Fashion in the 1920’s Amanda and Emily

Fashion Overview Important fashion breakthroughs in the 1920’s are: The corset was discarded! For the first time in centuries, women’s legs were seen. A more masculine look was seen in women’s fashion. Three major fashion magazines were released -Vogue -The Queen -Harper’s Bazaar Baggy pants (for men) became popular. Jazz clothing came and went quickly. The tuxedo was growing in popularity. Tweed became a popular material. Waistlines dropped in women’s fashion.

The Flapper The definition of a flapper is a young woman who showed disdain for conventional fashion, especially in the 1920’s. The term makes literal reference to the un-strapped buckles of their shoes. Flappers were usually recognized by their bob haircuts, tight dresses, make up and rolled down pantyhose. They also drank and smoked, trying to reshape gender roles in the Roaring Twenties.

Women’s fashion Clara Bow In the 20’s the corset was discarded, legs were seen and the look became more masculine for women including flattened breasts and hips and shorter haircuts. Coco Chanel had a great influence on the fashion industry, using scarves and inexpensive jewelry to appeal to the everyday women. Face, figure, posture and grooming became important factors in women’s fashion. That’s when cosmetics became a major industry. Clara Bow

Women’s Fashion Waistlines were worn at the waist in the 20’s, but they were loose and not fitted. They wore suits with long hemlines and somewhat full skirts. They wore belts at the waist of their jackets. Their dresses were even worn baggy. In 1923 waistlines got lower, between the waist and hips but continued in their baggy style. In 1924 the waistline dropped to the hip. Vogue 1924

Men’s fashion (daytime attire) In the 1920’s the sacque suit, which was popular in the mid 1800’s, constituted appropriate day dress. Men wore colored shirts with the suits, the common colors were putty, peach, blue-grey, and cedar. They also wore shaped silk ties in small geometric patterns or diagonal stripes. For a hat they would wear a black bowler. For men’s footwear, casual attire demanded two tone shoes, colored white and tan or white and black. Although lace up style shoes were most in demand often seen were fringed tongues on Oxfords.

Men’s fashion (evening wear) Appropriate formal evening wear was considered to be a tail coat and a top hat. Accompanying the tail coat should be a starched white shirt with pleated yokes, but bow-ties and shirts with white wing collars were also seen. Tuxedos were increasingly popular but they weren’t fully acceptable yet. For shoes in this time, black patent-leather shoes were popular.

Some interesting fashion! Seen in the photo to the left were the very popular KNICKERBOCKERS, later shortened to the term knickers. They were considered casual for the ‘well dressed gentlemen’. The variations were plus-fours, plus-sixes, plus-eights and plus-tens. The plus indicated how many inches below the knee the knickers went. Men were to wear shoes or boots with the knickers.

References http://www.geocities.com/flapper_culture/ http://www.murrayontravel.com/carolnolan/fashionhistory_1920mens.html http://www.murrayontravel.com/carolnolan/fashionhistory_1920ladies.html http://www.costumes.org/history/18thcent/general/mcclellan/fig217-220.jpg http://www.answers.com/topic/flapper