Similar Products- Research into WW1 Fashion for Women

Dress from WWI to WWIIThe First World War (1914-1918) had a pronounced effect on women's fashion in the Western world. Several trends that had roots in the decades prior to the war, were rapidly accelerated by wartime conditions. The most lasting change happened to women's hemlines. Hems which had risen from floor length to ankle length prior to the war, rose to mid calf length by 1916, and have stayed that high, or higher, ever since. Hobble skirts were instantly jettisoned in favor of slightly wider more practical skirts. Several avant-garde fashions, like women's trousers, and short hair, decried before the war as sinful and ugly, were promoted as practical fashions for war work. Short hair was considered a safety measure for certain factory workers, and practical for women working near the front lines. The few women who were soldiers (mostly in Russia and Serbia) were featured in pictoral magazines internationally with close cropped hair and tales of heroism. Most women did not suddenly cut their hair, but once it became acceptable to do so, gradually more and more women did in the following decades.

Women's Suits, c.1915-16
The tendency for female office workers to wear feminized versions of men's suits and shirts (common since 1900) became virtually standard by this time.
Soft V-necklines, considered racy in 1912-14, during a time of high boned necklines, became normal daywear after 1915.

Large numbers of women were recruited into military organizations on all sides, and put into a variety of uniforms, which also influenced the shape of fashionable dress. (For more see Women and the First World War).

During the war, a dye shortage, and fabric shortages encouraged a certain utilitarian drabness in dress, but the most noticeable change engendered by the war was a relaxation of the formal rules of attire which had bound men and women's dress since early in the Victorian era. Not only did women's hemlines rise to mid-calf length, but more exciting yet, ladies wore these shorter styles with sexy heeled shoes and flesh toned silk stockings, not high button boots. Young men wore the more casual "Tuxedo" jacket to formal evening occasions, not just to men's only club functions. Young and daring women dumped the corset in favor of brasseries. Army officers wore Wristwatches instead of pocket watches, and soft "lingerie" shirts with soft collars attached to them. Tail coats and frock coats began only to be worn on highly formal occasions, to be almost fully replaced by the modern sack suit. This is why clothing after the 1914-1918 War period is instantly recognizable as "Modern" to our eyes.
Orientalist fashions continued to be popular, and were eventually stylized into a form which came to be know as Art Deco, the dominant style for fabric decoration and interior design until WWII. Notable European designers like Erte, Poiret, Chanel, George Barbier, Fashion Illustrator, Vionnet, Zamora and Delaunay all worked in this style through the succeeding decades.

Source: http://thecostumersmanifesto.com/index.php?title=The_History_of_Fashion_and_Dress:_WWI_to_WWII