Dressing for austerity : aspiration, leisure and fashion in post-war 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 colored in the popular imagination in tones of drab. Dressing for Austerity shines a light on alterna...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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London ; New York :
I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd,
[2017]
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| Series: | Dress cultures.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | 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 colored 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. |
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| Physical Description: | viii, 214 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781780766287 1780766289 |