---
node: fashion_world_wars_britain
type: fashion
slug: world_wars_britain_fashion
title: "Fashion in early 20th-century Britain"
lead: "In the first half of the 20th century British dress shed the corset and simplified: Edwardian formality gave way to the easy 1920s flapper look, and two world wars brought practical, rationed \"Utility\" clothing."
published: 2026-07-28
updated: 2026-07-28
image_file: world_wars_britain_fashion.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Make-do_and_Mend_Art.IWMPST14947.jpg"
image_author: "UK Board of Trade"
image_license: "Public domain"
change: "Created as a fashion sub-page under the history section, with a period image (britain region)"
requester: internal
reason: "Per the owner's decision, fashion lives under each history era"
---

## Overview

War and social change drove simplification; as women entered work their clothes loosened and shortened, and wartime austerity governed dress.

## Key garments and style

The Edwardian S-bend corset and large hats gave way, after the First World War, to the dropped-waist, short-skirted 1920s look and shorter hair, while menswear settled into the lounge suit. In the Second World War the government's Utility (CC41) scheme and rationing standardised cloth-saving cuts — shorter skirts, fewer pleats, "make do and mend."

## Transition

After the war, Dior's New Look and then a youth-driven British scene transformed fashion again.