Colleen Moore's Impact On Culture In The 1920s

The flapper was the harbinger of a radical change in American culture. She was a product of social and political forces that assembled after the First World War. Modernization adjusted the American life. Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz analyzes the people who created the image of the flapper. This work is an incorporation of narrative, statistics, and scholarly work that provide a distinct insight on the “New Woman.” Joshua Zeitz asserts the flapper was not a dramatic change from traditional American values but reflected the “modern” decade under mass media, celebrity, and consumerism.

Many of the trends from the Roaring Twenties were set or seen at the parties thrown by the rich such as Gatsby did in the novel. Many of the trends were fashion, especially women, music, and dances. Fashion had changed a lot after and during the war. Dress making and custom styles were beginning to break out. New textures and patterns created the 1920’s style. For women many more options were now acceptable. A daring new style of skirts and dresses worn above the knee were popular. “1920's Dresses were lighter and brighter and shorter than ever before” (1920's Womens Fashion). Jewelry and many other embellishments were added now more than ever. “An increased sense of freedom was expressed in simple yet elegant designs, with carefully selected fabrics, and an intelligent use of color” (1920's Womens Fashion).

The decade also brought out the birth of Betty Crocker and the Miss America Beauty Pageant – both promoters of femininity and beauty (Felder 108-109). Still, the women of the 1920s were much more liberated than those in the previous decades, as they had more independence, and more opportunities. One such opportunity granted to women in the 1920s was the right to suffrage, something that had been fought for for many decades (Sagert, “Flappers: A Guide to an American Subculture” 13-14). However, women were still expected to be good housewives. Many advertisements for example, had slogans similar to “’You think I’m a flapper

A flapper was a modern woman of the 1920’s with bobbed hair, short skirts, and dramatic make-up. (sparknotes.com) The flapper was also used to represent a new type of young woman. It represented a woman that was bold, rebellious, and energetic. Only a small percentage of American women were flappers. The image of the flapper had a huge impact on the rest of the nation’s fashion and behavior. Most women began to cut their hair short. It was called bobbing. Many parents wouldn’t allow it. To the older generation, it seemed taboo to have short hair. Some of the daughters of these people felt old-fashioned for not having their hair cut short. (Hakim, 42) Before the twenties, it was rare for a woman’s ankle to be glimpsed upon beneath long skirts. Yet, during the ’20’s, the ankles were highly visible as the hemlines for women’s skirts rapidly went up and up, as

Flapper by Joshua Zeitz is a book that tells an epic story about the American women during the time of the 1920’s. For a better understanding, a flapper would typically be a young girl who blurred the gender roles by taking on a more masculine lifestyle. They wore their hair short, drank and smoked frequently, and explored their sexuality. With this behavior, it didn’t destroy their femininity; it just simply provided the society’s perception of what a woman should and should not be.

If you take a look at modern fashion, you’ll be able to see hints of the 1920s. This is because many fashion designers and celebrities base there looks off of the 20s. “Many statement necklaces popular today are based on the bold styles worn by Coco Chanel.” (O'Donnell). Coco Chanel was a very popular French fashion designer in the 1920s that is still very well known to this day. Chanel, as well as other designers from the 20s, created fresh and unique looks that stuck through generations. What you wore in the 20s began to reflect who you are and your personality. In fact, what you wore in the 20s determined your social class and how people viewed you. If you look at today's fashion, everyone has their

The 1920 fashions were mainly about rebellion. For the women flapper dresses. It was a sack-like form that was either very short or very long. It was made for dancing in. Women wore their hair in a pageboy style hair cut. Coats were very popular only because the women could hide many illegal bottles inside of them. In the beginning of the 1920s the wore knickers. Then in the later 1920s they started wearing sleek

Fashion had a big impact on the 1920s era, news styles and trends were developing all the time. During this ear, a new women was about to be created, a flapper girl. The fashion of the flappers raised some eyebrows due to the styles they chose to wear and how they decided to wear their hair and make-up. In the paragraph above I said that they wore short dresses that were line with stings of beads and the neckline of their dresses grew deeper and their dresses got shorter, it was the most popular yet daring trend of this decade. This fashion of the 1920s was definitely rebellious for the women. With that being said, middle class women wore long dresses a little below the ankle, lower class wore any clothes that they could purchase, upper class wore extravagant dresses and headbands, and casual wear for middle and upper class women included

In the 1920 women began to grow more independent and cared about what they would wear. Everything that had to do with consumption was in style. For example, Women’s fashion changed dramatically in this time era. More skin was definitely shown. Sleeveless dresses were introduced, this was the start of a flapper which they would drink, smoke and even have sex. This meant that it was another example of freedom and women’s right to enjoy the same pleasures as men. No longer did many women have to worry about what man their parents would pair them up with, they experienced what true love was with the

Women’s role in the 1920s’ changed greatly because they were allowed new political freedoms along with freedoms in clothing along with hairstyles. Women were finally allowed to vote after 72 years of struggling to be heard.’ "We've come really far, really fast," said Jane Beseler, director of development for the La Crosse County Historical Society. "This generation of young women doesn't realize it because they've reaped the benefits of the women before them.’ (Lang print). Along with this new right, women started wearing shorter dresses; they wore clothes that made them look more boyish. Moving away from Victorian style, they wore shorter dresses and chopped their hair off into what is known as a bob. Dancing with their new “short” dresses gave many parents a heart attack. Not only were their daughters showing more skin than previous generations, they were flaunting it to men for attention. Along with engaging in smoking cigarettes and drinking, women showed that they were now equal to the males

Flappers were women who dressed differently and acted in ways that were considered unladylike at the time. They would wear their hair short as opposed to the long hair women had in the Victorian era. Flappers would wear shorter skirts that went to the knee -- much shorter than the dresses worn in the past. As for behavior, flappers would drive cars, drink, and smoke in public. These were considered things that men think and it was previously unacceptable for women to do. According to History.com, many women of the time did not do these activities, but many women did adopt the flapper

Though out the years fashion has changed in different variety of ways in the 1920s by giving women the ability to change the way they act and look. “1920's

To begin with, the 1920s has a very distinct style of fashion. The most iconic symbol of the 1920s is that of The Flapper, any young woman who dressed and acted in what was then considered an obscene manner. The Flapper embodied the 1920s as a whole as it showed the rebellious nature of many Americans in this time period. There was finally a way for people to express themselves. For the first time in history people also dressed for purpose not just

One of the major symbols of women identity in the 1920’s was the flapper.(3)(4) A flapper was a young woman who opposed the conservative roles that society had played out for women. They dressed in short skirts and flowed out dresses. To show that they had control over their own lives, these young women would go out partying, drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. They seduced men with their charm and good looks yet also were very sly. These women were a start to an early revolution proving that women were strong, independent,

Women’s fashion had started changing, instead of having everything covered when going out, they now started wearing shorter dresses, much like the flapper dress that is closely associated with the roaring 20s. What they wore was corresponded to what they were doing. In the 1920s the economy and working conditions were great, this allowed for more leisure time, such as a speakeasy. When going