Dressing to Kill: Where to Find 1920’s Kit
When one finds themselves hosting a 1920’s themed murder mystery night, one must dress the part.
But here’s the problem I bet brought you to this blog post today: there are a slew of 1920’s inspired dresses out there on the interwebs and I’d say perhaps 90% are utterly inaccurate to the era. Now, there are a lot of people who don’t care if they’re dressing in something only vaguely 1920’s-adjacent. They’re off to a Gatsby-themed cocktail party and they want to look good in sequins and fringe. More power to them; they have about a million affordable options to choose from.
But for me, and many historical fiction lovers whether it be fiction on the screen or on paper, it is very frustrating to scroll through pages and pages of bodycon dresses that barely reach mid-thigh that are called ‘1920’s.”
If you’re not a person who cares, this post might not be for you. If you do care about historical accuracy (to some extent), keep reading.
One of these things is not like the other… Two of these dresses are actually from the 1920’s, and one is from Amazon.
I’m no fashion historian, but I’ve done enough research to know that there are certain characteristics of a 1920’s outfit that simply must be included to suit my idea of era-appropriate. Yes, this is my idea of era-appropriate, so take all this with a grain of salt. Go seek out experts to form your own opinion, or wade through the epic, lust-inspiring pages of the Met’s fashion archives, and the like.
Where to Learn About 1920’s Fashion
Downton Abbey. Yes, it’s not perfect, but the costumers did a damn good job with realistic dressing year to year. You get to see not only lovely evening wear, but day looks, pajamas and intimates,, and how people of different classes dressed.
Etsy, search for 1920’s sewing patterns
1920’s Fashion Characteristics
Features of 1920’s outfits for the ladies:
Drop-waist silhouette, often emphasized with bows, broaches, or low-slung belts of matching fabric
Below the knee hemlines
Skirts with pleats, handkerchief points, ruffles or draped, or just falling straight down from the hips
Cotton, chiffon, wool for day or tea dresses; silk, satin, chiffon, and velvet for evening wear
Large collars, like a sailor collar or lace, and bows
These images reflect the decade of the 1920’s. If you have a particular year you’re trying to emulate, there are lots of fashion plates and dress patterns out there that will show you the trends of that year, like hemline lengths and patterns. Like every decade, things change vastly from year to year. Imagine visiting an H&M in 2015! Very different than what you’d find in 2025.
I’m specifically focusing on dresses in this post. It is very possible to find or create a killer 20’s outfit with pants or a skirt and blouse. Perhaps later I’ll update it with information about separates, sweaters and outwear, shoes, hats, and all kinds of accessories. For now, we’re focusing on dresses because if you are like me and want to make a cohesive fashion statement for a singular event, a dress is the easiest, most cost-effective way to do that. I do mention accessories at the end of this post, though details are limited. Vintage Dancer has so much information about all aspects of this era and I highly recommend you visit their fashion history pages for details about any facet of 20’s fashion.
My focus when searching out a dress was one thing: a drop-waist silhouette. I’m a bit of a DIYer and know my way around a sewing machine, so some of the other features are things that I figured I would work around and tack on, if need be. But a drop-waist silhouette is more of a challenge, thus it took priority.
Where to Search
I found that the right silhouette was hard to find unless I was on a specialty site like La Vie Delight or Babeyond. Quick note, both these sites have what I’d consider to be mostly accurate frocks, but Babeyond in particular tends toward the side of gorgeous beaded dresses that are more pretty than accurate. There are several companies I found that have more accurate dresses in the same heavily beaded style, but I couldn’t find one less than $200. That’s simply not in the budget for most of us. Onward!
The best place I found for this was, of all places, Zara. Here are some gems I found that, with the right hair and accessories, could totally work for those dressing for a 1920’s event. I’m writing this in August 2025, so it is unlikely that many of you will be able to find these exact dresses. I’m therefore saving myself the trouble of linking things. If you want to find the precise dress, I suggest taking a screen shot and uploading it to a reverse image search.
These dresses are most appropriate for day or tea. There is a difference between a day dress, like one might wear to run errands or go to work, and a tea dress, which is like a nice dress you’d dress up in to go to tea or on an outing to a museum. Check out Vintage Dancer for more info.
Another place I found some options that didn’t cost an arm and a leg was second-hand shops like eBay, ThredUp, and Etsy. I wasn’t looking for actual pieces from the 1920’s, mostly because I didn’t want the unnerving feeling that I couldn’t eat, drink, or breath in something a century old. Luckily, it’s the 1980’s and 1990’s to the rescue. They brought about a return of the drop waist, usually accompanied by bows, and the tendency to cover things in sequins works in your favor should you need an outfit for a fancy, evening event.
Find a great dress in a color or pattern that reminds you of the fashion plates you’ve seen (this is important, because maaany of the options are in colors and patterns that are just not the vibe for the 20’s!), then just cut out the shoulder pads! Cannot emphasize enough the need to remove the shoulder pads.
This is just a bare-bones selection of what I came across:
Search Terms
When typing in “1920’s dress” spat out only the too-short fringed flapper dresses and nothing else, I tried these search terms: 90’s/80’s does 20’s, drop waist dress, 80’s drop waist dress, midi slip dress, ruching, embroidery, lace, beading, pleated dress, Great Gatsby, Downton Abbey. Lillie Rubin and Sue Wong made some 1920’s inspired dresses I found, too, and they were promising!
Fit
After finding an appropriate silhouette, I would say the most challenging part of sourcing an outfit is the fit. The 1920’s are characterized by this very specific aesthetic of the flapper: the waif with kohled eyes and carved, round lips, and bobbed hair.
In reality, very few women fit into this model or even tried to. However, the flapper look heavily impacted the style of women’s' clothing regardless. The shape of the garments were meant to make their wearer look thinner and flat-chested. That’s why there was so much gathering and pleating and ruffling.
I’m looking at dresses at least one size larger than I usually buy. I want everything loose. If you are a smaller person who might usually wear a size XS or S or even M, you might be able to buy a vintage dress marked L or XL and have it sit on your body in the 20’s drop-waisted fashion. This opens up a possibility to buy a dress that would usually be a bodycon on the size its marked for, and utilize some of these tight, sparkly dresses flooding the market. It’s really hard to gauge that online, of course, so that strategy might be better used in person so you can try it on. Those of us who usually buy L or larger, I would say buy at least one size bigger than usual if buying vintage, and always check the measurements provided.
Accessories and Other Ideas
If you’re having no luck with vintage or Zara, you can always DIY something. A very loose slip dress in satin or silk paired with the right accessories, hair, and makeup will have you looking just right.
Some details about accessories:
Shoes: Mary Jane and t-strap low heels
Hats: cloche hats during the day, headdresses with beads or feathers for evening
Hair: bobbed hair with marcel waves and the like; it’s easy to find tutorials for short or longer hair!
Gloves: short and cotton for day and long and dramatic for the evening
Jewelry: pearls are iconic flapper-wear, but all sorts of jewelry can work
Shawls: an excellent option for dressing up a plain dress that will give you the drape and the sparkle of the 1920’s; fringed shawls or velvet robes popular a few years ago, Spanish shawls and those with patterns inspired by Egypt
Fur stoles and feather boas
Most of these items could be found during an enthusiastic afternoon searching through thrift stores or scouring Etsy. Here’s some inspiration:
At the end of the day, I hope you can keep in mind what I will be reminding myself of as I panic-scroll the internet for an outfit: whatever you wear, bring your love for this glamorous, raucous, beautiful decade. That’s what’s most important!
