By Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion-Era.com
These original vintage wedding photos are mostly from my family from 1939 to 1948. They show how some people in 1940's Great Britain still managed to have a white wedding in the face of rationing.
Later as rationing seemed never ending, women chose to spend their coupons on garments that would be more useful after the wedding day. Men often married in their service uniform and women frequently dressed in similar style suits with a military air.
These photos are compared to one unknown undated photo.
These photographs should not be downloaded or used without permission from Fashion-era.com.
Wedding - Lorraine and Evan 1939
Lorraine and Evan married in November 1939 in South Wales, just 2 months after the start of World War II. Lorraine's dress cost one guinea from Etams and was made of white satin. Her hip-length scalloped veil was a Cornelli and ribbon embroidered net square, the size of a large headscarf.
It was later used in christening ceremonies. The bride didn't need clothing coupons to buy the wedding dress as the CC41 coupons restrictions were not introduced until June 1941. Her veil is interesting since in the 1930s veil fashions could also be short styles.
Further down this page, just a few years later, note how the same style of veil has become a bit longer.
With the start of war so close, it meant that the church wedding was arranged on the basis of the Church being available that day.
The couple had courted for some years and were already engaged, so they made a decision to get married sooner rather than later.
The Second World War was at the forefront of everyone's thoughts.
This wedding was held after an armistice remembrance ceremony on the actual Armistice date, November 11, in 1939, that was a Saturday.
Whilst this did give a sombre outlook to the day in the face of war, people were probably delighted to celebrate the optimism of marriage against the destruction of war.
Lorraine had lost two uncles in the Battle of the Somme in the Great War, and her grandfather had died of despair and grief at the loss of two of his many sons. There were few at the wedding who had not been touched by the First World War. 'Seize the day' became a phrase for a generation.
Because of the Armistice service, Lorraine told me the church was full of flowers for the occasion. After the wedding, family and friends enjoyed a celebration meal at the parental house.
This seems to have consisted of home cooked ham with salads and trifle. In the evening a crowd went to the local pub for a few drinks and a sing song. There was no fancy honeymoon as money was short, hence Lorraine's delight at the unexpected abundant floral decorations in the church.
After the wedding they simply got on with their lives. The bridesmaids wore purple velvet dresses and matching muffs. Deft with a needle, Lorraine made the bridesmaid's headdresses herself. Interestingly, the photograph was taken in a studio one week after the wedding ceremony when they realised it would be nice to have a formal record of the event.
At her wedding the week previously Lorraine had carried Arum Lilies. Arum Lilies were an expensive purchase then as now, but they were the flowers she wanted. However, for the hastily arranged photo session a week later, chrysanthemums were substituted.
You are reading an original 1940's wedding dress article by Pauline Weston Thomas at www.fashion-era.com ©
1939-40 Wedding Dress Style
Lorraine's fashion style of wedding dress above has a modest short V shape neckline with the bust and waistline emphasized by soft shoulder gathers.
You can also see gathers tapering to a fitted waist panel.
The satin dress also had tiny covered buttons.
Lorraine wore white gloves, which would have been considered good form for a church wedding. Lorraine's wedding dress had Gibson sleeves like the drawing, and they are shown more clearly in the old photograph of her sister right.
Gibson Sleeves
By 1939/40 excess sleeve head fullness seen in the early thirties had waned. So these sleeves were a refined Gibson style, a fashion style sleeve named after Gibson Girls and which is a narrow leg of mutton sleeve shape, but with much reduced sleeve head fullness.
The lower part of the sleeve narrows, but often has a shirred look. You can see the sleeve shape in this photo of sister Florrie wearing the same dress and veil. It is clear this style of dress was fashionable for the fashion-era from 1939-1942.
Bridal Point Sleeves
Lorraine told me the sleeves to her wedding gown had wrist point features.
They were point sleeves, often a design element used when a dress also has a V-neckline.
