...Times: American Gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s Journal of American Culture (33:3) [Sep 2010] , p.197-206. Honorable Style in Dishonorable Times: American Gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s Laura Beshears. The Journal of American Culture. Malden: Sep 2010. Vol. 33, Iss. 3; pg. 197, 10 pgs Abstract (Summary) Prohibition, which came into effect in July of 1920 with the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment, also illustrated the progressives' idealism, as many believed that the elimination of alcohol, because it allegedly created "poverty, marital distress, and negligence," would cleanse society (Mordden 141). [...] the birth of the radio and the movies as well as the development of flight induced excitement and fostered a vision of a society engaged in perpetual technological advancement (Mordden 47). [...] Horatio Alger, Jr. and his late nineteenth-century books- portraits of men who, born underprivileged, rose to wealth and success through hard work, honesty, self-confidence, commitment, and a bit of luck (Weiss 53-54) - characterized the progressive spirit, as it encouraged people to work hard for a better future and for the fulfillment of the American dream. Full Text (5892 words) Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Sep 2010 "You don't need to be ordering fancy duds," Frankie Rio advised his boss as a tailor took measurements of Capone's swollen physique at the Lexington Hotel. "You're going to prison. Why don't you have a suit made with stripes on it?" "The hell...
Words: 6179 - Pages: 25
...Women’s Life during the 1920s During 1920’s, the idea of fashion and beauty had a huge impact on middle class Americans, especially the women. Wearing accessories like lipstick, eye shadow, mascara and short dresses became part of their everyday style. At that time women’s life style increased to a point where they could expose much of their skin without any hesitation. By the 1920’s, magazines, commercials, Hollywood pictures, newspapers expanded the rate of fashion development. Investing money for clothes became a primary role for women. They spent excessive amount of money on things like hats, clothes, shoes and jewelries (Drowne, Huber 96). Women who used to wear shorts and looked up to other celebrities were called flappers. Women’s...
Words: 1079 - Pages: 5
...1920s Fashion: Style in The Jazz Age 1920s fashion was the perfect blend between style and function. Beautiful clothes that allowed women to move. Even 90 years after The Roaring Twenties ended, almost everyone still recognizes the style: * Cloche Hats * Flapper Dresses * Famous Fashion Designers * Elegant Art Deco Inspired Evening Wear * High Heeled Shoes * Simple Costume & More Complex Jewelry * Men's Fashion (suits and sportswear) * Art Deco Fashion Louise Brooks Wearing the Top Fashion of the 1920s History of 1920s Fashion Fashion is shaped and influenced by the society and events which surround it. Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. -Coco Chanel 1920s fashion is still famous because it was a huge shift from the previous era. Society changed quickly after World War 1: customs, technology, manufacturing all rocketed into the 20th century. Society was speeding up, airplanes were taking people across the country in a matter of hours rather than a matter of weeks, automobiles could travel between several states in an evening. Young Women Dressed in Typical '20s Fashion 1920s fashion reflects society's rapid movement and change. No longer were women willing to trade their mobility for the old stodgy customs of the Victorian era. Old-fashioned torture devices like the corset and the crinoline no longer served a purpose for...
Words: 1282 - Pages: 6
...Henri-Donat Matthieu-Saint Laurent on August 1, 1936, in Oran[->0], Algeria.At the age of 18, Saint Laurent moved to Paris and enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, where his designs quickly gained notice.He is also credited with having introduced the tuxedo[->1] suit for women and was known for his use of non-European cultural references, and non-White models. Created in 1966 by famous couturier Yves Saint Laurent[->2],[1] the Le Smoking tuxedo[->3] suit for women was the first of its kind to earn attention in the fashion world and in popular culture. It pioneered long, minimalist, androgynous styles for women, as well as the use of power suits[->4] and the pantsuit[->5] in modern-day society. Fashion photography[->6] echoes the influence of this suit in shoots that feature androgynous[->7] models with slicked-back hair in a mannish three-piece suit, a style that was first popularised in photographs by Helmut Newton[->8].[1][2] Yves Saint-Laurent was seen by many as having empowered women by giving them the option wear clothes that were normally worn by men with influence and power.[2][But one day in 1966, the Algerian-born designer Yves Saint Laurent[->9] dropped le bomb with le smoking, a tuxedo suit of velvet or wool—black-tie menswear reinterpreted for the female form. We’re talking about Le Smoking, the first tuxedo for women. It consisted of a classic dinner jacket in black grain de poudre wool or satin and trousers with a satin side-stripe with a ruffled white...
