Fashion Of The 20Th Century

1767 Words8 Pages
Specific purpose – To inform my audience of the major American cultural influences on fashion within the twentieth century. Central Idea – Starting in the 1920’s, the United States began to shift away from depending on European fashion and used its major cultural decades of the 1920’s, 40’s, and 70’s to develop its own independent fashion trends. Introduction I. Let’s go back about 100 years. Ladies, could you imagine dressing every day in tall, stiff collars, long, heavy skirts, and tight corsets that pushed your ribs in? And gentleman, could you imagine dressing in three-piece suits with ties and knee-length stockings? II. This was the ideal dress for Americans in the first years of the twentieth century. Having an interest in today’s fashion, I was curious into discovering the roots to U.S. fashion. III. Beginning the twentieth century, the U.S. depended heavily on England and France for popular fashion statements. However, starting in the 1920’s, the U.S. began to shift away from depending on European fashion and began using its own cultural movements to develop its own independent fashion trends. IV. By analyzing three major cultural decades of the United States within the twentieth century, the 1920’s, 40’s, and 70’s have been the major decades into developing today’s fashion. (Transition: Let’s start in the first decade of U.S.-based fashion change, the 1920’s) Body I. The 1920’s was the turning point for the U.S.’s fashion in becoming independent. The decade was recognized as a time of modernization as the first World War had just ended, industrialization was booming, and women and African-American rights were becoming more liberal. The time was given the name “The Roarin’ Twenties”, influenced by the rise of jazz culture. a. As communication services were improving, airplanes were introduced, and automobiles were becoming
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