By: Allisa Hoerbert!
Women’s Fashion in the 1920’s!
In the 1920’s women’s fashion changed drastically. Part of the change was due to feminine liberation movement. For the first time in centuries, women’s legs were being seen and the corset was thrown out. It seemed like the women wanted to take on a more masculine look. People began to see the waist line on pants drop. Their clothes were loose and baggy. Even though the clothes were baggy, they were more comfortable than the clothes that they had been wearing. They wore their hair bobbed. They flattened their breasts and hips. The women of America had reached a turning point in history.
The Designers
This change in fashion gave designers the opportunity to get creative and be themselves. They had the freedom to express their feelings and emotions, and design clothes the way they wanted to. For once they didn’t get judged because their clothes were too trashy or not appropriate. They challenged themselves to come up with new fashionable clothes. They took chances and played with the different fabric colors, textures and patterns and introduced a whole new look.
Dresses and Skirts
The dresses and skirts also changed because of the way that people were starting to dance, the dresses had more flow and movement to them. The dresses they wore were bright in color and light in weight and were shorter than ever before. Hemlines rose for most of the decade but then dropped towards the end. During the 1920’s shoes and stockings became more popular. This was mostly due to the fact that the dresses were becoming shorter. The stockings they wore were not the common black that they used to be. They were very colorful and usually had patterns and designs on them. They had to have more color to coordinate with the colorful outfits that were being designed. The teens of America had a huge effect on the fashions as well. Skirts also became shorter. They had pleats, gathers and or slits to allow motion for dancing.
Pant Suits and Hats
Later in the 20’s pantsuits and hats became popular and gave the women a good “sleek” look without all the frills. This style was named after the novel “La garconne” by Victor Margueritte. Most of the women during this time period either bobbed their hair or cut it short to fit under the stylish new hats. The new hats were inspired by Headdresses including turbans, toques, kokoshniks and tiaras. They were all reinvented by the designers. There were many different kinds of hats one was a cloche hat. The cloche hats fit very close to the skull. This meant that the hair was cropped short and flat. The cloche also had a great affect on body posture because it was pulled well over the eyes. Younger women had to hold their head a certain angle so that they could see where they were going. Foreheads were unfashionable in the 1920’s that’s why they covered up by these fashionable hats.
The Bob
The bob was also introduced by the famous actress Louise Brooks. Since the stars bobbed their hair so did the rest of the American women. Magazines all over started writing articles on how to get the perfect bob. Soon after the bob, the girls started to shingle their hair, and in 1926-1927 they cropped their hair. This was surprising to the older citizens because a women’s hair was thought to be her “crowning glory”.
Dressmakers
Many of the women who couldn’t afford the new fashions took courses in dressmaking. Many of the women turned to dressmaking in order to support their “fatherless families” and to earn some extra money to spend on the new fashions. Some women bought inexpensive ready-made clothing which were produced in factories rather than paying the higher price for clothing made by dressmakers.
To find out more aboout 1920's fashion, check out Men's Fashion!!
Cites
"Flapper Fashion 1920s C20th Fashion History" _Fashion-Era_. 4 Mar. 2009 <http://www.fashion-era.com/flapper_fashion_1920s.htm>.
Nolen, Carol. “LADIES FASHIONS OF THE 1920s.” The 1920’s. 4 Mar. 2009 < http://www.murrayontravel.com/carolnolan/fashionhistory_1920ladies.html>.
“1920’s Womens Fashions and the Changing Role of Women” Womens Fashions 1920’s. 4 Mar. 2009 < http://www.1920-30.com/fashion/>.
ODonnell, Liz. “1920’s Fashion.” WOMEN’S FASHION. 26 Feb. 2009 <http://womens-fashion.lovetoknow.com/1920's_Fashion>.
“1920s Women’s Fashion.” Just the Swing. 4 Feb. 2009 <http://www.just-the-swing.com/liv/dressing/womens-fashion/wf-1920s>.
Good Job! It is put together really well! im so glad we dont wear our hair like that anymore!!! lol :)
yea i really wouldnt wear any of that and i would never wear my hair like that but you did a good job!
Ha, again i would never ever wear that cap, and my hair like that.
It's not my style :)
good job though!
In the first sentence I think you meant to put changed and then the second sentence change? This is a fun topic, you did a good job doing it!
Who were some of the designers?.
Good page!
You included some very interesting and accurate information. It is funny that people saw it as the "hemlines rising", but these are long dresses to us today. I think you did a good job of incorporating all aspects of fashion from this era. Nice work! In terms of your writing you seem to have done a good job. I do not see a lot of grammatical errors or spelling errors for that matter!
Have you heard about the latest trend…men wearing skirts? What are your thoughts on that?
I love the pictures of the hats!
I am curious about the relationship between the women's liberation movement and the changes in women's fashions and hair styles. What specific ideas, beliefs, or events influenced the changes?
I'm also wondering if the women who adopted the "bob" look did their own hairstyling, or if there were beauty salons in those days. If there were, did many women have a beautician take care of their hair back then?