In 1939, the onset of World War II in Europe, which was well-established as the fashion center of the Western World, brought swift and dramatic changes to the ways in which women dressed and thought about clothes. Most of the top Parisian fashion houses closed in 1940 after France was occupied by Germany. Chanel, for example, shuttered and didn’t reopen until 1954. England, in the meantime, had to put all its resources into fighting back...Continue Reading