The 1920s is the decade in which fashion entered the modern era. It was the decade in which women first abandoned the more restricting fashions of past years and began to wear more comfortable clothes (such as short skirts or trousers).

As for changes in fashion, the huge influence of Paris designers like Poiret, Patou, Molyneux, Chanel, Lanvin, Lelong, Callot Soeurs and Vionnet cannot be underestimated, not to mention British designers such as Norman Hartnell – who went from catering exclusively to the wealthy upper class in the 1920s to designing British women’s utility dresses in the early 1940s. But there were more factors at work other than the whims of clothing designers. The 1920s was a cultural revolution!
These stunning color photographs below were taken by Clifton Royal Adams, who was a National Geographic staff photographer from 1920 until 1934. He died of a brain tumor in 1934 after becoming ill while on assignment to photograph the California giant Sequoia forest. These are from his European travels.