Women's Fashions of the 1920's - Flappers and the Jazz Age
Women's Fashions of the 1920's - Less Tailoring
Women's fashions of the 1920's are a large part of the Jazz Age identity. New technology and the end of the horrors brought about by World War I and the 1918 Flu Pandemic gave rise to a youthful exuberance personified by the Flapper.
Contrary to popular misconception, the short skirts and bold make up of the flapper did not rule the fashion of the day. Fashion periods are usually distinguished by the female silhouette which presented a boyish figure with flattened breasts and loose clothing for most of the decade.
The drop waist shift dresses of the 1920's relieved women of the last vestiges of Edwardian formality. Less tailoring, as well as the availability of the sewing machine meant that women could easily make fashionable clothing at home so that high fashion was no longer restricted to the elite.
Women felt empowered when they won the right to vote (1920 in the US, 1928 for 21 year old women in Britain). The widespread use of the automobile, radio, and increased educational opportunities encouraged young women to cut off their hair and kick up their heels.
1920's Hankerchief Hemline
1920 Ladies on the Beach
1920's Flapper With Rolled Stockings
The New Culture of the 1920's
During World War I, young women worked outside the home more than they had in the past. They drove cars and disregarded tradition. Gender specific clothing began to fall by the wayside after women worked in munitions factories during the Great War.
A kind of cynicism that came in the aftermath of the Great War and the devastating flu pandemic created a youth culture that glorified in fast living, dancing, and the exciting sounds of syncopated jazz, described by the writer, F. Scott Fitzgerald, as the Lost Generation.
The youth drank in carefree disregard of Prohibition (which outlawed the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcohol but not its consumption) and lost respect for authority and traditional morals. Young women smoked cigarettes and danced the Charleston and Blackbottom, typified by fast, jerky movements. Short skirts allowed greater freedom to dance; and plunging necklines, and low backs put more of the female body on display than ever before.
Flappers incorporated an unusual use of clothing into the wild new style. Flappers rolled stockings below the knee, and wore unhooked rubber galoshes that flapped when they walked.
Fashion icons of the 1920's like Joan Crawford, Anita Page, and Clara Bow presented glamorous images of party girls, hoydens who flouted tradition and shocked their elders by cutting their hair into a bob as well as wearing bold, obvious make-up.
1920's Fashion - Hemlines Not Always Short
1920's Fashion - Short Skirt & Cloche Hat
Fashions of the 1920's - Hemlines
Not all women wore the short skirts or flippant styles of the flappers.
Skirt hemlines began to rise in 1913 when skirts stopped just above the ankles. By 1818, hemlines had risen to just below calf length and for the next several years showed variations of a few inches one way or another.
In the early 1920's, uneven hemlines gave the appearance of shortening when uneven, scalloped, and handkerchief hems became fashionable. 1925 saw the dramatic rise of skirt hems into the Flapper style that has come to typify women's clothing of the Roaring Twenties, but was a relatively short lasting phenomena.The short skirts of the Flapper was generally worn by younger women while older women wore longer skirts.
By 1929, asymmetrical skirt hems brought hemlines back down. But fashions brief flirtation with short hemlines gave us the image of the modern woman, a style that continued (more or less) throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century.
Women's Underwear of the 1920's
Rejection of the stiff tailoring of earlier styles made corset sales plummet. A new, elasticised corset replaced the old, stiff, restricted whale bone corsets of the past.
Young women flattened their breasts with fabric bands to enhance a slim, boyish figure.
As hems rose, the legs were suddenly ( and shockingly) on display. Silk and rayon stockings hooked onto the long 'girdles' with snap on garters. Stocking came in shades of skin or sun tan, colors that gave the appearance of bare legs. Flappers rolled their stockings to just below the knee for ease of movement while dancing.
1920's Fashion - Joan Crawford in Hostess Pants
1920's Fashion - Beautiful Beaded Dress With Ancient Egyptian Detailing
Fashion Designers of the 1920's
Gabrielle Coco Chanel entered the fashion world in the 1920's with her loose shift dresses, blouses, and evening coats in dark and natural shades. Long, belted blouses, and Russian peasant style embroidery simplified the look of women's clothing. In 1926, Coco Chanel claimed to have introduced introduced the Little Black Dress, a fashion staple that has endured for 85 years.
- Coco Chanel's jewelry workshop introduced the long chain necklaces and multiple stands of faux pearls associated with the flapper look.
- A new, masculine look offered loose, sailor style trousers for women to wear at home and at the beach. These 'beach pajamas' were an early form of a pants suit.
- Art Deco played a prominent role in the fashion trends of the 1920's with geometric shapes based on natural lines.
