Women In The 1920s

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1920 The Roaring Twenties decade saw jazz and women's liberation in education, behavior, dress and makeup. Pancake makeup was invented in 1914, women got the vote in 1920, and as far as many conservative folk were concerned, the world fell apart. Women were dating without chaperones, necking unreservedly at parties, dancing lewdly and drinking hard liquor in nightclubs and dives. | | The Flapper era began with the look called "comme le garcon" (or, "like the boy"), straightening and shortening skirts and dresses, slimming figures and—most shocking of all—cutting the hair of the nation's fashionable young women. Short hair was a big deal: nice girls kept their hair long, as a metaphor for maidenhood. For a woman to chop her hair…show more content…
Eye makeup consisted of kohl, which might be made of ingredients as strange as soot, lead and goose grease. Kohl went all the way around the eyes, turning the whole orbital area into a deep-stained smudge reminiscent of vampires. For a dramatic touch, some 'vamps' drew a line of kohl from the corner of the eye outward, simulating a slightly Asiatic look that was deemed sexy and bad. (Even today, imported kohl may contain lead: substitute black eyeliner instead). Powder (usually rice powder) was vital to the Flapper look: skin looked white to the point of near-death; one author called it, "the pallor usually associated with innate vice". Themes in makeup as in dresses were based on the Orient. Along with other 'unfeminine' behaviors, Flappers didn't hide their makeup any more than they did their legs; lipstick was applied at the dinner table and powder compacts made public appearances at parties and speakeasies. Portable makeup containers—compacts and lipstick tubes made of precious metals and encrusted with jewels—became ideal accessories when cosmetics left the boudoir for the…show more content…
The Bob hairstyle was a blunt cut worn halfway between cheekbone and chin. Bangs could be worn cut straight across or swept to one side. Like the made up face, hair didn't look "natural"; it was slicked down, glistening with brilliantine. The Shingle, which followed the Bob, cut the hair at the nape in a V-shape, exposing the neck. Shingles were accompanied by marcelled finger waves or spit curls at the temples. The most drastic version of the Flapper hairdo was the Eton crop, cut very short and close to the head, with a curl plastered tightly above either

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