Many brides then and now have worn full length wedding sleeves which might be finished with a wrist point. The point sleeve draws attention to the hands, elongating the hand and brings focus to the wedding ring.
Pointed wedding dress sleeves are sometimes extra long and kept taut in a V-point shape by means of a loop, which slips onto the middle finger.
Sometimes the sleeves are made of sheer fabrics or lace fabrics which often finish with the scallop of the lace. When dating old photos, the best technique is to compare your photo with a photo of a known date, such as these bridal pictures.
You are reading an original 1940's Old Wedding Photo article by Pauline Weston Thomas at www.fashion-era.com ©
Wedding - Florence and Tom 1942
Left - Florence, Lorraine's sister in 1942 with her new husband Tom, a seaman.
Lorraine's sister wore the altered wedding dress and the exact same veil a few years later in 1942, remember this was a time when rationing had begun to dig in.
"Make do and mend" was a philosophy to be taken seriously. The dress was worn for a third time by another bride and then later Lorraine made the dress into much needed new petticoats and underwear.
As with many weddings of servicemen this wedding took place a day later than expected. Tom took longer to get home and Florrie was not even sure he would arrive for the event! There had been several dates set which never materialised because Tom's shore leave was cancelled.
After a whip around among relatives for offerings of rations, a chocolate coated cake had been made. But Tom was a few weeks past his first arrival date and the family were worried the inside of the cake might be past its best once cut, or worse mouldy! Even when Tom did arrive he was still a day late and the wedding took place on a Sunday.
1940s Unknown Military Wedding - Circa 1941-43
This unknown wedding photo was sent to me by Patrick Gariepy a USA collector and Ebay seller of military memorabilia.
Our common interest is in old military vintage wedding photographs.Neither of us knows who the people are in this British wedding, but Patrick wrote to me :- 'The photo is of a British Army wedding, I THINK a tanker, c.1941-3. The beret appears to be black (meaning a member of an armoured unit), but I don't recognize the collar dogs. He is wearing P37 battledress.'
When attempting to date old photographs elements like service uniforms, or youthful hairstyles can provide clues that can help identification. I think Patrick is correct about the time frame. When clothes are in short supply the one thing a woman can do to make herself look different, is very her hairstyle. Thus to keep morale high women were bombarded with new ideas to make their hair look different.
Take a close look at Florrie's hair again in this picture alongside the unknown bride. Both have unusual rolls of hair, which almost look like rollers have been carefully removed and the roll shape maintained. The brides could have achieved this style by holding the locks of hair in place with a flat Kirby hair grip.
Several factors lead me to estimate this vintage photograph as being 1943. Note the slightly later neckline on the unknown bride's dress.
This is the first stage of a scallop/ sweetheart variation. Observe the embroidery similarity and increased length of her veil compared to Lorraine's hip length veil above. Note the smaller hat styles the female guests wear, and it's not hard to deduce the most likely timeframe is 1943/44.
Since Patrick also mentioned 1943, this is the date I have given to the photo. When dating old photographs, remember that it is perfectly acceptable to be within a 5 year time frame either side of a suggested date. Fashions fade and linger so nothing is for certain when guesstimating the date on an undated photo.
You are reading an original 1940's Old Wedding Photo article by Pauline Weston Thomas at www.fashion-era.com ©
Wedding Photos - Sylvia and Frank 1942
Sylvia the bridesmaid above right, wore a smart new coat to her civil wedding ceremony in 1942 with a fashionable hat.
She was 17 at the time of the wedding - life was too short to wait around planning the event.
Her edge to edge coat strictly follows Utility clothing rules, but manages to be very smart in a classic simple way. You could wear this item today it's so classic in cut.
You are reading an original 1940's Old Wedding Photo article by Pauline Weston Thomas at www.fashion-era.com ©
Wedding 1945 - War Brides Wartime Weddings
1940s Sombre Suits Versus White Weddings
1940s history is rife with romance amid pain and suffering. During World War II many women arranged wartime weddings within a few days. This was to accommodate a boyfriend coming home on 24 or 48 hours short notice leave, before being sent to some far-flung posting.
