Fashion is always evolving based on the trends of the past and what is currently affecting the youth of the current generation. Both females and males alike have seen so much improvement in fashion over the past decades that even seeing someone from a century ago would yield quite outlandish looks.
Clothing from the 1920’s is hard to discuss without also defining the term “flapper.” A flapper was anyone who wore the signature marks of the outgoing and carefree women of the 1920’s. Flappers would usually restrict the chest with special garments as well, to give a manly appearance so as to be on terms with males. Unfortunately, this decade was a short lived one.
After World War II, the United States was just getting out of a horrible depression. Even after the effects of the depression and war, women and men had to dress conservatively to ensure there were enough materials for war efforts. Women often wore basic and durable clothing, as they were the ones running the factories while the men went to war.
While war was again striking the United States, the fashion industry again shifted. Only instead of being conservative, the next generation of adults and teens instead opted for comfort. Loose clothes and a generally carefree lifestyle defined what the 1960’s would go down into history as, despite most associating this hippy movement with the 1970’s.
A few decades later we come to the 1990’s, where fashion has become a mixture of several styles. While there will always be those who value retro styles, the 1990’s brought a mix of many different types of fashion and combined them. Different sects or cliques easily form as a result of one’s taste in fashion. One thing that was always popular was bright colors and usage of pastels in clothing, along with blue jeans and tennis shoes to match.
As it stands today, fashion has become a melting pot of hundreds of different styles combine into one. There are the sophisticated business dresses that come from the 1980’s, the pastels that we remember the 1990’s by, and even the “flapper” styles that were popular almost a century ago. As it would look to be, it seems fashion is only going to continue to mix and match its way into a rather diverse and exciting field.
Final Thoughts
The fun part is just about to begin: we get to see new fashions emerge as new and old fashions continue to merge and morph into still yet more fashion styles. As another century passes, we can only guess that what we consider normal now is completely odd to those looking back in time at our current fashions.