The Roaring Twenties
The period between 1920 and 1930 or I would say, after world war one is a the only aftermath of war which brought in prosperous economy and openness in the society. The USA highly gained in this time period. So much that fashion history revolved around them. The influence of fashion mainly came from Coco Chanel who along with other brave fashion icon like Louise Brookes kept her broader perspective and equal rights for women in front of the society. It is because of these flapper girls that the period was marked for breaking meaningless restrictions in the name of culture through fashion. Women got free from the Victorian S-shaped silhouette by adapting to a low waist or drop line silhouette. In order to embellish themselves with more accessories they had a thought of being independent. This emerged a spark amongst women for having at par male rights and to abolish a patriarchal society.
Due to prosperity in the economy, aviation industry flourished, we got to know the advent of the automobile and electrical appliances which in turn increased the number of jobs making space in the industry, colleges and universities for women to contribute to society and to their self-esteem. Fashion became a literary device in resonating these notions amongst the society to make them open ears towards talks related to equal rights for all and also to make love with anyone. If there was was no openness by these occidental people to emulate from costumes and cultures of orientals we wouldn’t have seen a society liberal enough to have talks related to equality.
In the USA, there must have been struggle in passing the 19th amendment for female suffrage but at least fashion had found a loophole where to win their rights, people had to work on. I don’t agree with the British historian who said there was a little rise in feminism in the decade. I feel that taking the first step towards such a fragile social issue requires courage. That is because everything falls in place eventually if we are determined. Although, any bill to support Homosexuality was not passed, people were not affecting the lives of those who were open about their sexuality. This happened only through wearing unconventional clothes which acted as a catalyst in public speech.
Due to technological inventions like toasters, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners there was enough extra time left for women to work in jobs as well. Coco Chanel’s outerwear made for women which reached knee length helped them to work and participate in outdoor activities. Fashion collectively helped in shutting the mouths of conservative feminists who thought one cannot be expert in handling two responsibilities that is housework and jobs. Greta Garbo, a Swedish actress, was the first style icon to pioneer androgyny amongst the society. She adopted outfits from the male fashion silhouette like trench coat, simple shoes, shirts, cigarette pants, slouchy hat and big sunglasses.
Since it was an inception, women weren’t that determinant to gain their rights. And obviously how would they be? If there are still problems related to equality even after a century while I am penning this down, that was still the start!
The decade of 1920 undoubtedly should be titled, ‘ The Roaring Twenties’ in North America or as it goes in French, ‘années folles’ translating a crazy year. Not only the decade saw a roaring economy in the west but also an uproar in the dormant feminism amidst women which was aided by fashion. Oh the decade was roaring, and the roar was so loud from people that others were listening, from flapper girls yearning for equality and suffrage ,who were disdainful then for the conservative public, to homosexuals wanting an accepting environment to show their love. But as we all know everything resonated until the second world war waged, which slowed down the whole process of equality and also lost the strong opinionated society which wasn’t afraid of keeping their problems in front of others. This golden era of communication should be brought back to free human minds, constricted within pointless shackles.