Frequently there was no time to get a special dress and often women could not have afforded the clothing coupons needed for a 1940s wedding dress.
1940s history suggests that jolly weddings still took place, with family members often donating small amounts of staple produce like sugar, flour and eggs so that the war bride could bake a celebration wedding cake.
Hats were borrowed, gardens raided for flowers and wedding dresses loaned. Bridesmaids reused dresses worn to other weddings and this clearly gives a mix and match look peculiar to British bridal group photographs of the 1940s.
1940s Wartime Wedding - 1945 Utility Suits
I have very little information about this old civilian utility dress wedding photo above, other than it was a family wedding group photo taken in 1945 in the North of England, UK. The bride and maid of honour are both wearing what are quite clearly utility suits typical of the Second World War era. This photo illustrates wartime austerity in every outfit.
Despite the sober utility suits and I'd bet they were greyed blues, beiges, subdued greens or other neutral tones, the bride looks very stylish. In part this is due to her good looks and trim figure, probably a result of the meagre wartime food rations.
Valuable clothing coupons, which were also rationed, would have been used to buy these suits, so they also needed to be useful after the special occasion of a wedding event. Notice there are no fancy designer 'it' bags or fancy footwear, everything can be used and worn again.
However dour the style may be, fashion always favours the young and trim, and I think this bride looks terrific. It's amazing how happy brides always look whatever they wear.
I'm positive this bride was as happy, if not happier than any bride wearing a £5000 dress today. There is no doubt in my mind that she was a happy bride, thrilled that she loved one was not lost fighting in the war.
Ever mindful of clothes rationing, the two young girls are wearing dresses that have plenty of room for their future physical 'development'.
It's quite possible that this 1945 wedding photo above was taken on a day in the week after the wedding ceremony. Indeed, my own mother had a small set of wedding photographs taken one week later at a local photography studio and that was just a couple of years before the war.
Married in Uniform - War Brides
During and after the war it was quite usual for men serving in the navy, air or armed forces to marry in their uniform or dress mess. War brides just accepted this as a matter of course.
This old RAF photo was taken in July 1945. It is of Sid and his bride and was sent to me by my father-in-law, the RAF pilot and who acted as the best man.
Alan Thomas wrote:-
'Sid was my tail gunner; Bill, the other RAF man in the photo was my wireless operator and we were on embarkation leave. We were destined for the Far East, first of all converting onto 4-engined bombers in the Middle East.'
This picture is interesting.
Look closely and to the left and note the sailor with his head peeping between two bridesmaids.
It is possible to just see the suggestion of his sailor collar.
Both civilian female guests, manage to achieve an element of glamour but are wearing clothes that clearly conform to Utility CC41 Regulations. The lavish fox fur stole, complete with head may well be a treasured possession from the 1930s.
The Bridal Party Gowns
The general line of wedding gowns worn by brides in the mid-1940s is similar to these two bridal pattern styles shown right. The silhouettes are from 1944 and far right 1945.
These bridal gowns both feature round necklines and lace or sheer neckline in-fills.
V-necklines, square and heart necklines were all seen during the era.
Something peculiar to weddings in the 1940's utility era weddings, is the variation within bridesmaid's dresses at the same wedding. Often 1940's bridesmaids dresses are mismatched and this suggests that if a person already owned a perfectly acceptable bridesmaid dress then it was put to good use again, rather than waste coupons on a new gown.
Bridesmaids dresses of the 1940s also appear to have substantial lower skirt and hemline interest as these two skirts right show. In the photo above notice the two little flower girls.
Flower girls or page boys are very usual in 1940s weddings and one wonders if this was one of the few ways to give them a special treat in an other wise drab world. Of course a page boy outfit is often a classic garment that simply sits in a cupboard unused. It's easy to imagine everyone rallying around, loaning an outfit, a dress, a page boy kilt, velvet knickerbocker pants, or a hat for such an event.
