Ah...the Roaring Twenties. The Jazz Age. Regardless of what you want to call it, for many it was a turning point in history. Most of all, for women. 
For the first time, women were finally granted the right to vote in the US in 1920 - a freedom enjoyed by Canadian women since 1917 - and were beginning to enter into the world of work. For the first time for many of them, women were finally making their own money. And with money, came freedom. It was a period where the last vestiges of rigid Victorian values where shaken off - quite literally - in favour of a new liberal attitude all around. The economy was booming: the Great War was over, and it was time to celebrate.  |
| Clara Bow, the quintessential Flapper Face |
 |
| Louise Brooks, Flapper prototype |
The Flapper was the epitome of excess: she wore 'too much' makeup and 'too little' clothes; she drank and smoked, danced with careless abandon and treated sex in much the same way. Once exclusively the domain of prostitutes and stage actresses, makeup began to be used on a daily basis for the first time during this period. Lipstick painted on in the characteristic 'bee-stung' shape, heavily lined eyes, and blush were the order of the day. It offered a nice contrast to the cropped, almost boyish haircuts and shapeless shift dresses. 
However, as with all things, what goes up must come down. Prohibition came along to try to kill the party from 1920 to the early Thirties, but only served to drive it further underground in the form of bathtub gin and speakeasies. Then came the Wall Street stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression of the 1930's, which soon gave way to the Second World War. All of which killed the party for good. However, the spirit of the flapper continues to live on in the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the silent films of the silver screen, and in the fashion and style of last week's Beauty Icon, Mme Coco Chanel; all of which continue to inspire beauty, fashion and culture to this day.
No comments:
Post a Comment