Flappers

Maddie T & Alyssa Valente

Flapper girls first started to appear in society in the 1920s. This was a new type of woman who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair. They listened to jazz music and danced. Flappers were known for their excessive make-up, drinking, smoking and casual sex. They had the origins in the period of Liberalism, social and political turbulence and increased transatlantic culture.

The name 'flapper' describing a young women came from many different ideas. One of them being a teenage girl whose hair is not pinned up yet and her braids are 'flapping' on her back. it also referred to a young bird flapping its wings to learning to fly.The word also slang in England for prostitute and more general and less derogatory of any lively mid-teenage girl.

Prohibition was part of the rise of flapper girls because of the closing of legal bars, speakeasies became popular and so did flapper girls.

At the time flappers' redefined the entire role of women,their behaviour was considered outlandish and at the time redefined a women's role. They were wild and out there. Flapper girls went to jazz clubs, dated openly, rode bicycles and drove cars at their leisure. Flapper girls started to get jobs outside of the kitchen. They began to fight to vote and stand up for women's rights. In time even dance begin to change, these new dances were considered provocative. More and more women were getting rid of the old traditional gender roles and hard work. They started to get into consumerism.

Flappers were known for their style which was largely introduced from French fashion. The effect on the dress of the Flapper women was to make the girls look young and boyish: short hair, flattened breasts, and straight waists accentuated it. Before flappers were known as this type of women they were associated in the public as a crazy appearance and outrageous behaviour.

Their dresses were straight and loose, leaving the arms bare and dropping the waist line to the hips, giving them a look where they have no curves. Skirts rose just below the knee allowing them to show their legs. High heels came popular and usually only reached two to three inches.

Their hair were short and boyish. the Bob cut was very common. Hats were still very popular, most women wore the Newsboy cap and the Cloche Cap.

As far back as the 1890s the French actress Polaire made the short hair and huge eyes with outlined mascara famous. This look eventually evolved into the flapper look. It also involved heavy makeup in comparison to what had previously been acceptable. originally pale skin was popular but during this time tanned skin became popular after Coco Chanel got a tan after spending to much time out in the sun during a vacation.

Despite its popularity the flapper look did not survive the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression and eventually disappeared in the 1930s.

Sources: Wikipedia