ABSTRACT
The absurdities of coded fashion dicta-the slim as opposed to the thickwaisted, the long unpowdered red nose, the unfashionable black costume, the concept of women who spent the war years delivering themselves up
to lovers rather than enduring death, destruction, bombings, and food shortages-may be part of a particular cautionary discourse of fashion. But the attempt to perceive a historical moment and a national narrative through the conditions of women’s lives and through the images and representations of women is of great interest.
