The 1940’s look - At a glance

The 1940’s look was one of the most distinct of the past decades and a platform for fashions of the future. The style was iconic yet reflected what was happening for women of this time. This was the decade that saw the woman working in a male work environment and also a time of ‘make do and mend’ women were forced to fashion there garments with minimal materials and without the choice available to them, the garments of the 30’s had been more opulent and more complex in design.

The hair and make up of this age also played and integral part of the 1940’s look. Women looked to Hollywood for inspiration. Unlike the starlets that adorned the movie screens the average women would have one lipstick and a compact powder, if she was lucky. The choice again was limited, today we have so many beauty brands to choose from and in the 1940’s there was probably only one or two, Max Factor was a popular household name and if you were lucky enough to own a product from this range you were probably buying the same colour as everyone else. Women of the 40’s had less role models and looked only to one real source, the big screen! The girls would try recreate what they saw happening in Hollywood, but over here it was a more diluted version.

Make up – Make up was very clean, pale skin. It is worth mentioning that women didn’t travel abroad, therefore didn’t really have tans. As you can imagine darker tone foundations were almost impossible to find … if at all. The brow was groomed and shaped, women would choose, charcoal, coal and burnt cork to add a colour to their brow and lash line.Beetroot was a good choice for a blush if  you could get your hands on it otherwise the ‘pinch your cheek method was just as effective! A red lippy was the ultimate make up must for the WHOLE of this decade. If you didn’t have one you could perhaps borrow your friends!!

Hair – Women wore their hair fairly short  and above shoulder length. The fashion of the decade was to set the hair with pin curls. Women would set their hair and then where a head scarf whilst they were at work. This became an iconic image that has again influenced the decades to follow. Women didn’t have access to any of the products that were available for the movie pin ups of the day. Sugar and water was a good tool for holding back those stray hairs and finishing  off the style. To create structure to the style, women would add shape by rolling the hair giving it more height and volume, this was a popular fashion. TheVictory Roll became a huge fashion accessory; this was a fighter plane manoeuvre that the girls adopted as a term for their hairstyle of the time.

Amanda Moorhouse x

Lipstick and Curls