The Roaring Twenties
It was the Bee’s Knees to feel the Heebie-Jeebies while living young and free as a sensual
Dumb Dora through the radical Roaring Twenties, an era that was absolutely unforgettable in
American history! Organized doctrines advocating political, social, and all other rights of women equivalent to those of men, made the ideas of feminism possible. This was a new term that came about during the Progressive Era, a term that caused women to express their self-worth by capturing the world by it’s tail and launching a revolutionary era that lasted three decades; as
Frances Willard said, “a wider freedom is coming to the women of America” (Textbook)…
Within the first few years of the 1920s, the new culture that the generation had created was already set into motion. The youth no longer had the desire to act or dress like the older generation, they wanted something different. Through the fashion, entertainment and beauty industries women worked up the courage to reject the stuffy ways of the Victorianism lifestyle, and simply transition to a more advanced wild life of the conspicuous Flappers.
In the late eighteenth century, the Victorian era was a widely known style that was commonly related to morals and structures based off of Christianity. Family and economic life for women was outrageously boring; a typical day for a woman would look like cleaning, gardening, plus taking care and cooking for her household. Women weren’t allowed to have real jobs, as their main job was being the sole care-provider for her husband and children. Women were taught to not express their true identity, even worse, they were just suppose to accept their life for what is was because they felt that they didn’t have a choice. Men often mistreated or forced women to do things they didn’t feel comfortable doing, such as marriages or having children. From the viewpoint of a young, the older generation went through nothing but hard times, racism, sexism on top of violent battles and wars, to a complete state of depression. It was a hard lifestyle to get excited about or accept, women often yearned to explore the outside world of creativity, hoping it would influence one’s strive to become something more than a housewife.
Upon the lifestyle came the horrendous wardrobe, Victorianism fashion style was conducted of ornamentation clothes that were certainly restrictive. This style mainly consisted of dresses with numerous colors and different shades of fabric and stocking undergarments. The
Victorian Era dress was worn in two connected pieces with ties and hooks, to hold it all together; the top of the dress was a high v-neck, sometimes with either one or two skirts—depending on preference. Usually, the underskirt flared out creating a looking of fullness that also formed a short train. Also, some ladies wore flexible steel attached to the inside of the dress to portray a curvy outline of their figure. This was thought to have created the snobby, uptight vibe from constantly expressing themselves inaccurately.… As time went on, the young generation continued to be repulsed by the ideas of dressing so ridiculous along with the lifestyle that was intended. They no longer desired nor wanted anything to do with it anymore, at this point women no longer even cared to dress or act like the older generation, they just desired a more promising future. A sound of up-beat jazz music performed and created by African-Americans known as the Harlem Renaissance, was the reason the women broke to embrace their youth and enjoy life, every single possible joy that life could ever have to offer. A new culture was being created, women of this generation were already setting things in motion. This fast-paced jazz music promoted women to take to nudism, smoking, drinking, going to petting parties, having casual sex as the worlds new norm. When World War 1 was over, women urged to target a look more risqué and even a bit more provocative, to the dismay of the parents. Additionally, women still managed to present themselves with grace and style, as a woman always but she was definitely starting to adapt boyish habits. In doing so, women tried to accomplish a younger look by choosing a style that did not exactly emphasize a woman’s figure. The Jazz Age decided that fashion was going to engage with a new in icon, the famous Flapper was the trend that spoke to millions. It looked similar to “part of the thin, bosomless prepubescent girl” (Internet Source) which was the hot, appealing look of the century. Flapper dresses were hemmed extremely shorter than the old fashion style and were designed to allow dancers to get a wider range of motion; because of this new style, the women managed to redefine the meaning of sexy.
Knee-length dresses did not seem all too short however, it was a huge contrast to that of the previous Victorian Era. Dresses were now being made with mostly silk and velvet so the shapeless material tended to hang loosely on a woman's body. The evening dresses were of course extravagant and elegant; they showed off the fact that people had money “not only did fashion express an individual as a person, but it also represented their social status” (Internet source?). Fashion had a hint of a never before seen, sassy attitude developing a lifestyle that spread and reflected upon the majority of the women in American culture. Flappers were beautiful, free-spirited women with wild imagination; they kept a fun and loving outlook of the upcoming years.
The women of the Roaring Twenties did incredible things to the fashion world, with ideas that would set nationwide trends, allowing a new lifestyle to form. American youth now felt liberated and craved to create their own culture which embraced their bold, lively attitudes and values. During the Harlem Renaissance, Gabrielle Chanel had achieved what no woman had ever done before, her rebellious spirit sums up the lifestyles of the Roaring Twenties. Chanel preferred to invent her own legend at a twelve, after her father abandoned her at an orphanage where she attended a private Catholic School for seven years. She adopted the name Coco, pretending that was the nickname given to her by her father; Chanel was an incredible fashion designer, trend-setter icon and business woman. The Roman Esca-purity of this aesthetic world inspired her sense of austerity and her taste for black and white, while the opulence of religious garments and ceremonial objects ignited her passion of barrack style, gold and colored gems in the years to follow.
During this era, Coco Chanel targeted the five basic key elements of fashion: color, fall, shape, texture and balance of garments since fashion was limited. Chanel was the original woman of the boyish euphoria styles, she dressed like no one else. She took her inspiration from masculine attire and also invented new styles of hats by stripping them of birds and feathers simply attracting a lighter and more sheik look. Coco Chanel’s first clients were working girls but society quickly followed, for her fashion ideas were insanely revolutionized. Chanel could making almost anything from durable fabrics usually reserved for men's work clothes and make it appear as an elegant but casual style. She stripped fashion of excess material, frilly lace, and the constraints of the past time, she preferred to use less fabric by using beads and embroidery to decorate clothes. One night in a stroke of genius, Chanel transformed the female silhouettes, shortened her dress, revealed her ankles, freed the waist, eliminated corsets, revived jersey, cut her hair and bronzed her skin ultimately giving women a new role in society.
Coco Chanel launched a new century of fashion… Coco opened her first couture house in
Paris, France during 1918, the orphanage of Aubazine had become the queen of Paris. Chanel liberating herself before liberating women. Her social buzz constantly sparked the fascination of

women that were partying, drinking, smoking and doing things that were absolutely frowned up.
Chanel was the fashion designer behind all this chaos of change. This new lifestyle promised women change and freedom of their spirits, “fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening” (Chanel).

Works Cited
Victorianism
http://victorianeracnr.blogspot.com/2011/01/fashion.html
Flappers

http://fashion.just-the-swing.com/1920s-womens-fashion

Harlem Renaissance http://dnmharlemrenaissance.weebly.com/fashion.html Flappers

Conti !8 http://glamourdaze.com/history-of-womens-fashion/1920-to-1929#1920sflappers Coco Chanel http://womenshistory.about.com/od/chanelcoco/a/coco_chanel.htm http://www.1920s-fashion-and-music.com/1920s-fashion.html

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