Men's wear

After World War I the German men's fashion orientated on an "international clothing style". This asked for a lounge suit with high waist and a flap that barely covered the buttocks. It had wide lapels, only two buttons at the front and pockets with flaps. The trousers that tapered were named "cork-screw trousers".

In the middle of the 20's the shape of the lounge suits changed. It was less waisted, the waistcoat was visible under the jacket and the trousers were equally wide. Moreover, the supply of patterned material (checks, dots, stripes, points ...) grew. Popular colours were grey, blue and brown. But very modern and eccentric fashion ("Dandy's fashion") was only worn by the youth, individualists and intellectuals. They liked especially the very wide "tango-trousers" that came from England. There they were called "Oxford bags" because students wore them over their shorts after sports to avoid the cold.

Cut-away, dinner jacket and tail-coat were popular dress-suits. The dinner-jacket was the most modified. Its cut corresponded to the lounge suit.

Sportswear consisted of very wide knickers and a sports jacket with stitched seams, patched pockets and a belt.

Before the world-wide economic crisis of 1929 a noticeable change came into men's fashion that lasted with only a few variations into the 30's. The upper part of the body was more accented with wide shoulder pads, while the suit was less waisted but with a flap clinging to the hips. The lounge jacket was long and had a very wide lapel. Men mostly wore a single-breasted lounge suit with three buttons (but only the button in the middle was closed). The double-breasted suit was only worn at official occasions by day.  A white handkerchief had always to be in the breast pocket. The trousers were wide and equally cut with cuffs. Fashionable colours were blue, iron-grey and havanna.

Originating from evening suits the dinner jacket conformed to the style of lounge suits. The waist-coat was substituted by a sash little by little. The tail-coat got fashionably wide trousers.

The sportswear from the 20's lasted into the 30's with only few variations. But it came into fashion to wear the sports suits by day in the city. That was why tailors "protested" against the bad habit to wear knickers and leather trousers at every turn.

Lady's fashion

At the beginning of the 20's the everyday dress was cut wide and loose. The low waist was draped with scarves, bows and fashionable belts as eye-catchers.

In 1924 that style came into fashion which stayed for 4 years and is well-known as the "Charleston look" up to this day. The tight cut dresses reached barely to the knees, the upper part was straight and the pleated skirt on one level with the hips. Many of them were high closed and had a straight shirt collar. Ties, jabots, colorful blends, bows and belts enlivened the dresses. The difference was more in the detail than in the cut.

Evening dresses corresponded in their straight line to the everyday clothing. Different were the neck-lines that often had the same size at the front and back. Thus many dresses were held from small straps only. Expensive fabrics and eccentric trimmings made up for the simple cut. From the middle of the 20's on even the legs were shown. Nevertheless the hem was soon longer again (since 1927). Especially fashionable was a skirt with a short front and a longer backside. At the same time the waist drew nearer to its natural place.

At the end of the 20's the fashion lead to a new, very feminine line. A dress that accented the shape and reached to the calves dominated the fashion of the 30's. The dresses were clinging around the hips and wide-flared near the hem. From 1933/34 on some modification was visible. The silhouette of the upper part was more accented, especially the shoulders with the help of puffed sleeves, ruffles, pleats or short boleros. An asymmetrical draping of the top passed for very stylish.

1938 came a new, more severe line into fashion. The shoulders were extremely accented and grotesquely widened. Simultaneously the skirt, mostly a pleated or a wide-flared one, reached to the knees only. Patterns of pepita, stripes, points and pastel shades dominated.

The rationing of materials and the compulsion to dress practically and simply stopped every fashionable development during World War II. The pre-war fashion with wide, male shoulders and short skirts varied scarcely. The mottos "save material" and "mending is better than ending" in lady's journals propagated combinations of different fabrics (rests) and reparations of torn parts. Trimmings and decorations were economized.

1947 Christian Dior put a new lady's fashion on the market. His "New Look" dominated up to the 50's. The dresses, with natural shoulders again, were wide-flared, waisted and reached to the calves.