THE FASHION OF THE 1920'S - FASHION HISTORY SESSIONS

the 1920s the time when the 20th century really begins cars were fast parties were fun and skirts got short i'm stella mendes welcome to fashion history sessions the 1920s are the aftermath of the first world war one of the worst events the world had witnessed so far with an estimated total of 20 million deaths men died and would not come back to their wives fiances nor either their jobs or businesses social order changed with the end of monarchies new political ideas and a more egalitarian society everyone wanted to forget about the horrors of the war indulging in parties and entertainment paris was the epicenter of arts and culture and hollywood becomes an influence in fashion and lifestyle the 1920s are also a moment of liberation for women their expectations for the future had changed with the war marriage indeed may not be on the horizon during the war women experimented with jobs never taken by them before disposable income and a newfound freedom some women will remain in these jobs and pursue careers the woman of the 1920s had a new found freedom starting to break with conventions exploring new worlds and playing with love this liberated woman had disposable income and was open to new ideas indeed this is a fertile ground for new fashion one of the first ideas that comes to our minds when we think of women in the 1920s is the flapper not all women were flappers flappers were young women who wore short skirts i mean knee hunt which was considered short at the time they listened to jazz smoked cigarettes and seemed to have a lot of fun there were young women who were very liberated and constantly broke society rooms the first appearance of the flapper style was in 1920 in a movie called flapper starting olive thomas but it was claribo and louise brooks who were the ultimate flapper style icons flappers were young and rebellious who wanted to experiment and break society conventions either to affirm themselves as individuals or merely to shock society in the end we can consider the flappers as one of the first youth movements of the 20th century something we will see replicate in decades to come due to the efforts of war we see a great development of industry and technology the number of factories grew and developed new machinery and new materials with the end of the war some of this technological development is used by the fashion industry that begins to mass produce clothes become simple and easy to produce in higher scale women love the practicality of ready to wear because they would not have to waste time in fittings variety was more valued now than costly clothes department stores were proudly advertising ready to wear instead of made to order the dissemination of fashion ideas is now dictated by media instead of the upper classes and the abundance of clothes and the new style dictated by movie stars and revolutionary fashion designers democratize this fashion for the first time rich or poor everyone will wear the same style of clothes this new technology brings new materials there were new synthetic fabrics like rayon and acetate which were artificial silks these were used to make clothes for the middle and lower end of the market these new textiles were used from stockings to underwear for they wear women would wear silk twill jersey which had been introduced by chanel in 1913 in her sportswear line rayon and light tweets as for evening wear they used to wear crepes satin silk taffeta and velvet fashion will be influenced by many factors like art and the contact with other societies and old civilizations art deco influences are visible in the geometric patterns and contrast of color with silver and gold the eastern exoticism brought with the fascination for shin masahi and japanese that was inherited by the art nouveau movement brings rich fabrics and vibrant colors with chinese and japanese animal and floral motives by the 1920s japanese kimonos are still fashionable with the archaeological discovery of tutankhamun tom in 1922 comes egyptomania which reflects in a bright color palette of turquoise emerald green intense landslide blues reds and golds traditional russian dress like the cult peasant embroidery furs is introduced with the arrival of the russian aristocracy in exile in paris after the bolshevik revolution in 1917 everything russian was interesting and exciting like diana brilliant used to say pie who cares about pie when there is russia knitwear was adopted in the beginning of the decade knitted jackets were long with a straight cut without emphasizing the waist which was the silhouette of the time it would often close with just one button the knitted jackets will open the way for the three-piece suit composed by a cardigan a skirt and a sweater these knitwear sets would be of various colors and decorated the geometric motives in article style or tron ploy like these sweaters by elsa scaparrelli the dress was most of the time in a straight cut and could be decorated with motifs sewn on the dress or embroidered coco chanel introduces the little black dress in 1926 and soon it becomes a staple in the every woman's wardrobe black would allow creative interpretations with embroideries playing with geometric motives in gold and silver in art deco style in the 1920s we see evening dresses with sequins and fringes that would shine and move with the frenetic dance of the charleston women would not only dare to show off their legs but also their backs proudly showing how tan they were from their time spent in some fashionable riviera the bias cut also starts to emerge in the 1920s a way of cutting fabric that revolves around the body enhancing the natural forms of a woman's figure this is groundbreaking as it is a celebration of the natural forms of a woman's body rather than an idealized one as we see in previous decades the 1920s woman had taken a more active and perceived masculine approach to life the ideal beauty in this decade is of a woman that is slim but not too thin flat-chested which emphasis is given mostly to the legs this is the perfect moment to ditch the corset this idea has been flourishing paul page was one of the first kotori's claiming to have liberated women from the corset but this liberation is progressive and by the 1920s more women are liberated from the corset and wearing bandos something that one day would become a bra not all women though because some would still need the support of the corset after all not all bodies naturally looked like the desired shape of the decade the 1920s sees a surge in the sale of stockings that would be made of cotton wool or silk but the great novelty was the nylon stockings mostly in flash collars at the more affordable prices than the silk ones to finish the 1920s look we just need the shoes for they wear we would have the spectator shoes in two colors or the lace oxford or a pair of mary janes as for evening wear metallic shoes brocade with jeweled decorations the shinier the better the style could be a bar shoe or a t-bar but women would also wear boots like the russian boot based in the russian velenki a boot that was designed for cold siberian winters now in western europe and america it served greater purposes like hiding hip flasks in the prohibition era some say that this is the origin of the word bootlegging the short hair for women was one of the most significant and revolutionary aspects of the 1920s fashion women's hair is associated with femininity and the modern woman is now assuming a more egalitarian role in society becoming a bit more masculine the only time in the history of western fashion where we saw women cutting their hair was in the early 19th century with the titus cut which soon would trigger repetence and the search for hair extensions or wigs the bob haircut had many variations the orchid the coconut the egyptian but the eaton crop was the most daring of them all a cut also known as the garcon women would go to the barbers to cut their hair as traditional women's salons did not have the experience to do haircuts by the 1920s the cosmetic industry is consolidated women are wearing makeup in a very evident way in contrast with the previous decade women have more disposable income and a large portion of a woman's salary was spent in cosmetics and fashion motion pictures will contribute a great deal for the expansion of the cosmetic industry particularly makeup women want to emulate the movie stars skin was very pale with powder eyebrows were plucked defined with a pencil and castor oil for shine eyes would employ dark eye shadow black hole and long lashes with mascara on top and bottom the cheeks were in an intense rouge and leaves were small the 1920s marks the beginning of the pursuit of youth youth become synonymous with beauty beauty entrepreneurs like eleanor rubinstein and elizabeth arden will create cosmetics and beauty regimes to defy age it is the beginning of the horror of aging in a fast passing new world the ultimate 1920s style was portrayed by coco chanel not have been the most important of all couturiers in this decade but she was the image of the modern woman of the 1920s because she represented the social changes of the post-war world by coming from a deprived background and establishing the style rules for the upper classes she was a dynamic woman who dressed in comfortable and simple clothes in an effortless chic manner and she was someone who was connected to the art and intellectual world she possessed a beauty only considered as such in the 20th century with a slim body and strong features she is ultimately the woman and the fashion of the 1920s this was another episode of fashion history sessions you can leave your questions and comments below and if you like this video please like and subscribe [Music] you

Channel: Fashion History Sessions

Views: 140,094

Keywords: #1920sfashion #chanel #cocochanel #flapper

Id: remc6xSlWs8

Length: 12min 0sec (720 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 16 2021