(Source: wikimedia) British soldiers in the trenches - whilst it was a hard time financially and socially for everyone at home, this was the most dangerous job and it's tragic that so many lost their lives.
Due to the preparations being progressed far along enough, Paris Fashion Week still went ahead, and it all went as planned - no bombings or interruptions.
(Source: Paris fashion) Though this look is already quite simplistic (perhaps foreshadowing the decrease in grandeur in coming times?) it still has that classic Parisian elegance and a stand-out, beautiful look - I love the use of the ruffles and draping in this outfit.
Even right at the start of the war, the effects on the economy were huge, hitting even those in high society - people were no longer buying the expensive and decadent couture as it was the improper thing to do - everyone had to start digging in their pockets for money and it wouldn't have been patriotic to spend so much money on something which wasn't a bare necessity. Women were left in charge of the couture houses if the male couturiers signed up to go to war - an example of this is Paul Poiret, who signed up and became a military tailor, leaving only a few designs on his drawing desk; in the end it was all too much and the fashion house collapsed, leaving this brilliant couturier to survive on benefits.
(Source: avagabonde.blogspot.com) Women running the Haute Couture houses
Many fashion houses were making it through though despite everything that was going on - America was a huge financial help to the Paris fashion houses due to their support in the early years of the war (America wasn't part of the war until 1917). Shows were still happening and Paris was still looked to by all for what the fashions would be - not even the rise in American fashion talent could bring the Parisians down.
(Source: susannaives.com) Parisian fashion in 1917 - it had progressed to a much simpler and chicer look, using less expensive fabrics but yet you can see the need to create something beautiful in the way simplistic details have been added - the crossover on the shirt, and the trail of buttons and beautiful drape on the dress.
Fashion at this stage was a tool to boost morale and give people at home (or at war, if they were able to hear about it) a sense of normality and lifted spirits. For example, Conde Nast (the company which owns VOGUE) published the first ever British VOGUE showing off the new fashions to give people hope - it launched British VOGUE, and nowadays the magazine has many different counterparts such as France, Italy, Japan etc.
(Source: condenast.com) The first edition of British Vogue - notice how in the illustration the model is smiling, and she's dressed in white, which connotes hope and safety and piece. This would give quite an uplifting feel subconsciously to the reader or if someone was just walking past a magazine store.
There were a number of trends in womenswear fashion during the war - no designer dramatically changed the silhouette but it was more layered - draping of fabrics gave a slightly fuller look and layers of ruffles and peplums at the waist began to appear; womenswear was getting a more feminine edge to it. Contrasting to this, another major trend was military - clothes began to appear in uniform colours such as navy and the famous khaki colour, and features such as double breasted fastenings and tailoring with nipped in waists took shape. The need for more functional clothes developed this look even further with skirts that flared out slightly at the bottom to allow for more movement (women were doing a lot more work at home to help with the war efforts - this meant hemlines started inching up to increase practicality.
(Source: oteea-land.com) Silhouettes from the time.) It hadn't changed tha much, due to there being no time and/or money, but small things such as ruffles and peplums being added would've given a sense of the new and lifted moods even more.
Mass-production fashion designers were coming up with new ways of making dressing both more practical and less time consuming to care for - due to the fact that women were starting to do more to help out with the war, household employees such as maids would not work as a maid any more - they'd be doing something else with their time such as working in fabric production warehouses for the military. This meant women had to do everything themselves and so many garments were made far less complex so not too much cleaning and pressing was needed; the luxury of going to afternoon tea declined, and so did the tea dress (which I feel is a shame because tea dresses were getting increasingly detailed with beautiful embellishment before the war). The focus was now on daywear, because it was a necessity rather than a luxury.
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