Change 5: Women s Fashion Styles

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1 Change 5: Women s Fashion Styles Aspect of Change Analysis of Change Causes of Change Resistance to Change Problems with Change Coping with Change Evaluating Change

2 Fashion One area that changed for women was in their fashion. While this may at first seem superficial, it was in fact very symbolic of many liberating changes that were occurring for women in society. One of the most important changes was that many women s clothes became accessible to the masses. Like the automobile, which became the norm by the 1920s, women s fashion styles could be mass produced by companies or easily made at home. Certain styles could be worn by all classes in society. Distinctions of course continued in the materials, craftsmanship and label. The style of women s fashions were unique. The hemline continued its move up the woman s legs. Hemlines were reaching up to the knee with some dresses even above the knee for women out on the town. By the mid-1920s the hemline was rising above the knee at the front with dipping hemlines below the knee at the back. The overall shape of the dress was taking on a new look. In the early part of the century a woman s dress tried to accentuate her natural curves. Fashion of the twenties had a new straight design. Women s dresses took on a more masculine look. Dresses were looser fitter. They hung straight on the body and were more broad in the shoulders. New designs actually tried to suppress the chest. The new dresses were designed with a more fit and slimmer woman in mind. Other changes took hold for women s fashion. Hair length became shorter. The long hair women had at the turn of the century was replaced and was bobbed and even cropped to more of a man s style and length. Cloche hats became the fad. Cloche hats were form fitting and worn tight to the skull. Perfect for women with their new hair styles. Footwear became a true fashion statement. With hemlines going higher, a woman s shoes became prominent. Shoes came to have higher heels to accentuate the foot and leg. Shoes had straps and were known as Mary Janes. Undergarments which had been made of firm material to keep everything in place disappeared with the new free-flowing styles. Women wore undergarments made of lighter materials and a lot less of it. The style of overcoats became shorter and were mainly a wraparound look. Finally no discussion of women s fashions in the 1920s would be complete without the flapper. One of the leading new wave designers was Coco Chanel, a name still prominent today. She saw the designers of her generation to be old fashioned. She promoted a style of freedom and flexibility. A flapper was the name given to young women who seemed to be rebelling against the norms of society. This was very true in fashion. They wore their hair short, dressed in revealing outfits that were loose fitting and left their entire arms bare. They wore stockings rolled up just above the knee. Fancy cosmetic jewellery and horn-rimmed glasses became popular too.

3 Women s Fashions from the 1910s

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5 Women s Fashions from the 1920s

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7 Historical Comment Symptomatic of the social revolution was the change in the status of women...this emancipation may have been responsible for some shocking (for the day) fashions, manners and habits. The hemline, which had stood at the ankles in pre-war days, crept upward to the knees; in some instances, only decency laws prevented the hemline from going even higher. Petticoats and bustles became old fashioned; rayon and silk fabric began to be used along with cotton. The one-piece bathing suit, considered indecent only a few years before, became fashionable and adorned feminine forms on beaches throughout the continent. The widespread use of cosmetics created an enormous industry to provide the ingredients for the artificial glamour. Hair styles also changed, as bobbed and boyish cuts replaced the elaborate coiffures of an earlier age; beauty parlours sprang up all over the country. Woman s new status also reflected itself in changing manners and habits. Cigarette smoking by women, long considered a private vice and a public sin, gained social acceptance...mixed drinking at parties was thought to be very avantgarde. The social barrier between the sexes began to break down. Challenge & Survival: The History of Canada H.H. Herstein, L.J. Hughes, R.C. Kirbyson What modern women sought to achieve was the abandonment of the double standard. If higher education was available to men, similar levels of education should be available to women. If men could choose careers in business and/or the professions, equal opportunities should be open to women...the flapper wore a tightly fitting felt cloche, two strings of beads, flesh colored hose rolled below the knees, bangles on her wrists and unbuckled galoshes...most symbolically, perhaps, was that the hemline of women s skirts rose from the ankle (1919) to above the knee (1927) and was rightly taken as the index of the revolutionary change in morals and manners that accompanied and followed the war....the YWCA circulated a booklet called Modesty Appeal and urged women to dress more decorously. Fashion writers insisted that women had gone too far and should lower their skirts during the very next fashion season. Legislative bodies in Utah and Virginia sought to impose limits on hemlines and necklines to no avail. Of these changes Carmel Snow, the fashion editor of Vogue, wrote: Nobody ever again will think of clothes as designed for a creature who sits she must walk about doing things...efficiency, simplicity, unity these make for chic. And chic is the one thing sought by the modern woman when she thinks about clothes. 1927: High Tide of the 1920s Gerald Leinward The clothing styles of the time, worn by racy wives and daughters of affluent men and by loose women alike, were intended to be provocative. Strangely enough, the fashion trend was toward loose-fitting, straight-hanging garments which de-emphasized the bosom, eliminated the waist, and in general masked all female curves and contours. Yet arms were stylishly bare and legs exposed to the knee, and the allure was not in the garments themselves, but in the way they were worn. Underbodices disappeared to be replaced by slips. Rayon, or artificial silk, became popular for dresses and stockings. The wide-brimmed Gloria Swanson hat with a tailored bow at the back was a must for every fashion conscious young woman of the mid-twenties. Long strings of beads were popular. And the sequined, sleeveless evening dress, which slipped on over the head, was the classic garment of the period. If there was ever a single symbol of emancipation in this area, however, it was certainly the advent of the boyish bob. Long hair for women had always been as traditional as Christmas, but suddenly the flappers and their emulators were having haircuts almost as short as men s. It was an open act of defiance, both of tradition and of the concept of male dominance. The Crazy Twenties: 1920/1930 Canada s Illustrated Heritage In contrast [to young women of the past] flappers were characterized by a carefree, worldly, and independent spirit. They delighted in shocking their elders, not only by their flimsy dresses and scarlet lips but also by their rudeness and vulgarity. Flappers chewed gum, told dirty jokes, and used profanity and slang...they often got drunk and stayed out late at night with modern young men...not surprisingly, many conservative Americans preferred the earlier customs and opposed the shocking manners of the younger generation. Girls are far more aggressive today. They call the boys up to try and make dates with them as they never would have when I was a girl, said one midwestern mother...as older women saw how practical and comfortable short hair, short skirts, and lighter fabrics could be, many decided that they would follow their daughters leads. Some shortened their skirts, and many cut their hair...older women also joined the younger women in taking up smoking According to one historian, [They] strewed the dinner table with their ashes, snatched a puff between the acts of [plays], invaded the masculine sanctity of the club car [on the train], and forced department stores to place ornamental ash-trays between the chairs in their women s shoe departments. Life During the Roaring Twenties Diane Yancey

8 Pespectives How would these people react to the fashion styles of the flappers? Assume one of the following roles You are a leading Canadian fashion designer. You have repeatedly tried to promote styles that you call more liberating for the Canadian woman of today. You are a teenager at the local high school. You have been following with interest what some of the movie starlets are wearing in the movies and on the runway. You are the parent of 21 year old woman. You cannot believe the clothing choices that she is making recently. You have argued about it repeatedly. You own a business with a conservative clientele. Some of your young female employees are coming to work in clothing that you feel is not appropriate. How would your character explain the cause of the change? Would your character resist the change? What problems would your character identify with the change? How would your character cope with the change in the future? How would your character evaluate the change?