Clarke Historical Museum
  • Home
    • About the Clarke
    • Exhibits >
      • Immigration, Expulsion, Homecoming
      • Nealis Hall >
        • When Designs Escaped Baskets >
          • How Trade Changed Designs
          • New Materials new designs
          • Highlighted Designs
        • Women's Ceremonial Dresses: From Long Ago to Today >
          • Old Ways of Making
          • New Ways of Making, New Materials, Same Tradition
          • Current Dressmaking
          • Regalia Leaves the Museum
          • How to Wear a Dress: Photo Documentation of Regalia
        • Hover Collection
        • Mini-Exhibits
        • About Nealis Hall
      • Victorian Room
      • Opera Alley Exhibit >
        • Past Opera Alley Photo Exhibits
      • Online Exhibits
      • Past Exhibits
      • WWII Memorial Exhibit at the Humboldt County Airport
      • Upcoming Exhibits
    • Staff & Board
    • How to find us
    • Sustainability
  • Blog
  • Events
    • Book Club
    • Wild Teas
    • HHS
  • Support
    • Membership
    • Volunteer
    • Donations
    • Sponsorships
    • Internships
  • Education
    • School Tours
    • Teacher Survey
    • Teacher Resources
    • Additional Resources
    • Research >
      • Humboldt History
      • Local History Links
  • NCMA

1920s Fashion Exhibit


Picture
                                                 Fashion of the 1920s

WWI brought around many changes in society, particularly for women’s fashion. In the past, high fashion was reserved for the upper class, but due to design changes, dresses became less complicated and more affordable for middle class women.

Corsets lost their general appeal as flappers refused to wear them and instead rolled their stockings to the knee.  Long Corsets produced the boyish figure, but instead of thick boned corsets, many women preferred thin elastic webbing Lastex girdles that flattened the abdomen, with suspenders attached to the girdles. Underwear was minimal, sheer and lightweight.  

The arms were bared and the legs were covered with beige stockings visible to the knee. The young and fashionable woman during this period paid attention to legs and footwear. Stockings with patterns were hot fashion items with embroidery snaking around the ankles and up to the knee.  Flesh and soft pastel colors were made in either silk or rayon.  Rayon stockings were very shiny so girls powdered their legs to dull them before venturing out. 

Women wore cloche hats throughout this period, which signified that you had short hair.  It was only possible to get a close fitting cloche on the skull if the hair was cropped short and flat.  The cloche hat affected body posture as it was pulled well over the eyes which meant young women held their head at a specific angle in order to see where they were going as showing your forehead was considered unfashionable in the 1920s. 

Information from: http://www.fashion-era.com/flapper_fashion_1920s.htm


Clarke Historical Museum
240 E Street ~ Eureka, California 95501
admin@clarkemuseum.org
(707) 443-1947
​
Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved.