The 1920s was a decade that challenged the traditional stereotypes placed on women and was expressed through their new modern fashion. Not everyone agreed with these changes, which caused the confidence that women gained with not only their bodies but pursuing equality between men and women to become controversial. Not previously seen before, this fashion had a lot of simplicity and an irreversible effect on fashion in our society and culture.
What caused women to make this statement with fashion?
One of the many reasons women changed their fashion style was when the law changed, giving women the right to vote. On August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment was passed by congress. Archives.gov states, " the 19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution." This was a massive step in the right direction towards equality. Women began to base their fashion choices on feminism and portray that the world is changing and traditional is not always correct. Women's traditional role in society was to be a "housewife"; they were not supposed to work but stay home and take care of their husbands and children. After World War One that ended in 1918, flappers gave a new point of view on this by embracing new fashion and personal freedom. With fashion, women were able to break this role they were told to play and start working towards this new version of society where women are not looked down upon for cutting their hair short, wearing makeup, having their dress above their knee, getting a job and much more.
Why was this controversial?
Change is sometimes tough to digest, and this would be one of those times for the men and certain women that prefer tradition. The traditionalist and older generations were threatened that this new fashion would go against family values and women's roles. This was the most revealing that women clothing has ever been, and not everyone was okay with the idea or the meaning behind women getting closer to equality and freedom. Women wanted to play a more prominent role in society, and that frightened men. Flappers were the most public and outgoing about the new change in women's fashion by cutting their hair and wearing makeup, which at the time was something only prostitutes did. Allysia Sulaiman states, "Flappers gave conservatives a shock by cutting their hair and wearing makeup. This was a major difference between the Gibson girl and a flapper. Long hair was a sign of a respectable lady before the war, but flappers decided it was time for a change." Women started to wear dresses that went above the knee, lower neck lines and overall revealed more skin. This confidence was stemmed from multiple political changes that were happening during this time and brought women empowerment. Traditionalists saw the connection between the political. aspect and how it was being portrayed through women's clothing and fashion. Local and state governments attempted to put a restriction on body exposure in women clothing, but the message behind the clothing was too great that for women it was worth the risk of being fined or arrested. (Lee) The power with being able to express yourself is not one that should be taken away from anyone, men or women.