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David Evans consults two fashion experts to look at how styles of the 1920s were influenced by world events, and what impact our own events could have on the future of fashion

I’m of an age where my grandparents were in the prime of their lives during the 1920s. They saw huge changes during their lifetimes; born when very few people had seen a motorcar or aeroplane, they lived to see men walk on the Moon. The 1920s saw a revolution in every aspect of their lives, as the world emerged from the horrors of war (and the Spanish flu pandemic of course) and witnessed changing social attitudes, advances in science and engineering, a flowering of the arts and economic growth followed by collapse. Changes in mens’s and women’s fashions in particular reflected more liberal attitudes and tolerance and, to fit with the Roaring Twenties theme of this issue, I thought I’d explore whether the 2020s will see a similar explosion of transformative energy. I’ve asked two experts to help me with this. Eric Musgrave has written about fashion for over forty years and many of you will have read his book Sharp Suits, a celebration of the history of the men’s suit. Caroline Young has written extensively about Coco Chanel (full list below).

“Of most interest to menswear watchers is, of course, Edward, Prince of Wales, whose innovations are well known – he was seen with turn-ups on his trousers from about 1922. He championed Fair Isle knitwear over waistcoats. He liked plus fours, which dropped to mid-calf rather than the usual just-belowthe-knee length”

In painting the background to the decade, Eric Musgrave told me that: “The popular impression of The Roaring Twenties being awash with Bright Young Things is a lazy interpretation of a fascinating decade of immense social change in the United Kingdom. The First World War marked a watershed, after which so many things were different. The year 1918 saw almost universal suffrage; social change was reflected in legislation which established the dole system. In 1921 the Education Act raised the school leaving age to 14. State primary education was now free for all children and started at age five.

The four years of war had resulted in more than 700,000 dead for the UK alone. Whether because of the disdain at the feelings that the war had seen “lions led by donkeys”, the influence and power of the British aristocracy and landed gentry began steeply to decline from the 1920s. Many large country houses were closed and demolished. Thousands of people left domestic service for betterpaid jobs in the towns and cities. Unemployment was a problem – hence the General Strike of 1926. Many of the accepted roles, hierarchies and social mores of pre-1914 changed during the 1920s.”

Caroline Young outlines the changes for women: “A spirit of emancipation was triggered by the First World War, when women were given a new purpose, with vital war work carried out in austere, practical clothing. The suffragette movement, leading to women over 30 being given the right to vote in Britain, also made an impact on women’s independence, which was reflected in their clothing. New technology, such as the gramophone, the cinema and the automobile, opened up a new world of dating and leisure time, and so dress codes relaxed for these activities. While the economy boomed, young people still bore the scars from the war, where a generation of young men had been wiped out. As a result, they planned to enjoy every moment, and their glamorous, frivolous fashions reflected their need to let off steam.”

These changes had a significant effect on fashions – for women in particular, as Young explains: “The twenties was a decade when women had unprecedented choices in how they chose to live, and fashions reflected these new freedoms. The flapper was the pleasure-seeking modern girl who flattened down their chests, and wore straight, sheer chemise dresses with drop-waists and kneelength hems. It was a complete switch from the fashions before the First World War, when women were cinched into an ‘S’ shape, created through restrictive padding and corsetry. The women of the twenties shocked their elders by smoking, drinking cocktails, and dancing the latest energetic

dances that came out of the clubs of Harlem, and their clothing was designed to suit these activities. When twenty years before, a glimpse of ankle was considered shocking; women were now exposing their arms, their backs and their knees. They also cut their hair short, into a bobbed style, which was considered one of the more provocative style statements a woman could make, and was a declaration of intent.

Fashion in this decade also incorporated Art Deco influences, defined by a streamlined silhouette with geometric designs and eastern-inspired motifs, partly as a reflection on the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922. There was also the groundbreaking emergence of trousers, which were still considered quite scandalous for women to wear. But trailblazers like Coco Chanel, who championed white satin pyjamas, and the Bright Young Things, chose them for cutting-edge evening wear, or to wear on the beach.”

