German Fashion in Photos from the Collection of Randy Mckeithan

 

Once again, I am indebted to the ever-generous Randy Mckeithan for allowing me to share a part of his collection with you all. Thank you, Randy! And do check out his FaceBook and Instagram for more of his collection. 

Before we move on to this photo analysis, I have to make a confession and a disclaimer about this photo and that is the women here may not be German. As the German war machine did its thing, they did make use of the civilian population for cooking, cleaning, and other chores. These women very well could be Russian or Ukranian or even French from somewhere else . . .Of course they could be German too! All I am saying is that I am not sure here . . .But that does not take away from the clothes they are wearing because women on either side could have worn attire like this.  

So, what are they wearing? These ladies are wearing great clothes for doing hard work in, the clothes are plain and have a leaning more towards the practical than the fashionable. They are wearing plain, loose fitting dresses and also a mixture of separates. The girl in the front row to the right appears to be wearing a loose-fitting coat or a full body apron or smock to protect the clothes she has on underneath. The reason why I really think this could be a full body smock to protect her clothes is because the look of the collar shows no real sign of structure or tailoring like a coat would have. The collar is rather wide too. 

On their heads, the women are wearing scarves or large pieces of material to keep their hair out of the way and to probably keep their heads warm while they work outside. These coverings are ideal for protecting their hair from the daily grime that surrounded them. 

It's hard to determine the hair style under the covering but one hair has a nice center part, next to her a side part. . .The rest? mystery. I am guessing, spit balling really, that the hair is pulled back and secured in the back. As a reenactor, this is a great look for head wear because it's not only cheap and easy, but period correct too. 

Leg wear. We can only really the two in the front and they are wearing a dark and thick stocking. Shoes are a plain leather with a rounded toe, and I bet no heel either. These are not a fashionable shoe, but a practical one. 

Jewelry. We have evidence of some jewelry wear going one here which is very exciting. The girl in the first row, to the right is wearing a large round pin and in the back row, the woman in white (or some other light color) is wearing a longer pin at the neckline. 

Other notes, I like the print being worn here, it's a small print but cute, nonetheless. Also, the girl in the printed dress appears to have something up her sleeve. A hankie perhaps? To the far right it looks like a lady wearing a sweater. Maybe a jacket? 

A great example of plain, average women and I am also using this photo as my inspiration for my first tactical coming up very soon! I have never been to a tactical before so I will admit that I am a bit nervous. I was also trying to figure out what to wear but my inspiration is going to be this photo in particular. I think in building an impression for a reenactment, magazines are pretty, but photos of real women are hard to beat. They are a small sliver of the reality that existed all those years ago.