1920s: The Flapper GIrl
The flapper girl was far more casual than her predecessor, the Gibson girl. Rather than embodying the everyday American woman, the flapper represented an immature young woman with little regard for uptight behavioral norms, she is independent and reckless. Women at this time were expected to have a boyish figure, small breasts, short hair, and a petite frame. Rather than corseting to make their bodies conform to a "womanly figure", the 20s brought on flattening bras which, you guessed it, flattened the chest to achieve the ideal figure. Clothes during this period were predominantly loose-fitting dresses with drop waists that revealed the legs and arms.