- The discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922 set off an instant craze for all things Egyptian. Clothing styles and embellishments reflected designs and patterns of ancient Egypt.
- The designer Jean Patau designed romantic fashions embellished with fine lace, embroidery, and a lavish use of beading. Along with Coco Chanel, Patous' garconne look created a tubular silhouette that de-emphasized the feminine figure by flattening the breasts, narrowing hips, and ignoring the waist.
- In 1922, Jean Patou became the first designer to embroider his initials onto the fabric of his sportswear designs, a concept that is still popular today.
1920's Cloche Hat, Fur Collar
1920's Fashion - Zelda Fitzgerald with Bob
1920's Hair and Hats
Modern concepts of hygiene encouraged women toward more frequent hair washing. Emancipation from traditional gender styles encouraged women to cut thier long hair and fee them from the complicated hair styles of Edwardian times.
The bob appeared in the US shortly before World War I but really took hold in the 1920's, infuriating the older generation and igniting controversy about gender and appearance with the new androgynous look.
Women with bobs needed more frewquent hair cuts, and permenant waves, ushering in an explosion of beauty parlors that offered dye jobs, and perms, and well as the fashionable new hair cut.
Cloche hats were all the rage; narrow, close fitting, bell shaped hats that often featured feathers, bows, beads, or artificial flowers.
Flappers held hair out of their eyes while dancing with headbands decorated with embroidery, beads, or a feather.
1920's Fashion - Fabrics
- Natural fabrics like wool and cotton were still worn, but technology and mass production manufactured synthetics like rayon, introduced in 1910 as a faux silk.
- Knits became popular for day, sportswear, and evening wear, offering comfort, and stretchability for the increased interest in spots, fitness, and dance.
- Patterns based on the look of Ancient Egypt, and Art Deco gave an exotic, geometric look to clothing styles.
- Fair Isle weave patterns, tweeds, and strips were popular for day wear.
- New technology introduced easier garment closures with zippers and metal snaps.
1920's Fashion - Note Shoes
Coats and Shoes of the 1920's
Coats were generally calf length with the wrapper style predominating. The wrap coat was fastened with a large button or tab and buckle and featured a shawl style collar often trimmed in fur. In addition to the familiar furs, coats and collars were sometimes trimmed in monkey fur.
Shoes were generally high heels just over two inches. The mass production of shoes in the early part of the 20th century offered the availability of affordable shoes and encouraged young women to by more shoes. Mary Janes and T strap styles with a medium slightly curved high heel were the dominant shoe of the day.
Women also wore tied Oxford type shoes with a short, stack heel for day wear.
1925 Skiers in Trousers
1920's Girls With Bobs and Radio
1922 Dress & Apron
1920 Evening Dress - Lavin
1920's Girl in Striped Dress
1920's Bride
1920's Fashion - Cloche Hat, Bobbed Hair, and Shift Style Dress
1920's Fashion - Flapper With Flask
Fashions of the 1920's
How to Do the Charleston
1920's Fashion - A Wonderful Compilation of Photos, Music, and Videos
All images thanks to wikimedia commons and are in the Public Domain.
Books consulted:
The Jazz Age - The 20's - Our American Century; Time Life
1920's America's Decades; edited by John F. Wukovits; Greenhaven Press
American Decades 1920 - 1929; edited by Judith S. Baughman; Manly, Inc.
Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion; edited by Valerie Steele; Scribner Library
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Comments
A great hub on one of my favorite eras. I love that you included the clips! Really good stuff.
Lady Gag Gag - ha ha - Loved the doing the Charleston video. Another wonderful Hub by one of my favorite Hubbers.
Nice to know this Dolores, good one. The shoes in the 1920s are the same types of shoes I wore when I was in high school, closed. We have a uniform then, Beautiful..Maita
drbj - when I was young, I had an old aunt who wore her stockings rolled at the knee. It seemed like such a dowdy look. But they said, in her youth, my aunt had been a wild one, a flapper. Times change! Thank you! (But I love Lady GaGa!)
Gigi - I just had to include the Marx Brothers video. It's always been one of my favorite movies and the monkey fur is really over the top. The Colobus monkey population was devastated by that style. Thank you!
Suzie - thank you so kindly! I wish I'd seen that Charleston video with the Charleston lesson last week. I went to a wedding and was doing the Charleston with a woman. But without lessons!
prettydarkhorse - Hi, Maita! It seems to me that you could wear those same shoes today and look just fine. And I loved finding that the origin of the 'little black dress' was conceived in the 1920's. Thank you!
I love wedding photos from the 20's - bobbed hair and short dresses - so modern! Great post as always.
