Fashion in the 1920’s

The Edwardian Silhouette

• Edwardian undergarments were intricately created to provide women with a standardized figure that was considered fashionable.

• The S-Shaped corset provided women with the desired look of a large Monobosom and a 16” waist.

• An Edwardian woman’s undergarments consisted of a corset, corset cover, camisole, a pair of drawers, cotton petticoats, and flannel petticoats.

Factors that lead to the reforms of fashion in the 1920’s

• World War I• Newfound buying

power in the Roaring Twenties

• Feminine Liberation Movement and the 19th amendment

• Prohibition• Advancements in

the textile and garment industries

• Ready-to-wear fashion

• Fashion Magazines

World War I

• During the War, women entered the workforce to fill jobs left open by soldiers. After the war women continued to work outside of the home.

• Women’s fashion altered to suit the workforce, constrictive undergarments such as whalebone corsets were abandoned to allow for an ease of movement

• Also with the lack of men due to the war and its aftermath, women began wearing more alluring clothing to attract a husband.

Newfound buying power in the Roaring Twenties

• The Economic prosperity of the Roaring Twenties allowed more women access to luxurious clothing.

• More woman began buying their clothing as opposed to making them themselves.

Feminine Liberation Movement and the 19th Amendment

• The ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 was a large leap forward for Women’s Rights.

• Women soon began wearing loose pantsuits called “pajama suits”, a direct result of the newly gained right to vote and the strong cries for further female empowerment.

Prohibition• Due to Prohibition,

drinking took place in the home and women became included in drinking.

• Women soon began drinking in public at Speakeasies.

• This new social freedom was matched in fashion with new styles that were more scandalous, revealing, and freeing.

Advancements in the textile and garment industries

• With the Garment Industry becoming increasingly Industrialized, rapidly evolving women’s styles were more available to those of lower economic standing, the new luxurious styles were available to the middle class, as opposed to just the economic elite.

Ready-to-wear fashion

• Because clothing was now easily manufactured, stores began selling clothing, carrying outfits in a variety of sizes to fit almost any customer.

• Because Women were more frequently buying their clothing as opposed to making it, the style was dictated by fashion magazines.

Fashion Magazines

Fashion Timeline•1891- Artificial silk created in France from a cellulose fiber•1910- first American plant begins producing the new synthetic

silk•1923- Waistline drops to a point between the natural waist

and the hip•1924- Waistline drops to the hip, synthetic silk is named

Rayon•1925- shift types dresses with no waist emerge•1926- "One Hour dress" designed•1928- hemline rises to the knee, also dresses become more

fitted•Oct. 24, 1929- the Stock Market crashes

Characteristics of 1920’s Fashion

• Loose-fitting clothing

• Dropped, loose waistlines

• Shorter hems on some styles of dresses

• Loose fitting pants for women

• A long, lean, flat-chested silhouette

• An overall androgynous appearance

The Progression of Style through the Decade

• As the decade proceeded, fashion continued to rapidly change.

• Hemlines rose from an inch below the knee to knee-length

• Waistlines dropped to the hips and then disappeared altogether creating a shift dress

Flapper Fashion

• The Symbol of the Roaring Twenties, the Flapper, emerged in 1926 and embodied the decades modern fashion elements such as short sleek hair, a short shapeless dress, and a flat chest, and exposed limbs.

• Flappers had a reputation that added to their style as well.

• Flappers smoked from long cigarette holders, applied makeup in public, and danced to jazz with reckless abandonment of propriety.

Flappers