This real photo postcard can be dated almost to the year, because the sitter is wearing the uniform of the (British) Women's Land Army. The Board of Agriculture created the Land Army early in 1917 to replace the farm workers who had gone off to war. The uniform they finally settled on consisted of a sou'wester had, knee length coat, boots, leather leggings—and "breeches with wide posteriors, tapering to fit tightly around the calves, and sealed by gaiters." The Land Girl in this photo appears to be showing off her crisp new uniform—and daringly, she is smoking a cigarette!
Not surprisingly, the uniform was considered shocking, particularly by the older generation:
"The Land Army demanded references, so Annie approached the elderly wife of the canon who lived in her village, to be told: 'Do you know what it involves? You'll be dressed as a man, and I object to that—it's a disgrace to show your ankles.' Annie recalled the interview sixty years later, and was still not wholly convinced the canon's wife was wrong, adding, 'And it was [a disgrace], I had my skirts to the ground.'"
From Kate Adie: Fighting on the Home Front (2013)
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