Themes in American History

Life in the 1920\’s – Transport and Fashion

By the late 1920s, the automobile had firmly    establishes itself as the newest and most popular method of road transport. The rapidly growing automible industry led by Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company produced new and better models every year for the insatiable public demand. Roads that had been designed for horse transport began to change. In 1927, all the State governments, the Federal Government, and the local governments contribute the money for roads redesigned as well as new road rules introduced.

Women’s fashions  experienced dramatic changes in the early 1920’s following the end of the First World War in a period often referred to as the “roaring 20’s”. The passing of bustles and corsets gave clothing designers much greater freedom of expression. New and colorful fabrics echoed the joy felt by a war weary population following the end of hostilities. Beautiful coordinated and accessorized outfits were a feature of 1920’s ladies fashions.

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In early 1920’s the hairstyle of women changed from traditional long hair styles of 19^th century to short hair styles like “the Bob”. In the beginning bobbed hair style was plain, straight and simple. As the time passed that hair style started getting more interesting and innovative. Straight hair transformed into curly and wave forms from 1920-1930. Styles like Finger waves, Marcel wave and shingle sown were also not less popular.  Stars and celebrities adopted these styles in movies and played their role in popularizing the new hair fashion. Even now women still adopting and trying to copy the hair style of 1920’s.

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“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.

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.

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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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pwG-kRi0-Y

One of the most recognized changes of the 1920s was the change in fashion. Women started to wear more comfortable clothes, including pants and shorter skirts with pleats, instead of the more constricting clothes they used to wear. Men also started to wear more sporty clothes, them being used to dressing formally. Men and women both were also beginning to start playing with accessories, mostly hats. Fashion at this time was started to be influenced by the new art movements, creating a whole new style. This change contributed to the city being more modern because at first, people were reluctant to change but by 1925, it was quickly adapted to and accepted by society. The change was so popular, it defined fashion up until the next decade. Some of the styles that began to be practiced then are even popular and important in today’s culture as far as the fashion world.

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The 1920s is the decade that fashion entered the modern era. It was the decade in which women first liberated themselves from constricting fashions and began to wear more comfortable clothes, such as short skirts or trousers. Men started abandoning overly formal clothes and began to wear sport clothes for the first time. Of cause, there are reasons for those changes. First of all, after World War I, America entered a prosperous era. Social customs and morals were relaxed in the optimism brought on by the end of the war and the booming of the stock market. Women were entering the workforce in record numbers. Thus, Clothing changed with women’s changing roles in modern society, particularly with the idea of freedom for women. Younger women now made sportswear into the greatest change in post-war fashion. The tubular dresses of the ’Teens had evolved into a similar silhouette that now sported shorter skirts with pleats, gathers, or slits to allow motion to rule women’s fashion for the first time in history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGEs5aoqGLM&feature=fvst

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Every decade fashion changes with a new form of clothing style rising. During the 1920s the biggest fashion trend was flappers. Flappers were a new breed of young western style of women who wore short skirts, listen to jazz, and had disdain behaviors than their predecessor

This change contributed modernity is it gave a spirit of women to become more liberal and breakaway from traditions. Women were allowed to flaunt their wealth and enjoy the luxury they never had. Modernity is all about progression and society changing or breaking away from old custom was a progression. It allowed society to try new things and culturally evolve. Even though flapper’s behaviors were seen as outlandish, female historians see it as step to female empowerment. It allowed females to express their individuality and independence. They helped give birth to many fashions that are still in use today. Flappers decide to do away with corsets and use lingerie and panties. Also the dresses they wore were developed from Coco Chanel which brought fashion into the spotlight. .  But eventually the flapper’s era will end with the birth of the Great Depression. Their fashion did not but evolved over time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3svvCj4yhYc

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In the 1920s, women adopted a new fashion trend where they liberalized themselves from the constricting clothes to more comfortable and sporty clothes. In the early 1920s, there were still alot of those who continued to wear conservative dresses but younger generation women began to wear sported shorter skirts. The main look that many women strived for was the straight-line chemise, a bob hair cut, and a hat to top it off. Fashion back in the 1920s was influenced heavily by a movement called surrealism which features elements of surprise and unexpected juxtapositions. Thus, the smooth, mechanized, and geometric forms were incorporated into clothing instead of the usual curvy look. Coco Chanel, a French fashion designer, brought her modernist philosophy to fashion by designing clothes that were menswear inspired and also comfortable.

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