Uniform

Description

Grey-blue spun rayon World War II American Red Cross Motor Service uniform. Uniform includes dress, pin, and belt. The American Red Cross Motor Service Corps was developed in World War I, during which over ten thousand women volunteered to deliver supplies and transport the sick and wounded. The Motor Corps continued to serve during the Second World War, this time with over 45,000 women like Virginia Newcomer, who completed rigorous training to volunteer as a transport and supply driver. While women’s uniforms carried some menswear characteristics like a double-breasted closure, patch pockets, and leather belt, their skirts made them distinctively feminine. The fabric of this Motor Corps dress from 1942 may look like wool gabardine, but it is actually a grey-blue spun rayon, a much lighter fabric used in dressmaking. To complete her uniform, Newcomer would have been required to wear a low-heeled black shoe and silk or cotton hose at all times.