20th Century Key Trends

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The 20th century witnessed the appearance of a variety of trends which have become extremely popular and will surely be used by many designers for lots of years ahead.

A little black dress, a mini skirt, a pencil skirt – all these have been taken as must-haves for any fashion conscious women’s wardrobes. They are basics and have outlived plenty of fashion transformations.

And now more fashion history!

The ‘30s: Little Black Dress (LBD)

As we have already written it was Coco Chanel who invented the little black dress in 1926 and made it a revolutionary item for women of that epoch. Black used to be interpreted basically as a religious and funeral color. But the Great Depression changed much in people’s minds and soon the LBD was successfully adopted into ladies’ wardrobes. Thanks to Chanel women understood that the elegant black dress was the best investment because it would never become old-fashioned.

The ‘40s: Mannish Style

Hollywood actress Katharine Hepburn was the first woman who dared to don a pantsuit. She proved that women can look feminine even when wearing men’s pants and shirts. Designers of nowadays offer us to combine mannish pants with more womanly items, such as ruched blouses, massive necklaces or cocktail rings.

The ‘50s: Pencil Skirt

French couturier Christian Dior created a pencil skirt that immediately became popular with women worldwide, including the USA first lady Jackline Kennedy. The success of Dior’s creation is pretty explainable: pencil skirt suits women of any shape minimizing hips and lengthening legs.

The ‘60s: Mini Skirt

Extremely short skirts by British designer Mary Quant were inspired by the ‘60s youth’s rebellious spirit and became very popular with young girls in Europe and the USA.

The ’70: Platform Shoes

Originally platform shoes appeared in the ‘40s but they were widely taken as a trend only in the ‘70s. Even men liked wearing them. The bold sexuality of the platform attracts shoe designers now even more than ever.

The ‘80s: Jeans

Rock musicians and ABBA, crazy parties and of course jeans – these determined the image of the youth in the ‘80s. At that time the world saw the transformation of jeans as working clothes into the must-haves of young people’s wardrobe.

The ‘90s: Minimalism

Neon colors and lycra went away and fashion minimalism was taken as a trend instead. Designers turned to making simple restrained garments with minimum details and colors.