Ombre Hair

THE FLAPPER.

She wore too much makeup, and she drove a car. A cigarette dangling from her acrimonious pout seemed to be a permanent fixture and you never knew whose bed you’d find her in. She consumed far too many cocktails, she listened to jazz music and she worried about little other than perfecting her status as a social butterfly. She was brash, she was bold and most of all, she despised all the social norms set in place by the generations who had gone before her. She was the flapper.

Flappers in the 1920's.

The term ‘flapper’ was used to describe a whole new movement of young women who emerged in the 1920s. A descendent of the previous era’s ‘Gibson Girl’, the flapper shocked and appalled the older generations in equal measure, and made sure that she defied all the standards that society required her to meet. Flappers had become inspired by the wave of transatlantic culture to which they were exposed at the end of the first World War. Social and political turbulence had created this new young women, and there was certainly no going back. The flapper realised that as an independent young woman, she no longer had to endure the male-dominated society of her female ancestors. She could be politically active, hold down a job, and flaunt her sexuality without any reprocussions.

Clara Bow.

A typical flapper’s ensemble almost attempted to emulate that of her male counterparts. She sometimes wrapped herself in cloth to minimise the appearance of her breasts, and she did not wear a corset. She favoured sweaters of a nautically striped pattern, or a sleeveless blouse and she accessorised with long necklaces. Her skirt usually stopped just below her knees, where you could see the top of her silk stockings.