Influence of the 1920s culture?

I'm doing the "Decades" project for my APUSH class and I'm researching fashion and consumer products during the 1920s. From someone who has done some research (or at least knows a bit about the 1920s), what caused the revolution of fashion? There were significant changes in women's and men's fashion - what might have caused this. (Does the woman's suffrage movement have any relation?)





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Influence of the 1920s culture?
The 1920s are a quintessential period of time for America because they fall between World War 1 and World War 2. Because of the war, women, generally for the first time, entered the workforce and contributed to society. This lead to them needing/ demanding more comfortable and functional clothes. Modern women needed to be active, and the corset was abandoned.





As far as night-wear is concerned, Jazz music was becoming more popular in the 20s, and the flapper dress better reflects that cultural style than any preceding nighttime women's fashion.
Reply:It is not true, as a comment above says, that women entered the worforce and contributed to society for the first time after WW1. Women have ALWAYS contributed to society, and have always been expected to work, whether inside the home or out of it.





The changes in women's fashions however may have been influenced by the fact that during WW1 some women were doing jobs that were traditionally done by men, and they needed more freedom of movement. Shortening hair may likewise have been more convenient for the same reason (many women likewise cut their hair short during the American Civil War).





Women's suffrage may have had something to do with it too, though in general the women of the post-WW1 generation were not interested in politics and causes, but in enjoying themselves.





Discussing women's fashions in 'America's women' Gail Collins wites:





'The word flapper had been used to describe everything from a gawky preadolescent to unbuckled galoshes, butin america it became the all-purpose designation for the girl of the hour. The flapper was energetic, daring, and self-absorbed. She defined herself by her unrestrained clothing. She did not wear a corset, and she bared her arms. her skirts went up to her knees, and she sometimes rolled down her sheer stockings, exposing her skin. But she hid her breasts. Her dresses hung straight down from the shoulders, and while sh enever used tight undergarments to sheathe her slim hips and middle, a flapper who had the bad luck to be amply endowed did bind her breasts so she could have the requisite flat shape. It was a peculiar combination of sexuality and boyishness and every young woman who was not very, very serious wanted to be part of the excitement, no matter what her race, class, or economic status. A survey in Milwaukee in 1927 found only 70 of 1,300 working girls still wearing a corset.'
Reply:Movies happened.. Though movies had been around since the turn of the century, there were such leaps in presensation and technology following the end of The Great War that during the 1920's more than 80 % of all Americans made it to a movie theater at the least once a week. Movies influenced both men %26amp; women though arguably men's clothes remain much more stable than women's fashions. For men right squat in the middle of the 1920s came an innovation that endures to this day in 2008. A Massuchusetts garment maker took out a patent on a pre-sewn necktie. Here-to-for men made do with bow ties or a loose scarf, the narrow and increasingly broader necktie just seem right for a majority of men and the bow tie bowed out becomming the tie of 'oddballs' or those attending formal affairs whilst the necktie became the norm.


Magazines also played their part. The 1920s saw a host of popular periodicals and with new technologies came glossy ads and inserts many of them aimed at telling Americans what to wear. In fact during the 1920 the well dressed 'Arrow' Shirt Man became a celebrity.


Getting back to women - - - getting the vote helped push women into rethinking their place in society. Hemlines rose, alarmingly, and showing off one's legs became fashionable. One can credit men for helping this trend. Instead of reacting with horror, men applauded the trend and made it clear that it was welcome.


A final factor; prosperity. In America the 1920 s were a prosperous time hence the profusion of ads in magaines which every household had to have four or more of. Prosperity made it feasible for men to wear three piece suits and due to the cost of things being relatively cheap lapels on coats grew wider and wider hence the 'gangster' look you find at parties %26amp; costumed events. Prosperity meant more accessories including items now deemed incorrect such as fur stoles %26amp; jackets.


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