Your hub makes me want to be back there in the twenties with all that fashion - it's so unique and different. Great hub. Thanks for the dreaming.
Jane - boy, things sure changed fast in the 20's. The old folks must have been going nuts. And our parents thought the 60's were wild!
chs - I would not want to be back in the 20's because they were followed by the 30's and the Great Depression. Not fun. But the styles were so cute and I do love the hair!
Great article....really enjoyed all the pictures and the videos....Joan Crawford looks so different in the picture you have posted....thanks for posting
Cogerson - the reason Joan Crawford looks so 'different' in the picture is that she was different. She was young! I look quite different too than I did 40 years ago, but at least I am alive. (She is dead isn't she? A marvelous actress) Thank you!
Hi, this was lovely, the women were so elegant in those days, and to be shocked by a rising hemline! fantastic! I believe these days we have lost the glamour and ladylike ways, this was great, and the pictures were wonderful, rated up! loved it! cheers nell
This was a very nice way to enjoy my Hub Morning Read. I never did get around to any others this morning - I enjoyed the vids! I'll have to make it up later.
Great work Dolores. Well researched, well written, well put together and very interesting hub.
Nell - well sure, the fashionable ladies were elegant, but the regular women not so much. I like the longer styles of the 1920's, more lady like. But it was an interesting fashion period. Thanks!
Duchess - thank you! Glad you liked the videos. I do have a problem with youtube. I get so enraptured by the search and spend way too much time there!
I absolutely adore the 20's fashion looks. And you're spot on that 20's wasn't just about the flappers. I wish hats and gloves would make a comeback. Rated up!
I've always loved the shoes! The dresses are gorgeous too but then I'd have been more of a trouser gal I have no doubt. The hats were kinda cool too and I think I could have gotten up to snuff with those!
Great piece and LOVE the apron style! That would be so cool for cooking!
yena - I think that the hats came back several times. And dresses were never the same again. The influence of 20's fashion is still strong today. It totally changed the image of what women should wear. Thanks!
akirchner - Hi, Audrey! I could never wear those hats - they'd squash down the hair and give you a helmet head! haha. And the aprons - if I didn't know better, I would have thought they were WWI era outfits. I bet you could find a pattern online. I really love the look of the twenties. Thank you!
Delores, thanks for another fascinating time period piece about fashion. It's funny how fashion seems to make a full circle, hankerchief hems made a comeback in recent years. I guess what they say is true: 'If you save it long enough it will come back into fashion.'
KoffeeKlatch Gals - oh yes. I love the handkerchief hems, they are so feminine and pretty and look great with boots. Thanks!
I enjoyed this masterful Hub. The bridal gown is gorgeous. All of these fashions are pretty cool. Thank you for this pleasure.
Hi, James - glad you enjoyed it!
Dolores Monet, Very Nice! This is a tastefully done well presented style gallery. The fashions are wonderful and classy! Thank you for sharing, Peace & Blessings!
DeBorrah - thank you so kindly! Peace and blessings to you as well!
We've come a long way, baby! Wow, the flapper look is not for me and some of today's "too much skin" look is not either. You have great pics and info here!
flappers where the coolest women ever! i so wish i could have lived in those days!
I LOVE the '20s! fun read! thanks for sharing :)
Women of the 20's were very feminine and elegant. Enjoyed all the photos. Thank you for the great hub.
Awesome hub. I'm not sure if I like the flapper but I adore cloche hats! Thanks so much for sharing this. It was a fun read. :)
Oh I just loooove the 20’s. One of my favorite years in the world of fashion (next to the completely contradicting Victorian age. lol) I notice that when I'm designing, a lot of my evening dresses are flapper style, completely unintentionally! lol
Thank you for posting this. I love reading little things like this! ^^
WoW, what an antique information.
Nice article. Really enjoyed it while reading. Keep going.........
jseven - haha! Fortunately, the Flapper look was over by 1928! They were a wild bunch and showed a lot of skin, considering. Thanks!
mikantsumi - thanks! My great aunt was supposedly a Flapper, a wild young thing for a time. But the rolled stockings on a 65 year old women did look kind of funny. (She was the best aunt ever!)
darkeyed - thank you for stopping in and commenting!
Maria Harris - although the Flapper image is a bit over the top, they sure made for interesting fashion. I do like the longer hemline that most women wore. Thank you!
Om Paramapoonya - I do too, but they sure must have squashed the hair. I do like the permed bob hair, though. Thanks!
Kylo88 - but I can see why someone would love both - many Victorian styles were quite dramatic, and prone to excess. What could be more excessive than hoop skirts and bustles? Thank you!
