This wedding dress dates to 1944. It belonged to Joan Morgan from Tregarth, who was working as a biology teacher in the Isle of Man at the time. Her fiance, on active service in the navy during the Second World War, was given unexpected leave and they decided to marry immediately.
She lent him money for the engagement ring, and bought this dress which was the only one she could find. Joan noted in her account book that she paid 8 guineas (£8.8s.8d) and 7 coupons for it.
This dress shows the effect that the Second World War and fabric rationing had on clothing. The dress, bought after war time textile rationing had been in force, uses as little fabric as possible, and is not specifically a ‘wedding dress’. Some war time brides still tried to have special wedding dresses worn only for the wedding – sometimes silk parachute material was used and older finery and lace was recycled. The size of the dress could also reflect food rationing.
Food shortages in the 2nd World War resulted in food rationing for everyone in Britain. Ration books were introduced on January 8th 1940. Bacon, ham, sugar and butter were the first to be restricted. Other foods followed, and growing your own vegetables became very popular. The British population emerged from this imposed diet thinner and healthier.
This dress is displayed in Gallery 5 in the case on the World Wars.