After eight months of communism, elegant women, movie stars both from home and Hollywood, ceased gracing the covers of the magazines. Gone were the times when fashion trends and women’s image were dictated by President Edvard Benes’s wife Mrs Hana. It was Marta Gottwaldova who stepped into her shoes and took her place…
On the cover of the magazine, Our Woman, from 1st November 1948, is an image of a heroine of socialistic work, twenty five year old Samona Gasanova from Azerbaijan. In the description it is also mentioned: This is Soviet person, natural, healthy, strong and optimistic.
The lead article, Purpose of our History, by Cestmir Cisar stresses the significance of the Hussite revolution and of the battle for national and social freedom… and of how it climaxed only by the victory of communism. Cestmir Cisar later on became one of the “men of Prague Spring” 19689. Directly on the opposite page is an extract from the publication of Zdenek Nejedly entitled Communists; Heirs to the Deep Traditions of the Czech Nation. Nejedly found approval from some Czech history celebrities such as Jan Zizka from Trocnov, Bozena Nemcova, Bedrich Smetana and Alois Jirasek – who acted as a mouthpiece to his ideas.
Dig deeper into the magazine and you will find the fashion section, where it looks like the final echoes of a previous era were dying away. The basic difference was of models exhibiting dresses which every woman could make using a pattern; in shops they would be looking in vain. Dresses to wear to theatres and concerts are still truly elegant and patterns for these could be bought for 20 to 30 Czech crowns in Wenceslas or Stossmayer’s Square, in Zelezna and Stefanikova Street…
In articles signed by initials J.S. we can find out what women were wearing in winter. The author is recommending a new hat, which can refresh up even last season’s coat. The most popular are so called chicken hats with a round rim, lifted above the forehead and dipping down to the ears. Under it goes a hair cut with a fringe which in freezing weather guarded an uncovered forehead. Still in fashion were twisted turbans from soft fabric, front runner was a beret especially if worn to one side. So, what might a woman do with an old coat? They could simply take it in, lower the shoulders by taking out the shoulder pads, make shoulder seams and around the collar they would sew on a piece of fur. As regards legs, it is recommended to wear leg warmers and thick wool tights in all sorts of colours. The last piece of advice from the author is: Don’t forget warm underwear!
The magazine Our Woman also wanted to be international, so thanks to a certain correspondent from Oxford, hiding under name A.T. D’Eye, readers will also discover that … Never before has England experienced such economic difficulties like today and its women that have the hardest time – it’s hard to get clothes, food …
The everyday dread for most housewives is shopping. Prices of the basic necessaries of life are continuously rising but the quota system is staying the same. There is lack of milk, eggs, potatoes… But the biggest difficulty is lack of soap, coal, gas and electricity. Despite all that the author ends on an optimistic note … families today, not only in England but in all of Europe are longing for more children – it’s not rare to have five children in one family – which is based on post war yearning for strong relationships and a feeling of security …
