Make do and mend
When I think of fashion,
recycling and history, the first thing that
comes to mind is during World War 2 and the slogan,
"make do and mend". It was a time when you had to recycle old clothes and make them
into something new because buying any new clothes was
too expensive. Coupons for clothes were cut
from allowance books and with only a set amount of coupons, you couldn't afford new outfits. You couldn't throw anything away.
With the government introducing laws banning any shop
selling clothing with any added fancy trimmings, unnecessary buttons, or anything that wasn't essential, women had to embellish their clothing with what they could find. They made curtains, pillow cases and even men's
trousers into skirts. Nothing was thrown away. Outfits were dyed, redyed and restitched so that new
outfits could be recycled from the old.
With the government rationing clothes, there was a surge of
books giving advice on making the most of your
clothes with what's around
the house. They became very popular. With the
help of these books most girls could make a new
outfit out of anything.This not only brought up-cycling to the nation but also changed fashion, with women becoming their own designer and creating their own style.
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