I found these three snapshots in an antiques and collectibles store in Adelaide a few years ago. Unfortunately there is no information on where they came from originally. However they were all clearly taken sometime during the Second World War.
The first is inscribed on the back: "To David with best wishes from Susan B." David, no doubt, was with the armed forces. It's impossible to give this an approximate date from Susan's dress alone, as floral frocks like this were fashionable before the war - and often worn for the duration. Her hairstyle, however, with its high pompadour, came into fashion among younger women around 1942, so this picture was probably taken somewhere between 1942 and 1945.
The older woman whose picture was taken here with her soldier husband or brother is wearing a similar floral frock, ornamented with a broach. She also wears a fairly conservative hairstyle and comfortable looking oxford shoes.
This last picture is of a woman wearing a much plainer outfit, which appears to be home-made. Since her suit is without ornament - not even buttons, trimming or elastic! - it seems likely that she made her clothes at a time when such things were in short supply, and women were asked to go without in order to help the war effort. In Australia that would be from early 1942, when the Japanese began their advance across the Pacific.
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