Dressing for Austerity
Aspiration, Leisure and Fashion in Post-war Britain
Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, General Art, Fashion, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, History
| Author: | Dr Geraldine Biddle-Perry | ISBN: | 9781786721976 |
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury Publishing | Publication: | April 30, 2017 |
| Imprint: | I.B. Tauris | Language: | English |
| Author: | Dr Geraldine Biddle-Perry |
| ISBN: | 9781786721976 |
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury Publishing |
| Publication: | April 30, 2017 |
| Imprint: | I.B. Tauris |
| Language: | English |
A new look for Austerity...
The coldest winter on record, rationing, successive economic crises, bombed out towns and cities; with some justification 'Austerity Britain' in the late 1940s is coloured in the popular imagination in tones of drab. Dressing for Austerity shines a light on alternative visions of post-war optimism and aspiration. It traces how, set against the Labour government's philosophy of 'Austerity by design' in a climate of post-war idealism, the desire for affordable fashionable clothing, access to leisure, and the health, time and money to enjoy them became totemic symbols of post-war ambition that impelled new strategies of state control and consumer agency. The book examines the immediate post-war period – its politics, its fashions and its people - in new ways and on its own terms as a critical tipping point in the making of modern Britain.
A new look for Austerity...
The coldest winter on record, rationing, successive economic crises, bombed out towns and cities; with some justification 'Austerity Britain' in the late 1940s is coloured in the popular imagination in tones of drab. Dressing for Austerity shines a light on alternative visions of post-war optimism and aspiration. It traces how, set against the Labour government's philosophy of 'Austerity by design' in a climate of post-war idealism, the desire for affordable fashionable clothing, access to leisure, and the health, time and money to enjoy them became totemic symbols of post-war ambition that impelled new strategies of state control and consumer agency. The book examines the immediate post-war period – its politics, its fashions and its people - in new ways and on its own terms as a critical tipping point in the making of modern Britain.
