Fashion through the Decades

The 1920s

Women 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. Women wore their hair short and cropped in the famous "page boy" style. Hats were also close and cropped, fitting slick to the head

The 1940s
Nylon:

As soon as it was introduced in 1938, women embraced synthetic nylon.

Swing

skirts. Swing skirts were a common sight on USO dance floors as young women danced with uniformed men to the jazzy horns that characterized the Big Band Era.

Hats:

Hats became one of the few ways to express individual style with minimal resources. They were worn in a wide range of styles and personalized with scraps of foil, sequins, netting, paper and string.
Hair and makeup: Hairstyles became more elaborate as women sought ways to contrast their dull wardrobes. Shoulder length or longer hair was rolled into complex shapes and secured with bobby pins. Screen sirens like Lauren Bacall, Veronica Lake and Rita Hayworth popularized side parts and finger waves. Makeup was dramatic, characterized by matte foundation, powder, heavy brows and bright scarlet lips.

1950s
Women

wore feminine, charming clothes with bows, flounces and frills. Young ladies donned trousers which ranged from ankle length to just below the knee Bolero jackets were often worn with cocktail dresses. The Chanel Suit is a very important part of 1950s fashion.

 Nothing

says 1950s fashion like circle skirts. These were worn by teenagers with many petticoats underneath. These were often homemade and were hand decorated with appliqus. straight fitted skirts to the knee called pencil skirts also became fashionable.

1960s
The

swinging sixties changed the face of fashion. Clothes were cheaper and available to all. Hemlines went up higher than they had ever been before and teenagers led the way as fashion became less structured and less constricted

 Many

dresses in the sixties were short and fairly shapeless. The very popular shift dress is typical of this style.

 Hemlines

kept rising and by the mid-sixties they were above mid-thigh. This is when angel dresses were created. These were micro-mini dresses where the skirt was flared. The sleeves were long and wide and known as trumpet sleeves.

 The

famous Mary Quant mini skirt make it debut in the sixties. This was often A line. Later in the decade the hippie style made long, flowing gypsy style skirts popular. Suede A line minis put in an appearance towards the end of the decade.

1970s
Movies

and television shows such as Charlie's Angels were having an increasingly profound affect on fashion. In the early 1970s, women were choosing not to buy miniskirts, but instead turning to midis and ankle length maxis instead. However, By the mid seventies, the micro mini was in fashion.

 Trousers

and trouser suits were serious fashions in the 1970s. Pants began gently flared and reached wide bell bottom proportions by about 1975. After which they slowly reduced to straight and wide until by the end of the seventies they were finally narrow again.

The 1980s

Big colours and colours that mixed were the order for the day. For instance, a bright yellow that went with red was thought of being a really big hit. Womens fashion trends for the 1980s did include highlights such as big shoulder pads. These big shoulder pads were added to womens shirts and suits Women also wore mini skirts with leggings or legwarmers which were also the fashion thing to do.

 Madonna

first emerged on the dance music scene with her street urchin look consisting of short skirts worn over leggings, necklaces, rubber bracelets, fishnet gloves, hairbows, long layered strings of beads, bleached, untidy hair with dark roots, head bands, and lace ribbons. Oversized shirts were also a big trend of this time

The 1990s
Fashion

of the 1990s has been quoted as The decade fashion has forgotten. Trends that peppered the 1990s were an eclectic mix of influences from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s For many teenage girls, wearing combat trousers seven days a week became normal

Early 1990s fashion saw many women in baby doll or petticoat dresses. Lines had simplified from the 1980s and though a blazer was still fashionable, it had lost the shoulder pads. Fashion in general lost the over-the-top glamour. Baggy, flannel shirts and tight, girly T-shirts were very trendy women's fashion in the 1990s. T-shirts for women were about one extreme or the other: either very large or cropped, low cut and fitted.