Lesbian Fashion in 1920s Europe

The dawn of the 1920s followed the end of the First World War, and people were hungry for change. The modern fashions that emerged throughout the 1920s were a tremendous shift for women—androgynous, slim silhouettes, short haircuts, and rising hemlines were very much in vogue. But these styles could hold more than one meaning; though the “boyish” look was popular for any fashionable woman, it was championed by lesbians. Conceptions of sexual identity were relatively new in the early-twentieth century, with pioneers in the field of sexology only having published their first works in the late 1890s. While “lesbian” grew in popularity as a label (and lesbian possibilities became increasingly visible in the public eye), other ways of understanding sexuality were also in use—including the idea of the “sexual invert.” Despite a mixture of terms and understandings, fashion was a uniting force. Within many contexts, particularly in bustling European cities, self-presentation and even specific accessories like monocles could signal identity, desires, or community affiliation, all while appearing at the very height of fashion. This article presents some of the key lesbian figures in the 1920s fashion landscape, and considers the importance of their interconnected settings in London, Paris, and Berlin