Utility clothing

The Utility Clothing Scheme was a programme introduced in the United Kingdom during the Second World War.

Raw materials and as a result clothing available for civilian consumption were limited due to the needs of the Second World War.

Despite regulations and the limitation of raw materials, manufacturers and the garment industry were able to create a variety of styles and colours of Utility clothing.

[8] Though seeking to control industry production and civilian consumption, efficiency of manufacture, and the regulations which ensured this, meant a range of different garments that met the fashionable styles of the era were able to be produced as part of the Utility Clothing Scheme, through wartime and beyond.

The symbol, colloquially referred to as ‘cheeses’ was designed by Reginald Shipp, and is understood to represent ‘Civilian Clothing 1941’.

Though the materials used to make them were controlled, their styling was not standardised, apart from the restriction on heel height, which measured a maximum of 2+1⁄8 inch (8 cm).