1945 Bridal Hair
The bride is wearing her hair very high on top of her head in a waved roll. She does appear to have abundant hair, but lack of it did not stop women from adopting the style.
Ever resourceful, they used old stockings rolled up to create foundations to be covered in their hair, in much the same way as Edwardian women had used purpose made hair supports.
This style became popular among women of the forties since it offered a measure of glamour lacking in all other areas of wartime life. The look is very film star glam and the tiara is secondary to the importance of elevated hairdos through the 1940s fashion era.
Sylvia Gillard and Bill Porter's Wedding 1945
These two photos are of the 1945 wedding of Sylvia Gillard. The wedding picture below left is of Sylvia and her father in the church grounds.
On 1st November 1945, Sylvia married Bill Porter who as you can see wore his service suit. This wedding took place in England. The bride carries a bouquet of chrysanthemums a flower typically carried by war brides of the 1940s.
In this picture of the bride and groom right, you can see the wedding veil more clearly. The trend was growing for longer veils.
1945 Suited Bride & Member of the Armed Forces - Connie & Jim
Connie and Jim were married in 1945 when Jim came home from the war in Europe. My aunt Connie had known Jim before he went to war. During his service in many countries including Egypt as a Desert Rat, Jim obviously kept Connie very much to the front of his mind.
One day after the war he turned up at my grandmother's house and asked to see Connie. Connie had been cleaning the house and apparently was filthy dirty about to get into a bath. Her bedraggled appearance did not put Jim off, because he had known her long before. When Connie came to the front door, Jim just said he had come to ask her to marry him. She said - 'Yes'.
It was a fortuitous moment for them both. At the instant he had knocked the door Connie had been holding her sister's baby, but fortunately she had handed the baby back to its mother.
She had agreed to marry Jim, but had a little problem to deal with first. Connie was already engaged to someone else. She soon sorted that matter out and Connie and Jim were married shortly afterwards at St. Martin's Church in Caerphilly. She wore a powder blue silk and wool crepe two-piece outfit which has a real 1940s look to it.
Two weeks before she died unexpectedly in the 1980s, I recall they both came to my birthday party. They talked about how happy their marriage had been and how they had never had a cross word. Looking back it is wonderful to recall their commitment to each other for 40 years and their obvious recognition that they had a happy marriage.
Jim celebrated his 90th birthday in 2007.
After the wedding ceremony, a wedding breakfast was held in the front room and the photo above was taken outside the house. Lorraine who is in the pastel dress far left, also has her wedding photo on site in the original 1940s wedding photo page.
My sincere thanks to Norman Dunn for the top wartime photograph. You can see more old photos at Norman Dunn's website here. Thanks also to Joan Gillard who has sent me several great wedding photos.
This page added 20 September 2006. Revised 26 April 2008.
These wedding photos must not be published or used elsewhere - © Copyright www.fashion-era.com 2000-2023.
1946 American Wedding Bridal Group
This wedding photo was taken in New York State on July 11, 1946. The picture shows John and Esther Anderson together with their bridal party and that is all the information I have on the people in the wedding photo.
This wedding photo highlights the use of soft tulle fabrics for the headdresses and the same tulle has been used to make fabric decoration on the beautiful stephanotis spray of flowers. I like the heart shaped headdress of the bride.
Facts relating to 1946 and New York
More seriously 1946, was also the year that the New York State legislature authorized a World Trade Corporation to develop the proposed World Trade Centre.
- Princess Elizabeth (Future Queen Elizabeth II) was a bridesmaid to the Hon. Mrs Vicary Gibbs and Captain Hon. A.G.V. Elphinstone. Their reception was held at the Savoy Hotel in London on the 29th of May 1946.
- There were hundreds of war brides who arrived in New York in 1946 year.
