Homemade Tarts/ Juul Haalmeyer Designs

Most especially during WWII and the privations that occurred afterwards there were consistent publications of things that encouraged women to make up-grades and changes to their costume that would not require massive amounts of new materials. This is a sample of one such effort to encourage women to stay current while also staying within guidelines of government restrictions.
A dress , apart from a person of larger size could not employ more than 2.5 yards of material. So, decorative embellishments were confined to what could be created from scraps.
This image from 1943 is giving home sewers a way to update and change their clothes with minimal cost of fabric.

: The elegance of Ann Lowe’s ‘American Beauty Dress’ 1966-67 via Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
For more see also Museum at FIT Museum at FIT: https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1966-lowe-american-beauty/