Early American Makeup 1920’s After years of women being bound with corsets and minimal makeup, the 1920’s was a decade with a new definition of what feminine was. The dresses were made of flowing materials such as chiffon and silk as we see in the photograph. The hemline was typically midway between the knee and ankle. Despite the reputation of the flapper and the roaring 20’s, women did not show off their curves. They actually would bind their breast to look smaller and the dresses were worn loose.
Flappers wore short skirts that revealed the knee and shapeless dresses with flat chests while non flappers wore dresses that were calf length and eliminated all the curves of the women (ThinkQuest). Flappers wore more makeup than the other women and got rid of their long tresses and replaced them with boyish bob haircuts which some wore hats with (ThinkQuest). They were almost like a rebellion to the sexual norm of women, acting in inappropriate ways like smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and dancing in a provocative manner to jazz music (Rosenberg). While this new, radical lifestyle of some women in this time period was not accepted initially, in time, flappers inspired women to step outside of normal social boundaries by evoking a sense of defiant independence and uniqueness. Even now, short hair shows an air of confidence and revealing clothing is still in fashion.
The article “Flappers” explains how shocked the Gibson girls were when the flappers decided to cut off their long hair. The Flapper’s short hair was styled in a “bob”, which was later replaced with an even shorter hair style “the shingle” or “Elton” cut. Flappers even started to wear makeup such has eye liner, blush, powder and lip stick. In earlier generations woman that wore makeup were considered loose (Flappers). The flappers enjoyed shaking up the Gibson girls.
Women started changing, their style was referred to as revealing and flamboyant. Women raised the hemlines to just below the knee, started having shorter hair and wearing makeup. Trends such as lengthy gem bracelets, bobbed hair, cloche hats and thin knee-high dresses were very popular during this time. The 1920’s incorporated shorter styles with pleats, slits and gathers allowing for more freedom. The corsets and bustles of previous eras were replaced with camisoles, bloomers or a chemise.
Out of these three, the positive consequences of the Enlightenment were felt most by the Bourgeois women because only those wealthy enough to afford to dispense of women’s work could afford to partake in the new domesticity. The styles of women’s garments in the eighteenth century reflect the improving status of women in society. While the usual garments of the early eighteenth century were rather simple limp garments composed of two lengths of fabric pinch pleated at the waist with wide soft sleeves sewn in, the dress was gradually stiffened, decorated and expanded with hoops called panniers until, by mid-century, it had been stylized into the Robe de Francaise. This outfit insured that a woman took up three times as much space as a man and always presented an imposing and ultra feminine spectacle (The Costumer’s Manifesto, para. 1).
Certain magazines, like Seventeen, talk about being body positive, but show slim models in their pages (Benowitz-Fredericks et al, 2012). How is an adolescent girl going through changes supposed to make heads or tails of what they are reading? In addition, many television networks talk about going against body ideals, but have only thin actresses on the network. Even within the music industry there are songs about being body positive, yet they come from singers who are relatively slim. Being heavier than “normal” becomes a criticism of character and leaves girls the most vulnerable.
She ask how modern American or just modern people in general are fit to judge the practice of Chinese foot binding as “barbaric, sexist, and outdated” when there are women out there in the world that wear “high heels” which in Tsai’s opinion is comparable to Chinese foot binding. She defends she reasoning by saying that high heels “limit our mobility and disfigure our bodies” like Chinese foot binding did in the past. Tsai then launches into her own experiences on the fortunes of high heels. Tsai greatly loathes high heels, and gives many scenarios in which women behave like fools due to their high heels. The writer confides that she is “really judgmental” when it comes to high heel.
Flappers cut their hair in short styles, such as bobs and shingles which was opposite of the long hair known in the past. They drank, smoked and lived a lifestyle associated with recklessness and physical intimacy. This was the antithesis of the virgin, moral ideal of
America has created the image of “beautiful” since centuries ago. It is interesting how America’s idea of “beautiful” has changed over 50 years-there is an alarming difference. In the 1950’s and 60’s America’s beauty icon was Marilyn Monroe; blonde and beautiful, but not extremely thin-just healthy. If one was today today’s models and celebrities, they would still see blonde and beautiful, but they would also see thin and unhealthy. "Negative Effects Media Has on Women- English Media".
The women, who wear natural looks such as afros, dreadlocks, and braids, are a rare find. For most black women it’s either relaxed hair or hair that doesn’t even grow from their own scalps. As Shakur states: “When you go through all your life processing and abusing your hair so it will look like the hair of another race of people, then you are making a statement and that statement is clear. I don’t care if it’s the curly, conk, latex, locks or whatever, you’re making a statement” (174).