College Fashions of the 1920s

 

 

This post owes everything to the lovely post on 1940s college fashions on the wonderful The Vintage Inn blog.  Liz's post about the charms of 1940s college life got me thinking about one of my favorite decades, the 1920s, and the sporty fashions worn by flaming youth co-eds. 

The twenties where a good decade for college.  Enrollment was at an all time high, particularly for woman, and society was in the midst of the first big youth culture movement.   All over campuses young people where shocking their elders by drinking elicit alcohol, bobbing their hair, speaking in a new slang jargon, and attending dances and petting parties.  The image of college life transferred from one of quiet study:




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to something a bit less sedate:



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With enrollment up and young students in the throws of the celebratory 1920s youth quake, college became an important part of the cultural landscape.  It began to be recognized as a typical write of passage, becoming the subject of popular films and magazines.

 

 

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But what where the flaming youth co-eds wearing while all this was going on?  The answer: stylish, comfortable, sports wear.  Sweaters, sweater vests, sports jackets, and striped ties seem to have been very popular with young men.

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And of course letterman sweaters where a hit on and off the football field. 

 

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Styles for young ladies weren't all that different from those worn by the gents, with sweaters often being worn with knee length pleated skirts, cloche hats or head scarves, and of course bobbed hair.

 

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Tie neck middy blouses were a popular choice for young ladies during warmer months:

 

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Women where also participating in college athletics and wearing the same sorts of sweaters, paired with skirts, as their male athlete counterparts.

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Though my college years have long passed by I would dearly love to sport any of these fashions for a crisp autumn walk through a leaf strewn campus....