Brief Overview of 1920s Fashions

Fashion trends towards a more casual look continued in the 1920's.  American culture in particular became very youth oriented, and fashion began to look towards teen and college-age kids for it's inspiration.  The "College Man" and "The Flapper" became the new icons of all that was young and fashionable.  Women in particular began dieting to mold their bodies into a slimmer, flatter teenage shape and dress waistlines dipped to hip length to minimize the appearance of adult curves. The Brassiere, in breast flattening styles, replaced corsets almost completely. Women's hemlines got shorter until 1925-6 when they peaked at just below the knee.  The influence of Hollywood Silent Pictures made makeup, particularly lipstick, increasingly fashionable.  Rayon (acetate) invented by Briton Charles Frederick Cross in 1895 (and first manufactured in the US in 1910) began to be commonly available in the 1920's, and was a staple fabric for stockings and women's dresses by the end of the decade. Shorter hairstyles necessitated hat shapes that held to the head without benefit of hatpins, so the head-hugging cloche was popular.