1920s journal entry

Cover page (Design/ Title TBD)

Table of Contents 1920s ————————————————————————— pgs. 1-5

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Letter from the Editor

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The Roaring Twenties!

Everyone knows the 1920s as the

jazz era. These movements, alongside the

period of the “Roaring Twenties”: a period

war, both played big roles in fashion for

that started off the heels of the

both men and women. The point is that

1910s...women gaining the right to vote,

many (if not all) of these events were

coming out of war, coming into a

showcased through the styles that were

prosperous booming economy, etc. The

popular throughout this decade. Let’s take

1920s brought upon new and iconic trends

a look, shall we?

in fashion, especially due to the new and

Women had a big start to the 20s

iconic times our world was heading into.

by the passing of the 19th Amendment

Heading off the tailwind of the First

and gaining the right to vote. This at first

World War, a drastic global event that will

started two courses in fashion: the

forever change countries and society

traditionally feminine and the more

going forward, everyone around the

modernist. However, towards the latter

world was in a new state. WWI brought

part of the 20s, a carefree, independent

on significant changes specifically in

movement started flowing among

fashion design, dress fabrics and methods

women. Womenswear was not tightly

of clothing manufacture. Some important

fitted, started to be more independent

movements coming in the latter parts of post-war society included: Exoticism & Cubism (carried over from 1910s), Art Deco (1925), Dancemania (the Charleston, Black Bottom, Lindy Hop, etc.), The

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Harlem Renaissance and the

and less of a sexual figure than what they were in the past. Women also were starting to accept their own sexuality.

Que the flapper! She was the hyper sexualized woman of the 20s, she did what she wanted to do and didn’t care about anything else, abandoning all previous values of a lady from past years.

The flapper turned into a very prominent symbol during this decade.

Men, on the other hand, were having some freedom movements of their own.

The Men’s Dress Reform Party of 1929 was a formal protest in Britain to try to change social ideals around men’s dress, promoting more

(2010). Miss Monet. photograph. https:// missmonetdotnet.wordpress.com/ 2013/05/10/fashion-in-film-the-greatgatsby/ Bettman. (2014). Suzanne Lenglen, 1920.

Tory Daily. photograph. https:// www.toryburch.com/blog-post/blogpost.html?bpid=103813.

Getty Images. (2016). Allure. photograph. https://www.allure.com/gallery/tennisfashion-history

comfortable/convenient clothes and to do

Kennedy, A., Stoehrer, E. B., & Calderin, J.

away with the classic three-piece suit. One

(2013). Fashion design, referenced: a

of the biggest trends for men was the

visual guide to the history, language &

banning of shorts and bringing on “oxford

practice of fashion. Rockport.

bags”, which were huge trousers with a

Marinelli, G. (2020). Who What Wear.

drastic hem. Also, due to the end of WWI,

photograph. https://

men were looking for more color and

www.whowhatwear.com/1920s-fashion/

were more interested in sportswear/

slide3.

sweaters. The Prince of Wales fair isle

Mendes, V., & Haye, A. de la. (2010).

sweater was a huge trend as well. The

Fashion since 1900. Thames Hudson

Roaring Twenties brought a new style to

Session, D. (2015). Dapper men in suits

menswear that has been different (and

and straw boater hats. Vintage Dancer.

more colorful) to anything menswear has

photograph. https://vintagedancer.com/

seen before.

1920s/1920s-fashion-men/.

Street Scene, Washington D.C., 1924.

References

(2017). Design You Trust. photograph. https://designyoutrust.com/2017/12/

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#TBT: “Roaring” it back You know the phrase, “History repeats itself”? Well...it is true! We are going to dive into pictures from almost 100 years ago to see that, indeed, history does truly repeat itself. Fashion is no exception! Look for the similarities between the 20s and today: do you spot anything different?

The most essential part to a man’s outfit for the majority of the decade was the three-piece suit, pictured here (Session, 2015). Suits were mostly made of thick

Everyone at least has heard of the movie The Great Gatsby, which may be the most famous and prominent movie highlighting the 1920s.

As we watch the main character Jay Gatsby in

fabrics (ie. wool, wool tweed, mohair, wool

typical mens’ attire. The costume designer of

flannel, etc.) that made them heavier than

the film, Catherine Martin, truly grasped the

today’s suit materials, but lighter than the

element of mens’ fashion through this decade

previous decades.

in a way where it shines through in this time and day (Miss Monet, 2010).

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...the 20s vs. today!

Sportswear started becoming a main trend

While the hemline may have gone

in the 20s, especially with the creation of

higher up the legs, the pleated white

the world’s first tennis skirt by designer

tennis skirt has still not gone out of

Jean Patou (Bettman, 2014). French tennis

style. In sportswear today, major

player Suzanne Lenglen, pictured here,

athletes such as Serena Williams (Getty

caused headlines when she played at Wimbledon arena with bare arms and her knee-length hemline, made possible by

Images, 2016) are still donning this class sportswear piece as a female powerhouse tennis player.

Patou’s design.

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#TBT: “Roaring� it back...the 20s vs. today!

The bullet silhouette was especially big in this time period. It was boxier and more free of a shape, used bandeaus to flatten/minimize the bodice, dresses had wide necklines and pullover style embellished with glass beads (Street Scene, 2017).

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Flapper-inspired dresses, such as this Prada feather-trimmed crepe de chine dress (Marinelli, 2020), are still super popular even 100 years later. Dresses like this silhouette, with the loser fit and longer relaxed hemlines, were really trendy and never seemed to be too crazy.