Willows Bazaar Blog RSS
Welcome to Bikini Bottom(s): The Dark History of the Bikini Swimsuit
What do the Atom Bomb, the displacement of an entire race of indigenous people, a nude dancer, the sexual revolution of the 1960’s, and Sponge Bob Square Pants have in common? I’ll give you a minute to think about it…. It’s the Bikini. It’s a tiny little thing, but there’s nothing small about the dark and scandalous history of this swimsuit. Let’s dive in, shall we? Two pieces were only widely accepted because of fabric rationing during WWII. Before the second World War, women were expected to be covered completely from head to...
Wartime Chic: Three Every Day Essentials Originally Designed for the Function of War
Start A Riot: The Nylon Riots of 1945
World War II is thought of as one of the most violent and deadly times in human history, and rightly so. It was a time of genocide, mass murder, and complete devastation. War time changed every element of everyday life around the world. In America, it drove women into the work place, limited industry production across the board, and forced rationing of goods for everyone. This rationing led to many changes in women’s fashion, and though a seemingly trivial detail of the time, these adjustments created a domino effect that is felt even up today. Hems were shortened, fabrics changed,...