1920s women: the Flappers
abridged
from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapper
Flapper in the 1920s was a term applied to a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for
what was then considered acceptable behavior.
Flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking, treating sex in a casual manner, smoking, driving automobiles and otherwise flouting
social and sexual norms.
Flappers had their origins in the
period of Liberalism, social and
political turbulence and increased transatlantic cultural exchange that
followed the end of the First
World War, as well as the export of American jazz culture to
The slang
word flapper, describing
a young woman, is sometimes supposed to refer to
a young bird flapping its wings
while learning to fly.
However, it
may derive from an earlier use in northern
Some actresses, such as Louise Brooks, Colleen Moore and Joan Crawford would soon build their careers on the same image, achieving great
popularity.[22]
In the United States,
popular contempt for Prohibition was a factor in the rise of the flapper. With legal saloons and cabarets
closed, back alley speakeasies became prolific and popular. This
discrepancy between the law-abiding, religion-based temperance movement and the actual ubiquitous consumption of alcohol led to widespread
disdain for authority. Flapper independence may also have origins in the Gibson girls of the 1890s. Although that pre-war look does not resemble the flapper
style, their independence may have led to the flapper wise-cracking tenacity 30
years later.
Writers in the
A related but alternative use of the
word "flapper" in the late 1920s was as a media catch word that referred to adult women voters and how they might vote differently
than men their age. While the term "flapper" had multiple uses,
flappers as a social group were distinct from other 1920s fads.
Flappers' behavior was considered outlandish at the time and redefined women's roles. The image of flappers were young women who went by night to jazz clubs where they danced provocatively, smokedcigarettes
through long holders, and dated freely, perhaps indiscriminately. They rode bicycles, drove cars, and openly drank alcohol, a defiant act in the American period of Prohibition.Flappers also began working outside
the home and challenging women's traditional societal roles. They advocated
voting and women's rights. With time, came the development of dance styles then
considered shocking, such as the Charleston, the Shimmy, the Bunny Hug, and the Black Bottom.
They were also considered a
significant challenge to traditional Victorian gender roles, devotion to plain-living and hard work, religion and more.
Increasingly, women discarded old, rigid ideas about roles and embraced
consumerism and personal choice, and were often described in terms of
representing a "culture war" of old versus new. In this manner,
flappers were an artifact of larger social changes —
women were able to vote in the
For all the concern about women
stepping out of their traditional roles, however, some say many flappers
weren't necessarily particularly engaged in politics. In fact, older suffragettes,
who fought for the right for women to vote, viewed flappers as vapid and in
some ways unworthy of the enfranchisement they had worked so hard to win.
Others argued, though, that flappers' laissez-faire attitude was simply a
natural progression of feminine liberation, the right having already been won.
In addition to their irreverent behavior, flappers were known for their style, which
largely emerged as a result of French fashions,[
especially those
pioneered by Coco Chanel, the effect on dress of the rapid spread of American jazz, and the popularization of
dancing that accompanied it. Called garçonne in French
("boy" with a feminine suffix), flapper style made girls look young
and boyish: short hair, flattened breasts, and straight waists accentuated it.
By at least 1913, the association between slim adolescence and a certain
characteristic look became fixed in the public's mind.
At this early date, it seems that
the style associated with a flapper already included the boyish physique] and close-fitting hat. Although the
appearance typically associated now with flappers (straight waists, short hair
and a hemline above the knee) did not fully emerge until about 1926, there was an early association in the
public mind between unconventional appearance, outrageous behaviour, and the
word "flapper”.
Despite the scandal flappers generated, their look became
fashionable in a toned-down form among respectable older women. Significantly,
the flappers removed the corset from female fashion, raised skirt and
gown hemlines, and popularized short hair for women. Among actresses closely
identified with the style were Joan
Crawford, Louise
Brooks, and Colleen Moore.
Main
article: 1920s in fashion
Flapper dresses were straight and
tight, leaving the arms bare (sometimes no straps at all) and dropping the
waistline to the hips. Silk or rayon stockings were held up by garters. Skirts
rose to just below the knee by 1927, allowing flashes of leg to be seen when a
girl danced or walked through a breeze, although the way they danced made any
long loose skirt flap up to show their legs. High
heels also came into vogue at the
time, reaching 2–3 inches (5–8 cm) high.
