Flappers
in the 1920's
Tight, itchy, conservative clothes, stiff movement during dancing, and having a reputation of being lesser, weaker, and more helpless than a man, caused the birth of a new woman. The young women at this time were tired of all these restrictions and supposed qualities that they were expected to have. The Flapper did everything possible to get away from the image of a weak and helpless woman. Thus, the roaring twenties began and the Flapper was born. This was also a time of rebirth in all things fashion.
Flapper Fashion
In the 1920's, people saw a drastic change in the clothes that women wore. Instead of long and conservative dresses, Flappers wore short dresses that had small straps as sleeves and were very showy. Clothing was cut down and lightened to make movement easier. Women also liked their dresses to come up just above their knees so that it would make dancing easier and that when they danced, they could show off their legs.
Women, at this time, also wanted to change the little things about their look such as make-up and jewelry. Women started wearing jewelry and hats and belts and two inch high heels. They also changed their skin color. Before, it was thought to be elegant and classy if people had pale skin, but now Flappers had tan skin. This darker skin because it meant that they had a life of leisure and that they loved to look fit, sporty, and healthy. The most shocking of all these little changes was the make-up. Before, only actresses or prostitutes wore make-up, but now Flappers wore dark and vibrant colors of lipstick, blush, eyeliner, and eye shadow.
Women were tired of men looking down on them. They wanted men and women to be equals. Thus the women started to look more like a tom-boy. Before, the waist of the dresses would be at the smallest point of a women in order to make women appear more curvy However, now women put the waist line at the hips, their biggest part of their body so that she would have no curves. Women also tightly wound strips of cloth around their chests so that they would appear to be flat chested.
Women also changed their hair. Before, women had long and beautiful hair. Now, women cut it to a short bob around the same spot as their ears or neck. They wanted to have a hairstyle that was unlike anything women had previously worn, and hair that was easy to maintain and took little effort to style.
Although the Flapper style was showy and over-the-top at times, a toned down version was adapted. Women no longer wore corsets, they had shorter hair, and they had shorter skirts and dresses. This style that came about in the 1920's is still seen in our fashion today.
Flapper Fashion
