The 1920s uniforms: Nurse, Maid, Waitress, Servant

The roaring twenties was a golden era of fashion: it was the epitome of the new modern age fashion. Women’s 1920s uniforms for nurses and other professions reflected some of the popular trends of the day. As a result of WW1, women got a comfortable lifestyle. Like 1920s sportswear, swimsuits, there were different comfortable uniforms for different professionals.

1920s fashion made a statement that resembled their spirited and youthful style of living. It was made for the youth. 1920s women embraced their carefree and lively manner. Their choice of clothing represented it easily. As a result, this enabled them to pursue new identities and opened new doors for the rise of women’s rights. The post-WW1 years led to a rise in the hemline – ankle, calf, and then up to the knees by late twenties. The paradigm shift in fashion and its flexibility opened many doors: new opportunities and good spirits!

1920s Uniforms for Nurses

1920s nurse's unifroms
Nurse’s uniform 1920

A typical 1920s nurse uniform was long and loosely-fitting. This reflected some of the popular costume designs in the 1920s, for instance, cotton day dresses were quite similar to nursing uniforms.

The 1920s nurse uniform was usually white. They liked cotton as the fabric of these uniforms. These fabrics were similar to cotton day-dresses worn by housewives and the majority of women in the 1920s. As staying home remained as one of the pervading activities conducted by these women in the 20s, clothing was at its most comfortable state. While at home, they were in the company of just their family members. For this purpose, they liked to dress in the style of comfort.

One main point of the house dresses was functionality and comfort. They were usually loose-fitting and comfortable, which reflected the ideal condition for housework or paid work in these industries.

1920s Uniforms for House Maids

Housemaids and waitresses were obligated to wear certain uniforms that were at the discretion of the employers. Uniforms were mostly white, but some were black.

Aprons were commonly worn with housemaid uniforms. Apart from cotton house dresses, many women were involved in manual labor. During the roaring 20s, factory work was one of the prime fruits of labor. Work such as sewing, nursing, maid, or nanny represented the fundamental jobs as a woman. They had to wear a uniform coat or apron over a cotton house frock.

Most of the employers distinguished their employees based on their choice of costumes. They had to wear only a certain piece of clothing, depending on their job scope. These clothing had only certain colors and patterns.

1920s Unifroms for housemaids
1920s House Maids Uniform

Nurse outfits in the 1920s:

1920s uniforms
1920s Outfits

Shopping for nursing outfits from the roaring twenties may seem complex. After doing some extensive research on 1920s nurse outfits, it seems a lot easier than expected.

There are so many ways you can pair together a nursing outfit.

  • House Dress
    • Long robe dress
    • Use a string to wrap around the waist for the drop-down waist effect
    • Heeled closed-toe shoes
    • Collar
  • Cotton dress with apron
    • Apron with house maids uniform (usually tied at the bottom of the waist and reaches the knee area)

Wrap-up:

In this article, we have discussed the fundamental point of the house dresses being functionality and comfort. They were usually loose-fitting and comfortable. This reflected the ideal condition for housework or paid work in these industries.

It was easy to make these dresses. They mostly utilized fabric and patterns that were commonly used in house dresses and stitched them together. They used whatever material they could use to piece together a cotton nurse/ work outfit. In conclusion, 1920s women embraced their carefree and lively manner. As a result, this enabled them to pursue new identities and opened new doors for the rise of women’s rights.

1920s unifroms
1920s Unifroms