Fashion and Female Enterprise in London, 1924
By 1924, London fashion had shaken off the lingering heaviness of mourning crepe and stepped into a new age. The Great War had altered not only hems and silhouettes but expectations, ambitions, and the very way women moved through the world. Fashion in 1924 was playful, experimental, and radical. It was also big business, and increasingly, women were the ones running it.
What Made 1924 Fashion So Distinctive
1924 sits at a fascinating crossroads. Day dresses fell to mid-calf and skimmed the body rather than clinging to it. Waistlines hovered low on the hip, creating the long, straight silhouette now synonymous with the Jazz Age. Fabrics were lighter—crepe de chine, chiffon, georgette—and designed to sway when a woman walked, danced, or turned abruptly, as Ginger Gold so often must.
Color returned with confidence. Jewel tones, deep navy, jade green, rust, and soft pastels replaced wartime austerity. Beading and embroidery appeared not only on evening wear but increasingly on afternoon gowns, lending everyday life a faint shimmer of indulgence.
Accessories were half the fun. Cloche hats, pulled low over the eyes, lent women an air of mystery and autonomy. Long strands of pearls, silk stockings, feathered headpieces, and art deco handbags completed the look. Fashion was no longer about respectability alone—it was about self-expression.
Feathers, Flair, and the Rise of the Fashion Salon
High-end fashion shops in 1920s London were intimate, discreet spaces. Unlike grand department stores, couture salons relied on reputation, personal relationships, and trust. These were places where society women arrived by appointment, discussed private matters over tea, and expected absolute discretion.
This made fashion shops ideal enterprises for women. Running a couture salon required taste, social intelligence, and an understanding of female clientele—skills many women had honed long before they were allowed to formalize them as “business acumen.”
Lady Gold’s position at Feathers & Flair places her squarely within this world. Such establishments were often owned or managed by women who negotiated directly with French designers, sourced luxury materials, oversaw seamstresses, and handled wealthy, demanding customers. These women balanced creativity with accounting, charm with authority.
It was respectable work, but only just. Successful female business owners still faced scrutiny. A woman who earned well, lived independently, or moved easily among fashionable circles could attract admiration and suspicion in equal measure.
Here are a few of the famous female fashion designers of the era, most of whom are honorably mentioned in the Ginger Gold Mystery series.
Coco Chanel (France)
If there’s one name that defines 1920s fashion, it’s Chanel. She actually takes an important role in Murder at Hyde Park.
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She championed simplicity, comfort, and modernity at a time when women were shedding corsets and social restrictions.
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Introduced jersey fabric (previously used for men’s underwear!) into high fashion.
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Popularized drop-waist dresses, nautical styles, cardigan jackets, and of course the little black dress (1926).
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Her look mirrored the new woman of the 1920s: independent, sporty, and unapologetically modern.
Chanel wasn’t just designing clothes—she was designing a lifestyle.
Coco Chanel - 1928
Jeanne Lanvin (France)
Lanvin represented another side of 1920s fashion—romantic, luxurious, and deeply feminine.
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Known for exquisite embroidery, beadwork, and rich colors (notably “Lanvin blue”).
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Designed for mothers and daughters, creating a multi-generational fashion house.
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Her silhouettes were often softer and more classical than Chanel’s.
Lanvin was beloved by women who embraced modernity but still wanted glamour and tradition.
Madeleine Vionnet (France)
Vionnet was the architect of fashion.
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Famous for perfecting the bias cut, allowing fabric to cling and move naturally with the body.
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Her dresses were fluid, sculptural, and almost timeless.
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Avoided heavy embellishment—let construction do the work.
She appealed to women who wanted elegance that felt effortless and intelligent.
Lucile (Lady Duff Gordon) – Britain
A crucial figure for British fashion and society women, and the first designer to be mentioned by Ginger Gold, the victim in Murder at Hartigan House wearing one of her designs as seen in the image below
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One of the first designers to treat fashion as a global brand.
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Known for delicate, romantic gowns and innovative marketing.
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Designed for aristocracy, actresses, and American clients.
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Her work influenced London couture and transatlantic fashion culture.
She’s especially relevant if you’re looking at London society and Mayfair fashion houses.
Why 1924 Fashion Still Feels Fun
What makes 1924 uniquely delightful is its sense of anticipation. It is playful but not yet reckless, stylish but still tethered to tradition. Women were experimenting, with clothes, with careers, with freedom, while society watched, uncertain whether to applaud or recoil.
For Lady Gold, fashion is not frivolous. It is armor, currency, and language. In a world where women’s authority is often questioned, style becomes a form of power. Every well-cut dress, every successful transaction, every confident step through a London street reinforces her place in a changing city.
In 1924, fashion wasn’t just about looking modern. It was about being modern—on one’s own terms.
Espionage, intrigue...murder...
It's 1924 and war widow fashionista Ginger Gold's new Regent Street dress shop, Feathers & Flair, is the talk of the London fashion district attracting aristocrats from Paris to Berlin to Moscow.
Ginger is offered her first job as a private detective when her sister-in-law's stage actor friend goes missing, and though the dress shop takes most of her time, Ginger takes the case.
But when a Russian grand duchess dies at the shop's official grand opening event, Ginger ignores the missing person to chase a killer. It's a decision she will live to regret.
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