TO mark the 75th anniversary of clothes rationing in WWII, the Imperial War Museum in Manchester is staging a major exhibition.

Fashion on the Ration: 1940s Street Style, which explores how fashion survived and even flourished under the strict rules of rationing, will open on May 27 and run for 12 months.

It will bring together exhibits including clothing, accessories, photographs and film, official documents and publications, artworks, wartime letters, interviews and ephemera, some of which have never been on display before.

Amanda Mason, curator of the exhibition said: “Exploring the clothes that people wore throughout the 1940s gives us a whole new understanding and insight into life in Britain during and immediately after the Second World War."

In addition, a vintage fashion weekender will be held on June 4 and 5, including creative workshops, a fragrance tour of the exhibition by scent historian Odette Toilette and an In Conversation event with Blackburn fashion designer Wayne Hemingway.

IWM is encouraging the public to become part of the exhibition experience by tweeting their wartime family photos using #WhatMyFamilyWore.

Any photos of that depict family members at the height of wartime fashion and clothes rationing could be shown on a screen as part of the exhibition, which will look at how Second World War Britain became a nation in uniform.

It will also show how the demands of wartime life changed the way civilians dressed, inspiring retailers to sell innovative and stylish products such as gas-mask handbags and siren suits.

Rationing and Make Do and Mend, introduced in 1941, changed the shopping habits of the nation.

With limited options for buying new clothes, people were encouraged to be creative and make clothes last longer by mending, altering, knitting and creating new pieces out of old material.

Items on display include a bridesmaid’s dress made from parachute material, a bracelet made from aircraft components, a child’s cloak made from a blanket and stylish wedge heeled shoes made from scraps picked up from a factory floor.

Utility clothing was introduced in 1941 to tackle unfairness in the rationing scheme and standardise production to help the war effort.

Utility fashion ranges were made from a limited range of quality controlled fabrics while austerity regulations, meant that two inch heels were the maximum height for shoes.

Many women went to great lengths to maintain their personal appearance, seeing beauty as a duty, while visitors will also find that cosmetics and clothing often had a patriotic edge.

Scarves had wartime slogans such as 'Keep it Under Your Hat' and 'Careless Talk Costs Lives'- and by wearing these items, women were able to demonstrate they were doing their bit for the war effort.

The end of the war meant a return to wearing civilian clothing for demobilised servicemen and women.

While clothes rationing continued and Britain struggled with austerity, in 1947, the launch of Christian Dior’s ostentatious New Look shook the fashion world desperate for something new and glamorous.

* If you have any stories or photos from the war days for Bygones, contact gill.johnson@nqnw.co.uk.