1920s

Youth in this decade was at a minimum because so many young people were killed during the war. As a result, teenagers had a new freedom that they used to usher in the Afro-influenced jazz age. Clara Bow, Louise Brooks, Rudolf Valentino, and Josephine Baker were popular stars of the time, personifying many of the modern ideals.

For women, face, figure, coiffure, posture and grooming became important fashion factors in addition to clothing. In particular, cosmetics became a major industry. Glamour was now an important fashion trend, due to the influence of the motion picture industry and the famous female movie stars.

 The 1920s saw the emergence of three major women's fashion magazines: Vogue, The Queen, and Harper's Bazaar. Vogue was first published in 1892, but its up-to-date fashion information did not have a marked impact on women's desires for fashionable garments until the 20's. These magazines provided mass exposure for popular styles and fashions.
During the early 1920s, waistlines were at the waist, but were loose and not fitted. Women wore suits with long hemlines and somewhat full skirts, often with belts at the waist of the jackets. Dress and suit bodices alike were worn loose, even baggy. By 1923, waistlines began to drop to a point between the natural waist and hips, while styles continued to be loose and baggy. In 1924 the waistline dropped to the hip.

In 1925, "shift" type dresses with no waistline emerged. At the end of the decade, dresses were being worn with straight bodices and collars. Tucks at the bottom of the bodices were popular, as well as knife-pleated skirts with a hem approximately one inch below the knee.

In 1928, styles changed again, hemlines rose to the knee and dresses became more fitted. These changes laid the foundation for the elegantly styled fashions of the 1930s.Women, celebrating such liberties as the right to vote in , were now more daring than ever before. It was considered fun to smoke, visit speakeasies, wear makeup, swear, and otherwise shock conventional thinkers. In 1927 when short skirts were all the rage; young women strove to show off their knees. Many girls even rolled down their stockings and painted rouge on their knees in an effort to emulate a "naughty schoolgirl" look. The curiosity for exotic arts and culture was fueled by the discovery of Egyptian King Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922. Egyptian themes appeared in everything from furniture to clothing.