THE VINTAGE THIMBLE

WWII Propaganda Dress Day dress. 1941. American.

During the war, raw materials were in short supply. In order to regulate the remaining production of civilian garments, the United States government implemented the L-85 regulations in 1942. L-85 dictated the styling of garments with an eye to conserving materials and production time. Skirt length, hem width and types of trim were strictly regulated, as were the cuffs and pockets of menswear. Home-sewn clothing was exempt from these regulations, but all were encouraged to “make do and mend.”

In addition to the actual conservation of materials, L-85 regulations provided a constant visual reminder of the necessity of total participation in the war effort. The production of propaganda textiles featuring slogans and imagery relating to the war allowed civilians to support the war effort in yet another way. Interestingly, these textiles were not produced by governments, but by independent manufacturers. In the United States and Britain, propaganda textiles featured familiar slogans such as “V for Victory” and “Keep it Under Your Hat,” a reminder that casual conversations could inadvertently reveal confidential information. Other designs featured brightly colored patterns of red, white and blue, the colors of the Allied flags. The propaganda textile dress seen here features a pattern embedded with the slogan “There’ll Always be an England,” This textile was among a collection of propaganda textiles manufactured and sold in March 1941 as a fund-raiser for the British-American Ambulance Corps, a New York based volunteer ambulance corps. In March 1941, the United States had not yet entered the war, so the textile collection was intended to provide financial support to the Corps so they could transport injured troops. The textile collection was also a gesture of support to beleaguered British citizens who had suffered under Nazi bombing. Other featured slogans included “Bravo Britain” and “Friends Across the Sea,” in colors called English Channel blue and Buckingham Palace red.

To promote the textiles, which were marketed nationally, a fashion show was held in Manhattan featuring socialites clad in dresses created from the various textiles. Astute readers probably noticed that the text in the detail image is backwards. This collection of textiles was intentionally printed with reversed “mirror-writing,” which can be read properly only when reflected in a mirror. Our curators have recently determined that the unusual mirror-writing featured in the print is a reference to the many coded messaging systems used during World War II. The mirror-writing also had an immediate effect on the wearer; every time she glanced in a mirror, she was confronted with a cheerful, fashionable reminder of her patriotic duty.

With its square shoulders and slightly full, just-below-the-knee skirt, this dress showcases all the important elements of World War II era fashions. The prevalence of military uniforms, L-85 regulations and a sense of patriotic duty led to dresses with a compact, structured silhouette similar to that of a military uniform. Because the dress has no label, we can guess that it was probably created by a skilled home-sewer who wanted to support the efforts of the British-American Ambulance Corps. The ruched, self-fabric trim at the shoulders and waist, and the fullness of the skirt suggest that this was made soon after the textile was released in 1941. With the advent of L-85 regulations in 1942, even home-sewers probably would have streamlined their garments out of a sense of patriotic duty. | FIDM Museum Blog

Nylon Stockings During WWII Silk or nylon stockings were in extremely short supply by the summer of 1942, despite the presence of American GI’s In Britain who could sometimes get hold of stockings from the US. Most women had to find ingenious methods of dressing their legs. These pictures show a woman drawing in the seam-line on “Makeup” stockings with a device made from a screw driver handle, bicycle leg clip, and an eyebrow pencil, 1942. (source: Bettman/Corbis)

The Holcombe Mirror Uplyme, East Devon, England. Iron Age, about AD 30-70

An unexpected discovery In 1967 Devon Archaeological Society heard that a Roman mosaic pavement had been found by a farmer near Uplyme in East Devon. The Society started archaeological excavations at the site in 1969 and discovered a Roman villa. In 1970 a volunteer on the dig, Nicholas Riall, was excavating a pit found under the floor of one of the rooms in the villa. The pit belonged to a farm or settlement on the same spot the Villa was later built. In the bottom of the pit he found an Iron Age bronze mirror, which was placed there during the first century AD.

The mirror is made from bronze and is decorated with a symmetrical ‘Celtic’ or La Tene design. The decoration is on the back of the mirror, with the polished side where you saw your reflection on the other side. The complicated design is now difficult to see because it was badly corroded by being buried for 2000 years at the bottom of a pit. In fact, when the mirror was first found, no one could see any decoration on the mirror plate at all. It was only after it was carefully cleaned by conservators at the British Museum that the design could be made out.

The plate of the mirror is only 1 mm thick and binding strip around the edge helped to protect it. The grip that holds the handle to the mirror is decorated with two counterpoised trumpet scrolls. When you look at the mirror with the handle at the top, this grip looks like the face of a smiling cat. | The British Museum

Horned helmet Iron Age, 150-50 BC. From the River Thames at Waterloo Bridge, London, England. A helmet for a god? This 'helmet' was dredged from the River Thames at Waterloo Bridge in the early 1860s. It is the only Iron Age helmet to have ever been found in southern England, and it is the only Iron Age helmet with horns ever to have been found anywhere in Europe. Horns were often a symbol of the gods in different parts of the ancient world. This might suggest the person who wore this was a special person, or that the helmet was made for a god to wear. Like the Deal Crown, this was more of a symbolic head-dress than actual protection for the head in battle. The person who wore the helmet would need a modern hat size of 7. The helmet is made from sheet bronze pieces held together with many carefully placed bronze rivets. It is decorated with the style of La Tène art used in Britain between 250 and 50 BC. The repoussé decoration is repeated on the back and the front. Originally, the bronze helmet would have been a shining polished bronze colour, not the dull green colour it is today. It was also once decorated with studs of bright red glass. The decoration is similar to that on the Snettisham Great Torc. | ↳ The British Museum