How family stories of life in East Anglia during the decade provided inspiration for my business”
How the 1940s fashions influenced Charlie’s Aunt designs
The inventive ‘make-do-and-mend’ fashions of the 1940s have long offered a source of great inspiration for Charlie’s Aunt sewing patterns.
The non-wasteful approach to fashion, born out of necessity in those days, led to many of the 20th century’s most creative accessory styles, ranging from whimsical to sophisticated hats, bags, matching gloves, stoles and collars.
Family stories and influences
I’ve never romanticised about the decade, being ever aware of the hardships faced during wartime. This comes from the many conversations I was privileged to have with my grandparents about their lives during that period, as well as my parents’ vague memories of childhood in the war years.
My grandmothers juggled feeding and clothing large families during times of harsh rationing. I remember my mum’s mother giving me an old ‘ration book’ to play with when I was a child, never realising the significance of it.
Both of my grandfathers were in the real Dad’s Army (the Home Guard) – an organisation originally formed as the Local Defence Volunteers in 1940 which was responsible for guarding coastal and industrial areas against German invasion. This later became the inspiration for the popular British sitcom Dad’s Army which was filmed in Norfolk, the current home of Charlie’s Aunt.
Growing up in East Anglia, reminders of the Second World War were everywhere. Due to its landscape and proximity to Europe, it was home to large numbers of air bases during the conflict, several in and around the Suffolk village where I was born.
And along the coastline of north Norfolk, evidence of the area’s WWII defences and military training still remain. As a local newspaper editor, I featured numerous stories of unexploded wartime bombs surfacing on beaches. When I was a child, I remember the bomb squad being called out when what was thought to be a ‘live’ wartime grenade was found in our local pond after it dried out one hot summer.
Pillboxes and more
North Norfolk was littered with reinforced concrete ‘pillbox’ structures built as part of the efforts to defend our shores. Wonderfully, many of these have survived – albeit most in a state of disrepair and some having succumbed to a new enemy – advancing coastal erosion.
Those that have survived are an amazing aide-mémoire and (coming back to fashion) I’ve paid homage to them in the latest Charlie’s Aunt photoshoot featuring ‘military’ inspired styles.
The effect of WWII on ‘fashion’ was that it saw the introduction of the ‘make do and mend’ ethos which heavily inspired my desire to start a sewing pattern business (see my other post, ‘Make-do-and-mend 1940s style revisited‘).
The other impact was that military uniforms influenced details on women’s clothing. I’ve borrowed and reinvented a few of these details in my patterns over the years.
Military influence on Charlie’s Aunt patterns
One of the latest patterns due for release later this spring is the Letheringsett Messenger Bag, pictured here. It’s a slightly smaller messenger style, making it very serviceable. The flap trimmed with buttons has a military feel, as does the pleated pocket.
Berets also have a military history which makes them the ideal paring for this style. I’ve made the Lavenham Beret in a mustard coloured Harris Tweed and vintage ‘army’ green wool to compliment the Letheringsett Messenger, which I’ve created from a wonderful ‘birdseye’ tweed in mustard green and chocolate (love this fabric), with a simple leather strap. I’ve made the beret with a ‘checkerboard’ effect on the top and trimmed the bow with a double line of contrasting stitching for a more homespun look.
One of Charlie’s Aunt’s talented snappers, Jim, took these shots on the coast near a rare wartime ‘section post’ structure, dating from 1941, on a quiet roadway to the beach. During the war, the section post was apparently camouflaged as a haystack to hide it from potential invaders.
You can purchase the Lavenham Beret PDF sewing pattern from Charlie’s Aunt’s Etsy shop. The Letheringsett Messenger will be available in May.