JohnBarret - haha, thank you!
taxinfo - glad you enjoyed!
Funny, but I really like their shoes. :)
Very awesome hub, comprehensive and very informative, eh. Voted this up and awesome. :)
I always dreamed of wearing that cloche hat and fur collar LOL!! I think it is so cute, loving this hub of yours
You hub is quite informative and I am hopping to read another hubs of different topics from you.
Cathryn - out shopping last week, looking at the new shoes in a better store, I saw tons of very vintage looking shoes reminding me of the 20's, 30's and 40's. The shoes seemed to encompass the whole 20th century in shoe fashion! Thank you!
Juliet Morgan - you can probably find a cloche hat - I don't think they ever really disappeared. I don't know about the fur collar. I remember the fur collars that still had the animal heads attached! Yuk!
jennifercriston - thank you! I've got quite a few on fashion history, a currently favorite topic of mine.
Nice Hub. (I love a lot of those clothes.) My mother had a sister who was ten years older than she was. My mother always said how she looked up to her older sister, admired all all the clothes her sister got to wear in the 20's, and couldn't wait to grow up and get to dress the way her pretty sister did. Then my mother would always say, "..but then, by the time I got there, it was the 30's and 40's, and all the clothes had gotten to be long and drab and ugly." (I guess as a young kid she didn't know to factor in changes in fashion trends.)
Lisa - it's funny how the stuff we love as a child stays with us. While writing these fashion hubs, I realize that my own favorite period is the WWI era, a fashion era that most folks really don't like, an almost forgotten fashion period. But, I have a pile of photos of my grandmother and great aunt in the styles of that time. I thought they were so beautiful, and the look just stuck with me.
Maybe your mother just loved the glittery glamor of the Jazz Age. Of course, most of us don't ever really wear the high fashion of the day. Thank you!
ahhh, the roaring twenties. love that time period...especially love the hair and the attitude of the ladies! when i think of the 1920s, an image of beautiful ladies with short wavy hair and beaded dresses, dancing in a speak-easy pops into my mind. thanks for this wonderful hub...wonderful writing and beautiful pictures, as always. :)
kittythedreamer - hi, yes, it was an amazing time period and I love the music as well. Thank you!
Loved the hub! The pictures really make it! Thanks for sharing a classic time period. Rated up and awesome.
toknowinfo - thank you! Pictures really do help these fashion hubs and I enjoyed looking for them. Thanks!
A visual delight!!! I enjoyed this very much. You have this laid out beautifully and it is easy to understand. Keep up the great HUBS. Up one and Useful. Hey! I'm now your fan! RJ
Thank you, Reynold. I often search for info on the internet and can't find what I want. So, I head to the library and create an article that is what I want to see on here.
They say that the 1960's was the decade that provoked the most controvasy but I can imagine that these fashions being shocking to the older generation!
I really love your hub!
Mrs Cookie - I was just looking at a photograph showing 1920's bathing beauties. Most had bobbed hair, but some wore the old fashioned style with long, Mary Pickford curls. They looked like nerds. Some of the girls would have fit in perfectly today. One of them even had a kind of 'punk' look.
But after all the previous years of modesty, long dresses - these styles must have been shocking. However, the shift dresses were loose, and older fashions were so tight! Thanks!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge on Women's Fashions of the 1920's. Voted UP and rated USEFUL
speedbird - thank you very much.
i just love all your hubs, i just cant get enough i'm so into the victorian age and 1920's i was thinking about having a party where this would be my theme! Also the pictures in your hub remind me of the great gasby! the book and movie, i feel like everyone should watch! Anyways good hub
Ellarose - I love the idea of a period dress party, as long as you can find enough people to go along with it. I think you'd have to let them know the theme of the party way ahead of time. But it sure would be a lot of fun. Thank you!
I love the jewelry of the 1920s; the long lavaliers and the beaded dresses and headpieces.
These fashion Hubs of a series are really excellent. Voted up and across the board great.
deblipp - oh yes, the jewelry was beautiful and those headbands quite sassy. Thank you!
Patty Inglish - thank you very much. I am so enjoying creating the fashion history hubs!
I absolutely love flapper and 1920s fashion! So refreshing to see historic fashion driven so majorly by women and what women found comfortable and pleasing to the eye.
dingdon - so do I. And those shift style dresses looked comfortable. It must have been a great relief not to wear all that stiff tailored stuff. Thank you!
Reminds me of the flapper style swim wear and photos of my aunt in flapper clothing.
I found this article while looking for '20's styles for a dress I want to design for a costume history class. Found the information I was looking for as well as a bonus - the music and somehow poignant videos. Love it!
