The Great War was over and everything was on the up. Fashions were getting ever more frilled and fanciful, with society ladies trapped under layers of lace and enormous hats. Then along came someone who changed everything.

Coco Chanel’s aesthetic absolutely defined the 1920s. She introduced flapper dresses – loose with a dropped waist – and bobbed hair. She even wore trousers, something which was shocking for a woman of that time. There was still a large gap between the rich and the poor, but Coco Chanel brought utilitarian fashion to the fore with her use of tweeds for women, jersey for outerwear and those striking little Breton striped tops which we all know and love.

At the beginning of the 1920s, women wore delicate fabrics and pale colours to show that their maids could keep them perfectly clean. Chanel, however, made black a mainstay of every woman’s wardrobe and Elsa Schiaparelli, a contemporary, invented the hot pink colour of the same name.

The Surrealists had come to town and Schiaparelli adored them, designing amongst other bizarre favourites the famed lobster dress. Their aesthetic was one of bizarre juxtaposition and a world of dreams, corresponding with the turning upside-down of everything which had come before. Women were wearing ‘poor’ fabrics and striving to look less and less womanly.

However, some things stayed the same. There was still only one ‘fashionable look’ at any one time, and hem length was much discussed. It remained at mid-calf generally, with the same length for evening gowns as well as for day dresses, as had been usual for centuries. Women still wore hats whenever they went out, although outré styles like turbans became fashionable, and heels were of a middling height.

What really changed was the silhouette, which became sporty, boyish and athletic rather than hyper-feminine. Undergarments were created to flatten, not emphasise, the bust, and from this sprang a whole new, practical look.