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| Page from magazine "The Flapper" for November 1922. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| English: Cover of a 1922 edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's book Tales of the Jazz Age, painted by John Held, Jr. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Norma Talmadge (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Photo of a girl in "flapper" garb. Taken in Moscow, Idaho in 1922. Donated by Dave Bumgardne. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Cover of magazine "The Flapper" for November 1922. Shows actress Billie Dove in football uniform. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The Coming of the Jazz Age
Life for young American women was rapidly shaking off the remnants
of the prudish Victorian era in the 1920’s. The upper and middle classes were experiencing
a rapid growth in wealth after WWI. During World War l many married women were
employed for the first time. They worked for wages that were much lower than
men would work. Some women stayed in jobs after the boys came home. Modern
inventions like the type writer meant that more and more young unmarried women
were employed in office pools. It was in this new and exciting world for young
women with some financial independence that the flapper girl appeared.
A young single
working girl sharing a room with other girls her age out to have a good time,
before she settled for domestic tranquil try that marriage brought. She was a girl
who cut her hair, wore cosmetics smoke danced and drank in speak easy. Not too
long after the flapper decade started she voted as well. She was also more in control of her courting
life then any generation of girls before her. She was probably more sexually advent
us as her time with the boys was not chaperoned by anyone. She deliberately
ignored all the previous conventions of acceptable nice girl behavior.
Giving Credit to the Gibson Girls
The girls, who would throw off the last vestiges of ideal
Victorian womanhood, could in fact give a little credit to their mothers a few
generations before. The Gibson girl was a gay 1890’s version of a more indecent
less fragile Victorian girl. These girls were first portrayed in the in
drawings of Charles Dana Gibson; a Boston
artist .The Gibson girl had slightly shorter hair, was likely to attend
college, and engaged in sports. They still had angelic faces surrounded by
lavish curls, but they could ice skate, ride bikes, and in general keep up with
the boys. They did not take to the fainting couches because their corsets were
too tight
The ‘Flappers’ Get Noticed
The name ‘flapper ‘ was first used in Britain to describe
independent working girls living in London and enjoying full non chaperoned social lives. The phrase was referring
to the girls who, like young birds, were trying their wings in a big urban
modern city.
Popular authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald and artist such as
John Held Jr. coined the term:” flapper’ in the United States and provided written
and artistic presentations of what this trend among young women meant.
Fitzgerald described flappers, as ”lovely, expensive, and about nineteen",
making flappers the object of affection to many American young men. Held portrayed
the flapper girl in all her finery wearing unbuckled goulashes that made a
flapping noise when she walked.
Flappers Redefine Fashion
The flapper style with its short simple dresses and short hair
brought the whole concept of style to middle class young women. Fashion had
been only in the realm of upper class women before this time. The whole idea
that women would wear a dress just for certain social occasions was something
the ordinary women could not fathom. The flapper look was simplistic enough
that now girls could afford that special dress to go out for a night on the
down.
Flappers on the Silver Screen
Some very early film stars spread the flapper fashion craze
by appearing on the silver screen donning short hair and short dresses. These
were the starlets of the Jazz Age. They promoted a culture; where urban living,
jazz music, and the speak easy were very
appealing to young men returning from war and young women who were anxious to
enjoy their youth.
It was not that the flapper girl was totally carefree.
Society worried about the girls who appeared to have loose morals. Screen
Flapper starlet Anita Page did a film called, “Our Dancing Daughters” who
portrayed a gold digger flapper who tricked a sugar daddy in to marriages. The
fallen girl literally met her early demise by falling down the stairs in as a
result of drinking too much.
Flappers Redefine Fashion
The flapper style with its short simple dresses and short
hair brought the whole concept of style to middle class young women. Fashion
had been only in the realm of upper class women before this time. The whole
idea that women would wear a dress just for certain social occasions was
something the ordinary women could not fathom. The flapper look was simplistic
enough that now girls could afford that special dress to go out for a night on
the down
For wealthier young
girls looking for the ideal flapper dress there was the designs of Coco Chanel.
Chanel used fabrics that traditionally been used for men’s clothes. This meant
the dresses were durable and easy to move in. Chanel shunned the elaborate
laces used on the dresses of upper class Victorian women. The dresses also were
more basic in their coloring. Beige, cream, navy blue, and black were common
colors for these shorter shapeless dresses. Chanel’s poplar “Garonne Look” was
most associated with young flapper girls.
With the new look everything the flapper wore was different
than what her mother wore. Gone were corsets and the less restrictive girdle
came on the scene. Gone were bodices, replaced by less restrictive bras and
camisoles with netting for support. Heavy black hosiery which most women wore
up till the end of World War I was replaced by flesh and pastel colors
stockings that were rolled pass the knee. Underwear was lighter too. No more
bloomers hidden under layers of petticoats. Short knickers and simple slips
helped the flapper achieve her stream lined look.
Does She Dare Bob Her Hair
Women had started bobbing their hair during World War I. It
was probably just seen as a practical move from girls who went from being in
the home to being in the factory to replace the boys who had gone over seas.
Many men of the period noted that when young girls cut their hair they seem to
become more outspoken.
Flappers as Fun Loving Feminist
Soon girls who cut their hair were wearing short skirts,
rolled stockings, and long beads and calling themselves, “flappers”. Of course
the simple bob would soon become waved bobs, as perking and coloring hair soon
became acceptable for young women.
The fun of the jazz age ended with the coming of the Great Depression.
Frivolous behavior was blamed for the fall of the stock market and society
became much more stoic.
Still women did not return to long hair and restrictive
corsets. Women had the vote and were now in the working world. Even lower class
women made an effort to follow fashion trends that very few people could afford
to buy off the rack. Women were now present in offices, classrooms, and
factories working along side men.
A girl getting a college education or participation in
sports was not seen as a usual thing. Dating for purely social reasons was
acceptable. The age that most women married had increased and the number of
children she would have decreased. The flapper girls had set the stage for the
emergence of the modern American women who would have an identity that was more
than wife and mother.
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