LIFE IN WORLD WAR 2 FOR US LADIES

GOOD MORNING MR GROCER CAN I PLEASE HAVE ....

1 EGG,

2 0Z BUTTER

2 0Z LOOSE TEA,

4 OZ HAM

THANK YOU! THAT IS MY RATION LIMIT FOR THIS WEEK.

 OH YES I NEARLY FORGOT! I ALSO NEED SOME GRAVY BROWNING!!

SIGN MY RATION BOOK TO SAY I HAVE HAD MY QUOTA OF THESE ITEMS PLEASE.

Now, you may think that the gravy browning was to make gravy?  No not at all!  It was bought, not only to make gravy, but more importantly for rubbing on to your legs!!  This clever little trick made it look like you were wearing stockings and a nice straight line down the back of both legs, drawn with your trusty eye brow pencil, completed your glamorous look! Many women preferred this to the very unfeminine thick cotton, plated with rayon, ugly offerings. Amazing initiative to create sexy accessories!

Parachute silk was like gold as it was used to make your beautiful lingerie, yes ladies your stunning silk lingerie including your knickers! This was coupled with your nightwear and even wedding dresses and of course your romantic bridal lingerie! In fact Gossard assisted in the war effort and turned its production over to making not only bras but also sails for boats, parachutes for airmen and even single seater dinghies!

Even Lady Patricia Mountbatten, who was the daughter of Earl Mount- batten, donated to the war effort by giving the Imperial War Museum a handmade bra and cami knicker set. They were made out of the rare and ‘latest must have’ silk maps material which were squares of fabric showing various maps of different countries in Europe. These were carried by pilots in case they had the misfortune of being shot down over Europe! The front of Lady Patricia’s cami knickers showed the Gulf of Venezia! This is now known as Venice in Italy which lies in the Northern section of the Adriatic Sea and stretches East to the coast of Istria in Slovenia and Croatia.                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Another little tip I want to share with you is if you ever run out of lippy don’t panic you can always take a leaf out of the book of the ladies in WW2 and grab the Beetroot jar and smear the juice on your lips!

The Government used the slogan ‘Make Do and Mend’!

And the ladies in World War 2 certainly used their initiative and also came up with real innovative ideas to create their own sexy lingerie albeit not quite the luxury lingerie we enjoy today!   The Government also advised women to ‘not let standards slip’ as they were worried people would get depressed and morale would be low which in turn may affect the men!! The women in WW2 can certainly be proud of themselves as they did a fantastic job of ‘making do and mend’ as well as ‘NEVER letting standards slip!