Patterns of War: Considering two editions of F.R Morris’ Ladies’ Garment Cutting and Making as sources for British Women’s Fashion during the Second World War
Sarah Carswell
AUSTERITY CLOTHES: FASHION RESTRICTIONS IN WARTIME BRITAIN, 1943 © IWM (D 14818)
Comparing the first two editions of Morris’ work holds limited value for discovering the ways in which the Second World War impacted women’s fashion in Britain. The first edition was published in 1936, the second in 1940, just one year into the war. The second edition’s change in evening wear and the addition of a chapter on wholesale garments are useful indicators of early developments in wartime fashion, but the book contains no record of the major government restrictions to follow: Rationing, Utility and Austerity.
Made with Visme
In addition, although he professed in the foreword to target ‘all engaged in the trade’, the majority of Morris’ experience was in the high end made-to-measure section of the industry. He was the head cutter and designer for exclusive and expensive London department stores who advertised in Vogue, and conceded in his preface to the second edition that most of the book is ‘designed and intended essentially for the measure trade.’
Ladies' Garment Cutting and Making is, however, valuable for contextualising fashion developments during the war. The books provide evidence that key features of women’s wartime fashion-the growth of ready-to-wear mass production; the increased prevalence of informal styles; the favouring of classic and versatile styles- were nascent or even established before the war, suggesting that the Second World War developed existing styles, methods and meanings in fashion, rather than inventing entirely new ones.
Ladies' Garment Cutting and Making is, however, valuable for contextualising fashion developments during the war. The books provide evidence that key features of women’s wartime fashion-the growth of ready-to-wear mass production; the increased prevalence of informal styles; the favouring of classic and versatile styles- were nascent or even established before the war, suggesting that the Second World War developed existing styles, methods and meanings in fashion, rather than inventing entirely new ones.
The above juxtaposition illustrates how changes to the first evening gown given in the two editions of Morris’ book reflect the rapid change in evening wear styles that took place at the beginning of the war, when practical and social pressures created a shift to less elaborate garments. Annotations from primary and secondary sources link the two styles to their respective contexts. Where the earlier book offers a sleeveless gown cut low at the front and back neckline, with flared, double-layered frills, the 1940 edition presents a dark, relatively unadorned dress, explicitly listed as a dinner dress, with a more covered neckline and long sleeves. The idea of an informal evening dress was not unprecedented- Morris gave one example later in the first edition and cited its suitability for ‘occasions where a décolleté evening dress would be out of place’- but it is telling that he not only included additional informal styles in the second edition, but chose one as the first style of the chapter.
Morris Meets Austerity: A Making-as-Method Approach
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To add a practical aspect to my research, I decided to use the second edition of Morris’ book to produce a garment meeting the Austerity regulations imposed on British fashion from 1942. I was particularly inspired by the British Pathé video ‘Modes for Million’ which showcases the creation of the austerity-compliant Utility Collection by the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers, and has a particular focus on dresses. Making the dress highlighted that the Austerity regulations did not bring in an entirely new way of making clothes, they just codified and refined the application of existing methods and practices.
Selected Bibliography
Primary
British Pathé, Modes for Million, (British Pathé 1942; uploaded on YouTube 14 April 2014) Film ID 1548.07, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YEmL63LPE8
Morris, F.R. Ladies' Garment Cutting and Making: A Standard Textbook : Giving Instruction in All Branches of Ladies' Garment Cutting, Dress Cutting, Modelling, and Practical Tailoring, 1st ed. (London: New Era Publishing Company, 1936)
Morris, F.R. Ladies' Garment Cutting and Making: A Standard Textbook : Giving Instruction in All Branches of Ladies' Garment Cutting, Dress Cutting, Modelling, and Practical Tailoring, 2d ed. (London: New Era Publishing Company, 1940)
Secondary
Calder, Angus, The People’s War: Britain 1939-1945 (London: Jonathon Cape, 1969)
Hargreaves, Eric Lyde and Gowing, Margaret Mary, Civil Industry and Trade , HM Stationery Office, London, England, 1952, pp 313–314, 424.
Howell, Geraldine, Wartime Fashion: From Haute Couture to Homemade, 1939-1945 (London: Berg, 2012)
Magill, Sarah, ‘Standardised or Simplified? The Effect of Government-Imposed Restrictions on Women’s Clothing Manufacture and Design during the Second World War’ The Journal of Dress History, Vol. 2, No. 2, Summer 2018 pp. 15-25
McNeil, Peter “Put Your Best Face Forward’: The Impact of the Second World War on British Dress’, Journal of Design History Vol. 6, No.4 (1993) pp. 283-299
Primary
British Pathé, Modes for Million, (British Pathé 1942; uploaded on YouTube 14 April 2014) Film ID 1548.07, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YEmL63LPE8
Morris, F.R. Ladies' Garment Cutting and Making: A Standard Textbook : Giving Instruction in All Branches of Ladies' Garment Cutting, Dress Cutting, Modelling, and Practical Tailoring, 1st ed. (London: New Era Publishing Company, 1936)
Morris, F.R. Ladies' Garment Cutting and Making: A Standard Textbook : Giving Instruction in All Branches of Ladies' Garment Cutting, Dress Cutting, Modelling, and Practical Tailoring, 2d ed. (London: New Era Publishing Company, 1940)
Secondary
Calder, Angus, The People’s War: Britain 1939-1945 (London: Jonathon Cape, 1969)
Hargreaves, Eric Lyde and Gowing, Margaret Mary, Civil Industry and Trade , HM Stationery Office, London, England, 1952, pp 313–314, 424.
Howell, Geraldine, Wartime Fashion: From Haute Couture to Homemade, 1939-1945 (London: Berg, 2012)
Magill, Sarah, ‘Standardised or Simplified? The Effect of Government-Imposed Restrictions on Women’s Clothing Manufacture and Design during the Second World War’ The Journal of Dress History, Vol. 2, No. 2, Summer 2018 pp. 15-25
McNeil, Peter “Put Your Best Face Forward’: The Impact of the Second World War on British Dress’, Journal of Design History Vol. 6, No.4 (1993) pp. 283-299