Get the Look: Bomb Girls Inspires a Wealth of Fashion Styles
Posted 03.01.13 by Matilda
Proving that not all parts of war take place on the battlefield, Bomb Girls season one gave us the strong women of Victory Munitions risking their lives to support their men and fight for their freedom. But while they battled with a daily fear of injury and possible death, they still managed to keep their spirits high and maintain a fabulous sense of style.
With season two arriving on Reelz Wednesday, March 27th we can’t wait to see what the girls will be wearing but until then — and because we really can’t wait — we have pulled together a list of some of our favorite looks from the first season and picked out some modern day alternatives so you can "Get the Bomb Girl Look".
For more Bomb Girls style, you can catch up with the entire first season Saturday, March 2nd starting at 11am ET/ 8am PT.
With the war changing the way women could dress as a consequence of material restrictions and a greater sense of fashion freedom it was up to individual improvisation and creativity to keep great style — and we love the result. The hour-glass figure was very popular and clothes were designed to help women achieve that. Bright colors, floral patterns and the introduction of pants were also all characterizations of the '40s with a clear influence in today’s trends.
The start of the war and the increasing number of women in the work place made it more acceptable for women to wear pants in the 1940s. Betty's tomboyish nature means that we see her adopt this trend for a large portion of the series even though she does step into a dress or two. We love her characteristically '40s full-legged, high-waisted, green pants and bright colored peach blouse. With brogues and a pink belt complimenting both the blouse and pants the outfit is perfectly complete, expressing grace and elegance despite challenging the “feminine” look of the time.
Dress Like Betty
Focusing on the bright '40s colors we found the on-trend wide-legged pants from Yoox.com at $125 — for a fuller '40s shape visit Toast and spend around $52. The belt was found online at Liberty for around $83 and the brogues at Asos for $80. We couldn't resist the color of the Modcloth blouse above for $50.
Vera always dressed her best, even when she recieved a horrific injury. We were blown away by her amazing print dress and also loved her choice of bright colors demonstrated in her pink dress and sweater.
Dress Like Vera
For Vera's bright pink floral attire we found a '40s shaped peach dress with a darker peach belt for around $30. We also found this amazing Modcloth '40s restoration dress, with its vintage-inspired pattern and hour-glass shape it just screams '40s girl. For Vera's unique print dress check out the one we found above for $123.77 from Sonia by Sonia Rykiel.
Kate's clothes reflect her poor background. While usually seen wearing darker, duller colors with a brown jacket and sweater, which seem too big for her, Kate does add some beautiful blues and greens to her wardrobe. The sweater that she is wearing above with the beautiful vintage embroidery is definitely our favorite item of her wardrobe and the dress she pairs it with gains our attention with its unique '40s pattern.
Dress Like Kate
It was difficult to find a sweater that fully reflects the intricate design of Kate's. We feel we got pretty close with this beaded floral chenille cardigan from Serengeti at $50. The dress on top is from Asos at $60 and offers an interesting pattern design while the last dress, also from Asos at $40, holds the same shape as Kate's and delivers a '40s-style floral design.
Lorna is focused too much on looking after her family to pay much attention to her style but however simple it may appear the “housewife” look of the '40s is rocking in today’s trends. We love her bright patterns.
Dress Like Lorna
There are so many amazing 'Lorna style' dresses available in stores it was difficult to choose just one. The first dress gives a flattering figure with a fun bow at just $15 from Debenhams while the second dress from top is a vintage style from Vintage Styles Files at $99. The final choice, reflecting best the bright colors of Lorna's "tea" dress will set you back $470 from Asos but we think its totally worth it.
Socialite and very wealthy Gladys represents a different class of '40s style. She can afford expensive fabric; silk, satin and extra detail and we see this throughout the first season. While we recognize that this may be a bit out of place in most modern day situations we love the white dress and fascinator Gladys arrives at the factory in. We are also drawn to her hot-pink dance dress upholding the popular floral patterns of the '40s.
Dress Like Gladys
The first outfit includes the white dress, fascinator and shoes all from Modcloth's '40s range. The dress is $162.99 while the fascinator is a bargain at $50 and the shoes a bit pricier at $100. We found the belt at Asos for $76. Finally despite lacking the floral pattern this hot-pink American Glamstand dress emulates Gladys' dance attire perfectly.