Fashion of 1920s Celebrities: Style in Fashion's Golden Age

Fashion of 1920s Celebrities and the Influence On Pop Culture

It's no secret that the unique fashions of the rich and famous trickle down to influence the everyday fashions of "regular" men and women. The fashion of 20's celebrities was similar to today, but the cultural affect of readily available modern fashions was profound.

In the 1920s, Coco Chanel shaped the face of fashion by becoming a sought after designer, a style icon, a business woman, and a celebrity all wrapped up in one package. Chanel paved the way for the "triple threat" superstar celebrities of today.

Yet in the early 1920's, fashion and celebrity were still novel concepts to most of the world.

As radio, advertising, and mass media such as films and magazines became more popular so did the regular subjects of that
media--the movies stars, writers and designers of the modern age.

However, the fashion of 1920s celebrities was different than the utilitarian clothes of the past.

Not only was high "fashion" more visible to the everyday person on the street, but it became more available too. Up until the turn of the century most people had to make their own clothes. Buying pre-made clothes off the rack was a luxury that was still fairly new to the common man and woman.

In Chanel's words: fashion does not exist until it goes into the streets.

The advancements in clothes making technologies in the century leading up to the 1920's made the replication of the high styles of the haute couture salons easy.

It took only 12 to 24 months for a new fashion to go from the pages of Vogue Magazine to Sears Catalogue. These department store catalogues were widely distributed throughout the United States, making modern styles as available to the debutantes of Madison Avenue as they were to the farm girls of Des Moines.

As for advertising their wasn't much better vehicle for the fashion industry than the fashion of twenties celebrities.

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