The 1920s are called the “Roaring Twenties,” the “Stormy Twenties,” the “Crazy Twenties,” the “Golden Twenties.” This is the era of jazz and art deco, the heyday of radio and cinema, the revelry of dancing and nightlife. This time of people who survived the destructive world war is the time of great change and progress.
What influenced fashion?
In the 1920s, the social status of women changed dramatically. If earlier even feminists recognized that the fair sex needs to choose between a career and family values, now ladies wanted to combine both. The emancipated girls of the new generation were called flappers. Unlike their mothers and grandmothers, brought up according to Victorian ideals, flappers behaved underlinedly freely: their clothes opened their bodies more and more, they brightly painted and listened to jazz, drove a car and built a career, smoked and danced.
In addition to emancipation, the First World War had a strong influence on the female worldview. When the men went to the front, it was the women who had to get up to the machine tools in the factories and factories, dig trenches, look after the wounded, put out the fires and act as law enforcement officers. All these changes were reflected in the female character and, as a consequence, in the fashion of the roaring twenties.
In the history of world fashion, this period was literally a turning point. It changes so radically that it was in the 1920s that a clear line could be drawn between 19th-century fashion, the trends of which were still felt before the war, and 20th-century fashion. Corsets and long skirts no longer meet the modern requirements of convenience and functionality, sophisticated hairstyles and wide-brimmed hats have disappeared , the cut of the dress is becoming easier, the fasteners are moving from the back to the chest, the innovative “zipper” is becoming more common, the unisex style comes into fashion.
Dress
Fashion of the 20s of the 20th century dictated a new ideal of female appearance. The emancipe young lady should be very slim, with narrow boyish hips and inexpressive breasts. It came to the point that the women too tightly bandaged a bust too big. The androgynous figure was helped by the sport that became popular among flappers. And to emphasize almost boyish thinness and angularity a dress of a direct silhouette was called on. The waistline on such outfits was greatly underestimated, but the hem of the skirt was striving upward. If the length of the ankle was in fashion in the early 20s, then in the middle of the era the dress rose to the knee and even a little higher, again dropping down at the end of the decade. Long sleeves disappear and give way to shoulder straps, the body is more and more exposed: a defiant cutout appears on the back.
The post-war world was swept by the so-called dansingomania. The popularity of dancing has increased dramatically, the favorite ones were foxtrot, American tango and waltz, the blues and charleston, lindy hop and swing spread. Under the influence of Dansingomania, the fashion of the 20s also changed. Dresses, in which it should be convenient to dance the night away, became shorter, shiny fabrics, flying “tails”, fringe and bead embroidery, feathers and furs became popular, legs - heeled shoes. The neckline on the back often reached the waist of a fashionable woman, narrow hips adorned with bows, and an almost flat chest - layered pearl beads.
Outerwear
The 20s became a time of experimentation, innovation and whacky ideas. Under the influence of new trends, outerwear has also changed. If at the beginning of the 20th century it was not distinguished by a variety of styles, then after the war the situation changes dramatically: soldiers who fought abroad brought home many new ideas. The styles of other countries pushed European and American fashion designers to create collections where different cultures intertwined and turned into something decidedly new. For example, it was in those years that the cape - sleeveless coat, known in our time, came to the podium.
But the most popular type of outerwear was the legendary trench coat (“trench coat”), created by the Englishman Thomas Bradberry. This raincoat made of waterproof gabardine was designed specifically for soldiers, gained wide popularity in the First World War and successfully conquers the catwalks in our time. A new coat captures the minds of fashionable women of the roaring twenties. Especially for women, Bradberry launched the production of more elegant and lightweight soft-tissue models. The trench coat perfectly matched the fashion of unisex, met the new requirements of convenience and comfort.
