1895 – 1970) on this issue. The writer then goes to the author and all-around fashion philosopher, Elizabeth Hawes (1903 – 1971) who proceeded to speak thoughtfully on the topic of fashion in wartime. Hawes remarked that the clothing of the leaders can be read as an indicator of forthcoming events.


CLICK HERE to read about the beautiful Blonde Battalions who spied for the Nazis…

Fashion Symbolism in Wartime Attire (Yank Magazine, 1945) Read More »