First decade to emphasize youth culture over the older generations.
Young
people testing new boundaries with fast cars, short skirts and free thinking changed
the rules of the game.
Bathing
suits cut for thin young women, who
wanted style and glamour
my great aunt Bunny in 1929
Great aunt Bunny at 25, on the right, Nana's younger sister
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 the
routine of daily life.
Fashion and Maybelline, in the late 1920's appealed to the modern woman
Single
and married women enjoyed the
comfort and ease of relaxed fashion
Advertising
helped shape a new identity for men and women Read more about Aunt Bunny and her coming of age in the 1920's, in my book The Maybelline Story, now on Audible Books, Amazon.
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
While the Charleston as a dance probably came from the "star" or challenge dances, that were all part of the African-American dance called Juba, the particular sequence of steps which appeared in Runnin' Wild, were probably newly devised for popular appeal.
The Charleston was the dance that captured the spirit of the 1920s. It was danced with wild abandon by a new generation of independent young flappers and Jazzbo's.
Tangosprang from the poor and the disadvantaged, in Argentina tenement blocks and on street corners, to become...
Rudolph Valentino dancing tango. Silent movie; sixth best grossing silent film of all time; turned Rudolph Valentino into a super star and gave him the image of the 'Latin Lover'
Harlem's increasing popularity as an entertainment district, as well as a vibrant creative center for African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s eventually saw both the creation and popularizing of Lindy Hop.
Upper and middle class white audiences were exposed to Harlem's working class entertainment, at first through white audiences attending black venues and shows in Harlem, but later through traveling shows, popular music and cinema and prompting a mainstream thirst for "black" cultural forms, like the Lindy Hop.
My grandmother, Evelyn Boecher Williams on the right, with her sister, Verona Boecher Stroh, are pictured here at a Halloween party in their family's ballroom, in Chicago, around, 1920. Nana, went on to dance with the Ballets Russes, and like so many girls in her generation.... rebelling from the straight-laced ways of Old World thinking..... hoped to become an actress/dancer, in Hollywood Silent Films. But she met and fell in love with my grandfather, William Preston Williams and gave up her dream, to be a wife and mother. However, she kept up her love of dancing, all her life and even taught me the Charleston and the Tango, when I was 15.
With the wild abandon..... Jazz Age dances..... brought into 1920's culture.... epitomized in film.... it was only natural for young women to gravitate towards Maybelline. Here is a Jazz Age Maybelline ad, that appealed to the girl ready, to Jazz it up, for a night of dancing, movie going, or just ridding in cars with boys. My cousin, Linda Hughes, (Mabel Williams granddaughter and Maybelline's namesake,) and I, have loved working together all week, creating the Vintage Maybelline Silent Film and Concert Series, to celebrate, THE ARTIST, winning the Oscar, for BEST PICTURE...
We have one more day to go before it all comes to an end, so stay tuned. Next week the Blog will head towards Tom Lyle Williams, classic, 1940 Packard Victoria. We hope you have enjoyed the ride so far.
Fashion Week may be over, but I'm still reminded of how designers pulled some of their stunning creations, from the 1920s.
Designers showed their 2012 creations last week.
Designer, Marc Jacobs added a splash of 1920s flavor to his collection at Fashion Week and this collection reminded me of my fashionable grandmother, Evelyn Boecher Williams, and her two sisters, Verona and Bunny.
My great aunt, 19 year old Bunny Boecher, bobbed her hair, shortened her skirt and kicked up her heals after women got the vote...Prohibition was in full swing, the Jazz age exploded and "The Vamp" was born.
Maybelline mascara was available for girls, ready to hop on the band wagon and flirt with boys.
Girls rolled up their skirts, rolled down their stockings and made up their eyes in rebellion of the Victorian age.
Tight fitting clothes gave way to loose fitting chemise dresses inching higher by 1922.
By the Spring of 1922, aunt-Bunny wore eye make-up, lipstick, rough, earrings and a curled up Bob.
The Boucher Sister's, were never shy to say the least and caught onto the latest fad... including this new style bathing suit made for the brave fashionista.
All three sisters had beautiful legs and ready for any photo-op to show them off.
Fall of 1922 meant fur, fur and more fur in Chicago and Bunny and her sisters had a closet full.
The Bocher sisters were known as spoiled rotten daddy's girls, clothes horse's and born with a silver spoon in their mouth, around Chicago. Here is my grandmother Evelyn, on the left with Verona and Bunny, wearing basic black accessorized from top to bottom.
While most young ladies were still wearing their skirts mid-calf, the Boucher sisters turned heads with their early Flapper silhouettes.
Compare Bunny's short skirt with the pictures of fashion in 1922, just click for images of ladies fashion.
My grandmother Evelyn and her sister's, Verona and Bunny, play a big part in my book, The Maybelline Story. I hope you'll buy a copy today. I guarantee, you won't be able to but it down.
Maybeline New York, getting hair and make up ready for Fashion Week. Click on video. Stay tuned for more Fashion Week tomorrow, as I take you through the 1920s with the Ladies from the, Maybelline Story.
