One of the most significant stages in the development of women's fashion, a period of special elegance, formed thanks to the combination of simple silhouettes and pretentiousness in details. The style of the 20-30s in women's clothing expressed bohemian love for literature, music, and art.
Types
The key aspect of the emergence of the 1920-1930s style was the attempt of women to emancipate themselves: to obtain the same rights as men. Based on this, their appearance began to adopt male features and forms. However, even despite this, their images remained inexpressibly feminine and graceful. Most of the elements of this style originate from cinema or from the images of film actors. In addition, due to the desire to be as strong and independent as men, women began to allow themselves much more. This led to dramatic changes in wardrobe, views on clothing and fashion in general. Courage and equality are the main propaganda of these times, women began to look, on the one hand, comfortable, a little shapeless, and on the other hand - more than sexy. The characteristic features of clothing of the 20-30s are best traced through the example of three categories:
- gangster style;
- party wear;
- Everyday options.
In the clothes of the 20-30s, accessories played a very important role in both women's and men's wardrobes. But they were selected separately for each style, and they differed greatly from each other.
Gangster style
This branch of the style in clothing of the 20-30s was formed due to the desire of American men to look like movie stars playing gangsters. Men's fashion was as classical as possible in form: traditional suits, including jackets, classic high-waisted trousers, vests, complemented by shirts with white collars and ties. But still, their appearance was not devoid of some pretentiousness, characteristic of that time. Pastel colors in clothing (white or cream suits) or various variations of muted dark tones were considered especially stylish for men of the 30s. Expensive accessories played an important role: leather gloves, hats, silk handkerchiefs of muted bright colors or ties. Such excessive details created a picture of men's clothing of shocking, stylish and elegant movie gangsters of those times.
Men's styles basically became the main prototype of the 20-30s style in women's clothing. Even that very bright tie could often be found in women's wardrobes. However, gangster style clothing was by no means worn only by men. The popular movie stars of that time allowed themselves to extravagantly use men's trousers or suits in their looks. Following this fashion, designers, fashion designers and ordinary women began to add corresponding echoes of this style to their appearance or the appearance of their models. Similar features can be found today: girls often like to wear some element of a man's wardrobe a couple of sizes larger, for example, a shirt, a sweater or a jacket.
Party wear
For parties, trips to the theater, cinema and restaurants, women always wore a straight dress above or just below the knees. The distinctive features of the style of women's clothing in the 20-30s were an abundance of decor, this could be:
- fringe;
- artificial flowers;
- overlays;
- embroidery;
- sequins and beads;
- rhinestones;
- unusual shapes;
- deep necklines;
- headwear.
But, of course, the fashion that developed in the Soviet Union lagged far behind its American ancestor. The styles used were loose and extremely simple. The main idea of clothing in the 1930s was an attempt to equate the female image with the male one, so dresses did not emphasize the chest or waist, the emphasis was placed only on the hips. Openness, ease of movement, simplicity and at the same time pretentiousness of details were present in everything. Hand-embroidered dresses were especially valued, but not everyone could afford them, as well as an abundance of large, unusual jewelry. Jewelry was perhaps the only thing that demonstrated femininity in outfits. It was thanks to the braid and embroidery that women's outfits of the 1930s became individual, despite the fact that everyone had almost the same styles.
The most popular accessories in the twenties were fur capes, pearl and diamond jewelry - they were used in bracelets, pearl strands around the neck (often worn several at a time) or necklaces. Of course, costume jewelry played no less a role, since only the bourgeoisie could afford real jewelry, and in combination with the abundance of details on dresses, even cheap jewelry looked good.
Everyday options
It was then that the famous little black dress by Coco Chanel appeared. The simplicity of the silhouette and the universal color made it possible to wear it in absolutely any situation: from walks or work to dinner parties. The difference in belonging to the style was achieved only thanks to accessories. In both evening and casual clothes of the 20-30s, preference was almost always given to short sleeves or straps. Loose-cut dresses, no matter how they were cut, would still reveal the femininity of the figure. To enhance this effect, loose thin belts were often worn, sitting tightly on the hips. In addition, the use of light, flowing fabrics that fit the figure did not allow one to forget about the true femininity of the girls who wore them.
Casual clothing of the 1930s featured simple shapes and extremely straight silhouette lines. However, the looks were incredibly feminine and elegant. Jackets paired with tight, knee-length skirts made of thick fabric or dresses of the same shape with small sleeves were perfect for an evening stroll. Details could be made using lace, gathers, layering, but the look remained quite restrained. Women's clothing of the 1920s and 1930s emphasized the shoulders, often through the sleeves. Here again, a clear reference to the traditional male figure type with broad shoulders and narrow hips is clearly visible.
As for footwear, the preference was undoubtedly given to shoes. They had a rounded toe and a medium-height heel of 5-8 cm. Most often, a large number of straps or one, but not the usual one, for example, with a bow, lacing or clasp, were used as decoration.
The most popular models were those made of two or three colors. Since the shapes were quite uniform, individuality was given to the models precisely through coloring and patterns.
Characteristic hairstyles
Short haircuts were the most popular. Those with long hair gathered them into neat, simple hairstyles, looking at which one got the impression that they were cut short. Most often, hair was styled or secured with stripes. Bobs and large curls took their place, which were especially common on hair 8-15 cm above the shoulders. The most popular hairstyle was smooth horizontal waves. The style of the thirties was characterized by specific headwear, such as hats and a wide headband, decorated in all possible ways:
- precious or artificial stones;
- feathers;
- rhinestones;
- small veils.
Hats and headwear were an integral part of clothing in the 20s and 30s. They varied greatly in purpose: from wide-brimmed felt hats that complemented everyday attire to small silk or satin headdresses that were merely an adornment to an evening dress. An integral part of the female image was, of course, the face, which was a kind of "vampire ideal". White skin, dark, clearly defined eyebrows, black mascara, red or burgundy lips - quite provocative, but not excessive. Dark shadows were often used in makeup, often with a glitter effect, sometimes the eyes were outlined with white shadows for greater contrast. Short hairstyles with combed back or to one side prevailed among men, this fashion followed the movie actors. Almost no one wore a beard, but sometimes a small neat moustache was seen.
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