For the first time in history, the U.S. government has turned fashion designer. Government regulations which determine the length of milady's skirt, the color of her shoes, the cut of her suit and even the tensile strength of her girdle are in force in America this fall.

Yet the fall wardrobe of the average American woman shows no sign of regimentation. Her clothes are practical without being dull, gay without being extravagant.
 

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Emphasis on the practical in U.S. wartime fashion: Sturdy, tweed suits are popular. This one is worn with non-run, cotton mesh stockings, felt fedora, leather walking shoes, leather bag and gloves.  (Collection Shelby Stanton; this Air Warden volunteer wears distinctive armband and volunteer uniform)

Part of this successful adaptation to wartime restrictions is the result of the good sense displayed by the U.S. War Production Board when setting up its fashion regulations. The WPB did not try to set the styles; it "froze" currently popular fashions. Much of the credit must go to America's designers who are showing themselves eminently capable of taking up where Paris left off. These designers are lucky to have a wealth of substitute materials at their disposal – nylon fleece (a waste product) for wooly coats; Aralac, a synthetic fiber made from milk which is also good for coats or dresses, and other synthetic materials that replace restricted wool, leathers and silk. They are lucky too to have this winter a long list of available and as yet unrationed fabrics – corduroy, velveteen, cotton and crepe net, spun rayon, and blended wool. And they have the experience of England, Sweden, and other rationed countries as an invaluable guide.
 
 

Exhibited in the fall collections in New York were many clothes for which American women have not heretofore felt the need. A trim cotton overall, for instance, was chosen by hundreds of women employees of the Sperry Gyroscope Corporation as the perfect outfit for the factory worker. The women at this war plant had been asked to list factors which they considered important in a coverall. These included short sleeves, stitched-in creases in the trousers, snug belts, and collars shortened at the back of the neck to be out of the way of hair or hat. Designers, hired by the Sperry Corporation, worked these specifications into an outfit as suitable and as martial as the uniforms worn by women auxiliaries in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Uniform designed for women employees in the Sperry Gyroscope Company plant. The coverall combines features suggested in a poll of Sperry’s women workers. The turban is of non-flammable, porous mesh.  (Collection Shelby Stanton; note distinctive insignia)

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In buying daytime dresses, suits and coats this fall, U.S. women were obviously buying for the duration. Designers sensed this and gave them trimly-tailored suits, warm serviceable coats, and neatly-made basic dresses. For contrast, accessories are gay and frivolous.
 

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Fall hat, designed by Lily Dache of a new synthetic fabric, pateen, which the U.S. War Production Board has labeled non-priority. The pill box shown here is dark brown with a huge tassel of pateen strips.  (Collection Shelby Stanton)

Mainbocher, for instance, featured what he called "metamorphosis" dresses; simple black, street-length frocks for gala evenings – dresses which maybe exchanged and adorned by addition of bright belts, collars, lace-vestees, peplums, overskirts or waist-length jackets in bright colors.

Some U.S. designers introduced ankle-length evening clothes this year as practical for wartime. However, floor-length dresses remain in favor but almost all are designed around a pencil-slim silhouette.  A typical black crepe has a bodice embroidered with pailettes and a skirt slit at the seams so that its panels give a petal-shaped effect when the wearer walks.
 

Closely cropped curls have been adopted by hundreds of U.S. girls this winter as the most serviceable and flattering hair-do. The bob shown here, popularly called a “feather cut”, looks equally well with uniform or street clothes.  (Collection Shelby Stanton; note Red Cross Motor Service uniform)

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