Words: 2246 - Pages: 9
...Hollywood Revival While the generation of today is more focused on who wore what on the red carpet, some tend to forget the origins of modern fashion and how much of it has evolved from ideas that will soon be a 100 years old. Many actors nowadays neglect the common standard and look towards a unique style they can call their own, whereas many rely on commercial endorsement. Almost all the benchmarks followed by directors, actors and studios alike, come from, as most critics would agree, the golden age of Hollywood. Lasting from the 1920s-1960s, films produced between these years gave true recognition and uniqueness to US cinema. Also known as Classical Hollywood, these years provided the public with a sense of fashion like no other. We...
Words: 1879 - Pages: 8
...the 1920’s. During the 1920’s people started changing drastically within the fashion industry. The roaring twenties was the beginning of what we know as fashion in these times. This research paper will be focusing on the Fashion and Apparel industry. Most fashion designers have a bachelor's degree in fashion design or fashion merchandising. In these programs they learn about “textiles and fabrics and how to use computer-aided design (CAD) technology” (Bureau of Labor Statistics). They are also able to work on designs that can be added to their portfolio. Fashion designers create original clothing, accessories, and footwear. They “sketch designs, select fabrics and patterns, and give instructions on how to make the products they designed” (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Every fashion designer have nine sets of duties that they must work by which are: “Study fashion trends and anticipate designs that will appeal to consumers; Decide on a theme for a collection; Use computer-aided design programs (CAD) to create designs; Visit manufacturer's or trade shows to get fabric samples; Select fabrics...
Words: 1303 - Pages: 6
...Social Changes Through the Decades Showcased Through Fashion Photography Fashion photography started in the late 1800’s and has become one of the most highly respected types of photography in todays’ society. Many people look towards fashion photography as a way to express themselves. This type of photography is showcased all around the world. Fashion photography is a complex process that shows the revolution of social changes through the decades. Fashion photography started in 1839 when photography was first introduced to the world. The earliest ever recorded fashion photography was in 1850 or 1860, for documenting fashion for the Parisian fashion house. Fashion photography is all about capturing what is within the photo from the clothes that...
Words: 1741 - Pages: 7
...“Olvera St.’s Unique Significance” Olvera St. is one of the oldest places in Downtown Los Angeles and is part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles, which is a historical monument. The town was originally established by Latino families in 1800’s and was the foundation of what would become Los Angeles. The street had been planned to be knocked down in the 1920’s, but was saved by a woman named Christine Sterling. Sterling was able to revive the street and turn it into a historical monument. Since then Olvera St. became a very large tourist attraction because it gave people an insight on what Latino culture, specifically Mexican, is really like. The importance of Olvera St. being saved is very significant for multiple reasons. It holds significance to the Mexican community because of its roots and heritage such as how their ancestors may have lived and what their culture was like. It tells the history of one of the first towns in Los Angeles and it is a location that brings a very diverse crowd to the city. Olvera St. serves as a place where people who have Mexican or Latino backgrounds can see what a Latino “old town” in Los Angeles was really like. It gives an example of what their ancestors may have grown up around and what their lives may have been like. One of the most significant features of Olvera St. is the Avila Adobe, which is a house made of clay. The Avila Adobe is the oldest standing house in Los Angeles and is now a small museum. It was the home to countless Latino families...
