With the men overseas at war, women entered the workforce to take over the jobs the men left behind. Because of this, women had to choose clothes practical for work. For the first time, it became acceptable for women to wear pants. Women also began to wear overalls for more heavy work. Hair had to be pulled back and covered to prevent it from being caught in machinery. Often, snoods and handkerchiefs were used to achieve this. By convenience, women began to wear these outside of work resulting in fashionable snoods being designed to be worn as evening attire.
Throughout the 1940's, women wore their hair long, even though working women were encouraged to cut theirs short. Hair was often styled with the pageboy, in barrel rolls, or the Victory Roll. Hair was often netted in the back, usually using a snood, folded at the ear, pinned on top, or twisted into braids.
In 1947, the war had ended, France was liberated, and Christian Dior — an unknown designer in France — introduced his first designs. The fashion he introduced (which would be called "The New Look") used large amounts of fabric, softened women's shoulders, emphasized their breasts and hips, pinched-in waist, and a full skirt. It was an extravagant use of material in much the same way the men's zoot suit made use of fabric.
At first, many people thought it was scandalous. Many saw it as an excessive use of material; people were still in the rationing mind-set which had dominated during the war and the Great Depression which preceded it. Others thought that it was a throw-back to the stuffy fashions at the start of the 1900's. Most people were outraged. The outrage was felt most strongly in Europe where people were still recovering from the war and food and clothes were still very hard to obtain. During a Paris photo shoot in March of 1947, women began rioting and attacking the photo shoot. One of the models was seized, stripped of her New Look dress, and then was severely beaten by several infuriated women. However, over time, the New Look began to become popular, more-so in places such as America where fabric shortages were not as much of a problem.