(Go to Part 1 The War Years, 1940-1945) - Part 2 - The New Look, 1946-1949

Woman & Home, February 1946.

Stitchcraft, 1946
(More Britishs examples. Rationing was still in force - indeed, stricter than ever - directly after the war, so there was not much room for experimentation in fashion.)

Australian Home Journal, 1946

My Home, October 1946

Harper's Bazaar (Great Britain), January-February 1947
(The ladylike young model on the cover of this magazine is wearing clothes considered suitable for teenagers! In Great Britain, at least, they had not yet developed a style different from their mothers. This picture shows that postwar fashions were becoming a bit more generous than the scantily cut clothes of wartime - at least for those who could afford them.)

Butterick Fashion News, 1947

McCall Style News, 1947

Stitchcraft, 1947

"Agriculture Camp, Chieveley, September 1947"
(Yet another British example, showing a group of men and women in a range of casual clothes. The women's outfits would have been equally at home during the war years, as continued rationing meant that styles didn't change fast. Things were to start changing however, by the end of the year.)

Australian Home Journal, 1947

("Not since the year before the war have there been such beautiful fashions."

Australian Home Journal, April 1948)

Australian Home Journal, 1948

(The controversial "New Look" as interpreted for home dressmakers. Skirts became longer and fuller, waists were nipped in, and padded shoulders were no longer in fashion. These domestic examples, however, avoided the padding and tight-lacing of the high-fashion Paris models.

"Longer hemlines are selling well; in fact, they started selling well last season and are going well now. They are popular on all type dresses because they are felt to be fashionable and make the wearer look slimmer"

Australian Home Journal, May 1948

Luckily clothes rationing ended in Australia in June 1948! British women were less fortunate, as clothes rationing lasted until well into 1949 there.)

"Spring Coats from Paris" from The Australian Women's Weekly, 1948

Stitchcraft, 1948

("Christian Dior sent fifty designs to Australia for a series of parades to aid the post-war 'Food for Britain' appeal. It was the first overseas collection to be shown in Australia and Dior's first collection ever to be shown outside Paris. The collection defined the New Look of French fashion: lavish amounts of sumptuous fabrics, hand-span waists, full skirts and rounded shoulders...

...As a young woman I didn't appreciate the perfection of the Dior garments as much as I do today. I modelled the signature gown of the collection called 'Dolly', which was made from about one-hundred metres of white silk organza and one-hundred metres of white lace over ice-blue taffeta. The detailed embroidery and care taken to create the collection was impressive. Gowns were made in two pieces to emphasise a feminine, nipped-in waist. And extra piece of material was added to the bodice to make sure the skirt held it in place. Skirts were full and layered with petticoats to further accentuate the waist, fitted with firm waistbands and always belts. Undergarment manufacturers created a waist whittler or 'waspie' - a waist specific girdle that became a standard accessory in some models' tote bags while the fashion lasted. Large angular hats looked like mini-flying saucers and gloves accompanied superbly tailored daytime suits."

June Dally-Watkins The Secrets Behind my Smile)

Australian Home Journal, 1948

("An attempt is being made in several interested quarters to knock the New Look. There are many figures that cannot be made suitable to the New Look, and these folks are against it. We must remember it is a fashion foible which looks particularly well on young girls, but when the older women essay it, particularly those who are amply gifted by nature, it becomes a joke. The New Look will remain with us throughout the summer, as it has done in both England and America, but in a somewhat modified form, no accentuated hips, and an absence of padding.

Australian Home Journal, August 1948)

Butterick Fashion News, 1948

Butterick Fashion News, 1949

Fashion, July 1949

Australian Home Journal, 1949

(The way that women look will not have greatly changed due to the Paris Spring dress collections.

Skirts, as in the London dress shows, are shorter, of that there is no doubt. But thirteen and a half to fourteen inches from the ground was already general usage for tailored dresses and suits so that the eye is not startled when afternoon dresses also rise to that height.

Shoulders, despite a move to square them, remain on the slope. And there are still plenty of princess dresses although we have said goodbye to the difficult Empire lines which rose so high under the bust, retaining instead the smooth, small natural waist.

Australian Home Journal, November 1949)

Stitchcraft, 1949

Vogue Pattern Book, October-November 1949.

Australian Home Journal, 1949

Woman, September 14, 1949