Presentation1

the decade was characterized by the rise of radical political

movements. Communism began attracting large numbers of

followers

.Communism began attracting large numbers of followers

Rise of radical political movements such as communism and fascism, amid the

economic and political turmoil after World War I and after the stock market

crash

Turkish War of Independence

Polish–Soviet War

Irish Civil War

Women's suffrage movement continues to make gains as women obtain full

voting rights

and in the United States in 1920; women begin to enter the workplace in

larger numbers.

T H E 1 9 2 0 S W A S T H E D E C A D E T H A T S T A R T E D O N J A N U A R Y 1 , 1 9 2 0 A N D E N D E D O N D E C E M B E R 3 1 ,

1 9 2 9 . I T I S S O M E T I M E S R E F E R R E D T O A S T H E R O A R I N G T W E N T I E S O R T H E J A Z Z A G E , W H E N

S P E A K I N G A B O U T T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S , C A N A D A O R T H E U N I T E D K I N G D O M . I N E U R O P E T H E D E C A D E I S

S O M E T I M E S R E F E R R E D T O A S T H E " G O L D E N T W E N T I E S " [ 1 ] B E C A U S E O F T H E E C O N O M I C B O O M

F O L L O W I N G W O R L D W A R I .

P R O H I B I T I O N O F A L C O H O L O C C U R S I N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S . P R O H I B I T I O N I N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S

B E G A N J A N U A R Y 1 6 , 1 9 1 9 , W I T H T H E R A T I F I C A T I O N O F T H E E I G H T E E N T H A M E N D M E N T T O T H E U . S

C O N S T I T U T I O N , E F F E C T I V E A S O F J A N U A R Y 1 7 , 1 9 2 0 , A N D I T C O N T I N U E D T H R O U G H O U T T H E 1 9 2 0 S .

ECONOMICS

Economic boom

ended by "Black Tuesday"

(October 29, 1929); the

stock market crashes,

leading to the Great

Depression. The market

actually began to drop on

Thursday October 24, 1929

and the fall continued until

the huge crash on Tuesday

October 29, 1929.

•W O R L D L E A D E R S

Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (Italy)

Emperor Hirohito (Japan)

Vladimir Lenin, 1920

Premier Vladimir Lenin (Russia) later (Soviet

Union)

Premier Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)

S C I E N C E

Albert Einstein

Sigmund Freud

Alexander Fleming

E N T E R T A I N M E N T

Charlie Chaplin

.

A RT S

Beginning of the Art Deco movement.

The Group of Seven (artists).

The Museum of Modern Art opens in Manhattan, November 7,

1929, nine days after the Wall Street Crash.

Pablo Picasso paints Three Musicians in 1921

Beginning of surrealist movement.

• Y O U T H C U L T U R E O F T H E L O S T G E N E R A T I O N ;

F L A P P E R S , T H E C H A R L E S T O N , A N D T H E B O B C U T H A I R C U T .

• F A D S S U C H A S M A R A T H O N D A N C I N G , M A H - J O N G , Y A H T Z E E , C R O S S W O R D P U Z Z L E S A N D P O L E - S I T T I N G A R E

P O P U L A R .

Miscellaneous trends

FASHION AND LOOKS

The top fashion trends of the 1920s influenced society in

many ways. For the first time a "look" was available to the

masses.

The Sexual Revolution of the 1920s

Fashion and beauty are inseparable from sex. Throughout

history, how people dress reflects how they are seen in

society.

The top fashion trends of the Victorian Age dressed

women in bodices, crinolines and corsets. Accentuating a

woman's breasts and ass while crushing the waist within a

frame of "masculine" control as Joshua Zietz writes in

Flapper. The corset, he continues, had a political

proscriptive function which determined how they were seen

and how they functioned in society. Obviously a woman

could not do much physically while wrapped beneath a

crinoline which lessened their ability to breath and

physically crushed their internal organs

trends were influenced by the rich, social "elite" who had

money to burn and lived close to the fashion centers of the

world. Urban centers like New York and Paris influenced

fashion, and fashion became the calling card of beauty,

"sophistication," and affluence. The "It" Girl of the 1920s

1920s fashion, in contrast, with the loose fitting waist lines,

short hemlines, and simple breathable fabrics, reflects an

easing up of the male domination of the female look.

It was at this point that women, en masse, began riding

bicycles, exercising, playing sports along with the other

behaviors women are known for in the 1920s.

S E X Y F L A P P E R I N R E T R O 1 9 2 0 S F A S H I O N

Luxury was in season.

As accessories, an animal's tail, head, and often paws were often used as decorative elements on these coats. I remember a coat of my grandmother's that was constructed entirely from the bodies of

about 30 minks, heads, tails, paws. . . the works. It was both appalling and intriguing. In the 1920s this look went out of fashion quickly, thankfully.