Christina - thank you - I appreciate your interest. Coming from a student of fashion, your comment means a lot.
nice hub! nice dresses!
Fantastic!
You've written a flawless hub; wonderful details of the roaring twenties all beautifully laid out--I voted it up and marked it awesome!
i wonder if someone would still have the guts to wear these clothes on public..nice hub, by the way..
thank you for bringing the classic it's amazing to see the photos.
Angelique - thank you so much. I so enjoy these fashion history hubs, but they do take time. I like to share how the events of the day, the economy, etc. influence the clothes that people wore.
Toby - oh I don't know - some of these outfits would work quite well. I bet you wouldn't look twice at the girl in the striped dress. She'd blend right in today! Thanks!
danise - hunting down the photos takes time, but is fascinating. Thanks!
Hey, these are great tips, but i hate to inform you many of these facts are incorrect. Many of the dresses you boasted were from the 1920's are in fact of origin not two decades earlier, and were cast aside only to be rediscovered later. Maybe you should get your facts right before you provoke innocent people like me into delving into the wrong HUB! Sam Birch Signing Out X
Sam - tips? No tips have been presented here. And while some of the fashions presented here originated a bit earlier, many fashions throughout history are repeated. For instance, Victorian hoop skirts are a famous style of the mid 19th century, yet hoop skirts (of a slightly different shape) were popular during Elizabethan times. Mid Victorian bodices repeat Elizabethan bodices as well.
If you visit a shoe store today, you will see peep-toe heels and wedgies that look a lot like shoes of the 1940's.
I have photographs of family member from the 1920's wearing similar styles (the longer hemlines as well as the shorter).
Have a nice day!
Sam - tips? No tips have been presented here. And while some of the fashions presented here originated a bit earlier, many fashions throughout history are repeated. For instance, Victorian hoop skirts are a famous style of the mid 19th century, yet hoop skirts (of a slightly different shape) were popular during Elizabethan times. Mid Victorian bodices repeat Elizabethan bodices as well.
If you visit a shoe store today, you will see peep-toe heels and wedgies that look a lot like shoes of the 1940's.
I have photographs of family member from the 1920's wearing similar styles (the longer hemlines as well as the shorter).
Have a nice day!
A great hub on 20`s era dresses.Here i found wonderful details of the roaring twenties all beautifully laid out.Thanks to share it here.
Great Hub! I love all the photos. My grandmother was a flapper in the l920's and I have some photos of her that look like yours. She was a hoot! Her town in PA had a Women's Smoking Club which she was invited to join in the 20's even though she didn't smoke. The club went into l990's and met once a week to "discuss relevant topics." They were the first in her town to wear women's pant suits in the l970's. What I loved about my grandmother was that she was always on the cutting edge of fashion and whatever else was going on at the time. She was a cool grandmother and I miss her very much. She passed away in l997, but was still "flapping strong" all the way to the end of her life.
susette - Thank you for commenting and sharing the story about your grandmother. She sounds like one interesting woman. It must have been wonderful to listen to her stories and hear about her life.
Dolores you know how to give fun history lessons. Thanks for all your hard work. Smile!
I love the clothes of the 1920's! I don't know if I could have kept up with it everyday, because there are days that I don't want to come out of my pj's, but for those big moments, or for days were you wake up and just feel like dressing up and looking good, to be able to pull out some of these dresses would have been wonderful. Thank you, for the Hub.
Carleton - thank you!
L Caverson - thank you. I think the clothing of the 20's looks quite comfortable, those loose dresses, etc. Maybe that's because I wrote about the uncomfortable years that went before, haha. I like the striped dress - that girl looks pretty modern.
Wonderful hub. Love the pictures too!
Fabulous photographs and informative article. I love this era and it's wonderful to learn a few things and see a few more photos I haven't seen before. Amazing how much of the fashion is right in front of us today!
Not to make a big flap...but excellent hub. What an interesting time to have lived. My grandmother still talks about the fashions, the dancing, and the parties. Take care
Nicolas
vitalesweets - Thank you - yes, it was an interesting time of great sweeping changes in the culture.
nikashi - haha, thank you! Your grandmother? She must be one long lived gal if she can remember those days. Hope you inherited her aging gene!
you hub is gorgeous! Style comes and goes and comes again.I enjoy reading your hub.
Funny, but I really like their shoes. :)
Very awesome hub, comprehensive and very informative, eh. Voted this up and awesome. :) www.vogueupdates.com
So funny how back then what was considered "racy" compared to now, where 99% nudity is what they call a fashion statement.
