 Who were the flappers, what kind of fashions did they
wear, what was their lifestyle...all answered in a
brief history of the
flappers.
Halloween Alert! Looking for 1920s and flapper costumes for Halloween? Then
try our store for all kinds of costumes. Go 1920s
Flappers this Halloween!
The quintessential 1920's fashion statement was
the flapper dressed to the nines in her flapper dress, short hair cut, cigarette
in one hand, and drink in the other, living it high, loose, and free, ready to
dance the Charleston. The 1920's are referred to as the Roaring Twenties in
large part because of the impact made on the decade by the 1920s fashions and
behavior of these independent women who believed in living life to the full.
The Flappers continued below...
Are you interested in the very latest news from the
world of fashion? Then visit our fashion news
page which features frequently updated links to fashion news stories
from around the world.
Are you someone who knows a lot about fashion or want
to learn more about fashion from all eras and aspects? Then join our community of users and build
up a collection of the best fashion world websites at our
Fashion
Swickis.
Our Flapper Fashion Links
 The
American graphic artist, Charles Dana Gibson (1867 - 1944), created one of
the first pin-up girls with his series of illustrations of "The Gibson
Girl". This independent woman became the role model of the 1920's woman and
was featured in many an art deco painting. Even before the World War I,
there was a movement afoot in which women were exerting more independence.
These strongly independent women were dubbed "flappers" as early as 1912 in
a British coinage that came from the comparison of these women with
fledgling birds leaving the nest.
With the onset of the First World War, women took on roles
that had previously been the preserve of men. The euphoria and sense
of freedom that came with the end of the war in 1918 provided fertile soil
for the new-found independent spirit of women to flourish and resist any
demands to return to the kitchen.
 1920's Flapper Fashion
1920s fashion for women was characterized by the fashions
worn by the flappers. Flapper fashion was an androgynous style of dress that
made the flapper woman look young and boyish. Flapper hairstyles started out
with the short "bob" and eventually progressed to the even shorter "Eaton"
or "shingle" in which the hair was slicked down and curled around to cover
the ears. The bust was flattened with tightly wound cloth, and flapper
dresses were straight and loose, often leaving the arms bare and with the
waistline slung low. As the Roaring Twenties progressed, the hemline rose to
the knee, and by the end of the decade knees were being exposed as the
flapper spun herself around the dance floor to the jazz of the Twenties in
the scandalous dance styles of the Charleston, the Shimmy, and the Black
Bottom. To top it all off, the flappers took to wearing makeup, which up to
this time, had only been worn by actresses and prostitutes! Flapper
women were not only known for their 1920's fashions, but also their
behavior, characterized by the extent to which it "pushed the envelope" of
what was acceptable and "lady-like". They rode bicycles and drove cars,
drank (often in public), smoked cigarettes through long holders, and were
sexually liberated, throwing "petting parties", the Roaring Twenties
equivalent of the modern sex party. As a further mark of their uniqueness
and separateness, the flappers even had their own vocabulary, with
expressions such as "snugglepup", being a man who attended a petting party,
and "bamey-mugging" a term for having sex.
 Learn
more about flapper fashion by browsing our
1920s flapper store
 Despite all the scandal associated with the flappers, eventually even "respectable"
women followed their lead, albeit in a less "out-there" manner.
Flapper fashion contributed in some way to the liberation of women in that
they abandoned the corset and popularized short hair for women.
Flapper fashion and style was imitated everywhere, not just by actresses,
but even by
Betty Boop and Minnie Mouse!
As the Roaring Twenties passed into the 1930s the Great
Depression was ushered in and economic hardship brought to an end the
care-free and exuberant era of the flapper. But despite the passing of the
flapper period with the Depression, throughout the 20th Century, and even
still into the 21st, the fashions and spirit of the flappers of the 1920s is
instantly recognizable and continues to influence female fashion and
behavior .
F. Scott Fitzgerald in his books such as
The Great Gatsby, illustrators such as John Held Jr. and screenwriter /
playwright Anita Loos gave more impetus to the flapper of the Roaring
Twenties, building them up to be enviable and attractive figures for the
women of the 1920s to emulate.
(c) John Corney 2004
|
Cover of a 1922 Life Magazine featuring
a flapper as a butterfly.
 Flapper
fashion plate from 1926
|
