With the new found independance, women wanted to cut ties with the old feminine images of the past.
Throughout the 1920's women's hair became shorter and shorter, starting with the original Bob.
The Marcel Wave and finger wave were also seen on some of these cropped styles.
Women wanted to look like young fresh faced girls with slender shapes and flatter chests.
Next was the 1920's hairstyle was the shingled Bob (a boyish cut with a V shaped taper at the back).
All these changes coincided with the consitutional amendment in August 1920 that allowed women to vote for the first time.
So women really enjoyed asserting their new found independance. The new fashion trend a way of showing that.
There were new boundaries and the new shorter styles reflected the rebellion against the old maid styles of before.
At the same time a new form of music came on the scene named JAZZ.
Have you ever heard of Flappers?
Well that was the name given to the ladies wore a particular style that we now associate with the "Roaring 20's".
The 1920's style included:
- Sleek bobbed hair
- Shorter shapeless tunic style dresses embellished with tassles and beading. Also Jersey and silky camisole dresses
- Openly worn makeup, red lipstick
- Ladies spent a lot of time smoking slim cigarettes from long cigarette holders
Coco Chanel, the famous French fashion designer brought the flapper style to the forefront, she sported the style herself and wore her hair in a short 1920's bob style.
In the 20's, she designed dresses that we now associate with the 'Flapper' trend in neutral tones of beige, sand, cream, navy and black and was an expert in cutting garments, specialising in using easy to wear jersey fabrics.
The Eton Crop was the most daring and controversial style.
Initially, the hair would have been cut at men's barbershops because in those times, hairdressers did not know how to shear and cut women's hair so short.
Women would cue outside barbershops for hours to get their hair cropped. Eventually, hairdressers who were losing too much money caught on and began offering the Bob cut in their salons.
The look was sleek and women used hair pins to keep the hairstyle neat and waves in place. It was a era of post war frivolity.
Interested in old fashion hairstyles ? Check out our blog post about 1930's Hairstyles.