Trousers
In the 20s, women actively mastered the male fields of activity: they sat at the helm of an airplane, drove a car and went in for sports. Of course, the fashion of the 20s of the 20th century reflected all the changes: work overalls and flying jackets wear emancipes, they put on men's tuxedos and breeches. But the most, perhaps, revolutionary innovation are women's trousers. So far, they could not squeeze out a dress of a direct silhouette, but pajama pants that came to Europe from India became fashionable clothes for going to the beach. A little later, when the French fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin began to create elegant pajamas from flowing fabrics, decorated with lace, embroidery and fringe, women dared to go out in such dresses to the streets. We can say that pajamas became the prototype of the first pantsuits, which will come into fashion a little later.
Footwear
In addition to short dresses of jazz dancers, dance showomania gave the roaring twenties elegant heeled pumps, generously decorated with diamonds, belts and buckles. The highlight of these shoes were webbing. Shoes were valued quite expensively, therefore, to protect themselves from street dirt, fashionistas wore special rubber boots on them, something like a galoshes with a small indentation on a wide heel.
Another hit of the season is tall boots, called Russians. The spread of fashion on them was facilitated by numerous emigrants from Russia who fled abroad after the revolution. Contributed to the rapidly shortening women's dresses. For the first time “Russian boots” was demonstrated by the Parisian fashion designer Paul Poiret back in 1913, inspired by his journey to St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Hats
Hats are still an obligatory attribute of a fashionable costume in the 1920s, but they only look very different. Fanciful wide fields are becoming a thing of the past, bonnets and bonnets are forgotten. At the peak of popularity - a bell-shaped hat-cloche. Claws owe their appearance to French fashionist Caroline Reboux, the “queen” of hat fashion. Such hats were sewn, as a rule, from felt, velvet or satin, horsehair, straw or felt. Hats-cloche allowed to hide hair, were comfortable and practical. In addition to them, fashionistas of the jazz era chose berets and bandages. Evening hats were intricately decorated with decorative lines, satin ribbons, flowers and rhinestones, feathers and brooches.
After migrating from Russia to Europe and the USA, a traditional Russian headdress, a kokoshnik, unexpectedly breaks into the world of Western fashion. It can rightfully be considered the most popular element of the folk costume between the world wars. Women's fashion of the 20s offers to wear a kokoshnik-crown for weddings, and its freely rethought copies become part of everyday attire. Jeanne Lanven even launches a collection of so-called Russian hats, and fashion houses sell plastic kokoshniks.
Accessories
Fashion designers of the 20s chose satin, velvet and silk to create costumes. Knitwear becomes a real discovery: if in the 19th century only simple linen and clothes for people from the lower classes were sewn from it, then in the roaring twenties it took off on its pedestal. Furs ceased to be a detail of outerwear: fashion flappers wore fox or sable skins on their bare shoulders, complementing them with an evening outfit. An indispensable accessory is a long mouthpiece and artsy cigarette case.
The fashion of the 20s of the 20th century dictated the uniformity of the costumes, and therefore their decoration was especially rich. The clothes were decorated with beads, fringe and embroidery. Popular motifs are becoming incredibly popular: women choose Chinese embroidery and Persian ornaments. The discovery in 1922 of the tomb of Tutankhamun by the English archaeologist Howard Carter led to Egyptomania that swept the entire Western world. In fashionable toilets, contrasting colors characteristic of Egyptian culture, geometric forms of ancient art, hieroglyphs and traditional patterns, beaded bags and feather boas began to dominate.
Of course, the popularity of exoticism also affected jewelry art, and fashion jewelry also came into fashion. Perhaps the main decoration of a woman of the 20s is pearl beads. They were wrapped around the neck several times, and their lowest tier could reach the hips. Sometimes, instead of pearls, rhinestone was chosen. In addition to beads, ladies wore large hairpins and brooches, wide ethnic bracelets and massive geometric earrings. The diadem is in fashion, it is selected for evening toilets. The most popular metals are platinum and white gold, and this period in jewelry has been called “white”.
