World events have always changed our society’s general moods and feelings. Fashion is a direct reflection of these changes. Fashion throughout history has always been an indicator of the sign of the times. For example, Levi Strauss made the first pair of demin jeans in the late 1800s. Denim was a new textile that was durable and meant to last and were made for men who were farmers, or those who were travelling to the Wild West in search of a new life.
In the 1920’s, women were granted the right to vote. With this freedom, women began to wear shorter skirts and dresses. They also stopped wearing corsets, which were made of whale bone and laced. Before this, women were socially required to wear corsets and long, full skirts. The ‘20’s are considered the Jazz Age. The general feeling of this period was about freedom, liveliness, music and fun.
During the ‘Roaring Twenties’, as this period was known, Coco Chanel was among the first women to cut her hair short. She influenced women to cut their hair in a time when women were socially required to wear their hair very long. In the late Twenties, Flapper fashion embraced all things modern. The construction of the Flapper Dress was less complicated than earlier fashions, and women were able to sew their own, which was essentially a straight shift dress with embellishment.
World War II was underway in the 1930’s. The carefree, gay feeling of the 1920’s had ended, and the Great Depression had began. People were anxious, depressed, and a general feeling of being poor existed. Food rationing was the norm, and instead of purchasing something new, people would repair their clothing and shoes to make them last longer. Thriftiness became a sign of the times. Skirt lengths were longer, and the waist-line returned to fashion to show a more traditional approach.
Hollywood Cinema influenced fashion in the 1930’s and 1940’s as much as the famous designers from Paris like Sciaparelli and Jean Patou did. People wanted to escape the turmoil of the day, and going to the movies became a favorite pasttime. People copied the fashion of their favorite movie stars, like Lana Turner, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford and Fred Astaire. Advances in manufacturing during the 30’s and 40’s showed widespread use of innovative synthetic fabrics, zippers, nylon stockings and viscose, which was used in under garments.
The 1950’s was a time of family. Men were home from the war, and the traditional family was celebrated. Women were expected to stay home and care for their husband and children. Women wore high heels, full shirts with crinolines, curled hair and sweaters. Accessories were popular, and considered the appropriate every-day dress standard. The most popular accessories were gloves in all lengths, frame purses, scarves which were worn in the hair and as belts. Men went to work at desk jobs and wore suits with skinny ties and pointed shoes.
Teenagers became the voice of fashion in the Fifties. Young teenage girls would wear poodle skirts and saddle shoes. The young ‘rebel’ teenage boys would wear their hair slicked back with pomade, leather jackets and rolled up jeans to impress the girls.
The beginning of the 1960’s was largely influenced by our nations First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy. Women copied her sytle and wore pumps, simple shift dresses and hat boxes. Fashion in the Sixties 1960’s was known for using great fabrics such as silk, wool, and linen. The Age of Aquarius had begun in the late 1960’s. People started to wear things such as mod jackets and women began to rebel and expressed their freedom by wearing miniskirts. The Vietnam War began, and people began to wear jeans and loose fabrics as a sign of rebellious political and social views.
The events in the 1960’s like the Vietnam War and social changes continued into the 1970’s. The miniskirt trend continued to grow. People also wore flared jeans earlier in the Seventies, but this style gradually changed to Disco, with shiny, body hugging fabrics from designer’s like Halston. With the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, a new style emerged from Great Britain called Punk Rock in 1977. People began to wear their hair in punk styles such as mohawks and other spikey styles to rebel against society.
The 1980’s was shaped by women’s prominence into the workplace. American designers like Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and Calvin Klein became prominent and started to build their large lifestyle empires that they are known for. Power dressing became essential for work-place clothing. Men wore Power suits, and women’s clothing was influenced by menswear. Women wore large shoulder pads and men’s styled suit jackets with straight skirts.
The Eighties also was influenced by New Wave, and artists like Boy George and Devo. For girls, the person with the most influence in fashion was Madonna. Girls everywhere wore skirts over leggings, multiple necklaces and rubber bracelets, fishnet gloves, and lace. Other trends in the Eighties include dancewear, from the movie “Flashdance”, Valley Girl, and Miami Vice. Fashion in the late 1980’s was influenced by Rap and Heavy Metal music.
The 1990’s was all about dressing down and minimalism. People began dressing down because their were so many new oppurtunities in the 90’s, so people lost interest in fashion. Many people wore their hair long and tight short jackets. Women usually chose to wear halter tops and miniskirts with high heels. Men would wear punk rock clothes. They would dye their hair and wear trendy t-shirts. The main colors of this time were black, gray, cream, and other dull colors.
Throughout history, the fashion of the era changed depending on what event was going on. As you can see, fashion has changed so much throughout each of the decades. The millenium has seen a return to styles popular in each decade. We are seeing that often times, history repeats itself. The trend of consumerism in the early and mid 2000’s has led us to our current place in history. People are not buying as much due to the recession. We’re back to being thrifty, just like the 1930’s.
