The Sweetheart-Neckline Evening Gown

The sweetheart neckline shows up in passing in a couple of other 1940s entries - on tea dresses and in draped evening wear - but I think it deserves its own garment entry, because for many women in the war years the sweetheart-neckline evening gown was the dress: the one they wore to a dance, had their photograph taken in, or got married in.

The neckline itself is named for its shape. Across the bust it dips into two curves that meet in a point or a small V at the centre, like the top of a heart, and it's usually set on a fitted bodice with some shaping or gathering at the bust. On a 1940s evening gown, that bodice sat on a defined natural waist, and below it fell a long skirt - usually slim through the hips and flaring gently to the floor, cut in gores or panels rather than gathered, often in rayon crepe, jersey, satin, or taffeta. Sleeves ranged from none, with narrow straps, to short puffed or cap sleeves, and long sleeves for winter.

It was hugely popular for good reasons. The neckline flatters almost any figure, drawing attention to the collarbones and face, and it was romantic without being showy. In a period when day clothes had become square, plain, and rule-bound, a long evening dress was a small, precious piece of glamour. Many were homemade or remade from older dresses, and a lot of them were bought or sewn for one of the great social institutions of the war: the dance. Servicemen on leave, local dance halls, USO and forces events - a long dress with a sweetheart neckline was exactly what you'd hope to be wearing.

It was also one of the most common bridal shapes of the decade. Wedding dresses were among the categories exempted from American L-85 restrictions, but in Britain coupons made new bridal fabric hard to get, so many brides borrowed dresses, wore suits, or famously made gowns from parachute silk - and the sweetheart neckline appears again and again in those photographs. After the war, the same neckline moved straight into the strapless, boned evening dresses of the late 1940s and 1950s. For me, it's the most wistful garment of the decade: a dress for rare evenings off, often worn by someone saying goodbye.