Fashion on the ration: new exhibition of WWII style

For most people, the 1940s conjures up images of rations, wartime struggle and sombre outfits.

The Imperial War Museum, London. Image by Peter Roberts / CC BY 2.0 Image by Peter Roberts / CC BY 2.0

But the Imperial War Museum has revealed how fashion flourished in the Second World War in spite of strict rationing rules. A new exhibition to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the war shows how men and women came up with bold new styles with minimum resources.

Fashion On The Ration: 1940s Street Style will display outfits, uniforms and textiles from 1940s Britain to look at the war’s impact on what people wore, their sense of identity and how they coped with the demands of shortages and austerity.

(Press Association)