#UPMTC: Boudoir Caps & Zeppelin Nighties, by Lucie Whitmore
In the third of our posts documenting the first Underpinnings Twitter conference, we are sharing the presentation of Lucie Whitmore, entitled Boudoir Caps & Zeppelin Nighties: How fashionable women dressed for air raids in the First World War.
During the First World War, technological improvements in aerial warfare allowed conflict to move from the fighting front to the home front, in the form of air raids. Civilians had to flee their beds in the case of a raid, and thus women were encouraged not only to dress practically but also to look presentable when greeting their neighbours. Using contemporary magazines and newspaper reports, this paper explores the links between warfare and the way women dressed for bed; as boudoir caps experienced a revival and, for the first time, pyjamas became a popular and acceptable choice for women.
Lucie Whitmore is a final year PhD student at the University of Glasgow, her research explores the relationship between war and women’s fashion in Britain between 1914 and 1918. She worked for three years as costume intern at the Museum of Edinburgh, where she co-curated a new permanent costume display. She is the co-founder of ‘War Through Other Stuff’, a society dedicated to exploring the non-military history of war. She recently published an article on mourning dress in Women’s History Review, and is currently co-editing two special themed issues of the British Journal for Military History.
1 #UPMTC Hello! I'm Lucie, a PhD student at @UofGlasgow researching women's fashion in Britain during #WW1. Today I'm sharing some of my research on air raid fashions: women's nightwear designed & promoted for wear during the German bombing raids on Britain between 1914-1918. pic.twitter.com/lu7VVBBpEj
— Lucie Whitmore (@LucieWhitmore) January 12, 2018
2 #UPMTC First, a quick history of #WW1 air raids. The historian Susan Grayzel noted that ‘the arrival of air warfare blurred boundaries between home front and frontline […] every home could now come under fire. As a result, civilians mattered in wartime as never before.’ pic.twitter.com/nVnAiBlz0A
— Lucie Whitmore (@LucieWhitmore) January 12, 2018
3 #UPMTC There was a quick cultural & commercial response to the raids. They were discussed at length in newspapers, alongside adverts for respirators, fire extinguishers & raid insurance. Papers & magazines also reported certain new trends within women's nighttime attire… pic.twitter.com/5youxD3Kpx
— Lucie Whitmore (@LucieWhitmore) January 12, 2018
4 #UPMTC Air raid fashions were promoted to women either as safe & practical should they have to flee their beds, or to ensure they looked attractive if encountering their neighbours during a raid. These included pyjamas, boudoir caps, dressing gowns & nightgowns with pockets. pic.twitter.com/S3dgdTCMKt
— Lucie Whitmore (@LucieWhitmore) January 12, 2018
5 #UPMTC Pyjamas, then a new garment for women, quickly gained popularity and were almost always linked to the raids in adverts or fashion columns. Magazines praised their practical properties: PJs would allow greater ease of movement than a nightgown, as well as greater warmth pic.twitter.com/YQKJhSHQhB
— Lucie Whitmore (@LucieWhitmore) January 12, 2018
6 #UPMTC Women in trousered attire of any kind was a new phenomenon in 1915 & many magazines saw pyjamas simply as ‘the season’s novelty’. But huge increases in demand & sales suggest the appeal was genuine, and PJs have remained a staple of women’s nighttime attire ever since.
— Lucie Whitmore (@LucieWhitmore) January 12, 2018
7 #UPMTC Boudoir caps, an incarnation of the nightcap, had been worn by women since the 19thC to cover hair in pins/curlers (or undressed hair) at night, or in the privacy of their own homes. The papers reported a great boost in popularity as a consequence of #WW1 air raids. pic.twitter.com/3bb7ZE7BSz
— Lucie Whitmore (@LucieWhitmore) January 12, 2018
8 #UPMTC Boudoir caps were said to be beautifying & readers of Lady's Pictorial were told ‘the woman who wants to keep her self-respect by looking her best at all times should never be without a supply.' One west-end department store reported a 50% increase in sales in Oct 1916.
— Lucie Whitmore (@LucieWhitmore) January 12, 2018
9 #UPTMC c.1910s boudoir caps were often highly decorative – as shown in these examples from @TheUPMuseum. In Oct 1916 The Sketch recommended caps made from silver or gold tissue with jewelled embroidery or coloured ribbons, or a satin 'boudoir turban' trimmed with flowers. pic.twitter.com/5DuhaYT22A
— Lucie Whitmore (@LucieWhitmore) January 12, 2018
10 #UPTMC Raids inspired this trend, but it was acknowledged that the caps were not a suitable defence. ‘As a protection against bombs most boudoir caps [..] leave something to be desired, and a shrapnel helmet, or coal bucket, would be more useful, if somewhat less becoming.’*
— Lucie Whitmore (@LucieWhitmore) January 12, 2018
11 #UPMTC Other raid trends included garters (‘as there is nothing more annoying than a slipping stocking’) & flight coats, a mix of coat & cape that could ‘be put on easily as one runs along’. Sleeping suits were all-in-one garments, the precursor to the siren suits of #WW2? pic.twitter.com/zcnyBJoPGY
— Lucie Whitmore (@LucieWhitmore) January 12, 2018
12 #UPMTC Raids inspired both flirtatious frivolity & practical functionality in women’s sleeping attire. It was a novelty for women to be seen in their night clothes outside the home & thus a new way of thinking about sleeping attire emerged as a consequence of #WW1 air raids.
— Lucie Whitmore (@LucieWhitmore) January 12, 2018
Extra #UPMTC tweet – a short video with some further thoughts on the significance of pyjamas and boudoir caps! pic.twitter.com/U4MJwqD7T2
— Lucie Whitmore (@LucieWhitmore) January 12, 2018
We will share each of the conference presentations via its own blog post over the coming weeks. If you’re on Twitter, you can join the discussion via the Underpinnings Museum’s account and the conference hashtag #UPMTC
The header image for this post is of a yellow silk, lace & ribbonwork bow appliqué boudoir cap (c. 1910s, Great Britain) from the Underpinnings Museum collections. Photo by Tigz Rice