Fashion Trends of the Twenties
Discover What Clothes and Accessories Were Popular in the 1920s
In the 1920s, women’s roles radically changed and so did their fashion. As women entered the workforce and earned the right to vote, fashion trends became more accessible, masculine, and practical. The constrictive corset, an essential undergarment to make the waist thinner, became a thing of the past.
The most memorable fashion trend of the “Roaring '20s” was undoubtedly “the flapper” look. The flapper dress was a shift dress with a “dropped” waistline around the hips. The hemlines on a flapper dress fell to at or above the knee. The flapper dress was functional and flattened the bust line rather than accentuating it. Flappers chopped off their long locks in favor of a bob, a haircut where the hair is cut straight to frame the chin with bangs.
No-nonsense French fashion designer Coco Chanel introduced the Chanel suit which was a fitted, boxy jacket with a slim knee-length skirt. Chanel emphasized simplicity and elegance in her designs. For footwear, women wore Mary Jane-style shoes and shoes with buckles and bows.
Men’s Fashion
Men’s fashion also became less regimented and formal. Men favored short jackets with two or three buttons rather than jackets with long tail coats. Pinstriped suits were fashionable. Casual-wear for men often included knickers, short pants that came to the knee. In the 1920s, very baggy wide-legged trousers called “Oxford bags” became fashionable for men. Oxford bags originated at the University of Oxford in England when knickers (knee-length pants) were banned from the university.
Accessories
Hates were very popular in the 1920s. Women often wore cloche hats. Cloche hats were bell shaped and often had embellishments such as flowers, ribbon, feathers. Men wore bowler hats, British driving cap hats, and fedoras. In summer, men wore broad brimmed Panama straw hats.
The Art Deco geometric patterns of the 1920s influenced Women’s costume jewelry as well as the patterns on men’s ties.
Costume jewelry became trendy for women to wear. Coco Chanel sported long faux pearl necklaces and made them very fashionable. When King Tutankhamen tomb was discovered in the 1922, Egyptian revival jewelry became fashionable for women. This type of jewelry featured scarabs, ankhs, sphinx, pyramids, and pharaohs in beautiful sterling silver or gold settings.
Fashion Icons
Not unlike today, women and men of the 1920s looked to movie stars as their fashion icons. Women and men wanted to emulate the styles of Hollywood stars such as Louise Brooks, Greta Garbo, Rudolph Valentino, and Clark Gable.
