Jun 29 2011 09:09 pm

Posted by under June 30 Assignment,Uncategorized

Fashion in the 1920s

“One of the chief values of clothing is that it enables people to advertise themselves in a way that will win the attention and admiration of others. Many who lack any ability and could not hope to rise above the “average” on their own merit alone, find a satisfactory outlet for this desire for recognition through the medium of dress.” (Hurlock 1929:28-29) Elizabeth Hurlock described the importance of fashionable dress.

How people dress always reflects how they are seen in society. In the 1920s, fashion industry marked the modernity of the decade. Women freed themselves from corset and began to wear more comfortable clothes. It reflects the change of women’s role in society. Corsets constricts the women’s bodies and limited their working ability. The women’s rights movement had a strong effect on women’s fashion. The 1920s is the decade that women began riding bicycles, playing sports and entering the workforce. Women get more involved in the society.Coco Chanel was an important fashion designer that blurred the line between the style of “man” and “woman”. The chanel’s flapper look was defined by its masculine influence. For the first time in century, women rejected the corsets, cut their hairs short, wore trousers. The women’s dress got shorter and shorter, finally reached just above the knee and allowed them to kick up their heels when dancing the Charleston. It also became more socially acceptable for women to smoke and drink in the public.

Following the fashion cycle, department stores advertised through window displays and window displays. The department store became one of the most important institutions. It was a community center for women. It is not only a place of middle- and upper-class women for consumption but also provided women with job opportunities. From the slogan of Marshall Field “Give the lady what she wants”, we can tell the vital role of women as the department stores’ primary consumers. It helped change the women’s role in society.
was located on 361 Fifth Ave (at 34th Street)

B. Altman and Company was founded in 1865 and closed in 1989. It was the first big department store to make the move from the Ladies Mile shopping district

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Hurlock, Elizabeth. 1929. The Psychology of Dress: An Analysis of Fashion and Motive. New York: Ronald

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