Let's Bring Back 20's Fashion!

By Erica and Karen

Clothes reflect their times. The 1920's, between the wars, was a spirited age. Victory in WW! was being celebrated, and the Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the right to vote, was passed. New freedoms meant liberation, and not just politically. Out were tight bodices, multiple petticoats and constraining undergarments. In were sleek, new silhouettes with easy to maneuver hemlines, created by women (Chanel!) for women. A new kind of woman needed a new kind of clothes. 

We are a new kind of woman too and we need clothes that suit how we see ourselves, how we want others to see us, and how we live.  A light bulb went off for us when we saw the clothes in a new exhibit at the Costume Institute at the Met, In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection. The 20’s style is perfect for us--the new modern retiree. The clothes are beautiful and yet so easy to wear...skimming the body but not constraining it. They are feminine and embellished (a little glitz never hurt anyone) without being fussy. They are just what we need.

So, calling all designers. Bring back the 20's. Give us a silhouette that flatters but doesn't bind. No bags or sacks or a muumuus, thank you. But something beautifully tailored, easy to wear that makes us look like a million bucks. 

History is instructive. Let's learn from it.