Roaring Twenties

There was probably no other period in the history of female fashion as dramatic as the first three decades of the 20th century. Up to World War I, women used to wear dresses like in the picture beside. Then, in the 1920s, came the flapper look, which was similar to many modern fashion designs. We asked Stephanie Reno and Barbara Heller to tell us about those days.

Stephanie Reno (96): "When I was a child, women used to wear those tight corsets to give themselves a smaller waist. And then, one day, my older sister just threw away all her corsets. She was following the fashion of the day and she started wearing simple, loose dresses. She would even wear shorts! She would put on make-up, go to parties, smoke, and drink. My mother thought she had gone completely wild!"

Barbara Heller (95): "Clothes used to be terrible in the old days-that is before twenties. My mother didn't use to wear trousers at all. My granny would always put on this horrible huge hat, decorated with flowers and feathers. She never went out without it. And then, all of a sudden, everything changed. I remember my sisters were very sporty girls - they went swimming and cycling and they would wear trousers all the time. They needed comfortable clothes."

The person who had the greatest influence on the style of the 1920s was Coco Chanel, the most famous fashion designer of the 20th century. She cut her hair short and wore trousers, so they became trendy in women's fashion. Back in the 1920s, she introduced the cardigan, the little black dress, Chanel No. 5 perfume and many fashion items that are still popular today.