I really enjoyed reading this hub. It was way before my time and was nice to see pictures of where we beautiful women have come from. It's funny to see some of those styles implemented in some of the style choices of today's era. Great hub!
ixbag - thank you !
dhee - funny? well I like the shoes too. I think most of them would look just fine today! Thanks!
spoke - if you look at what came before, the style was very different and exposed a lot more flesh. Don't know about nudity being a fashion statement. Fashion is about clothing.
stayingalivemoma - some looks keep coming back!
Terrific Hub! Thanks for the information and pictures. I enjoyed reading and learning.
really love fashion...its just like a cycle. maybe some of these will be the next trend in the future. I like fashion in 20's. Lovely Joan Crawford in Hostess pants, simple but elegant!
radavis - thank you!
Sports - well the whole concept of sportswear really came into its own in the 20's. Women had a lot more opportunities to wear comfortable and useful clothing. Thanks!
This is a wonderful resource, thank you.
Oh my gosh, I so love this era! The fashions, everything is so beautiful! Wonderful hub, I love it!
Voted up and useful. Very interesting. Although I must say, I prefer modern fashion. However, it is always good to get some new inspiration from the past! Thanks a lot!
This was absolutely terrific. I have pictures of my mother and she looked just as 'chic' as some of these gals. I loved the Charleston.
If I could go back and live in any time period, it would be the 1920's.
Nice hub with great collection of photos! I love the striped dress! 20's style rocks!
Really informative information! I hopped through your other fashion hubs as well and found it interesting where the styles and trends came from and why. Pretty cool! You researched well and wrote very nicely. I enjoyed this!
Loved looking at all the photos and vids, wanna be able to Charleston! Great Hub :)
As a fashionista, this is such an interesting Hub. I really enjoyed this read and the historic information.
It's interesting to see the effects the world at the time had on the style of the time.
Thanks for this wonderful read :) I truly enjoyed it.
Pink - thanks!
bjorn - thank you so much!
jloe - oh, I love the old pix, have some of my own of the old girls. I have some from the 19teens that are just beautiful. Thanks!
safety - I think that about the 20's though look what came afterward and I would like to avoid that in my time travel. Thank you!
tatookitty - me too. I want that whole look. Thank you.
AM - I appreciate that. I did a lot of work on these. However, I did neglect quite a lot of historical stuff that I really should include.
Nature - had the opportunity to Charleston at a recent wedding. It wasn't pretty. But sure was fun! Thank you ad Happy Charlestoning!
Pr0phet - thank you. When looking at fashion as history, one must include a bit of actual history. Fashion can so inform us about the social behavior and mores of the time.
Love this hub! What an amazing amount of research this entails. Thank you for a fantastic hub!
Incredible Hub! Loved the pictures , videos and fabulous informative article. Thank you for the entertaining and Great Read! :)
Fashionista - thank you! It did but was a lot of fun.
Peanut Butter - thank you! Glad you enjoyed.
I always found this style to be very interesting for women. Tons of information here and I will pass along to the few 20s enthusiasts I know.
Awesome. Love the 1920 fashions and the lovely women in the photos and videos. Useful and beautiful.
This is great! I love reading about this time in history! =)
it is so fascinating to watch fashion trends...fashion really is cyclic ....kind of like inventing the wheel..how many ways can you do it...so you will see the fashions cycle around in some form, at some point...i loved this as my mother was a young woman during this time and looking at those images reminded me of her...
and yes, a sad time followed ...with the depression...my eldest sister told me that they ate beets one whole winter...reading this reminds me of lucky i am....we are..actually..thank u again for sharing...
Fantastic hub, I lost all this glamor when an aunt died that shown me how to do the Charleston. She had pictures of so much interest of those days. I fell in love with the jewelry, the clothes, the jazz. I still love it to this day and I so copy the clothes and jewelry by making them myself.
Great and interesting hub. After reading your hub my belief has become more stronger that history repeats itself
I am really enjoying the content on this lens! My favorites from the era are the jazz, the dancing, the jewelry, and the hats! I adore the hats. I found a darling crochet hat with a big flower on it that is inspired by the hats of this period.
mcasswrites - it's so cool how really cool fashion trends keep coming back. Those cloche hats are so cute and you do see them a lot. Shoes also keep repeating themselves. Thanks!
hi Ms. Dolores, just read this awesome article really interesting. i am a 60's baby but i can see fashion is just going round in circles. a bit of retouch and remake and you're in again. there's no such thing as old fashioned these days anything can do, just carry it with pride no matter how odd you look. thanks for the nice infos
Lenny - glad you enjoyed. I feel like today's fashions recall many styles of the past. Looking at pictures of fashion week, I noticed some distinctly Edwardian influences recalling the lampshade or tunic outfits of Paul Poirot. Course that's another decade. Thanks.
this really is awesome information, really worth my time. Good effort. Your way of narration is out of this world…really interesting! There's no doubt that you have invested a great deal of time in finding such intricate details. I am totally stunned…you left me speechless!!!
