Women in World War I -- Women's Uniforms

Women's Uniforms

The Great War saw tens of thousands of women, American and otherwise, don uniforms to take on their war work.  What is so striking about the uniforming of American women during World War I is that it occurred in all parts of women's war efforts. Whether attached to the military or to voluntary organizations, working in factories, on farms, or filling in other occupations as men left for overseas service, women wore uniforms. Women's uniforms of World War I fall into three main categories: suits (including jacket and skirt), breeches or overalls, and dresses and aprons.  These uniforms could be handmade or store-bought.  The design of these uniforms was influenced greatly by men's military uniforms, American and Allied, as evidenced by the strikingly military style of the women's uniforms.  Other influences included Allied women’s uniforms and women's civilian dress in the United States.

The motivations behind the adoption of uniforms and their specific styles are varied.  For women attached to the armed forces, such as the Navy's Yeomen (F), uniforms were part and parcel of military life.  For others, especially factory workers and motor corps drivers, the change from traditional female garb to uniforms was simply a matter of practicality—women needed to wear clothes that were less restricting but still respectable, so uniforms modeled on military styles were a perfect option.  Wearing uniforms also created and bolstered morale among organizations and groups of women, as well as engendering a feeling of self-worth and an established identity.  Perhaps most importantly, the adoption of uniforms demanded attention and respect from the women’s fellow citizens.  Women felt that the uniforms visibly validated their volunteer work and their accomplishments as actively engaged citizens, thus pushing the agenda of equal rights and the vote for women.  This push for equal recognition was further aided by the uniforms’ echoes of men’s military dress, which helped suppress gender distinctions by aligning women more closely to the masculine values of the military.  Women's highly visible and recognized wartime service, facilitated by their adoption of uniforms, ultimately contributed to their attainment of the right to vote in 1920.

About Our Collection

Our museum holds a vast collection of women’s uniforms from World War I, several of which are featured below.  About one-fourth of the uniforms in this collection were donated by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America and worn by Society members during the war.  After the end of World War I, a Society member suggested to its president, Mrs. Joseph R. Lamar, that it would be wise to preserve the uniforms that women had worn during the conflict.  At the time, the Smithsonian’s United States National Museum was collecting artifacts from the war to go on display in the Arts and Industries Building.  Carolyn Gilbert Benjamin, the Society's Chair of the Committee on Relics, worked from 1919 to 1922 to bring together the collection of Colonial Dames uniforms and have them sent to the U.S. National Museum for display.  Donations also came from outside the Colonial Dames, from organizations such as the American Red Cross, the U.S. Navy, and the YMCA, as well as from individuals.

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  (Left to Right): Motor Division Uniform, National League for Woman’s Service (NLWS); Motor Corps Captain’s Uniform, NLWS; Uniform of Major on Staff and Supervisor of Instruction, First National Service School; American Friends Service Committee Uniform

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  (Left to Right): Uniform of US Women Executives, American Red Cross (ARC); Uniform of Red Cross Workers in France; Field Director’s Uniform, ARC

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  (Left to Right) Motor Service Uniform, American Fund for French Wounded (AFFW); AFFW Uniform; War Camp Community Service Uniform

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  ((Left to Right) Overseas Uniform, YMCA Woman’s Division; US Uniform, YMCA Woman’s Division; Canteen Uniform, YMCA; American Library Association Uniform

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  (Left to Right): Uniform of First Vice President of National War Work Council, YWCA; Overseas Uniform, YWCA; US Uniform, YWCA

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  (Left to Right): National Catholic War Council Uniform; Canteen Uniform, League of Catholic Women; Knights of Columbus Uniform

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  (Left to Right): Emergency Aid of Pennsylvania Uniform; Emergency Aid Aide Service of Pennsylvania Uniform; National League for Woman’s Service (NLWS) Uniform; Uniform of 1st Lieutenant, NLWS Junior Corps

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  (Left to Right): General’s Uniform, Salvation Army; US Uniform, Salvation Army; Overseas Uniform, Salvation Army

