A wartime shop window displaying utility clothing designed by Norman Hartnell
The Utility Clothing Scheme was a programme introduced in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. In response to the shortage of clothing materials and labour due to wartime austerity, the Government's Board of Trade put the Utility Clothing Scheme in place in order to standardise the production, sale, and purchase of clothing in wartime. The Scheme embodied a variety of measures to ensure the availability of fabric, clothing, and shoes, which were proposed to ensure availability, no matter of the consumer’s socioeconomic circumstances.
The creation of Utility clothing meant meeting tight regulations regarding the amount of material allowed to be used in their construction, as per the restrictions of clothes rationing in this period.
Utility clothing, and later Utility furniture, was marked with the CC41 tag.[1]
In response to public misconceptions around austerity regulated specifications and the impacts these would have on the fashionability of Utility clothing, designs for a Utility collection were commissioned in 1942 from leading fashion designers, as members of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers, which included Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell, amongst others.[2]
The Utility Clothing Scheme ran from 1941 until 1952.
The UtilityClothing Scheme was a programme introduced in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. In response to the shortage of clothing materials...
The CC41 Utility logo was an identifying mark of products produced and sold as part of the British Government's Second World War UtilityClothing Scheme...
operative from 1 November 1942. The same logo was used for utility furniture as for the utilityclothing scheme: two capital 'C's and the figure 41, for "Controlled...
and working clothing. Some countries (such as Cuba) maintain a standard practice of wearing full service ribbons on combat utilityclothing. Others strictly...
to the state of the economy, clothing yet again faced fundamental changes in shape and function. The term utilityclothing was coined, meaning that fashion...
A utility bicycle, city bicycle, urban bicycle, European city bike (ECB), Dutch bike, classic bike or simply city-bike is a bicycle designed for frequent...
resources produced and traded by the United Kingdom Ration stamp Spiv UtilityclothingUtility furniture Woolton pie Gull eggs § British Isles Zweiniger-Bargielowska...
spandex are often worn by both sexes for athletic activities or as utilityclothing, and are usually referred to as "leggings", a term that includes casual...
organizational clothing items may be worn with the utility uniform during inclement or cold weather, to include the All Purpose Environmental Clothing System...
twenty-first century clothing production. The Cosmopolitan journalist Lauren Bravo sees fast fashion stretching back to utilityclothing and tailors who sold...
prevailing clothing standards of aristocrats and businessmen. The lounge suit originated in 19th-century Britain as sportswear and British country clothing, which...
This is a list of uniforms and clothing associated with World War II. Adrian helmet Beret Balmoral bonnet Brodie helmet Campaign hat Cap comforter Caubeen...
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from...
source them. Earlier, the government had introduced the "Utility" brand to ensure that all clothing, which was rationed, was produced to a reasonable quality...
decrease the huge amounts of clothing that end up in landfills. Consumption geared towards saving money, lowering utility bills and greenhouse gas emissions...
derived from the model line. For police use, the Ford Police Interceptor Utility has been derived from the fifth and sixth-generation Explorer to replace...
fashion kilts, and, especially in the United States, utility kilts) have appeared in the clothing marketplace in Scotland, the US, and Canada in a range...
Nuclear (CBRN) protective clothing and communications equipment. Soldiers often carry other personal items such as waterproof clothing and spare socks. The...
Utility cycling encompasses any cycling done simply as a means of transport rather than as a sport or leisure activity. It is the original and most common...
was seven and set the fashion for French nobility. This new article of clothing started a fashion craze in Europe; both men and women wore pieces of fabric...
Global Information