Fashion and the Flapper

It is almost impossible to examine the 1920s without considering the panic caused by the Flapper.

The Flapper was the iconic figure of the 1920s. It is not entirely clear where the term came from, although in the past it had meant a duckling learning to use its wings, or an awkward teenage girl. By 1919, it began to be used as a derogatory word to denote a independent young woman, one who likely had suffragette inclinations and was throwing off moral conventions of the past. Although used negatively, the term was embraced positively by many young women who had experienced the easing of some social and moral restrictions in the previous decade, and were inclined to push them even further.

Flappers wore makeup and showed a little more skin. Unlike the short “Flapper costume” of today, skirts still fell past the knee. The “bobbed” hair and angular, slightly androgynous look—compared to previously held feminine ideals—was almost scandalous. But it wasn't just her looks. She smoked, and cigarette brands were quick to market to her. She consumed alcohol in public, when women had previously partaken in a private setting. She danced not just the waltz and foxtrot, but listened to Jazz and danced the Charleston, originally seen as indecent. She was able to go out and “date” - a concept familiar to us now, but emerging out of a time when courting often involved (Above) Unknown women, possibly members of Langley’s Barron family, 1920s. parents and chaperones. The moral panic of the early decade was placed entirely on young women, seen by the sheer number of newspaper articles written about them. There was a belief that society would crumble due to their rebellious ways. For many young women, the era of the Flapper allowed them more independence and fun but, as in the decades before and after, the burden of any indiscretions were put on them too. If a pregnancy out of wedlock occurred, the young lady involved was still seen as fallen or tarnished, while it rarely sullied the man involved. If young women were out at parties with older gentlemen, it was believed that they were behaving inappropriately and chasing the men for their money—it was no fault of the men involved.

(Above) Actress Gloria Swanson, (Above) Actress Mary Pickford, (Left) The Winnipeg Tribune, painted from a photograph by Edwin ca. 1923. April 17, 1920. Bower Hesser, 1921.

People began to be greatly influenced by Hollywood’s silver screen in the 1920s. Hollywood was new and glamorous, and people attended movies more often than we do today. Actresses such as Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow, and Mary Pickford influenced women’s clothing, makeup and hair, although many women pinned their long hair up before committing to cutting it. Dresses featured dropped waists that skimmed and flowed away from the body, and bras were introduced, largely doing away with the corsets of the past. The styles that seemed shocking earlier became more widely accepted by the middle of the decade.

(Left) Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik, 1921. (Above) Clara Bow, 1924. His 1926 death led to an outpouring of public grief, primarily by young women, not witnessed before.

Fashionable young men in wide pants and short jackets slicked their hair back with grease and became known as Sheiks, a term popularized after silent movie-star Rudolph Valentino starred in 1921’s The Sheik. Many young women were crazy about him, and many men imitated his style. Actors followed his lead and starred in other “exotic desert romance” movies. A fascination with “Orientalism” and the exotic continued to grow and was greatly impacted by the 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. The event received worldwide attention, and led to a style in art, design, and fashion known as “Egyptian Revival.”