A brief look at the fashions of the twentieth century from the 1920’s - 1990’s
The 1920’s, probably the most daring decade for men and women alike, revolutionized the fashion world. With the arrival of the ‘jazz age’ and prohibition, women’s skirts rose scandalously to the knees, the hair was cut short in a boyish bob, women shamelessly smoked and drank in public and defied the rigid social status that the early 1900’s brought.
The waist lines of the dresses dipped to the hips and braziers were worn to bind the breasts giving women a boyish look; a look that commanded power and equality with men. A look called ‘The Flapper’.
Men’s fashion didn’t change much in the twenties; if anything, it became more tapered. The trousers tapered down tightly at the ankles. Fedoras were a major fashion statement of the dashing man, and with the arrival of gangsters like Al Capone, pin-striped suits came into fashion.
The 1930’s came on full force with the arrival of the depression. With the majority of people poor and without work, no one had much money to spend on leisurely things like clothes and shoes.
With women entering the work force, they donned a business suit, complete with tight skirts with a daring slit in the side or along the back seam. Jackets fit tightly with shoulder pads to accentuate the commanding force women needed to gain a steady hold in the work force full of men.
As the country recovered from a deep depression, World War II set in. The men went off to war leaving behind women, children and families to earn a living for their family and help the men at war by manufacturing war materials.
The fashion for women was to be as conservative as possible so that extra material could be used to support the men at war. Dresses were made without cuffs, collars, buttons or extravagances.
Men’s suits, previously a four piece deal with vest, jacket, and two pairs of pants, turned into just a jacket and a pair of pants. The suits were usually broad shouldered with wide lapels, along with jackets sporting the double breasted look. Mixing and matching became stylish in this era.
With the fifties came teenage rebellion. Girls’ dresses fluffed out with petticoats and crinolines worn under the skirt. The hair was ratted and flipped and white Keds tennis shoes or saddle shoes, were worn. Some rebellious women wore tight fitting, calf length pants called pedal pushers, with blouses.
Boys fashion consisted of tight Levis, Chinos, white or black tight shirts; loafers or Converse shoes with leather jackets. The hair was slicked back with wing tips at the sides or curling in at the middle. James Dean made this look famous in “Rebel Without a Cause.”
With the arrival of the Vietnam war, the Beatles and Joan Baez, came ‘flower children’, or hippies. They defied the conformity of the 50’s fashion code. Both girls and boys wore tight Levis bell-bottoms that flared wide at the knee; and decorations like patches, drawings and fabrics were added as well. Men wore leather vests with bare chests or tee shirts. The women wore loose fitting blouses of cotton, frequently patterned with intricate designs as well as flowery loose dresses. These were called ‘peasant blouses.’
The basic undertone for the ‘flower children’ look was to be loose and comfortable yet wearing what you wanted yet still maintaining their protest with their ‘counter-culture’( sprinkled with the ocasional undertone of illegal drugs, and free love.)
The 1970’s was the disco era. Disco wasn’t just a type of music, but a way of life. The men still wore bell bottoms but the fabric of the decade was polyester, acrylic and lycra. Women’s dresses were ruffley and loose, usually stopping at the knee. The men wore bell bottoms, a jacket under a solid color shirt with gold chains. Platform shoes were big on the dance floor and shirt patterns were swirly and dizzying. The colors were loud and clashing making a statement that the 70’s was the era of ‘Saterday Night Fever.’
The 1980’s brought two very different styles in. One style ruled the business world especially with the women. Women’s business suits had broader shoulders, with the help of shoulder pads, the suits resembled those of the 30’s except with much brighter colors like yellows, blues and pinks.
The second fashion fad started with exercise. Exercise became a big deal in the 80’s and exercise clothes became bright and worn casually. Lycra and spandex was a big material used, usually colored in brilliant greens and pinks.
The 90’s is a mixture of a whole lot of different styles. Fashion, as it always does, comes and goes. Several decades become fashionable again, then sometimes it gets modified and sometimes it is banned from the fashion world as a monster, an illegitimate child of creativity.
The platform shoe has recently come back and shows up in many shoes from sandals to tennis shoes. The color scheme of the 90’s is dramatic or pastel. The classic color is black, used for dramatic effects in fashion.
Men’s fashion, as it has been doing since the twenties, hasn’t changed much. The pant legs have become a little bit more loose and the vest has dropped into the limelight. Basically, men’s fashion hasn’t climbed that far, but it’s far from old and outdated. It’s serene, classic, dashing elegance has kept it timeless, respected and admired.
Jenny Gallagher