- In 1946 Estee Lauder started to market skincare products in New York.
- Meanwhile Benjamin Spock also had a major hit on his hands with his bestseller book 'The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care' a perfect book to write for the baby boomer years ahead!
Wedding Photo 1940s - Phyllis and John 1947
Phyllis and John married in 1947. Phyllis's wedding dress follows similar lines of the Princess Elizabeth's wedding dress and has a sweetheart neckline and "A" line skirt and tiara with long net veil.
The dress pattern shown far right is from 1947 and clearly shows the defined sweetheart neckline with an almost scallop like quality. In these pictures there appear to be 2 sets of bridesmaids.
I am endeavoring to find out if they were different dresses for reasons of economy or reuse of previously worn dresses. However, the guests do appear to be affluent enough to afford fur jackets.
Wedding Photos - John and Violet 1947
This 1947 photo shoes the Bridal Party leaving the Church. This wedding took place in South Wales UK. 1947 was the year that the young Princes Elizabeth, later Her Majesty the Queen, married Prince Philip. You can read more about the Queen's wedding dress here.
John and Violet also married in 1947 and below them is a picture of one of the adult bridesmaids. Click the thumbnail and you will see that none of the dresses actually match fully apart from those of the children. The dress below has a padded hem.
None of the others do.
This was "make do and mend" at its height as rationing continued well after the war.
The enlarged picture will also reveal close up detail of the female guest on the left wearing a large Gainsborough-style hat and wide supported shoulders on a par with those seen in the power-dressed 1980s.
Children were made very welcome at weddings in the 1940s as any celebration was inclusive rather than exclusive.
This wedding was a large family wedding and all the bridesmaids are nieces or fully grown sisters of the groom or the bride. All the bridal party, apart from the groom, wear clothes made from satin.
The bridesmaids dresses are of different styles, therefore it is possible they were reused from different earlier weddings. If you examine the pictures you can distinguish four pairs of matching bridesmaids.
John and Violet pose for the traditional wedding shot of new husband possessively holding his wife. His body language speaks volumes. In the wedding photo beside them is Sylvia, John's adult married sister. Sylvia was married at 17 in 1942.
1947 Facts and Events
- British pledge to leave India by June 1948.
- Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh married Princess Elizabeth on November 20 1947. Her dress is more a ceremonial celebration gown than a wedding dress.
- There are protests over Christian Dior's longer length fuller skirted gowns. Harold Wilson thought them wasteful, however the press coined the name 'New Look'. Women go on to ignore the comments and the New Look becomes a 15 year fashion trend!
- Aluminium foil becomes available for use in the kitchen.
- Pakistan separates from India.
- First Transistor invented.
- A mystery begins - Roswell UFO event.
- Public relations disaster for Britain as it becomes embroiled in the Exodus ship incident at Palestine in 1947.
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1940s Wedding Photos - Alan and Elgiva 1948
Alan and Elgiva met after the war. They were married in St. Hilary Church in June 1948.
Elgiva chose an exceptionally fashionable, longer length, French beige, fine wool crepe, "New Look" dress and matching jacket from the exclusive Madame shop of Potter Gilmore in St. Mary Street, Cardiff.
Like Sylvia's outfit above, this is still amazingly classic, and in the right circumstances could be worn today. Elgiva and Alan celebrated their Diamond Wedding anniversary of 60 years happy marriage in June 2008.
Wedding - Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip 1947
No page on 1940's wedding dresses would be complete without a picture of the young Princess Elizabeth who later became Her Majesty The Queen, with Prince Philip on their wedding day in 1947.
The design of the Queen's wedding dress is discussed fully in the page called The Queen's Robes - The Wedding Dress of Queen Elizabeth II.
You have been reading an original 1940's Old Wedding Photo article by Pauline Weston Thomas at www.fashion-era.com © Page updated 27 April 2008
For more information about the Era 1930-1949 click below: 1940s Home