It is nice to take a look back in time, thank you Delores. I really got a huge kick out of the skiers. You did an excellent job of really capturing the spirit and fashion of that time period. Now I will have to check out your other hubs of other time periods.
This is such a great era to talk about, many of the fashions and hair styles are coming back into today's society. Good job :)
Though not always true in fashion, what comes around, goes around. Maybe we will see flapper style re-invented in the modern age.
declatte - thank you very much!
adrianne - I like the skiers too. They look so ready to have a good time and so comfortable in pants, a look that was not available to women not long before. The 1920's really freed up women's fashions.
Koralee - I love the bob haircut. It must have felt so good to chop off all that long hair. Though long hair is beautiful, I think the bob must have worked well in those hot summers without air conditioning. Thank you!
doodlebug - the drop waistline does keep coming back, as do the hats, and the bob haircut. Thanks!
nice hubs.. looking at the photos above made me realize that fashion styles are simply recurring. what is hot/trendy today is also trendy 2 or 3 years ago..
Absolutely beautiful and interesting. If I had my life to live over again I would have chosen the 20's to 40's as the stories that have been told to me by my grand parents and now mum in law who is 94, take me back to those early films we watch. Where men are gentlemen and the ladies are just that. Ladies of Elegance. I think the 20's fashion like so many other era's is still with us and surfaces it's sweet head from time to time. Thank you for writing this hub it was a pleasure reading it. Peter
I've always loved the 1920's style of dressing, very trendy and stylish. Much better than the 30's and 40's in my opinion.
nanette - that's why we should never ever get rid of clothes. If I had my grandmother's clothing - oh never mind, it would all be too short, haha.
peter - well if it was only about the clothing and everything looked like old movies, yes. But I don't think I'd want to live through the Great Depression and World War II. The style ain't worth the suffering of those times. Thank you, though. I know what you mean.
Karen N - the styles of the 20's were so interesting and attractive. But I love it all. Of course the clothes of the 40's were plainer due to war restrictions, but they were so classy. And the stuff you see in movies of the 1930's is so elegant; I love the cut of the 30's. Thank you!
I really enjoy reading this Dolores, great hub
Reading this made me want to watch Singing in the Rain again... The 20s were such an interesting decade!
This hub is fantastic! Thank you for posting.
Such a fashionable era,great hub voted up.
Beautifully written! I would love to actually wear some of these clothes today even if people gave me some strange looks! I love Zelda Fitzgerald's hair!
loren murcia - thank you!
amaranthmercy - yes, it certainly was in so many ways. Thank you!
prettynutjob - clothing sure changed a lot in the 1920's. There were so many new looks and the short hemline must have totally shocked the elder generation. Thank you!
melbel - Zelda Fitzgerald was a fascinating woman, icon of the 20's, and a muse for her husband. Such a shame that she had so many problems. But she did have cool hair. Thank you.
What a beautiful mosaic of pictures. Times have sure changed but it isn't necessarily for the worse at many people think. Different is just different. Voted up. ;)
kxdorey - thank you! Big changes are often met with complaints. The older generation is often shocked at change, and the fashion changes of the 1920's must have really confused traditional folks. Never before had skirts gone so short or women seemed so immodest. It was a fascinating time for sure. Thank you!
Awesome collection of pictures of 1920's style. You present it very well. I must say wow.
Great hub! Beautiful collection of photos - this is actually very timely as some of these fashions are making a comeback like the cloche hat and fur collars! Very informative and well written.
amilypitt - thank you! I was just looking at some pictures at the library in a book about the 1920's, I could look for hours at those interesting fashions.
brielise - thank you very much! I have a hub on Edwardian clothing FYI, I know that you enjoy Downtown Abbey and I do believe it is set in Edwardian times (haven't seen it but it's on the list) - or is it later. If it's post 1914, I have one of those as well.
Great hub with loads of detail. This is my favourite era, the fashions, the furniture and the designs, especially the houses. Lovely! Must have taken you ages to research all that. Well done.
Short skirt of those days is LONG SKIRT of today. I personally feel we have exposed ourselves more than ever before. But needless to say, modern color schemes are a lot more attractive. But poor thing back and white couldn't really reveal what things actually looked in those days. :( . Anyways. thanks for sharing it.
annart - oh me too. I love the houses of the time, especially the bungalows and the Sears houses. What a great idea for a tie-in hub! Thank you!
sethslosberg - yes, I think we miss a lot seeing the clothing only in black and white, but I'm crazy for black and white pictures. Actually, I see lots of women in ankle length skirts today when all hemlines seem to work. Thank you!
