Exhibition: Fashion on the Ration Vintage Clothing at IWM North

On now at the Imperial War Museum North is a new exhibition which marks the 75th anniversary of clothes rationing. Fashion on the Ration: 1940s Street Style explores how people found new ways to dress in the face of shortages and strict regulations. Featuring displays of authentic period clothes, it demonstrates how fashion survived and even thrived, on the home front in wartime Britain. People’s ingenuity and determination can be seen with garments such as onesies to wear in the air raid shelter and jewellery made from aeroplane parts. To celebrate the exhibition’s launch, over the weekend 4th – 5th June there will be a series of tours, talks and other activities. Manchester School of Art’s Dr. Alison Slater will be sharing the stories of working class Northern women, to give a regional perspective on dress during WWII. Fragrance historian Odette Toilette (AKA Lizzie Ostrom) will lead visitors on an olfactory tour which will outline how the war impacted the production and use of perfumes and aftershaves.

Sat 28 May – 1 May 2017, Imperial War Museum North, Trafford Wharf Road, Stretford, Manchester, M17 1TZ. Tel: 0161 836 4000, 10am – 5pm, £6/£4.50, www.iwm.org.uk