Maybelline added Sex Appeal during the 1920's

The horrors of the Great War lead to sex appeal in the 1920's and advertisers capitalized on it.

The 1920's were the beginning, of liberation for women, from being thought of as child-bearers and homemakers. to co-equals with men in society.

It was the first decade to emphasize youth culture over the older generations Civil War mentality.

Young people began testing their new boundaries with more and more outrageous forms of behavior, as fast cars, short skirts and free thinking changed the rules of the game. 

Bathing suits in 1929, were made for board-thin, young figured women, who wanted total liberation, for their body as well as their mind.

Here is a photo, of my great aunt Bunny at 25, at Lake Zurich, Chicago, showing off, the art of looking feminine yet liberated, in 1929.  All these wonderful, vintage photos are from her, 83 year old album. I was lucky enough to get copies, before she died at 90 years of age.  

The Jazz Age represented, restlessness, idolization of youth, and dissatisfaction with the status quo.

My great aunt Bunny, on the right, (Nana's younger sister,) was 25 in this photo, and was beginning to develop a more womanly figure.  Fashion in the 1920's, was especially designed for girls with no breasts, hips or body fat.  Girls began to look like boys and boys like girls. 

"[The flapper] symbolized an age anxious to enjoy itself, anxious to forget the past, anxious to ignore the future." (from Jacques Chastenet, "Europe in the Twenties" in Purnell's History of the Twentieth Century)

Young women in the 1920s, didn't want the drudgery of social conventions and routine of daily life.  Of Course, the Film industry and Maybelline helped shape this idea.

Fashion and Maybelline, in the late 1920's appealed to the modern woman who wanted liberation from a repressive Victorian  past.

Single and married women in the cities and the country came to enjoy the comfort and ease, of the new relaxed style in fashion and eye make-up, that were once considered, for Flappers only. 

     

Advertising helped shape a new identity for the Jazz Age, generation - making it sexy, for both men and women to smoke, drink out of a flask and have the power to spend on anything they wanted, even if they didn't need it

Tom Lyle Williams shaped the new image, for a liberated woman in the 1920s, when he contracted Clara Bow and Louise Brooks, to infuse glamour into

Maybelline advertisements. 

Sharrie Williams on Good Morning Arizona

Women gained Financial Freedom and chose to be noticed in the 1920s with MAYBELLINE..

 

In the 1920's the American frontier had been explored, and cities were now the epicenters of discovery. New technology demanded an expanded workforce. Women defied their stay-at-home roles. With the freedom of their own money, they behaved differently. They even started smoking.

Massive advertising campaigns by Lucky Strike Tobacco Company lured women as well as men into smoking with the slogan “It’s toasted!” After all, what could be more pure and aromatic than toasted, golden leaves?

The public fell for it. With product placement in the first self-serve grocery stores—the Piggly Wiggly chain—it was easy to develop a smoking and Maybelline habit over night.

No one could stop their little purchases, which included beauty-products. The era when only performers and prostitutes wore make-up had passed.

The age of cosmetics had begun with Lash-Brow-Ine in 1915, which became Maybelline in 1916.....

You can't be truly independent and free without being financially independent.....

Financial empowerment.....is about knowledge..... which comes with education! 

Read all about it in my book, The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It..... 

Silent Film era of the 1920s and Maybelline Family kids

I've been a fan of silent films for over 30 years and never miss them on Turner Classic Movies, Sunday nights.  One thing for sure is, kids and dogs are scene stealer's, when there isn't a lot of talking going on, and Baby Peggy was one of the best.

Of course Jackie Coogan was killer cute with Charlie Chaplin in the 1921 film, The Kid.

To celebrate the first Silent films, here is a tribute, showing adorable children, in the Maybelline Family from the 1920s.  First, my father, Bill Williams, in 1925.

Bill Williams with his cousin, Arvis in 1928, check out the incredible clothes kid's wore in those days.

Two future little cousin, car-guy's, Bill Stroh and Bill Williams, 1927 in Chicago.

Bill Williams with his first set of wheel's 1927, on Christmas day.

Bill Williams, with cousin,  Arvis and her brother Bill Stroh, 1927.

My dad, "THE KID," Bill Williams dressed meticulously everyday by his doting mother Evelyn Williams.

Bill Williams in short pants and knee socks, a double breasted coat and cap - right out of a silent film, from 1928.

Bill and Arvis Stroh, roller Skating in Chicago, dressed for a fashion layout, in 1929.

Bill and Arvis Stroh, looking like part of the cast from Our Gang, in 1929.