Because of the fashion for short dresses, thin silk stockings with a belt were in great demand, which, however, were not affordable for everyone, and therefore, synthetic ones were often bought instead. The new style of clothing also required new underwear: women of the 1920s chose short straight combinations, a tight top, compressing the chest, silk knickers and narrow underskirts.
Hairstyles and makeup
Fashion hairstyles of 20 years ordered to abandon long hair in favor of short, almost boyish haircuts. Flappers, as a rule, choose a garson - a hairstyle "under the boy" from short hair. It becomes popular after the release of the novel by French writer Victor Marguerite La Garçonne (The Bachelor) in 1922. Garson was worn with or without bangs, hair reached the ears and had a clear shape. It was a convenient simple hairstyle that allowed women to once again demonstrate their equality with men.
But not only the short haircut won the hearts of women of the jazz era. The fashion of the 20-30s offers short wavy hair and neat buns available for those who did not dare to cut their hair. Bandages become an important element: they were made of chic fabrics, generously decorated with pearls and lace, selected for each occasion and wardrobe. Such a bandage was fixed on the forehead and was considered a sign of luxury. Women-emancipes also wore hair nets: in addition to a purely decorative function, they held a hairstyle, which was especially true during gala evenings and stormy dances.
Bright makeup is a must for every fashionable woman in the roaring twenties. Delicate pale colors were replaced by catchy cinematic makeup. Women painted their lips in bright red or wine colors, drawing a dramatic "bow", generously used powder and blush, drew thin arches of eyebrows. Eyes attracted particular attention: dark shadows and thick black eyeliner, as well as false eyelashes decorated with beads and sparkles for evening outings, were in fashion. The new style of smoking without hesitation required an emphasis on the hands, so in the 1920s colored nail polishes appeared.
Men's fashion
In the 1920s, the “dry” law was introduced in the United States, alcohol is forbidden to produce, sell and consume throughout the country. It was supposed that this would reduce crime, solve social problems and improve the health of Americans, but everything turned out differently: corruption and smuggling were actively developing in the States. Members of organized crime groups began to be called gangsters. America's fashion of the 20-30s falls under their influence: men, imitating the style of the head of the underworld Al Capone, wear dark double-breasted suits with a pinstriped or herringbone pattern, two-tone shoes and felt hats, suspenders and cufflinks, rings and watches
Men's fashion of the 20s also popularizes the classic style. A conservative men's suit suggested a jacket with a high waist and narrow shoulders: such a cut visually extended the silhouette. The jazz boom contributed to the spread of the eponymous costume with tight trousers and fitted jackets. Another trend that came from Oxford is wide flannel pants. They began to wear them in order to hide sports knee-highs, which fell under a strict ban. The tailcoat is gradually being removed to the past, and a shortened tuxedo is replacing it.
Russian fashion
Not only the West was affected by the revolutionary new fashion of the 20s. Russia - more precisely, the USSR already - tried to keep up, world trends leaked into a country where there was no “Iron Curtain”. At this time, the first in the Union "Workshop of modern costume" was opened. Russian and Soviet fashion designer Nadezhda Lamanova was instructed to create a workers' and peasants fashion, but she was provided with only cheap coarse fabrics. And later created “Atelier mod” receives at its disposal brocade, velvet and silk, confiscated from the stocks of immigrants.
The NEP in the Soviet Union replaced ruin and poverty, avant-garde ideas and constructivist plans hung in the air. The women of the USSR, as in the West, also preferred a boyish figure, loose dress, hats and jewelry. They wore trousers, actively smoked, drove a car and went in for sports. Soviet fashionistas also cut their hair short, but, unlike American and European women, they preferred not to curl it. Avant-gardism has styled a geometric ornament that adorned women's outfits. Constructivists from household clothes abolished everything that required excess fabric - tucks, cuffs and pleats.
Perhaps in the last century there was not a single decade when fashion changed so dramatically in just a few years. Fashion of the 20s of the 20th century is a phenomenon that dictated the birth of completely new trends, styles and trends.