We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
To save content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about saving content to .
To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected]
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
The demob suit remains an icon of late 1940s fashion, in museums and popular culture. On demobilization, British servicemen received a new wardrobe gratis. It comprised a suit or jacket and trousers, plus a raincoat, shirts, collars, shoes and hat – the ‘full monty’. Why did the British government reward men for their military service in this way? Since the other victorious Allies did not treat their veterans so generously in sartorial terms, British ex-servicemen’s material entitlement requires discussion. This chapter analyses the inter-departmental tussle in Whitehall over veterans’ clothing. Debate centred not only on what, and how much, clothing ex-servicemen would receive, but also on which items of military kit they’d have to ‘surrender’. The chapter explores veterans’ complex feelings about demobilization and the role clothing played in the transition to civvy street. It also scrutinizes the claim that demob suits were a democratizing device. Not only were some garments better than others, but also the decision to reward servicemen with a whole new wardrobe left servicewomen empty-handed, bar coupons and cash. Other women who’d performed vital war work went unrewarded.
Recommend this
Email your librarian or administrator to recommend adding this to your organisation's collection.