1920s Fashion in Formal Wear

One of the pioneers of women’s formal wear fashion was Coco Chanel.  She introduced the women’s trouser, and threw away her corset.  She revolutionized an active lifestyle look for women that caught the attention of mainstream fashion designers.  Comfort met style for women during the 1920s.

Women’s Wear

During the 1920s, women were becoming liberated from long gray and plaid bustled dresses.  Instead, women wore more colorful and flowing fabrics that were shorter than ever.  Dress lengths rose several inches to just below the knee.  Women were quickly becoming liberated, and fashion followed.  Amongst the most popular styles was the flat breast top with a drop waist, which gave women a boyish figure.

Women’s Hats

The cloche hat is an art deco design worn in the roaring twenties.  The hats have a bell shape and are often adorned with feathers and hatpins.  This hat style was more crisp than earlier hats, and made women appear taller because of the spherical crown-like effect above the band of the hat.

Underwear

No longer did women wear bloomers or pant-like underwear under their dresses.  Instead, silk stockings in many vibrant colors and distinct patterns came into fashion.   Flappers wore bras instead of corsets.

Men’s Hats and Suits

Men began to wear shorter jackets, often worn with belts in the earlier 20s.  The lapels were quite narrow and sometimes buttoned up high to the neckline.  Pants were straight-legged and narrow fitting.   After 1925, the jackets were lengthened and the lapels widened.  Men wore hats based upon what they could afford.  The newsboy hat was in fashion for working class men, while the middle class generally wore a fedora, and wealthy men sometimes adorned a homburg hat, best known as the top hat.