Ladies' fashion in the 1920s

This female fashion style from the 1920s with its hemline almost at the knee was revolutionary in how it displayed the female body. The bobbed hairstyle under the flowerpot hat, the shirt-like dress obscuring the waist, bosom and hips (a clear break with the fashion of the 19th century), and the elegant shoes and stockings foreshadowed the future image of the "new woman", a topos that was diffused primarily by contemporary picture media. This new image was expressed in the women's magazines and fashion magazines of the 1920s, each displaying a fashion tailored to their own readership.

Portrait of Joan Crawford (1906–1977), black and white photograph, unknown photographer; source: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, George Grantham Bain Collection, DIGITAL ID: (digital file from original neg.) ggbain 24590, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ggb2006000004/.