World War II Fashion

Before you ask, I know absolutely nothing about fashion. Then why do a piece on fashion in World War II? I hear you say.

There is no particular reason, but after all the heavy subjects I usually explore, I decided to go with a more lighthearted one for a change, while still staying on the subject of World War II.

The picture above: Bath and beach fashion. Swimwear from Germany. One-piece swimsuit in a fabric with a herringbone pattern. The low back is closed with a cord. 28 April 1942.

Shoe fashion. Women’s high-heeled shoes in black patent leather and side closure with buckle. Black suede trim. The shiny stockings are made of fil d’écosse (shiny cotton yarn). The Netherlands, 14 March 1941.

A Japanese department store where every sort of Japanese-designed goods were sold.

France. Hair fashion 1940. The blond hair is undulated with strokes on the sides. Coiffure Jean Pierre.

Germany. Hair fashion 1941. The blond hair is undulated and fastened at the back with a decorative pin. 28 November 1941.

Shop window clothing repair Hollandia. With examples of how broken you can bring the underwear and how you can get it back repaired. The Maastricht skyline is visible in the shop window, including the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk from the apse to the west work. From this, it can be concluded that this shop was located on the east bank, in Wyck. Location possible at Cortenplein.

Girls of the fashion studio Gomperts en Lezer at the Oudezijds Voorburgwal 127-129 in Amsterdam, 1942-1943. I believe this was a Jewish fashion studio.

This photo is part of the collection of Emmy Andriesse (1914-1953), one of the most renowned photographers in the Netherlands. After completing her studies, she moved to Amsterdam, where she started working as a photographer. Andriesse supplied many photos to newspapers and magazines that were characterized by the use of surprising camera angles and a preference for diagonal image construction. The subjects were crafts, landscapes and the lives of adults and children in towns and villages. She was able to do this until the so-called “Journalists’ Decree” of the German occupier in 1941. As a Jewish woman, she could not work or publish and had to go into hiding. At the end of 1944, an anthropologist friend Arie de Froe arranged a forged Aryan declaration for her and she was able to participate in public life again. She joined the illegal photographers collective “De Ondergedoken Camera.” The photos Andriesse took of the Hunger Winter in Amsterdam under difficult circumstances are among the most disturbing in her portfolio. Ending this piece with one of those pictures by Emmy.