Fashioning the Tube: Women and Transport Posters in the 1920s and 1930s

The chapter investigates the relationship between London underground, graphic design and female consumers in the interwar period. It traces how fashion culture was utilised to attract female custom- Underground posters were designed to appeal to women in the 1920s and 1930s as it became apparent that 'posters accompanied the housewife all the way from her front door to the shop window'- resulting in a new style of poster emerging to cater for this new consumer audience but also how the posters examined are evident of a societal shift in attitudes towards women in the era. It examines the strategic move of London Underground to employ female fashion illustrators and textile designers to develop this new genre of poster, evidencing a modern and canny understanding of advertising psychology. The work uses these posters as a case study to dispel popular myths of women and femininity in the 20s and 30s and instead presents a contextual examination of women’s roles (both domestic and urban) and their representations within visual culture.