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Welcome dress listeners to part two of our series on the history of fashion and film.

Yes, and last week we talked about the origins of the semiotic relationship between fashion and

Hollywood film, but we only got into the 1930s. So today we're moving out of the 30s and into

the 1940s, which of course takes us straight into World War II. And on the show we've talked a

lot about fashion and war as it relates to Europe during both World War I and World War II,

but less so about the relationship fashion and war in America.

Great and it's actually incredibly fascinating because throughout the 1930s,

America's changing perception of their homegrown talent was reflected in the era's leading fashion

magazines such as Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Both of these magazines began to feature American

fashion designers more and more throughout the decade. Elizabeth Haas reflected on this

transitory period and American fashion in her book Fashion is Spinach, which was published in 1938.

And in it she writes quote, in the late 20s, 90% of the drawings and photographs were the work

of Prisian Couturiers. And she's talking about Vogue and Harper's Bazaar and then she says,

many pages in both magazines are now devoted to clothes created in America for American life.

The outbreak of World War II in 1939 marked a significant shift in the fate of American

designers who, having continued to operate in the shadow of Paris throughout the 1930s,

were suddenly left to stand all on their own. And during the German occupation of Paris from June

1940 to August of 1944, many of the leading French Couture houses were forced to close. And those that

did remain open did so under severely limited operations and some pretty severe restrictions as well.

Right. And for those of our listeners who might not have heard it April actually did a fantastic

interview on stuff you missed in history class, which we featured a couple months ago. So check it

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