THE WOMEN’S LEAGUE OF HEALTH AND BEAUTY

As you may know, the aim of this blog is to have an online archive of Women’s militaria, an inventory of British Women’s Uniforms from the second world war and an online database and forum for us girls who dedicate our summers and some winters to living history.

I thought that I would start with a slightly lighter topic, that does not involve any serge or barathea. I am also a firm believer that before anyone can dive headfirst into the pool of WW2, one must start in the inter-war/pre-war period. This brings me to introduce my first ever blog post, which will be on the Women’s League of Health and Beauty.

What is the Women’s League of Health and Beauty?

Well, it was all started by a lady named Mary Bagot Stack. Mary was made a widow during the First World War and moved from India to Britain. It has been said that rather than channeling her grief into spiritualism or alcoholism (like many other ex-colonial widows) Mary took inspiration from her observations of the physical differences between the immobile imperialists who were corseted, petticoated and trust up and the Indian women of all castes, who were able to bend from unconstrained waist and their feet free in sandals. At this Mary concluded, “Movement is Life”.

From this, Mary went around hosting fitness classes for Women and Children in the 1920s, teaching the Bagot-Stack exercise system. This then leads to the birth of the Women’s League of Health and Beauty.

Set up in 1930, with their first class held at the YMCA premises on Regent Street, the league became incredibly popular with women of all ages. In the 1937 Christmas number magazine that came with the grouping, there is a little girl of three and an elderly lady of 70 +, alongside images of super glamorous twenty-something-year-olds. By 1933 there were over 30,000 members, which went hand in hand with a spike in the popularity of ‘leagues’ and ‘clubs’.

The membership fee was not too expensive, at just 2 shillings to join and then a sixpence for every class attended, as well as the simple uniform made up of merely a white sleeveless blouse and a pair of black bloomers. This, I believe could be purchased but could also be made. My grouping has a mix of bloomers, some have size labels (which I am assuming have been purchased) and others are clearly homemade attempts. Both items are made from satin, which gives the uniform a luxurious and super feminine feel.

I also possess a pattern for the blouse and knickers, from WH-Smiths (not current stock though I’m afraid). When putting this outfit on I did feel super glamorous, almost like a chorus line girl, but I will say that I agree with the following statement regarding the uniform and the league; “Energetic but not too Sexy”.

Sadly by 1933, Mary’s health was declining and she passed away in 1935 but her daughter Prunella Stack OBE, who was a women’s rights activist and also a fitness pioneer, inherited leadership of the league. The movement is renowned for touching the lives of many women, giving them the opportunity to exercise. And in the Independent, was quoted “In modern terms, Stack could be seen as the ‘foremother’ of today’s fitness obsession.”(Like a 1930s Zumba craze !)

To highlight the league’s significance in such a polarised era, In 1937, as the membership figures grew alongside the impending threat of war, Neville Chamberlain invited Stack to stress physical exercise as “A matter of National importance”. For me this seems to be incredibly important as a foreshadowing of what was to come in terms of the women’s services of the Second World War, as the Women’s League of Health and Beauty came at a time of emancipation, with the women of Britain gaining the right to vote in 1928 and also encouraged to cut across class and age barriers, which the Second World War would soon enforce.

I dare say that many of the League’s instructors would have gone on to have careers in the women’s services at PTI instructors.