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A new look for Austerity...The coldest winter on record, rationing, successive economic crises, bombed out towns and cities; with some justification 'Austerity Britain' in the late 1940s is coloured in the popular imagination in tones of drab. Dressing for Austerity shines a light on alternative visions of post-war optimism and aspiration. It traces how, set against the Labour government's philosophy of 'Austerity by design' in a climate of post-war idealism, the desire for affordable fashionable clothing, access to leisure, and the health, time and money to enjoy them became totemic symbols of post-war ambition that impelled new strategies of state control and consumer agency. The book examines the immediate post-war period - its politics, its fashions and its people - in new ways and on its own terms as a critical tipping point in the making of modern Britain.
List of contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
IntroductionAusterity, Aspiration and Affluence
Chapter 1Austerity by Design
Fashioning a New Jerusalem
Chapter 2Austerity in Transition
Demobilization/Remobilization
Chapter 3Austerity by Consensus
Democratizing Desire
Chapter 4Lessons in Austerity
Styling Ideal Citizenship
Chapter 5Austerity and Affluence
Another Look at the New Look
Chapter 6Austerity and Aspiration
A Boy, A Girl and A Bike
ConclusionAffluence by Design
The Autonomy of Austerity
Index
