flapper

1920s Christmas gift buying tips and fashions

Here’s a 1920s article on gifts to give at Christmas. Because it’s from a fashion magazine, ofcourse the gifts are all wearable. Flapper hats and purses and accessories. A friend of mine scanned these pages from his personal collection, or had them scanned, and then died. I’m sorry.

How Politics shaped womens fashions in the early 20th century

How Politics shaped womens fashions in the early 20th century

This entry is part 2 of 32 in the series CheeseCake Pinup Magazine - 1953

This is a very interesting article in the 1950s pinup magazine about the history of how politics and politicians shaped women’s fashions during the first half of the 20th century. The early feminist movement asked for many changes, among them suffrage, easy divorce, property laws, and equal education. This resulted in a fashion trends that were mannish, including the no-curves, flat chested, flapper girl of the 1920s. This article goes on to call Victoria Claflin Woodhull a “political freak” (who ran for presidency in 1872), and pacifist Jeanette Rankin whose only winning two terms in congress corresponded with declarations of war (1917 and 1941). The caption under Woodhull says that she ran on a free love ticket.

1920s advertisements – mainly mens fashions

1920s advertisements – mainly mens fashions

This entry is part 5 of 26 in the series 1924 St. Louis Fashion Pageant

These illustrated fashion advertisements from 1924 are so interesting! These ads seem primarily directed to retailers, rather than the consumer…. I’ve not peeked thru the pages further than I’ve scanned them, and I’ve not researched the Saint Louis Fashion Pageant yet, so maybe it was more of an industry thing like NYC Fashion Week?

St. Louis Fashion Advertisements from 1924

St. Louis Fashion Advertisements from 1924

This entry is part 4 of 26 in the series 1924 St. Louis Fashion Pageant

Here’s the cover and first few pages of the August 1924 issue of the St. Louis Fashion Pageant, a local society and fashion magazine. This whole issue is filled with fashion illustrations and fashion photography from the mid-1920s…. flapper girls and cars! The roaring 20s were well underway, even in the slower paced midwest, and St. Louis was a major city.

1920s Plus Sized Flapper Dress

1920s Plus Sized Flapper Dress

This entry is part 16 of 23 in the series Carondelet Historical Society Project

It was very fun to photograph this green plus sized 1920s dress! SO many times, surviving dresses from this era are petite. I’m not sure why, because plus sized women surely existed in the 1920s. I am guessing that clothing got re-purposed during the Great Depression, and worn longer. A dress made with lots of fabric could be repurposed more than a more narrow dress with just 16 inches or so across the front. I am not sure what I did with it, but I did come across one “plus sized” dress (which I sold) which was clearly hemmed from drop waist to the more fashionable natural waist of the 1930s.

Anyway, it’s always fun playing dress up!

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