How women actually looked in the 1920s
At The Nitty Gritty, probably our most popular costume is the 1920s-style flapper - a tunic dress covered with rows of fringe and trimmed with sequins. They’re fun, they’re costume-ish - but they are NOT historically accurate. I’m not sure when it is that the public at large started to think that’s how a flapper would have dressed, but I think it may have seeds in the 1950s. There is a scene in “Singing in the Rain” (which is set in the 1920s but made in the 1950s) that features several women dressed in fringe dresses. Hollywood movies at that time were not that interested in historical accuracy. But back to the history lesson…
In 1920, two constitutional amendments were passed that changed life in America forever - the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote, and the 18th Amendment (also known as the “Volstead Act”) which made it illegal to produce and sell liquor, more commonly referred to as prohibition, and most associated with this period in history, known as the “Jazz Age”. Young people went wild! Liquor was banned, but it was everywhere. Mixed drinks were invented to help conserve liquor (and to mask the nasty taste of inferior hooch). The place to be was the “Speakeasy”, which was a hidden tavern that usually required a password to get in (to help cut down on raids). Bathtub gin was being produced - so-called because, well, yes, it was made in the bathtub, but this was so, in case of raids, either the plug was pulled on the drain, or a girl was designated to be on standby to jump in and pretend to bathe (I would so not want to drink that later). Of course, it was the fashionable people who were breaking the law. The clothing reflected the times; a new prosperity, independence, and a happy-go-lucky attitude.
Daywear for ladies reflected their new status in society. Curiously, the silhouette was slightly androgynous. Women enjoyed a new-found freedom and as a result, they rejected traditional femininity through fashion by bobbing their hair, raising hemlines and becoming more assertive. Feminine curves were out and a stick figure was in. The ideal body type was that of a 12-year-old boy. For those ladies without that body type, a variety of corset-type undergarments were meant to help achieve that look.
A typical day look was a dress with a drop-waist, very loose-fitting, hems falling right around the knees. The hat style was the “Cloche” (Bell in French), a small hat that fit closely to the head and pulled down around the face - it was compared to an upside-down flowerpot. Since the hems were short, the girls would roll their stockings down below their knees. The stockings sometimes had decorative elements called “clocks”. For the first time in women’s fashion, legs became the focus.
Evening wear is what we consider more often when thinking of the flappers. Dresses were slightly longer than day dresses, usually with an asymmetrical hem. Handkerchief hems, shorter in front, longer in back or a “panier” hem (longer on the sides than front and back). Dresses were heavily beaded and very delicate, but fringe was not common. Dresses were typically made of satins and chiffon and were meant to be diaphanous and soft. The most common headpiece was called the “headache band”. This was a headband worn snugly and decorated with feathers and jewels. It was so named because a girl would wear it out for a night on the town, and wake up the next day with a headache (from drinking too much, not because the headband was too tight.) The look was completed with long chandelier earrings and long strands of pearls.
Flappers also took to wearing heavy, often garish makeup - red lipstick, blue or green eyeshadow, rouge, eyeliner, and brow pencil. Now, remember, most of their parents still had Victorian ideals, so the painted faces were a new thing and therefore shocking.
All of this, of course, was done by young women. Older folks found all this very shocking. The term “flapper” was an English term for a young, inexperienced girl, usually an adolescent and gangly. If memory serves me correctly, I believe it was first used by F. Scott Fitzgerald in his novel This Side of Paradise, which was used as a guidebook for aspiring flappers. But the ideal woman was the “It” girl. This girl had IT. The most famous “It” girl was Mary Pickford, a film actress whose most famous role was “Little Lord Fauntleroy”. She was known for her long curls, but they were, unbeknownst to her fans, augmented with hair pieces. When she did appear in public with shorter hair, it damaged her career. Other it girls were Clara Bow (famous for her cupid bow lips) and Louise Brooks.
Authentic 1920’s clothing is VERY RARE. If you can find it, it is either: 1: very expensive 2: very tiny or 3: very delicate and un-wearable. Most likely it is a combination of all three. If you want a true flapper outfit your best bet really is learning to sew and making it yourself. Past Patterns have some really fabulous reproduction patterns from this period.
