More than window dressing: visual merchandising and austerity in London’s West End, 1945–50

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the fashion departments of London’s West End department stores were not only challenged by austerity and bomb damage but also by the growth of multiple retailers selling branded ready-to-wear goods. This article investigates how department stores responded by investing in display and visual merchandising to attract custom and rebuild their fashionable reputations. It argues that the difficulties caused by austerity conditions forced department stores to embrace new retail methodologies that helped them adapt to the changed circumstances of post-war fashion retail and compete with multiple retailers.