Fashion of 40's

1940s clothing styles were constrained by the Second World War. European countries and the US had limits on the fabric that was available for clothes manufacturing. Some materials, like wool and nylon, were used almost exclusively for military purposes and as a result nylon stockings became extremely difficult to come by. The same went for certain dyes that were used for uniforms, thus even the palette of clothes was defined by the needs of the army. Japanese silk was banned outright from the US after the Pearl Harbor bombing.

The elaborate trimmings of the 1930s were out, and garments had few buttons, small contrast collars, and patch pockets.