Year 2020 has been so far dominated by “the virus” so the fact that the world is celebrating 75th anniversary of WWII being ended hardly ever made a headline. Particularly in May when main celebrations were planned but did not go ahead since most countries were still in strict lock down. But from 1st June many museums in the Netherlands opened their door to the public again. One of them was Museum of Resistance Movement in Amsterdam (Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam, www.verzetsmuseum.org), an institution that should be especially visible this year, with its mission to keep the memory alife. Not only the memory of political and military conflict but that of ordinary people, their experience and their everyday life. What particularly attracted my attention was a section of the exhibition dedicated to fashion and clothing during tough war times. Hence the title “Mode op the bon” which translates as “Fashion on a ration” or “Voucher Fashion”. During the war almost everything was rationed and hard to get. With shortages of nearly everything, including ready made clothes and fabrics, the only way to dress up reasonably well was to be very creative, resourceful and hand craft clever. The exhibition I am writing about, shows what amazing results you could achieve if you were all three.
Most garments I saw there were small masterpieces, such as a dress made of jute post office sacks (above) originally designed to carry letters. The fabric itself being a bit rough but what a decoration! Simple lines of green cord transformed it into perfectly wearable, flattering dress.
Or a cream cotton dress made by two teenage sisters from Limburg. The girls decorated cotton flour bags with beautiful embroidery, using several shades of blue. They produced large, eye catching collar and added smaller embroided motives at the waist, sleeves and hem. Cotton flour bags were also used to make gorgeous toddler dress, decorated with colourful embroided flowers.
Another intriguing example was a dress made of table cloth and most likely upholstery fabric, decorated with yellow, orange and beige flowers that originally must have belonged somewhere else.
I was probably most impressed with a gown created shortly after the war using not less than 1280 tiny silk patches. According to the description certain brand of cigarettes named Turmac used to pack their product in silky wraps since cigarettes were considered a luxury good in those days. Very unconventional resources but quite spectacular tailoring effect!
War time was tough for everyone so clothes producers struggled as much as individuals. In response to shortages fashion houses offered designs composed of more than one type of fabric, making it look very intentional. “Need is the mother of invention” goes the old say. We, contemporary people in developed countries do not face many shortages but our urgent need is to learn how to live sustainable lives. If we fail we know the Earth may become an unlivable, hostile place in no longer than a few decades. Sadly, fashion industry hugely contributes to pollution and waste accumulation by promoting cheap, mass production. Greed for profit on producers’ side and urge to have new set of clothes every season on consumers’ side results in ridiculous items such as summer dresses or pyjamas made with 100% polyester. All for the sake of selling a lot, cheap and fast, without any concerns about consequences.
For me seeing “Mode op de bon” was a very encouraging experience, not only because looking back in time turned out to be truly inspirational and very much in tune with ”zero waste” and ”slow fashion” ideas. It showed designs of young, modern artists, successfully using old stuff to make a new garment. Bravo!
Yes, we can moan and revile about unreasonably wasteful fashion industry but trust me, there is hope! There are many designers experimenting with biotextiles and many ventures where designers and scientists work close together.
Take for example such inventions as kombucha leather http://www.publiblab.org, http://www.growyoupantry.com, http://www.futurity.org. Or microsilk, fully degradable fabric made with enzymes and spiderweb proteins, successfully used by Stella McCartney and Adidas http://www.dezeen.com. Or fully natural orange peel yarn, an idea that also helps to deal with food leftovers http://www.orangefiber.it, http://www.socisdg.com. Not to mention pinatex, beautiful fabric made with pinneaple fibers http://www.ananas-anam.com
Some of them are already commercially available, some not yet. Also, not everyone can purchase their clothes from Stella McCartney. But while waiting we can try to reuse our clothes. Maybe trying to combine two or three pieces together, like they did in harsh times? Maybe simply refreshing old look with new buttons or embroidery? Why not having a new top made of hardly ever worn large scarves? If you can’t or do not want to do it yourself, maybe someone can make it for you? I think it is a matter of time and we will have that kind of service available locally. Great business niche coming up by the way. You will probably end up having a new, entirely unique, handmade garment, for free. But most of all -you can have fun with it! It feels liberating to do good and be creative at the same time.
This gown was originally made in 1945 out of parachute fabric as a wedding dress. Later the owner took off elbow length sleeves and turned it into an evening outfit.