We’re going to step back in time today and take a look at the Roaring Twenties when life in America exploded into an era of females kicking up their heels and having fun.
What one chose to wear was a big part of this cultural and social change with one fashion designer, in particular, making a terrific impact. Coco Chanel simplified the look of women’s clothing with her loose shift dresses that were stylish and elegant, yet felt wonderful.
Remember Woody Allen’s movie Midnight in Paris that was released in 2011 and won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay? It’s one of my all-time favorite films. In the movie, the French actress Marion Cotillard wears a simple, short evening dress that could easily be worn today. I thought it was fabulous.
Chanel is also famous for creating the little black dress (LBD) in 1926. This is a fashion staple that is still going strong after 91 years – which is incredible. She also introduced multiple strands of faux pearls that were perfect for the emerging flapper look.
The Little Black Dress (LBD) created by Coco Chanel. It is often shown with multiple strands of faux pearls.
In the same period, the French designer, Jean Patou, shocked the world with his garçonne look (a girl who is a boy) by changing the feminine figure, meaning: flattening the bust, narrowing the hips, ignoring the waist – all of which resulted in a long, slim figure. This is exactly the look of that marvelous dress that Cotillard wears in Allen’s movie.
A dapper Jean Patou
The drop waist shift dresses relieved women of the last vestiges of Edwardian formality. The whalebone corset was abandoned and hemlines were shortened. Young women began cutting their hair (the bob) and dancing The Charleston. Legs were suddenly and shockingly on display. Flappers rolled their stockings to just below the knee for ease of movement.
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Cloche hats were all the rage. These were narrow, bell-shaped numbers that often featured bows and beads. Personally, I hate hats and never wear them and believe that, in many instances females (especially the English) look absurd when they wear one. The effect is almost cartoonish because a casual hairstyle fights with a formal hat. One who always gets it right is Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge who is married to Prince William. She has impeccable taste.
In the ‘20s, shoes were generally high heels just over two inches (not like today’s six inches). Mary Janes and T-strap styles with a medium, but slightly curved high heel, were the dominant shoes of the day.
Cloche hats and two-inch heels were all part of the flapper look
But, it wasn’t only what the distaff side was wearing that was changing. This was the Jazz Age and famous musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller and Benny Goodman were popular along with female artists such as Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday.
And now, we’re up to 2017 with Bazaar magazine celebrating its 150th Anniversary by reprinting an excerpt from its January 1928 issue written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of my favorite authors. He penned an article titled, The Changing Beauty of Park Avenue and, since I live on Park, I took a close look at what he had to say 89 years ago. I found it a bit on the fanciful side, but it was an entirely different era. Here’s one descriptive paragraph:
The Cooper Hewitt Museum, located at 2 East 91st Street, captures this joyous era in The Jazz Age: American style in the 1920s, an exhibition of 400 examples of interior design, architecture, fashion, jewelry, music and film that opened on April 7 and continues until August 20. Visit cooperhewitt.org to see for yourself.
After visiting this exhibit on April 12th, we made our way down Fifth Avenue to 86th Street and entered the Ronald S. Lauder Neue Galerie for sinfully rich desserts and coffee at the Café Sabarsky.
Shaun Nelson-Henrick
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