We wore “sloppy sweaters [and] tweed skirts”: Apparel for Wartime College Co‐eds with a Case Study of College Towns in Oregon

Abstract

In August 1943, almost years after the United States entered World War II college-age women who read McCall's magazine were told that good college wardrobe starts off with a boxy coat, one suit, one skirt all the sweaters you can lay your hands on. Other musthaves included two dresses, one in crepe and one in wool, slacks, an extra jacket, warm sleeping pajamas, a woolly robe, and for housework, a pinafore (Corey 93). Two years later, in August 1945, with the war in Europe over, readers of Vogue magazine learned little had changed with regard to their college wardrobe: One, or three skirts you love and adore; with as many, and as different, changes of tops as you can manage with your clothes allowance (Campus Changes 130).After the United States went to war in December 1941, rationing, saving, and making-do became important to the home front war effort (Blum 94). In some contrast to the comments from a 1943 McCall's, quoted above, young people were told to conserve their clothing and to mend rips and restore dangling buttons and snaps to their proper places. It isn't sissy to sew a button on your coat-soldiers and sailors are required to have their own sewing kits (Allen & Briggs 17). In August 1942 a writer in the Ladies' Home Journal told young female readers that Clothing must be purposeful... Government regulations have not limited fashion or freedom of choice, but we must ration ourselves-buy every article with an eye to many uses (Cushman 2425).Although the number of men decreased on campuses during World War II many of the regular college activities continued, and clothing was needed for multiple occasions, events, and seasons. Writers of student publications advised an increasingly female student body on the appropriate or inappropriate attire for class, dances, and other campus events (Oregon State College AWS Handbook Co-ed Code 1943-44 41; Susy Co-ed Gives Tips To Rookies for Game 1).College women continued to be recognized as an important consumer group for the apparel industry during the war. Magazine editors, retailers, and apparel manufacturers recognized that these young people had specific clothing needs. If a young college-age woman was to page through the August college editorial section of women's magazines or Sunday August newspapers she would view multiple styles and types of clothing. Thus, these young consumers faced mixed messages about apparel consumption; should they purchase the appropriate clothing items for the multiple college events or should they be patriotic and thus frugal and make-do?Scholars have examined the influence of World War II on apparel styles and the textile and apparel industry. This has included investigations on patriotic fabrics and scarves (Atkins; Boardman), changes in newspaper editorial policies that impacted the fashion industry (Buckland & O'Neal), and the use of fashion to help support the war effort (Buckland). However, there has been little discussion on college women and their clothing choices during World War II. The researchers explore the tensions and ambivalences that co-eds from colleges and universities in western Oregon faced in order to better understand how this home front consumer market was influenced by American participation in World War II. College women carefully selected occasionspecific clothing; some was purchased, some home sewn, and some kept from previous years, in their attempt to balance between social expectations of appropriate dress and patriotism in their clothing choices.Three institutions of higher education in western Oregon were selected as a case study of co-ed dress and consumer behavior during World War II as a result of interviews conducted with women about their wartime consumer behaviors. During those interviews it was discovered that ten women had been college students in the Mid-Willamette Valley.2 The three institutions, Oregon State College, Oregon College of Education, and Willamette University, experienced wartime challenges similar to reports on other higher education institutions across the United States during the War. …