The Fashion

The Upper-Class showed off their wealth through their clothes and accessories. They wore very classy and elegant outfits. An average outfit to wear at night would be long catholic skirts with a cloche hat. A cloche hat would be somewhat pulled over a person’s eyes; showing your forehead was not in style. Another outfit to wear at night would be a body hugging long dress with a flowy bottom ending at the mid calf. Many people wore fur coats with a fur neckline. Jewelry consisted of pearls and gemstones. Many people liked to add buckles and sequences to outfits.

The middle-class only obtained a few nice outfits for special occasions. A daytime look for a middle-class member in society was a casual skirt and a blouse. They wore half length dresses that had a belt at the mid torso, creating a flow at the hips. The middle-class had few to no pairs of heels. Jewelry included a bedded short or long necklace for a middle-class woman.

The Lower-class’s clothing was usually casual hand me downs from the middle class. Their clothes were more ragged because they were less fortunate. They wore knitted dresses that were down to their calves or ankles. The shoes they had were flats or slippers. The lower-class was not usually able to afford jewelry.

There were many popular designers during the Harlem Renaissance. Coco Chanel was a famous designer for many reasons. She made the black dress popular. Chanel also made dresses that were beige, nude, navy, and black. She created dressing that had no corsets. Coco made interesting trimming and different embroiders on dresses. She also made many flapper dresses. Jeanne Lanvin was another famous designer. She also made clothes with new embroiders and trimmings. Lanvin’s designs ranged from mens wear to sports wear or lingerie. Paul Poiret brought chic gowns into society.

There was a “style norm” for women. They would wear nude, blush, pasteles mostly for stockings. Woman wore knee high socks that were in bright colors. They usually had their arms bare. Woman wore heels usually included a tea strap, a peekaboo heel, or a pointed toe heel. Their heels were usually two inches or taller. For makeup woman liked having rose powdered cheeks. They would also outline their lips and then fill their lips with deep shades of red or orange. Woman wore lots of fabric made of chiffon and silk because they were less heavy materials than cotton or wool. One popular dress at the time to wear was the one hour dress because it was easy to get on.

There were many hairstyles during the Harlem Renaissance. Irene Castle started the bobbed hair trend, which became popular after World War I. Usually people wore the cloche hat if they had this hairstyle. Another style was the dutch boy hairstyle which Louise “Lulu” Brooks brought into the mix. This style was used to cover people’s ears and so their hair would lay flat. People liked to add spit curls or little ringlets in the front of their hair. Lastly, there was the Ton Crop which was named after a british boy preparatory school. This look showed off their ears, and would give them extremely short hair.

The flappers at the time had a very distinct style. Flappers had short sleek down hair or many curls. Their dresses were shapeless, beaded, ruffled, and usually paired with a camisole. This dresses were made to show off and expose limbs. Their makeup consisted of very dark and smokey eyelids. Their eyebrows were plucked to perfection.

The celebrities and musicians had a different style. The celebrities wore what the middle-class wore at night, but on a daily occasion. Their wardrobe had tight dresses, feather boas, heels, and fur coats. The musicians wore long shimmery dresses which would have light reflecting off of it.