In the 1920’s, a new woman and following a new era was born. Women were no longer scared to express themselves or to act different. They smoked, drank, and voted. They cut their hair, they’d get all dolled up and do their makeup, and they went to parties. They took risks. They did things that other women would never think of doing before. These fashionable young women during the 1920’s were known as flappers. The term “flappers” originated from Great Britain. These women were on diets to get the right shape of their body for their outfits they would wear when they went out places. Flappers became the image that represented the tremendous change in women’s lives during that time period. When America became a part of the flapper trends it spreaded like crazy. Many were getting sick and tired of not being treated fairly like the rest of the people and they wanted thing to change that.
Flappers wore controversial attire that correlated with their equally controversial ideology. In “Women’s Fashion”, another section of “American Decades”, Tompkins references the styles of Flappers in the 1920s, specifically how their clothing was a result of changing values. Tompkins states “Women's fashions in the 1920s reflected radical changes affecting many areas of post-World War I American society.” Flapper attire included knee length dresses that were very loosely hung, short “Bobbed” haircuts, and heavy cosmetics, something that was traditionally strictly for prostitutes. A famous role model and reference to these styles is Clara Bow. During the age of flappers, Bow was envied for having “it.” Flappers rejected tradition styles, and swapped their corsets for more revealing, breathable, and evocative clothing. Though some critics of this type of attire accused flappers of being scandalous and immoral, others saw the practicality and liberation of flapper apparel. Their clothing was a staple of the broad-minded decade, and the development of women’s social
As women’s role in society changed, the fashion trends for women also changed. Due to a dye shortage and fabric shortages during the war, a new utilitarian drabness in dress began to trend. The most noticeable change engendered by war was the relaxation of the formal rules of attire. The women’s hemlines began to shorten, and their ankles began to show; women began to wear sexy heeled shoes and flesh toned silk stocking rather than their previous high button boots.
Beginning with the stock market crash of 1929, the Great Depression took the country by storm. Suddenly, many people were out of jobs and unemployment skyrocketed. Wages were majorly reduced which affected home living situations causing overall devastation. This economic downfall caused chaos and a change in society as people were struggling more than ever to maintain their previous lifestyle. Money was tight so fashion became less extravagant and exotic and resources were no longer in excess, in stark contrast to the roar of the 1920’s. This time of crisis and despair was a major obstacle that stunted the blazing trail that women were pursuing towards more freedoms and means of self-expression. Jazz no longer rang through the streets and flashy dresses with bold jewelry failed to ordain the dance halls. Recession fashion was an instant mood change. The flapper flair rapidly disappeared and a more simplistic and subdued trend emerged. This new fashion was very congruent among societal classes and age groups. Depression era clothing was plain and old. No one could afford to buy new clothing, so they were left with what they had currently owned. Clothing look was unimportant as women only desired clothing for ease of wear, thus eliminating the styling and presentation aspect of fashion. Patterns were no longer important. Women typically wore comfortable pants and tops rather than fancy
Their clothes were considered “scandalous” with the short dresses and the fringe. “Hats, shoes, stockings, handbags, dresses and jewelry all came together in perfect harmony to create a unique and elegant style that can only be appreciated when seen in real-life or in color illustrations” written in the 1920-30.com’s The 1920’s women's fashion: free from corsets. The style was known as “Flapper” the dresses were short and straight, they didn’t show off the curves of a women the were flat. The dresses were knee lengthed and covered in fringe that swayed when the wearer of the dress would swing dance at a party. The dresses were considered ¨flashy¨ from all the glitz and glam of the dresses and the makeup that created the ¨Flapper” look The hair was styled in a short ear length bob. And the women began to wear makeup, usually only movie stars and whores wore makeup in these times that’s why it was considered “scandalous” and “rebellious” to be scene with makeup. The makeup would usually be heavy dark eyes, and dark lips. The jewelry would be long pearl necklaces and long elbow length gloves and lots of rings to show off
In the 1920s fashion was a movement of freedom with flappers, bobbed hairstyles and using art as a fashion statement. “Fashion should be stylish and fun,” (Twiggy).
