Wearing Propaganda: Textiles on the Home Front in Japan, Britain, and the United States, 1931-1945

by Jacqueline Atkins (editor)

Protest fashion from the Vietnam War years is widely familiar, but today few are aware that dramatic fashion and textile designs served as patriotic propaganda for the Japanese, British, and Americans during the Asia-Pacific War (1931–1945). This fabulously illustrated book presents hundreds of examples of how fashion was employed by those on all sides of the conflict to boost morale and fan patriotism.From a kimono lined with images of U.S. planes blowing up to a British scarf emblazoned with hopeful anti-rationing slogans, Wearing Propaganda documents the development of the role of fashion as propaganda first in Japan and soon thereafter in Britain and the United States. The book discusses traditional and contemporary Japanese styles and what they revealed about Japanese domestic attitudes to war, and it shows how these attitudes echoed or contrasted with British and American fashions that were virulently anti-Japanese in some instances, humorously upbeat about wartime deprivations in others. With insights into style and design, fashion history, material culture, and the social history of Japan, the United States, and Britain, this book offers unexpected riches for every reader.

Genres: History, Japan, Fashion

376 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 2005

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Impressively thorough history of textiles in WWII, but really going back to the turn of the 20th century. I was originally planning to drool over the pictures and skim the somewhat academic text, but it was fascinating, particularly the Sino-Japanese War and other Pacific events leading up to WWII, which are not my strong suit. The pictures WERE drool-worthy, though. If I have one complaint, it's that the sections occasionally felt a bit disjointed, as they were written by various authors. Such a minor gripe, though, compared to all the info!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so tempted to start writing my dissertation right now, but that would be counterproductive. This book presents hundreds of examples of how clothing was employed by those on all sides of the conflict to boost morale and fan patriotism. It's fascinating to see the three different approaches and attitudes employed by each country.