Wartime Britain saw huge change politically, financially and economically. The effects of these changes reached far and wide throughout the 1940s, changing the course of women’s lives, and the future of women’s clothing, for good.
Women made a huge contribution to the war effort. As war broke out in September 1939, just over 5 million women were working, with about 17,000 of these enlisted. Jump forward three months to the end of 1939 and the number of women who had volunteered for the WRNs, WAAFs and the ATS had risen to around 43,000.
But this wasn’t enough to fill the jobs left empty by men leaving to join the forces. A solution was needed so in December 1941, conscription for women was bought in. By 1943 the number of women in the workplace had risen to well in excess of 7 million, 80,000 of these working as land girls in the Women’s Land Army.
Often denied the status associated with the auxiliary services, the Women’s Land Army is arguably the forgotten success story of the Second World War.
Tasked with ensuring food production wasn’t affected as men left agricultural behind and took up active service, the WLA took on hard, physical work and long hours in all weather; often being paid less than men performing the same tasks. It’s these women this blog aims to shine a light on.
Told through the eyes of a fictional land girl, I’ll be exploring life on the home front & in the fields; following our characters as they navigate their way through wartime life, clothing shortages and make do and mend. With clothes forming the heart of every story I’ll be looking at that iconic land girl uniform, and how the clothes the girls wore off duty changed throughout the course of the war.
The 1940s are an extraordinary period for fashion and clothing – what women wore was influenced less by personal choice and more by the effects of the war. If clothes could talk, what would they tell us about the people who wore them and the way they lived their lives?
