In England, the ruffled collars and fringes inspired by the fashion sense of Queen Victoria, who had enjoyed the title Empress of India, had disappeared long before the World Wars when women’s fashion changed drastically. Clothing that afforded flexibility was a must for women who were called upon to work, not just as nurses, but on farms and in offices. In Great Britain, they called this entrance of women into the workforce, ‘dilution,’ a travesty that, men were assured, would be reversed at the end of the war. But the Second World War left England with other things to worry about.

At a promotional event for the film Student of The Year, actor Alia Bhatt sported a peplum skirt. Pic/Sameer Markhande