The fashion of the 1920 s is a reflection of peoples extravagant lifestyles and elevated thinking. It was an exciting time to be a woman because more freedoms and opportunities were available, not to mention woman gaining the right to vote . There were new patterns of clothing, bras,and smaller corsets not to mention that most of the clothing was made by the woman themselves. Through the years woman have stayed at home and not had much involvement in the society. It wasn 't until the 1920s
The 1920’s was an amazing decade in american history. Life was great and the economy was booming. It didn’t seem that anything could ruin life at this point, but for men things were about to change and for most that was not good. Women were trying to change their role in society from just being in the house, taking care of children, and pleasing their husbands. They did this by cutting their hair short and wearing loose fitting dresses. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, changing gender roles are shown through the female characters and how they act towards and get treated by men.
The 1920’s consisted of a lot of things. Such as the 18th amendment, 19th amendment, and self expression. The 18th amendment was the ban of alcohol, known as prohibition. The 19th amendment involved women’s suffrage. Where women did not have the right to vote, or do just about anything for that matter. The 1920’s was an interesting, yet powerful era to live through.
After World War I, women’s fashion took a turn and prospered into an exciting and
With World War I coming to an end in late 1918, the country was focused on having a good time. Because of this, fashion went from tight and constricting clothing to unfitted clothing. Dresses became looser, with hemlines rising to knee length (Pendergast et al. 715). Dancing was also a large influence on fashion. Tassels, fringes, floaty layers and feathers became part of the dresses, to draw attention to the movements of the dances, and the shiny fabrics emphasised the dancers (Thorton). Much later in the decade, the stock market crashed, leading into the Great Depression. Fashion then returned to what it had been before: tight clothing that accentuated curves, waistlines back to their normal height, and longer hair
As the 18th century was coming to a close, women 's fashion took on some changes. In art and architecture, many things from ancient Greece had become fashionable and this had an effect on fashion too. Skirts became narrower and waists became higher. Gowns had less lace, frills, and ruffles. Some fashions in the early 1800 's made women look much like statues of Greek goddesses!
During the 1920s women gained a freedom that they had not known before. Women were wearing new and shorter fashion styles (document 4). Before the 1920s women’s fashion included floor length dresses that were usually reworn every day. Wearing the same dress every day was seen as a normality during this time and owning too many dresses could have been considered frivolous. In the 1920s however many women owned multiple dresses that they did not have to wear every day or even week. The new fashions were called the flapper style and were worn above the knee and were adorned by beads and jewelry (document 4). The 1920s changed women's fashion for the better by allowing for more freedom in what they could wear. As for the flapper style, there was the idea that the modern woman was wearing this
“Flappers initiated in the 1920s, the term “flapper” described women who flamboyantly flouted their contempt for what was back then deemed as societal behavior that was conventional. Flappers were women who were characterized by their choice of bobbed hair, short skirts, and their enjoyment of jazz music”(Co). These women has made a huge impact on woman lives today with their styles alone.The style of the flappers were unique for its time period. These beautiful women was known for wearing skinny tight dresses. These skinny dresses showed off all their curves and made them look more attractive to men. Then they wore stylish bobs too for the same reason.All of these things was odd and questioned for this time period because it was new but the main question was how it started and it started because women was seeking more freedom.With all these questions there is one simple fact and that is
Part of the new style was the use of makeup. Wearing makeup before the 1920s was almost unheard of because the specific tools needed to apply makeup had not been invented yet. This made applying makeup very difficult to do, so many did not even bother with it. The movie scene was largely responsible for the uprising in makeup-wearing women. 1920s women wanted to look like the movie stars they grew to love. Popular women during this time were Joan Crawford, Mae Murray, and Clara Bow. Perhaps the most timeless woman of the time was Coco Chanel (Alchin). The style these movie stars expressed inspired the Flapper movement during the 1920s (Spivack). The momentum that the Flapper age brought was taking America by storm. No one in America had ever seen such a revolutionary change. The Flapper will forever be remembered as the women who changed the way women were