With entry into WWII the face of fashion began to evolve into a more utility focused form of dress with wide padded shoulders and slim waistline and hips with the skirt falling just below the knee. Also with the German occupation of Paris, fashion looked to the houses of Britain and the US for direction. Many items were rationed to conserve goods for the war effort and women became skilled at making do with what they already had. The traditional gender barriers which had divided the workplace quickly disappeared as women began to fill positions which were left by service men as well as joined military services such as the WAVEs, WACs, SPARs, Marines and medical staff. Pants and overalls were now socially accepted at work and hairstyles were dictated by safety regulations and scarcity of materials. After the war American society was quickly demilitarized, yet in Europe and Great Britain the recovery would take much longer. From here it was uncertain which the fashion world would proceed in. During the war fashion designers had shifted from serving a small elite clientele to mass cheap production, a reslut of wartime reorganization. Individual designers gained widespread public prestige and began to market goods from accessories to perfume to promote their name brands. The later half of the 1940's brought many changes to the fashionable woman's siluette: shoulders changed from very padded to more natural, skirts became longer and hips were the new emphasis. Though controversy surrounded this "New Look" championed by Christian Dior, fans would regain its hold on the fashion world through the 1980's.