Look how amazingly well dressed, Arvis and Bill Stroh are in this picture and the way they light up in front of the camera, in 1929.

Doesn't get much cuter than this.  Bill and Arvis Stroh, in 1927.

               Is this the most adorable picture ever.....

My dad's cousin's and Mabel and Chet Hewes daughter, Shirley and her little brother Tommy, in about 1932 - 33.  Look at the gold bracelet and ring on little Shirley's hand. These children look like child Stars or Royalty by today's standards.  Parents took such pride in their children's fashion during the first half of the 20Th Century.  

I hope we see more Silent Films made, because they are not only classic, they allow you to have your own thoughts and not be so caught up in the special effects, we are so inundated with today. 

Vintage Maybelline Marcel Wave,

My grandmother, Evelyn, and her two sisters, Verona and Bunny, spent their whole lives decked-out from head to toe and learned the art of finger waving a Marcel Wave, in 1927.

Having the right tools, a lot of gel and strong fingers were the secret to having the perfect, Marcel Wave.

My great aunt Verona and Bunny were experts at finger waving each other's hair, into ideal Marcel Waves. 

Bunny, the youngest of the sisters, was a spitfire, with a personality that jumped right off the page, and

 was always head of the curve, when it came to

the latest fashion craze

Here are the three girls in 1929, all Maybellined up, with Marcel waves, and chic little hats, going to lunch at

 The Italian Village, a new restaurant that just opened

 in Chicago, in 1927.

Keeping up a fashionable appearance took a great deal of time and energy, not to mention expense, but for City Girls, it was second nature.  I grew up with my grandmother, Evelyn, (Nana,) teaching me to pin curl my hair when I was 6 years old.  I remember her scolding me when I complained, about how hard it was.  She'd say "It hurts to be beautiful darling."  I suppose she was right.  It was worth it to be beautiful, as I look back now. 

Here's Verona and Bunny walking State Street in Chicago, shopping for more, more, more fabulous shoes, hats, coats, dresses and of course Maybelline, as they head into the 1930's.

F.Scott Fitzgerald' - Tales of the Jazz Age!

I've chosen, F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tales of the Jazz Age,  to evoke visions of Flappers and Jazz-Bo's during the 1920's.

Fitzgerald's fascination with wealth, creates a subtle social critique in his 1922 classic.

Written before the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays the casual, elegant, lifestyle of the wealthy during the the 1920, Jazz Age.

When I found my great aunt Bunny's photo album, I was amazed at the stylishly Gatsby lifestyle, she and her husband Harold Cotter lived, during the Jazz Age, in Chicago.  They had no children, so were able to devote themselves to each other like no other couple in my family.

Elegant men's Fashion in the 1920's sparked, a dash of prestige and glamour often seen in my late

 aunt Bunny's pictures.

Harold, looks dashing, in his navy jacket, white slacks, and two toned shoes, hugging a couple of

 elegantly attired Ladies.

Dressed, like he's ready for his close up, Harold poses for the camera, on a trip to Florida.

Before World War 1, men had little variety in their choice of clothing, but after the Jazz age was in full swing, men's fashion exploded into High Fashion

 and big business.

Harold on the right, with a friend, look like their right out of the 1974,  film, The Great Gatsby.  Gatsby was famous for his closet full of beautiful shirts and ties - 
a trademark of an elegant gentleman.

Looking sporty with a wild colored knit sweater, and two toned shoes, Harold has the right look for 1927.

The mark of a fashionable gentleman in the 1920's, included the right hat and overcoat, especially in Chicago, where my family lived during that time.

Nobody, carried off that distinguished silhouette better than my grandfather, William Preston Williams, seen here in a Lama-skin, coat, with his son, and my father, Bill Williams in, 1925.

 The 1920's opened the door for men and women to kick up their heals, call a spade a spade and strut their stuff.

When it came to jazzing it up, Bunny and Harold Cotter,  carried the torch, for fashion, style and elegance, in 1927, seen her, sitting on their sporty convertible.

In full Flapper regalia, Bunny in the middle, with some friends, shows off her legs and short Flapper dress in a vampy pose around 1926.

In a moment of quiet repose, Harold and Bunny (Boecher,) Cotter, relax at the Boecher Summer home, on Lake Zurich in 1927.  Bunny, always the fashion plate, wears a shapeless, dropped waist cotton dress, while Harold, Don's sexy sunglasses, giving them the perfect storybook ending to today's post...

Stay tuned as, Vintage Maybelline Fashion Week, continues tomorrow.