Flappers did away with corsets and pantaloons in favour of "step-in" panties. Without the old restrictive
corsets, flappers wore simple bust bodices to make their chest hold still when
dancing. They also wore new, softer and suppler corsets that reached to their
hips, smoothing the whole frame, giving women a straight up and down
appearance, as opposed to the old corsets which slenderized the waist and
accented the hips and bust.
The lack of curves of a corset promoted a boyish look. Adding an even
more boyish look, the Symington Side Lacer was invented and became a popular
essential as an every-day bra. This type of bra was made to pull in the back to
flatten the chest. Other women envied flappers for their flat chests and bought
the Symington Side Lacer to enhance the same look. Hence, flat chests became
appealing to women, although flappers were the most common to wear such bras.
Boyish cuts were in vogue, especially the Bob cut,
Jewelry usually consisted of art
deco pieces, especially many
layers of beaded necklaces. Pins, rings, and brooches came into style. Horn-rimmed glasses were also popular.
Main
article: Cosmetics in the 1920s
The evolving flapper look required 'heavy makeup' in comparison to what
had previously been acceptable outside of professional usage in the theatre.
Flappers tended to wear 'kiss proof' lipstick. With the invention of
the metal lipstick container as well as compact mirrors bee stung lips came into vogue. Dark
eyes, especially Kohl-rimmed,
were the style. Blush came into vogue now that it was no
longer a messy application process.
Originally, pale skin
was considered most attractive. However, tanned skin became increasingly popular after Coco Chanel donned a tan after spending too much
time in the sun on holiday – it
suggested a life of leisure, without the onerous need to work. Women wanted to
look fit, sporty, and, above all, healthy.
Liberated from
restrictive dress, from laces that interfered with breathing, and from hoops
that needed managing suggested liberation of another sort. The new found freedom to breathe and walk encouraged movement out of
the house, and the flapper took full advantage.] The flapper was an extreme
manifestation of changes in the lifestyles of American women made visible
through dress.
Changes in fashion were signs of
deeper changes in the American feminine ideal. The short skirt and bobbed hair
were likely to be used as a symbol of emancipation.
Signs of the moral revolution consisted of: premarital sex, birth control,
drinking, and contempt for older values. Before the war, a lady did not set
foot in a saloon; after the war she entered a speakeasy as thoughtlessly as she would go
into a railroad station. Women had taken to swearing and smoking, using
contraceptives and raising their skirts above the knee and rolling her hose below
it. Women were now competing with men in the business world and obtaining
financial independence and, therefore, other kinds of independence from men.
The New Woman was pushing the
boundaries of gender identity, representing sexual and economic freedom. She
cut her hair short and took to loose-fitting clothing and low cut dresses. No
longer restrained by a tight waist and long trailing skirts and the need for a
man’s help at every turn, the modern woman of the 1920s was
an independent thinker, who no longer followed the ordinances of those before
her. [41] The flapper epitomized the
prevailing conceptions of women and her role during the Roaring 20s. The
flappers' ideal was motion with characteristics being intensity, energy, and
volatility. She refused the traditional moral code. Modesty, chastity,
morality, and traditional concepts of male and female were seemingly becoming
invisible. The flapper was making an appeal to authority and was being attached
to the impending “demoralization” of the country.
The Victorian American conception of sexuality and other roles of men and women in society and
to one another were being challenged. Modern clothing was lighter and more
flexible, better suiting the modern woman. Rather than keeping herself busy
with the need to appear decorous and reputable, the flapper wanted to be well
suited to engage in active sport. Women were now becoming more assertive and
less willing to keep the home fires burning. The flappers' costume was seen as
sexual and arose deeper questions of the behavior and values it symbolized.[43]
Despite its popularity, the flapper
lifestyle and look could not survive the Wall Street Crash and the following Great Depression.
The high-spirited attitude and hedonism simply could not find a place amid the
economic hardships of the 1930s.