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  (Left to Right): Woman’s Land Army of America Uniform; Chief Operator’s Uniform, US Army Signal Corps Telephone Unit; Enlisted Woman’s Winter Field Uniform, US Marine Corps

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  (Left to Right): Enlisted Woman’s Uniform, US Marine Corps (USMC); Enlisted Woman’s Summer Field Uniform, USMC; Yeoman (F) Winter Uniform, US Navy (USN); Yeoman (F) Summer Uniform, USN

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  (Left to Right): Chief Yeoman (F) Winter Uniform, US Navy; Blue Outdoor Uniform, US Navy Nurse Corps (NNC); White Hospital Uniform, US NNC

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  (Left to Right): Emergency Fleet Corporation Uniform, US Shipping Board; Jewish Welfare Board Uniform; French Red Cross Uniform

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  (Left to Right): Contract Surgeon Uniform, US Army; US Army Nurse Corps (ANC) Uniform; US ANC Overcoat; US ANC Uniform

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  (Left to Right): Uniform of Woman’s Land Army of Hamilton County, Ohio; Canteen Captain’s Uniform; National Land Army of Ohio Uniform

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  (Left to Right): Uniform of Matrons in US Convalescent Hospitals, American Red Cross; Emergency Canteen Service Uniform; Nurse’s Aide Uniform, University of Pennsylvania Hospital

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  (Left to Right): Uniform of Matrons in US Convalescent Hospitals, American Red Cross; Emergency Canteen Service Uniform; Nurse’s Aide Uniform, University of Pennsylvania Hospital

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  (Left to Right): Nurse’s Outdoor Uniform, American Red Cross (ARC); Nurse’s Ward Uniform, ARC; Dietitian’s Uniform; ARC

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  (Left to Right): Motor Corps Driver’s Uniform, American Red Cross (ARC); Motor Corps Driver’s Uniform, ARC; Motor Corps Driver’s Overcoat, ARC; Foreign Service Uniform, ARC

Over 60 uniforms from World War I went on display in the Arts and Industries Building in the early 1920s, photographs from which you can see in the slideshow above, and they remained on display until 1929.  The uniforms were taken out of the exhibit space to make room for objects "of very much greater value," in the opinion of the curator. ¹  The Smithsonian kept the uniforms in storage, while the National Society of the Colonial Dames searched for another venue in which to exhibit the uniforms.  Ultimately, unable to find a new place to exhibit the uniforms, the Society decided to keep them in storage at the Smithsonian and officially donated them to the National Museum of American History in 1998.

Our collections do not have uniforms representative of every organization or wartime occupation of women.  For example, they lack uniforms of women munitions and factory workers and those of women working other jobs like mailmen and policemen.  However, the collections provide an insightful look into the way in which women contributed to the war effort and distinguished themselves as invaluable American citizens.

Please note that we are in the process of photographing these uniforms and will add them to this page as they are ready, so check back often.

Further Resources

Barton C. Hacker, "Women in uniform, World War I edition," O Say Can You See? Stories from the National Museum of American History (blog), September 8, 2011.

Barton C. Hacker and Margaret Vining, "Uniforms Make the Woman," in Materializing the Military, vol. 5 of Artefacts: Military Technology, ed. Bernard Finn and Barton C. Hacker (London: Science Museum Press, 2005), 65–76.

"Founding Fragments—WWI Woman’s Uniform," National Museum of American History, YouTube video, 5:11.

Kimberly Jenson, "Volunteers, Auxiliaries, and Women's Mobilization: The First World War and Beyond (1914–1939)," in A Companion to Women's Military History, ed. Barton C. Hacker and Margaret Vining (Boston: Brill, 2012), 189–231.

Nathaniel Patch, "The Story of the Female Yeomen during the First World War," Prologue Magazine 38, no. 3 (Fall 2006).

Vivian Lea Young, "'Petticoats Are Part of this Uniform': American Women Volunteers of the First World War and Their Uniforms" (M.A. thesis, George Washington University, 1987).

"World War I," History and Collections, Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, Inc.

"World War I: Women and the War," History & Collections, Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, Inc.