Recycled Fashion

In the first months of the Second World War, the government urged people to prepare for an airbourne Luftwaffe attack from Nazi Germany to drop poisoned gas. Consequently, in 1939, all civilians were issued with a gas mask as potential protection, and people were instructed to carry them everywhere, on all occasions. In the event, no gas was ever dropped by the enemy, and after 1940 masks were largely abandoned.

Because fabrics had become scarser as textile production was focused towards the war-effort, the enterprising woman who owned this gas mask re-used a panel of figured yellow and cream rayon, probably from an evening outfit, to make a cover for her mask, which she could then carry as an evening bag. "Make Do and Mend" recycling was a major theme of war-time propaganda, appearing in many magazines and broadsheets, aiming to conserve valuable materials.

Full item descriptions:

"evening gas mask bag" [1954.1017]