Short Hemlines

Another calling card of the top fashion styles of the 1920s were the rising hemlines of a woman's dress that progressively got shorter and shorter as the decade went on. Finally reaching just above the

knee in 1925 and staying there.

Coco Chanel

It would be hard to talk about the top fashions of the 1920s without mentioning Coco Chanel. As we've covered, she made a name for herself selling clothes for women that blurred the line between the

"look" or "style" of man and woman.

The flapper fashions that were heavily influenced by Chanel's early designs set the stage for the entire flapper movement in America and worldwide.

It was a time of conservatism, it was a time of great social change. From the world of

fashion to the world to politics, forces clashed to produce the most explosive decade

of the century.

In music, the three sounds were jazz, jazz, and jazz. The Jazz Age came about with

artist like Bessie Smith and Duke Ellington. Youth ruled everything. From the young

styles of dress to the latest celebrities. If it was young, it was the thing.

I T W A S T H E A G E O F P R O H I B I T I O N , I T W A S T H E A G E O F P R O S P E R I T Y , A N D I T W A S T H E A G E O F D O W N F A L L . I T W A S

T H E A G E O F E V E R Y T H I N G , A N D Y O U ' L L F I N D [ A L M O S T ] E V E R Y T H I N G H E R E .

THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON 1920S

LIFE

Automobile

It brought America together, and in some ways tore it apart. Since the invention of the autotmobile, every aspect of American life would

never be the same.

Radio

In the age without television, radio was the center of entertainment. Look at the little device that provided entertainment to the entire

generation

Airplane

Fresh out of World War I, the airplane took the United States by storm.

MEN S FASHION Suits

While Americans were worshiping youthful sports heroes, the general dress of Americans was becoming more youthful looking. Men were abanding the hefty-looking,

broad-shouldered suits for skinnier, unpadded, more boyish looking jackets.

Suit pants also underwent a major change. Creases appeared on the front and the sides while cuffs replaced flat hems. Pants were fastened by buttons or hooks. Belts

also started to replace the suspender as the device used to hold up pants.

FORMAL DRESS

Formal Dress

As with all the female fashion during the 1920s, the evening dress progressed to display more of

the body. While the skirts were still full length, the neckline in the speakeasy and the European

nightclub became low-cut. Backless dresses also remained popular throughout the twenties.

An important part of the evening gown during the twenties was the beading. The long straps of

the backless dresses (if not the entire dress) featured beaded chiffon fabrics.

ACCESSORIES

The cloche hat (deriving its name from the French word for "bell") became a necessity for daytime wear. The

small hat fit snuggly over short hair and almost reached to the eyebrows. It was often decorated with a pin in the

front or a ribbon.

The rest the world of accessories seemed like a collage from history. A craze for the styles of the World War I

aviators took over the flapper world as girls donned leather helmets, colored scarfs, goggles, and leather jackets.

Shoes and jewlery often reflected a craze of the court of King Tutankhamen, whose tomb was excavated in 1922.

Earings, bracelets, and necklaces often were an example of the presence of the Art Deco, Cubtist, and African art

movements.

THE TUBE

The young flappers of the twenties felt no need to conform to the rigid models of

feminity that their mothers accepted. During the 1920s, fashion for young

women focused less female physical form. Dresses stopped at the knees, the

hiplines were lowered, and there was less emphasis on the breasts. The look was

basically "tubular," going from the shoulders straight down to the hem.

THE COLLEGIATE STYLES

The worship of youth also brought about a following of the fashions

worn of college campuses. For some reason, American men adopted

extraordianry pants from Oxford University. These pants were baggy

SUITS

While Americans were worshiping youthful sports heroes, the general dress of

Americans was becoming more youthful looking. Men were abanding the hefty-looking,

broad-shouldered suits for skinnier, unpadded, more boyish looking jackets.

Suit pants also underwent a major change. Creases appeared on the front and the sides

while cuffs replaced flat hems. Pants were fastened by buttons or hooks. Belts also

started to replace the suspender as the device used to hold up pants.

YOUTH AND HEROES

Fashion fads for men were often based on the heroes of the moment, such as sports figures. Golfers Bobby

Jones and Wlater Hagen, tennis player Bill Tilden, and swimmer Johnny Weissmuller provided youth with

clothing styles as well as record-breaking performances. Football players such as Red Grange and the Four

Horsemen of Notre Dame promoted the fashions of coats, such as the raccoon coat and camel hair polo

coat. World famous aviator Charles Lindbergh inspired a craze of leather driving jackets. The young Prince

of Wales, with is easy charm and good taste in suits, also became a symbol of male fashionability.