The 1920s marked the beginning of the Jazz Age, also known as the Roaring '20s, as World War I came to an end. It was a time of significant economic boom, cultural change, and social change. Remarkable technological progress led to rapid modernization and urbanization after the war. This then led to many changes in people's lifestyles. A larger portion of the population has been able to enjoy higher standards of living due to greater accessibility. Culturally, the war affected the way both men and women saw themselves and therefore there was a big change in mentality and what was socially considered acceptable. During the war, men were sent to the battlefield while women remained and gradually entered the workforce. Women had to abandon the tradition of housework to replace male jobs that remained vacant. During the war, both men and women of that generation had fallen outside the structure of society. Due to the long war, it was difficult for them to reintegrate into pre-war life and they were also reluctant to adopt those rules again. Modernization freed thoughts and people wanted a less rigid and freer life. This led to the birth of flapper girls. The term "flapper" first arose in Great Britain after the First World War. It was used to describe girls in the awkward stage just before womanhood. Before the war, young women did not date. Instead, they waited for a good man to formally pay his interest with proper intentions. However, nearly an entire generation of young men died in the war, leaving nearly an entire generation of women without possible suitors. Therefore, the young women decided that they were not willing to idly waste their young lives on spinsterhood. This was a breakthrough... a paper medium... built for comfort and beauty. Dresses still followed the styles of previous eras, which were unflattering, during the first half of the 1920s. But as time passed, clothing styles also changed. Skirt hemlines began rising in the 1920s, and by 1927 the flapper skirt ended just below the knee. Irregular hemlines were very popular. The most prominent feature of 1920s dresses was the low waist, which fell to the hips. Coco Chanel, a major influence on flapper fashion, called this style 'letting go of the waistline'. Level 5 – ShoesWhen hemlines increased in the 1920s, this meant that shoes were more visible. Women therefore began to choose their shoes more carefully. T-bar shoes, decorated with bows and buckles, and Mary Jane shoes with a button and ankle strap were the most common shoes of the 1920s. Heels also became higher, some topping two inches.