Words: 1274 - Pages: 6
...I. United States of America economic history In order to successfully move forward, we need to look to the past. The country’s economic history is like all history, meaning that it examines and observes the past activities of mankind (Fite 4). The most significant periods in the United States economic history are actually the three centuries before England settled in America. There were four changes happening in Western Europe that have greatly influenced America. Those changes were economic, political, religious, and intellectual (Fite 15). So why were these changes so important? They were the reasons that England decided to explore and expand in the western part of the world. The decision to expand trade and commerce was the most important advancement in the history of economics (Fite 15). From the time that the Virginia colonies were settled in 1609 up until 1890, farming was the most important aspect of the United States economy (Fite 30). Although manufactured products were worth more than products produced on a farm for the first time in 1889, farming was how the majority of Americans made a living (Fite 30). Despite the fact that agriculture dominated in these early years and the industrialization of the colonies was well under developed, “there was a high degree of specialization in the colonial economy” (Fite 63). For example, there were tobacco crops in the southern colonies which were crops that produced money, and in the northern colonies there was international...
Words: 9534 - Pages: 39
...Gabrielle Chanel was born in the French town of Saumur on the 19th of August 1883. She was one of 5 children and when her mother died; her father couldn’t manage on his own so the girls went to an orphanage and the boys to work on a farm. Gabrielle stayed at the orphanage and visited grandparents on holidays until 1900 when she moved in with them. She went to a local convent school with her aunt Adrienne who was almost the same age as Gabrielle, she remained a valued friend. Gabrielle and Adrienne learned to sew at the convent so were able to get jobs as dress makers when they had finished school. Gabrielle’s earliest ambition was to be on stage and during her time off from work she was a regular cafe and bar singer, through this she gained the nick name Coco from singing her own version of a song called ‘Qui qu’a vu coco?’. Through this circuit Chanel met Etienne Baslan, a wealthy military officer; she became his mistress and went to live with him when she was aged 25. Chanel’s appearance was always very modest and neat, very different to that of Baslan’s rich friends who were always very made up with lace and frills. Baslan owned alot of horses and was into horse racing, Chanel learnt to ride whilst living with him, women traditionally wore side saddle skirts yet Chanel could be found in the same masculine clothes as the stable hands, first showing her rebellion in fashion which eventually translated in her collections. One of Chanels passions was trimming her own shop bought...
Words: 1058 - Pages: 5
... * Died: January 10, 1971 in Paris, France * Nationality: French * Occupation: Fashion designer Legend. Coco Chanel once declared, "Legend is the consecration of celebrity," and no other fashion designer in history has exceeded either Chanel's celebrity or her legend. She was a fiercely independent lover of dukes, industrialists, and artists; a confidante of many of the creative geniuses of her day—among them, writer Jean Cocteau, painter Pablo Picasso, ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev, and composer Igor Stravinsky; and a self-created image of the free-spirited "new woman" of the 1920s. Through her personal example and the fashion empire she established, Chanel launched and sustained the movement toward simplicity, practicality, and unfussy elegance in women's clothing. "A fashion that does not reach the streets is not a fashion," she said, and by the early years of the 1920s, Chanel fashion had reached streets throughout Europe and the United States. Early Life. Chanel both obscured and embroidered upon the facts of her early life; as one of her biographers declared, "She was herself a Chanel creation." Though she claimed to have been born in Auvergne in 1893, records show that she was actually born in the poorhouse of the town of Saumur ten years earlier. Her mother, a poorhouse employee, and her father, an itinerant tradesman, were not married until fifteen months after her birth. Her mother died when Chanel was six, and her father disappeared after placing his...
Words: 2482 - Pages: 10
...orientation. We can trace a progression however throughout the 19th and 20th century in the apparent evolution of social scientific theory from objective through to more subjective approaches. The question remains though, does the theory accurately reflect change in society or does the 'perspective' of theory and theoretical approach of the researcher only tease out particular aspects of a social phenomenon. By holding the topic of subculture constant, social scientific theory can be put into question. This essay examines subcultures from the 1950's to the present in order to revisit assumptions about theory. The Punk subculture is examined specifically through semiotic analysis within a broader Sociological framework in order to find out what a more subjective approach to theory over this time period can reveal. In the past, subcultural theory described subcultures as fairly uniform and static. Theorists referred to the 1960's and 1970's within a Modern paradigm which objectivist in nature understood subculture as a problem to be fixed. Subcultural delinquency was seen as noise and as unnatural. More recent subcultural theory describes subcultures as transient, informal and hybrid. But subcultures have always been about’ youth, about times of economic uncertainty, employment pressures and reliant on class distinction (Van Krieken et al. 2006, pp517-518). Meanwhile, in Postmodern society we see the so called 'disappearance' of subcultures which have become dispersed and commoditized...
