How Did Women’s Fashion Transform During the Past 100 Years?

Mariam Youssef - Jan 2022

Fashion & Beauty

Fashion trends keep changing constantly. Every year, fashion designers introduce new clothing lines, fashion trends come up, and old fashion trends disappear. From time to time, even old fashion trends come back to life. But where did it all start? What is the history of fashion? We’ll time travel to the history of fashion from the 1900s to our current day.

The 1900s

Back in the 1900s, women used to wear wide abayas with long sleeves over their home wear. On top of it, they used to wear a piece of taffeta cloth that covers their heads and shoulders called the “Habara” and they covered their faces with a “Yashmak” or “Burqa.”

The 1920s

Women’s apparel didn’t change much until Hoda Shaarawi’s revolution in 1919 that inspired women to take off their “Burqa.” Since then, women started to wear simpler outfits. Long dark dresses were common among upper and middle-class women. However, women of a lower class didn’t take off the Habara and Burqa.

The 1930s

Starting from the 1930s, the European style dominated fashion, in which women started wearing simpler and shorter dresses that were inspired by universal fashion houses.

The 1940s

In this decade, women were impressed by the cinema fashion and the dresses that their favorite actresses wore. So, they started to copy the design of these dresses and sew identical ones. Women also wore sets of blouses and skirts of the same color and fabric along with big fashionable hats.

The 1950s

This decade is considered the classiest and most fashionable one due to the emerging of big, fluffy, colorful dresses. Women wore polka dot, floral, and striped dresses in bold colors like blue, red, pink, and yellow.

The 1960s

At that time, Jacqueline Kennedy was a fashion icon that was followed by thousands of women all around the world. She was known for her short hair and sleeveless dresses that many women copied. However, this trend was mainly followed by upper-class women only. Middle and low-class women started working in factories following Abdel Nasser’s industrial revolution, so they started to wear pants and comfy clothes to make them comfortable during work.

The 1970s

Thanks to the gorgeous style and unprecedented fashion of Souad Hosni, this decade witnessed an enormous transformation. Mini and micro skirts were extremely fashionable in the 1970s along with bright shades of Charleston pants. Additionally, women started to wear tight jeans and crop tops.

The 1980s

Blouses with wide shoulders, bright colors, and a lot of details in one design dominated the fashion of the eighties. Wide and broad shoulders indicated that women were as strong as men. Women also tended to wear practical clothes that highlight their strength and high ranks in various professions. Women also started to wear leggings to keep them warm; however, later on, they wore them boldly all the time and everywhere.

The 1990s

Starting from the nineties, some women started to wear headscarves and hijabs, while others preferred funky attire, in which they wore leather jackets and loose outfits. Denim has also spread widely during this decade, where women wore denim jackets and dresses.

The 2000s

This decade was all about funky style, where women wore chokers, hair clips, and bright colors. They also preferred comfort, so many women started wearing tracksuits and comfy clothes.

The 2010s

Since 2010, social media has become a vital part of everyone’s life affecting different aspects, especially fashion. Women adapted the tomboy style, tight jeans, cardigans, and backpacks to facilitate movement. Bigger bags and taller boots started to become trendy as well.

The 2020s

Over the past two years, women have remarkably transformed the fashion game. Thanks to social media, plenty of girls started fashion blogging to guide others in styling clothes and match colors. All shades and colors were and are still trendy. Mix and match is one of the latest trends that is followed by millions. Baggy and modest apparel has also become extremely trendy.

100 years women's fashion

How Did Women’s Fashion Transform During the Past 100 Years?

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