1920s Write the main idea of each slide.. 1920s fashion was the perfect blend between style and function. Even 90 years after The Roaring Twenties.

Fashion1920s

Write the main idea of each slide.

1920s fashion was the perfect blend between style and function.

Even 90 years after The Roaring Twenties ended, almost everyone still recognizes the style:Cloche Hats

Flapper Dresses Famous Fashion Designers Elegant Art Deco Inspired Evening Wear High Heeled Shoes Simple Costume & More Complex Jewelry Men's Fashion (suits and sportswear) Art Deco Fashion

Overview

Fashion is shaped and influenced by the society and events which surround it. The fashions of any given period provides a major clue to the society from which it arose.

1920s fashion is still famous because it was a huge shift from the previous era.

Customs, technology, manufacturing were all rocketed into the 20th century.

Society was speeding up, airplanes were taking people across the country in a matter of hours rather than a matter of weeks, automobiles could travel between several states in an evening.

1920s fashion reflects society's rapid movement and change.

No longer were women willing to trade their mobility for the old stodgy customs of the Victorian era. Old-fashioned devices like the corset and the crinoline no longer served a purpose for young women who wanted to dance, go to work, hop into cars, and walk around town.

The world changed rapidly after World War 1

Victorian Era ClothesCorset and Crinoline

A close-fitting undergarment, often reinforced by stays, worn to support and shape the waistline, hips, and breasts.

1. a stiff, coarse fabric, often of cotton, used as interlining or for support in garments, hats, etc. 2. a petticoat of crinoline or other stiff material worn to bell out an overskirt.

In the United States women won the right to vote in 1920. And in the same year Congress said it was illegal to sell alcohol.

This social change gave rise to some of the most famous, fashionable and dangerous people of the decade, the gangsters, bootleggers, and notorious characters who owned the nightclubs and speakeasies.

Nightclubs became the venues for men and women to get dressed up, take their car, and go out drinking and listen to the new sounds of Jazz music. This nightlife scene has never really gone away.

The Influence of Suffrage & Prohibition

Social Change

Suffragettes Anti-Prohibition March

When World War One ended in 1918, society had never seen so much bloodshed on such a wide scale. The "Flaming Youth" as they became known, felt they needed to live their lives now, because the future they said, wasn't guaranteed.

Quotes like this from Lois Long became the rallying cry among young people in the 20's:

"Tomorrow we may die, so let's get drunk and make love." Sound familiar?

The Flaming Youth

For the past few centuries, men had worn some variation on three-piece suits. Edwardian upper-class men in particular had been very formal, changing clothes several times a day as propriety dictated. The war changed attitudes and did much to level the classes, which reflected in fashion.

Younger men, in a switch from wearing the clothes of their elders, adopted a look all their own with baggy plus fours and wide-legged trousers. Suits were simpler, with just slim, unpadded jackets over the trousers, and fabrics and colors were lighter and brighter than anyone had seen in years, reflecting the brightness of the music, theatre and good times.

Men’s Fashion Changed Too

Flappers were northern, urban, single, young, middle-class women. Many held steady jobs in the changing American economy. The clerking jobs were more numerous than ever. Increasing phone usage required more and more operators. The consumer-oriented economy of the 1920s saw a rapidly increasing number of department stores. Women were needed on the sales floor to relate to the most precious customers — other women. But the flapper was not all work and no play.

The Flappers

By night, flappers engaged in the active city nightlife. They frequented jazz clubs and vaudeville shows. Speakeasies were a common destination, as the new woman of the twenties adopted the same carefree attitude toward prohibition as her male counterpart. Ironically, more young women consumed alcohol in the decade it was illegal than ever before. Smoking, another activity previously reserved for men, became popular among flappers. With the political field leveled by the Nineteenth Amendment, women sought to eliminate social double standards.

Click here to see a flapper in action!