Words: 2666 - Pages: 11
..." " " " " " " " " " " " " " " Selvi Thangarajah Arth 701: Contemporary Art Professor Holly Goldstein Spring 2015 Thangarajah 2 " In the 1950-60’s when WWII had just come to an end and the men were returning home from war, the women were being forced out of their industrial jobs. The baby boom was at an all time high and women were expected to quit their jobs and be full time homemakers1. It was during this time that Hubert De Givenchy was just starting out on his own as a couturier in Paris and was know to have a minimalistic and unconventional style. His aim during the 50’s and into the 60’s was to help empower women through their clothes and break down the feminine ideals of grace and beauty, abandoning the stereotypes associated to them. He allowed for the flexibility of the female identity through his multiple creations of contrasting silhouettes that were rather rebellious and unconventional at the time that it was being made. Hubert De Givenchy was born on 21st february 1927 in Beauvais, France. Hailing from a very prosperous family, Hubert went on to attend college at Beauvais before moving to Paris to pursue his dreams of being a couturier. In 1944 he joined the couture house of Jacques Fath while attending school at Ecole Des BeauxArts2. Later in the 40’s he took a series of jobs as an assistant designer—first with Fath, then with Lucien Lelong, Robert Piguet, and Elsa Schiaparelli before opening his own couture house in 1951...
Words: 3328 - Pages: 14
...The United States deficit contributes to its debt and the debt contributes to the deficit. We know the longest running uninterrupted surplus for the Unites States was from 1920 to 1930 but spent most of it combating the war. This will show how the U.S. deficits, debt, and surplus affect the following areas; the taxpayers, future social security and Medicare users, unemployed individuals, University of Phoenix students, The United States financial reputation on an international level, a domestic automobile manufacturer (exporter), and a Italian clothing company (importer). Taxpayers This will show how the debt and deficit affects taxpayers. Taxpayers get caught up in the government debt and are left to pay it off. Individual debt is different from government debt, and the reasons for this are: (1) the government lives forever and people don’t, so the government is ongoing. When people die, all debts must be paid to old Uncle Sam before relatives get the reminder. (2) The government can print money and people cannot, and as long as another country accepts our currency, we can always exchange money with those countries. (3) The government owes much of it debt to itself. It is sort of like owing oneself so one will never go broke. The internal debt which is the debt owed to other governmental agencies or to its own citizens, and when it pays on its internal debt it involves a redistribution of the citizens but it does not reduce the income of the citizens. For example...
Words: 2798 - Pages: 12
...Ford, Helmut Lang, Miuccia Prada, Jil Sander and Donatella Versace, one sees that many of their strategies echo what Chanel once did. The way, 75 years ago, she mixed up the vocabulary of male and female clothes and created fashion that offered the wearer a feeling of hidden luxury rather than ostentation are just two examples of how her taste and sense of style overlap with today's fashion. Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel (19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a pioneering French fashion designer whose modernist philosophy, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important figure in 20th-century fashion. She was the founder of the famous fashion brand Chanel. Her extraordinary influence on fashion was such that she was the only person in the field to be named on TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Chanel was born on 19 August 1883 in the small city of Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France. She was the second daughter of traveling salesman Albert Chanel and Jeanne Devolle. Coco was born in a peasant village. Her birth was recorded the following day. Two employees of the hospice went to city hall and declared the child female. The hospice employees were illiterate, so when the mayor François Poitu wrote down the birth, no one knew how to spell Chasnel so the mayor improvised and recorded it without an "s," making it Chanel. This misspelling made the tracing of her roots almost impossible for biographers when Chanel...
Words: 2797 - Pages: 12
