Canadians emerged from the First World War not only proud and victorious, but eager to enjoy themselves and live life to the fullest. This exuberant time period, known as the roaring twenties, brought about a lot of significant changes in technology and entertainment. Cinemas, automobiles, radios and airplanes, all of which we use today, were invented during this time period and the undying love of jazz music was born. However, when talking about the 1920’s and ’30’s the topic of fashion rarely comes to mind.

Earlier this week, when I was struggling to come up with an inquiry question, I asked my mom for some help so I could get a little inspiration. When I asked, she suggested doing something along the lines of women’s fashion. I was quite intrigued by the topic and after doing a fair bit of research I finally came up with: “What type of clothes did women wear throughout the 1920’s and ’30’s?”

All throughout history, fashion has constantly changed through different time periods and trends. In the early 1920’s, with the passing of corsets, women had the freedom to dress more creatively and innovatively then ever before. However, they were still held to the high standard of having to be very lady like and appearing to be flawless. In today’s day and age people can wear whatever they want but back then women wore colourful, coordinated and accessorized outfits. Hats, shoes, stockings, handbags, dresses and jewelry all came together to create a unique style of vibrant colours and combinations.

In the 1920’s women weren’t allowed to wear pants – or at least it wasn’t a thing. The dresses they wore were often made out of cotton or wool and they were lighter, brighter and shorter (hem at the knee) then ever before, which reflected the care free spirit of Post War Canada. Evening dresses, coats and jackets were often long and trimmed with fur. The fancier dresses were made out of silk to show that they were luxury items; few women could afford them but they were still quite popular. The main accessory that women wore during the twenties was a cloche hat. Every woman owned several of them in all different colours and they were very common to see. As for shoes and stockings, they were becoming increasingly relevant as they were becoming more and more visible. Shoes were commonly black and had thick heels with straps going across the front. Stockings were a little more flamboyant and came in all different colours and patterns to accommodate the coordinated outfits of stylish women during the time period.

1920’s addition of Eaton catalogue – article about women’s fashion.

Images displaying women’s fashion during the 1920’s.

The fashion of the thirties is usually over looked by the great depression, but the 1930’s was still a time of unique style and fashion innovation. The loose, short hem look of the ’20’s was completely gone, taken over by a very modest style with a longer hemline, higher neckline, and wider shoulders. In the 1930’s, style was everything. Women were expected to be tall and slender with a very small waist and they always had to shop “smart” and look “smart” even though nobody had any money.

Overall, the style of the thirties was a lot more conservative than the twenties. Day dresses had modest tops with wide sleeves, the length ranged from the floor to slightly below the knee, and they often had a floral, polka dot, or single colour print. Evening gowns of the time period were long and elegant with sweeping floor hems. Often times they had modest necklines on the front then opened up to a bare back. When it comes to shoes, they were a very similar to the 1920’s. They had a thick heel with either full coverage or straps, and it was common to see two tone heels with mixing textures. As for accessories, many women wore long gloves, small angular hats, and carried around a simple hand bag on a daily basis.

Images representing women’s style during the 1930’s

For my visual I decided to design and draw two outfits from each decade. In my drawings I tried my best to really incorporate the main fashion characteristics from each designated time period. I thought this was a really good way to answer my topic question as fashion is highly visual and it allows for people to see how women’s fashion evolved throughout the twenties and thirties.

Throughout the drawing process I experienced a lot of difficulty. First of all, It was extremely hard to come up with designs; secondly, It was really tough for me to actually draw and colour in the dresses without them looking terrible. I’m no artist, but I’m gonna give myself some props here. I think I did a very good job representing my topic and adequately answering my inquiry question. However, to get to this point it did require a fair amount of trial and error, all of which is worth it.