Womans 1920s Fashion 20's Flapper Style 1920s Flapper Clothes 1920s Flapper Costume 1920s Flapper Clothing
1920 Flapper Dress Plus Black Flapper Roaring 20 Womans Fashion 1920s Costume Black Flapper Dress
1920s Clothing &
Flapper Clothing
Clothing and outfits for both sexes underwent a revolution in the 1920s costumes.
Styles were produced that had never been seen before, and which frequently shocked the older generation.
New Clothing were lighter, brighter and far less cumbersome than ever before.
Hair Style also
changed dramatically and, combined with the new clothes, gave the Twenties a distinctive look.
Women's Clothes Twenties Flapper Dresses
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Before the war, women had worn elaborate, full length dresses with layers of restrictive
undergarments or more formal dress as dress code.
In the 1920s, body crippling corsets were abandoned, hemlines
rose and rose, and the boyish figure became all the rage. Dress Costume or Frocks as
they were called, were low waisted and by 1926 knee length.
They were often embroidered or decorated
with beads and tassels. To complement the newly revealed legs, sexy stockings became a daring flesh colour
instead of the traditional black.
Favourite accessories were dangling earrings and long necklaces.
Fashionable colours mentioned in an advertisement for frocks, flapper costumes and suits included "Roseda, Orchid,
Bracken, Amethyst and Navy".
The modern young woman, or "sexy flapper" as she was sometimes called with her flapper dress costume or fancy dress
was often bold enough to wear powder, rouge and pale blue eye shadow in the evening and may even have plucked her eyebrows.
Some women were beginning to smoke, not only at home but in public, and this shocked many people.
Children's Clothes
For the first time, children's clothes were designed with children in mind. Before the war, children had been dressed in similar styles to their parents. Again, these clothes were very restrictive and multi layered and not much fun for playing in. Now girls wore simple cotton frocks, cardigans and canvas shoes in the summer, and serge skirts and hand knitted jerseys in the winter. When it was cold, girls also wore liberty bodices, which were like long vests with suspenders attached, to keep up woollen stockings. Boys also had comfortable clothes. Knee length trousers were worn in winter and summer. When it was cold, knee length, turned over socks and woollen jerseys were worn, whilst in the summer short sleeved shirts and Fair Isle slipovers were popular. Boys generally wore short trousers, kept up with braces, until they were 16 or 16. Victorian lace up boots were replaced with lace up shoes for the winter and canvas shoes or sandals for summer.
Babies' clothes were made to be more comfortable and practical, too. No longer were babies
dressed up in yards of lacy, white gown. By the end of the period romper suits, matinee jackets
and short dress were popular.
Men's Clothing 1920s Costume
Men's fashions and outfits also underwent a huge transformation in the Twenties.
Previously most men had worn formal three piece suits. Now they were allowed far more casual
styles as "cheerio" and "jazzy" fashions became acceptable and fancy. Flannel trousers,
tweed jackets and brightly coloured Fair Isle slipovers were very popular, as were Plus
Fours (baggy knicker bockers) and Oxford Bags (trousers with very wide legs). In the summer,
blazers and light coloured trousers were complemented with a panama hat or a boater with fashion poor skill.
By the late 1920s, pipe smoking and after shave were desirable european fashion male accessories.
Roaring 20s Hairstyles And Hats
Before the war, women had been admired for the length of their hair. In the 1920s, almost every
female, whether she was young or old, seemed to cut her hair another sign of liberation and a
completion of the Boyish Look. Short hair was known as a "bob". Variations
included the "shingle", where the hair was cut shorter at the back, and the Eton Crop,
where the hair was given a virtual short back and sides. Marcel Waves (perms) could curl hair,
but for those who could not afford that, rags left in the hair overnight were the only alternative.
Men's hairstyles also changed and the short back and sides became popular. (Previously men, too,
had worn their hair longer.)
Hats were worn by everyone, including children. Women and girls wore head hugging "Cloche" hats,
often pulled way down over the ears and eyes. Boys wore caps, while men could choose from trilbys,
Homburgs, Derbys, bowlers, panamas and boaters, to name a few.
Extract from “Growing up in The 1920s”, written by Amanda Clark. London: B.T.Batsford Ltd, 1986.
