Comfort and practicality rule. Rayon, the first man-made fabric, is invented in 1910, as a substitute for silk. Hemlines rise to reveal ankles for the first time. After the war, jazz ladies celebrate the Roaring '20s with flapper dresses and short skirts. Boyish figures are in, with flattened bust, and bobbed hair.
Men add swing to their step with wide-leg pants, knickerbockers, and knitted pullovers.
As if in anticipation of the market's fall, skirts lengthen before the crash of 1929. World War II brings even greater freedom in women's lives, and ushers in the creation of nylon. Women line up at department stores to buy nylons, which replace flesh-colored silk stockings. A new emphasis on the leg comes into vogue. After World War II, femininity returns.