Hair, Hats, and Hemlines During World War II

Fashion took an abrupt turn during the Second World War.  Glamor and glitz was replaced by practicality.  

Hair

Prior to the war the most popular hairstyle was introduced by actress Veronica Lake, who wore her hair long, waved, and pulled over one eye.   While the look was alluring it was impractical for the busy  World War II woman.  With most able bodied men away fighting the war, women rolled up their sleeves and jumped into the workforce to fill the gaps vacated by the men. Many of those jobs involved operating equipment used to manufacture products needed for the war.  It quickly became apparent that the constant flipping of long hair away from the face and eyes was not only a hazard in the work place it was also a loss of valuable time.  I think of that when I see the young ladies of today flipping their hair out of their face and eyes.

  Although long hair remained popular, many women rolled their hair back into a style that became known as "The Victory Roll". 

 Keeping up appearances was important and considered a major part of etiquette.   My mother wore her long red hear either pulled back and tied with a ribbon, up in a bun, or in the Victory Roll.  As youngsters,  sister and I wore our hair in ringlets or pigtails as was the custom of most children then. 

Women working in factories to support the war effort wore  a Safety Cap  over their  Victory Rolls.  

 Hats

Proper ladies and gentlemen were never seen in public without a hat adorning their heads.  Fedoras were the most popular hats for men,  as were Homburgs and Porkpie’s.  I never saw my father leave the house without a hat.  




  

 Women’s hats were generally a bit zany and flamboyant, but stylish. Because their clothing was quite plain they took great pride in decorating their hats with all types of scrap materials such as foil, flowers, feathers, and lace. To a child some of them were down right frightening.

       There was a entire language spoken with hats.  Gentlemen from the time they were young boys were taught proper hat etiquette. You could tell a lot about a man by the way he wore his hat.  If he wore his hat tipped slightly back it meant that he was an upfront, open person; a man of honesty, and integrity, a man you could trust.  If he wore it tipped a bit forward or off to one side you could bet he was a bachelor, a ladies man, a little on the mysterious side and a bit of a rogue.

It was common courtesy for a gentleman to remove his hat when speaking to a lady.   Gentlemen also removed their hats the minute they stepped indoors as acts of courtesy and respect.  Actually the custom of men removing their hats indoors dates back to the era of the European Crusades.  A knight would remove his headdress to show respect, vulnerability, and courage in the presence of royalty.

The custom of  a gentleman bowing his head slightly and lifting his hat off his head or touching the brim of his hat  with one hand when encountering another man is an abbreviated version of removing it all together. 

Women never removed their hats in public unless they were considered an obstruction or downright hazardous to others in the room…and they often were so large they were.

Hemlines:

My mother was a wiz of a seamstress and made almost all of the clothes for our family.  What she didn’t make came to us through the custom of “hand-me-down’s” passed on from relatives and neighbors.   

Dresses were hemmed to fall about 2 inches below the knee. This was more of an attempt to conserve on fabric than a fashion statement.  Prior to World War II a proper hemline for women was considered to be ankle length to mid-calf, but the shortage of fabric necessitated the shorter lengths.  After the war the hemlines dropped again to present a more conservative feminine look.  

Necklines remained modest, never revealing much flesh, although V- shaped necklines were acceptable for social gatherings.  Another fashion statement, most likely taken from military attire, was the use of padding in the shoulders of dresses, coats, sweaters and blouses. I always thought the padding made people look two-dimensional and square.

To complete the look, and to conserve on material, open toes shoes for women became popular.

 All in all the manner of dress seemed to reflect a way of life that was more refined and cultured even in the midst of war.