I just love this hub,Dolores Monet. The clothes were so beautiful back then and some of them would fit in now quite nicely! Ever noticed the old movies? Everyone dressed like they were rich! You'd think every woman had a mink coat in her closet...or one for every day! LOL Voted up and useful.
Sinea - I love old movies and enjoy seeing the old time clothing. Sure, people loved to see movies that featured some glamour, and so do I. But lots of older movies, from the 30's anyway, depicted poor folks, working people, and their struggles. Most movies from the 20's were silent movies.
Great overview of Fashion history. Well 1920's was just the start of fashion and it was no doubt the great start. Well I will agree with Sinea Pies that in old movies every one used to dressed like a rich. So the reason is simple that the fashion was started from Royal Families and it was the impact which you see in old moives.
Nice work Dolores Monet. Keep it up!
Wonderful hub on the fashion of the 1920s. I love that era, so much so that I had a 1920s themed wedding and the bridesmaids and escorts danced the charleston after the main dance!
Nice work
I love coming here to see all the uniquie things. You go girl
Nice to see the old photos especially of the cloche hats, I have always loved the style.
skys - well maybe the start of the modern era of fashion! Things were never the same again, that's for sure. And remember, most of the movies of the era were silent, the first talkie didn't come out until 1928 or 9, forgot which. Thank you very much!
editorsupremo - well that must have been the cat's pajamas, haha, a bit of 20's lingo there. Costumed weddings sound like so much fun, but hard to put together. Your guests will remember that one forever! Thank you!
Burton - thank you so kindly!
2uesday - I really should scan some photos of my great aunts and grandmother. Those gals could really dress and my favorite great aunt was a flapper! She still occasionally wore rolled hose and told me that it was how they did it in her day. Thank you!
I have to say I truely enjoyed this hub, it was a time when maybe just maybe fashion kind of "got it" not too over the top (as it is today) but not too restrictive! Well done!
Hi, Rebecca - thank you so much. It was an amazing time - not only the fashions, but the music changed so much too. And, of course, those fashions and music did seem way over the top to the older generation. Looking back, it seems tame compared to now, but remember that no one had ever displayed knees in public except at the beach.
Great videos/photos of an immense change in women's fashion and rights for that matter! Something to note quickly, is that not all women changed in the "Jazz age" in fact, most women were stuck in the normal way of life at the time. As for the "flappers", most of them worked during the day as phone operators and did the worst jobs around.
Sorry for getting a little carried away there, but still this is a really nice Hub, which fully deserves the 100 Hubscore! Congratulations!
drspaniel - there's something about women working and short skirts. Mary Quant designed mini skirts to make it easier for working girls to run for the bus. Also, with the flappers, the shorter skirts made it easier to dance to the new wild music. Thanks for you input!
Wonderful hub! Thank you. It is amazing how things change. Lady Gaga, lol.
Fabulous hub, thanks! Love the cloche hat!!
Wonderful article! You got to love 1920's fashion! I have always been fascinated by the bobbed haircuts, the flat chests, and non existent waistlines of 20's fashion as I can't really think of too many other points in history where women were touting around such androgynous styles, maybe in the 1980's but those were tacky beyond belief whereas the flapper style has remained chic, mysterious, and beautiful.
Theophanes - Thank you! I can't imagine the discomfort of the old folks when those wild flapper styles came into fashion. Nothing like this had ever been seen before. But not every gal wore the style. Just like today, how many people do we see in our day to day lives wearing high fashion? I love the longer hemlines too. And the bobs must have felt wonderful!
Very fun hub! The 20's was such a beautiful time for fashion and music. If I could go back to a decade, I would choose that one :)
I think I already commented on this hub once before, Dolores. But hey, here's to another! I love this hub...love the idea of the flapper and the fashion & hair back then was outstanding and unique. Great hub!
Pinkchic - I love it too. the 20's seem popular these days with several movies set then like Hugo and parts of Midnight in Paris.
Thanks!
Hi, kitty - thanks! I have twice visited several hubs myself. (This is the first time I've seen the new layout. Every time I look at one of these fashion hubs, they change)
drbj 15 months ago
Can you imagine an era when rolled stockings were the height of naughtiness in women's wear? What would the flappers say if they espied Lady Gag Gag or other modern belles?
Thanks for a beautiful memoir of the 20s and the funny videos, Dolores. Excellent job!