Its possible that no era in fashion saw as much change in such a short period of time as the 1920s. The period after the end of World War I was a time of great social change, and womens fashion reflected that. The stock market was booming, women were entering the workforce in record numbers, and women had recently earned the right to vote. This new attitude of liberation manifested itself clearly in 1920s fashion.
One of the most important changes of the decade was the abandonment of the corset. The new woman of the 1920s wanted comfortable sportswear. 1920s fashion was relaxed and moved well. Above all it was designed to be wearable.
The silhouette of 1920s fashion was very different from the hourglass shapes of the Edwardian Era. Indeed, during the 20s, a very flat, almost boyish look was in style. Dresses were long and straight, busts were flat, and hair was often short. All signs and signals of feminine curves were out of style in the 1920s.
The figure most popularly associated with the fashion of the 20s is, of course, the flapper. Flapper fashion started in the middle of the decade, around 1926. Prior to that, hemlines were still quite long, at about mid-calf length. The flapper look was pioneered and promoted by that indelible icon of 1920s fashion, Coco Chanel. Chanel designed sportswear which was relaxed, yet sleek and modern. It perfectly suited the boyish look of 1920s fashion.
Around the time when the flapper look began gaining ground, hemlines also got quite a bit shorter, rising all the way to the knee. Bare arms and stocking-covered legs became the norm of 1920s fashion. Because women were now baring so much of their legs, a new focus on stocking fashion began to arise. Designers sold stockings in a vast array of bright colors, and embroidered, patterned stockings became the rage.
Looking back at the 1920s, its hard to imagine how the new, modern trends in fashion must have looked to those who had grown up in the Victorian and Edwardian Eras. Waistlines dropped and basically disappeared; arms were completely bared; hair was cut short. 1920s fashion even changed the way women stood and moved, as iconic cloche hats hid their eyes, forcing them to tilt their heads to see! Women smoked and drank and danced to jazz music, all in public. Although 1920s fashion seems rather quaint to us today, it must have seemed positively scandalous at the time.
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