Men’s fashion didn’t see such a revolutionary change, but Musgrave identifies one royal who began to undermine outdated style norms: “In terms of men’s fashions, the 1920s saw a relaxation of the old rules. Yet the king, an exRoyal Navy man, was a stickler for correctness and convention, unlike his father Edward VII, who had been a fashion innovator. George V championed, for example, a return to wearing frock coats instead of lounge suits. This conservative attitude was not shared by most of his clutch of sons. Of most interest to menswear watchers is, of course, Edward, Prince of Wales, born 1894 and known as David to the royals. His innovations are well known – he was seen with turn-ups on his trousers from about 1922. He championed Fair Isle knitwear rather than waistcoats. He liked plus fours, which dropped to mid-calf rather than the usual just-below-the-knee length. He enraged his father by turning up at Royal Ascot in a grey suit and top hat, rather than the usual black.”

In a parallel to today, Musgrave identifies the influence of the celebrity in setting fashion trends: “The Prince [of Wales] noted that the increased use of photography made him more influential than ever. The new rivals to the traditional royals and aristos as style leaders were American movie stars like Lionel Barrymore and Douglas Fairbanks Senior, plus elegant British theatricals such as Jack Buchanan and Noel Coward.

Interestingly, Fred Astaire made his first professional appearance in London in 1923 and met the Prince of Wales after the show. He was greatly impressed by the young royal’s style and had his white dress waistcoat – backless and not showing below the coat – copied.”

The rise of the high street store saw a democratisation of fashion and Musgrave points out that: “The steady spread across the nation’s high street of multiple tailors like Montague Burton and Hepworths meant that the fashions of the Prince of Wales, and stylistic changes like the appearance of wide Oxford bags at Oxford University in 1925, were soon available for the masses.”

For women, the champions of style were the designers, although, as with menswear, celebrities influenced tastes: “Coco Chanel was one of the most groundbreaking designers of the decade, as she really captured the flapper aesthetic, which was also known as the garconne look in France. During the First World War, Chanel was creating low-waisted dresses in the chemise style, and by 1918 she was designing jersey shift dresses which moved with the body. Chanel also popularised a trend for costume jewellery, where her strings of pearls worn with her Little Black Dress, introduced in 1926, practically defined the look of the decade.

Now we have entered the 2020s, I was intrigued to see if either writer saw any parallels in terms of fashions. For the 2020s, Musgrave predicts: “The continuing relaxation of traditional dress rules, which can only be accelerated by the likelihood of more working from home. Leisurewear, athleisure, casualwear – call it what you will – can only be more prevalent. Fashion trends will continue to be affected by today’s celebrities, but the pace of change will be faster and the length of influence will often be shorter. Socially, I don’t see a lot of parallels between the 1920s and the 2020s, apart from the fact we may be heading for a very bad recession.”

Caroline Young, on the other hand, sees some ‘real similarities’: “These two eras are both marked by devastation – the First World War and the Spanish Flu marked the start of the 1920s, and obviously the first years of this new decade have been punctured by the pandemic and huge political changes. Because of this, I think we’ll experience a similar fashion aesthetic. We’re already seeing a surge in leisurewear as people spend more time at home, but I think once we’re allowed out again to socialise and go to parties, I can envision a push for glitz and glamour.”

Whatever will happen in this decade, I suspect that classic styles will remain recognisable to the time traveller from the 1920s. I can recall my grandfather, born in 1901, as a very dapper man who smoked cigarettes in a Bakelite holder and wore beautifully tailored suits with suede brogues – a style which I strive to emulate today. In womenswear, Chanel’s ‘little black dress’ has inspired millions of copies. Style is often passed down through the generations and the DNA of classic style changes little, even over the course of a century. n