D-Xirable Style Decade #2! The 1920's!

Picture of a handsome, young Gilbert Roland! :)

My second favorite style decade is the 1920's ("The Roaring 20's" or "Roaring Twenties")! It's also known as the Jazz Age! Unlike the 1950's (when the sexy feminine figures were in), the 1920's preferred the boyish figures. Yes, the complete opposite of the pin-up ladies, I know. I guess I will blame it on my dual personality. I like the 50's feminine, pin-up style and then the 20's boyish, flapper style.

Style Icon's - 20's

My favorite is Josephine Baker, of course!

Other 20's Style Icons: 

1920's makeup - Cream rouge circling the cheekbones, eyebrows plucked and thinly penciled in and pale powder. Vivid red lipstick was used to emphasize the “Cupid’s bow” of the upper lip, and to exaggerate the width of the “P” on the lower lip. Thus creating what we now know as the “Rosebud Pout”.

Picture of a lovely lady in 20's makeup with a cute "Rosebud Pout"

Picture of a lovely lady in 20's makeup

Boyish look/figures - The 1920's ditched the corset and the ideal figure was flat-chested and somewhat boxy.

Undergarments, such as bras and slips, were first used in the 1920's. A flat chest was preferred to a large one, following with the boyish trend. Many women preferred thin elastic webbing Lastex girdles that flattened the abdomen.

Suspenders were attached to the girdles. The chemise, bloomers, or camisoles was employed in place of the corset.

Rayon stockings became popular in the 1920's as a substitute for silk stockings. Rayon was also used in undergarments. Colorful silk tights also came back into fashion for those who could afford them.

Picture of lovely ladies in 1920's undergarments

Sport uniforms - Men's fashion relied heavily on athletic uniforms. Of course, the fashionable athletics of the 1920's were tennis and golf, leading to high socks and sweaters. For the sporting guy of the 20’s, a trendy outfit as usually made up of a pair of linen knickers, a bow-tie and a V-necked sweater.

Picture of a famous 1920's golfer, Bobby Jones in a 20's sport uniform

The cloche - That iconic, beautiful hat of the 1920's for women. Cloche hats were bell shaped and often had embellishments such as flowers, ribbon, feathers. The women's hats of the 1920's are just plain chic. They make any woman instantly look like a movie star with bedroom eyes. The close, simple, cropped nature of the hat is dramatic, yet simple. Foreheads were unfashionable in the 1920's

Picture of a lovely lady in a cute cloche hat

The felt fedora (I love fedora's!) and a nice suit - The felt fedora and a nice suit was all the rage of the 1920's for men.

Picture of Fred Astaire in a 1920's suit and a felt fedora

Picture of the notorious Al Capone in a 1920's suit and a felt fedora

Leather helmets - Because of the popularity of WWI fighter pilots, both men and women became highly fond of wearing the pilot-style leather helmets.

Picture of WWI fighter pilots in pilot-style leather helmets

Art Deco - Art Deco was introduced in the 1920s as a protest against the Art Nouveau style. The Art Deco style is a very famous and popular art movement that had a lot influence in the world of jewelry. The Art Deco movement introduced styles that often focused on bold colors and geometric shapes.

Picture of beautiful Art Deco jewelry

Picture of beautiful Art Deco jewelry

Picture of beautiful Art Deco jewelry

Picture of beautiful Art Deco jewelry

Picture of beautiful Art Deco jewelry

Backless dresses - While the Western world wasn't quite ready for cleavage, they were totally fine with back fat. Dresses kept high collars in the front, but had very low cut backs.

Picture of a lovely lady in a backless dress

Wrap-over coats - The 1920's coats often wrapped to just one side fastening which was a feature of the garment. The coat fastening was either a huge button or some complex tab and buckle. Many coats had shawl fur collars. A fashion for coordinating coat linings with dress fabrics started at this time. This was not only a trend due to fashion; it was a trend due to need. During prohibition, women could hide many illegal bottles of alcohol in a large coat.

Picture of lovely ladies in 1920's wrap-over coats

Bobbed hair - Long hair was associated with virtue and maidenhood, so when the ladies of the 1920's started hacking their hair off, there were deeply ingrained social norms causing the shock. Women wore their hair short and cropped in the famous "page boy" style. Flappers chopped off their long locks in favor of a bob, a haircut where the hair is cut straight to frame the chin with bangs. Hair was first bobbed, then shingle bobbed.

Picture of a lovely lady in a cute 1920's bob

Picture of a lovely lady in a 20's bob

Finger-waves - After the hair was bobbed, it was finger-waved.

Picture of a lovely lady in finger-waves

Picture of a lovely lady in finger-waves

Eton Crop (1926-27) - An Eton crop was considered daring and shocked some older citizens, since hair had always been thought a woman's crowning glory.

Picture of beautiful Josephine Baker in an Eton crop

Picture of beautiful Josephine Baker in an Eton crop

Smoking - All those feisty flappers started smoking in public, which was considered crass, masculine, and unacceptable for women.

Picture of a couple smoking with 1920's cigarette holders

Bright colors - Fashion of the 1920's was much brighter than previous fashions.

Picture of some lovely ladies in bright colored 20's outfits

Shoes - T-bar shoes with buckles and bows and straps, and Mary Jane ankle strap button shoes were the style of the twenties.

Picture of 1920's shoes

Picture of 1920's shoes

Famous Designer - Coco Chanel

Picture of lovely ladies in Coco Chanel

Swimsuits - 1920's fashion saw bathing suits become more revealing as women started to express their new freedom. Bathing suits were either short taffeta outfits – favored by older women – or tight, sleeveless woolen tank suits with fitted undershorts which only covered down to the mid-leg. Bathing caps became a necessity as ladies needed to protect their bobbed hair styles from getting wet. People of this era also became interested in health-foods and exercise. Sun baking also became popular for many.

Picture of lovely ladies in 1920's swimsuits

Elegant evening attire - Evening clothes were elegant and made from luxurious materials such as silks, taffeta, chiffon and velvet. Many were tailored with long trailing sashes or asymmetric hemlines. In most cases, ladies didn't wear hats during the evening, but rather used stylish hair combs, bandeaux and jewelry.

Picture of a lovely lady in a 1920's evening gown

And my favorite thing about the 1920's - The Flapper girls, of course!

Flapper dresses were all the rage for women in 1920's fashion. A flapper dress was a sleek, sack-like form that could be very short or very long. It was usually highly decorated and made for dancing. The neckline tended to be square or straight; spaghetti straps were very popular. Flappers did not truly emerge until 1926. Flapper fashion embraced all modern things and styles. A fashionable flapper had short sleek hair, a shorter than average shapeless shift dress, a chest as flat as a board, wore makeup and applied it in public, smoked with a long cigarette holder, exposed her limbs and epitomized the spirit of a reckless rebel who danced the nights away in the Jazz Age.

Picture of lovely flapper girls

Picture of some lovely and beautiful flapper girls!

I hope that you enjoyed reading about my second favorite style decade!

Note to my followers: Look out for my "D-Xirable Followers Dedication" post coming up soon! :)

Love always,

LaTasha B.

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