Dressing for Austerity: Aspiration, Leisure and Fashion in Postwar Britain

In exploring the working and leisured lives of young women and men in post Second World-War austerity Britain, this book offers a new cultural historical perspective on this crucial period in British society. A wartime culture of conspicuous constraint, alongside Labour’s promotion of a new model of idealized citizenship provide a context in which to explore the negotiation of post war consumer desire. The book examines film, fashion and recreational leisure participation as vital conduits of post-war ambition that necessitated new political strategies and consumer activity in a Britain torn between austerity and affluence.