The early twentieth century

The social scene underwent swift changes between the wars, and these brought a completely new range of fashions, from sunsuits to cocktail frocks, from Basque berets to Tyrolean hats. As war scares came round again, the last traces of the boyish figure and skimped skirt, relics of 1914-18, disappeared. Curves came back, with veils, flowers, muffs and curls. The young woman who wore trousers to pilot a speedboat would, on high days, appear in the full elegance of haute couture.

Colourful bunting and fairy lights gleamed in the summer days of 1914 before war blurred everything to a khaki monotone. Women, as yet ignorant of film-standardised looks, were individually ornamental. Their escorts, in boaters and blazers, added their own colourful touch to the sportive scene. Life was full of sweet illusions, but its outward form - a prosperous dressiness - had none of the colour subtlety that is so characteristic of modern dress. This revolution in taste was not due simply to growing sophistication. The Great War caused swift developments within the British dyestuffs industry.