The Museum of Textile and Fashion of Cholet presents the 8th edition of the cycle "Small couture", dedicated to children’s fashion, with a temporary exhibition on the period between the two wars.
These "Roaring Twenties" saw the emergence of a fashion that reflects the evolution of the place of women and the status of the child in society.
How were the children dressed a century ago? Women’s magazines, department store sales catalogues, and more simply, family photographs tell us about the childish fashion of this period.
The first surprise is to see children so short dressed. The girls are almost in a mini-skirt and the boys are wearing short panties that reach their mid-thighs. The watchword is movement! The garment must be comfortable and allow to move easily, in the image of women’s outfits.
By comparison with the fashion of the 1910s, the clothes of the Roaring Twenties are extremely simple, as much in their forms and compositions as in their sets. No more top-ups and overabundance of lace or embroidery. The motifs are mostly geometric, a sobriety that echoes the decorative arts of the 1920s. These years also consecrate the arrival of color in the layette.
The exhibition is an opportunity to take the museum’s collections relating to this period out of storage.