Fashion From War to War Part II: 1920s

I was never a huge fan of the 1920s.  Maybe it was being forced to read The Great Gatsby in high school, or maybe it was that so many women cut off all their long beautiful hair, or maybe it was those really strange disappearing waistlines.  I mean, sure it was a revolutionary decade, but did they really think the best way to go was shaping themselves like boxes?
 

Seriously, they look like they're wearing sacks.

Nonetheless, I've learned to hate the 1920s a lot less over the past few years, and I don't really know why.  It certainly wasn't from watching Downton Abbey, because I'd much rather see them go back to their lovely Edwardian clothing.  I certainly couldn't leave the decade out of this fashion history series, so here goes!
 
The 1920s were a complete revolution, especially for women.  By the beginning of the decade, most women in the Western world were now able to vote.  This was a huge step towards independence.  World War I had opened up new career choices for women, who could now work in industries that were once considered inappropriate for them.  Many chose to pursue both a career and a family.
 


Edith, from Downton Abbey, ran a newspaper!

 
 
New technology also drove the decade.  Automobiles replaced the horse and buggy.  Radios, gramophones, and telephones brought more connection, and the widespread adoption of electricity fueled them.
 

The Dowager Countess sums it up.

 
 
As in society, fashion changed too.  Hemlines went higher and higher, and the waistline dropped and dropped, sometimes disappearing altogether.  Make-up became popular, especially lipstick, for that iconic Cupid's bow mouth, and eyeliner.  The natural eyebrows of the previous era became long and thin, sloping down at the corners.

A hemline chart.

 

The WORST thing I saw on Downton Abbey.  I cringed when I saw it.

 

 

 

Bebe Daniels
 

But the biggest fashion change was hair.  Up to this point in time, long hair was the only option for women.  Short hair was for men, completely unheard of for women.  But in the 20s, women began 'bobbing' their hair, cutting it chin length and styling with finger waves (among other styles).  Some women were hesitant about making such a change, especially those in the upper classes.  But to keep up with the fashion, they styled their hair in a faux bob.  Ever heard of bobby pins?  Now you know where the name came from!
 

 

 

 

 

Even Lily Elsie cut her amazing hair off.

This ad is hilarious!

So because I'm not a huge fan of the 20s I don't have much in the way of clothing for that era.  I've done it a couple times to celebrate Downton Abbey, but I wasn't very pleased with the results.  However, I was fortunate enough to be gifted a 1920s style dress from a close friend of mine, Ms. Donna.  It was hers when she was younger, and she knows I like vintage stuff, so she gave it to me.  It even came with a necklace!  The best thing was that it fit me perfectly.  All I had to do was complete the look.

 

 

 

I had a different pair of shoes planned, but I found these Friday when I went thrifting with my mom.  I LOVE them!

 

This was the only picture of the purse, and it was blurry.  It was a gift from a family friend a LONG time ago.

 

Look at the fringe!

 

So much fringe...

 

 

These were the best two pictures of my faux bob.  I'm still figuring out how to make it a bit smoother.

 

I'm so bad at putting on lipstick.  For an artist I have such shaky hands, and I don't think I've quite mastered the Cupid's bow mouth yet. 

I had some trouble with my hair, and some trouble with my lipstick, but overall I think it was a success.  I just wish I could have done finger waves, but I couldn't figure it out short of finding and buying vintage finger wave clips on Ebay.  My make-up isn't quite right either, because I'm not good at that kind of thing and I can't wear eye make-up except water-proof mascara.  Still, I think the lipstick pulled it all together.

Join me next week for that weird in-between decade called the 1930s.  Longer hemlines, bias-cut skirts, more short hair, and...pants?

Fashion From War to War Part I: 1910s

I think I've always had a love for historical fashion.  When I was in middle and high school there was a book at the public library called What People Wore, and it was one of my favorite books to look at.  I checked it out almost every time we went to the library, so often that I never had to look it up.  I always knew exactly where it was.  It has images from the times of ancient Egypt all the way to the 1920s, and I would often look at it in tandem with my sketch book, using it as a reference for character sketches.

I finally got a copy of my own as a gift several years ago, around the time I fell in love with Downton Abbey, and around the time I started to build up my own historically inspired wardrobe.  Much of the clothes I find at thrift stores, and some I make myself, but I also shop very meticulously at mainstream stores, because if you look hard enough you can find an Edwardian-style skirt at a department store.

I've become way more brave in wearing historical and historical-inspired clothing over the past few years, and I often wear those kinds of outfits to church, but I thought it would be really cool to share my ensembles on here!  So this week starts a five week series of fashion history posts, an overview of Western fashion in the decades of the early 20th century, from about the time of World War I to around the time of the Korean War.

I've already mentioned Downton Abbey, so you can probably guess where we're going to start.  The 1910s of course!  This time period was at the end of the Edwardian era, and it was also during this time that World War I occurred and the Titanic sank.  At that time, dresses and skirts were fairly fitted, and the waistline started just under the bust in the beginning of the decade and lowered as the years went by.  Hats were a must when leaving the house, no matter your station, but if you were rich your hat might have really nice feathers, or other fancy decorations.  The suit was popular for travel.  During the war, fashion was less opulent and rigid, and this new freedom for women led to suffrage and the disappearing waist of the 1920s.

An overview of the decade.

My Downton Abbey ladies.

Look at those dresses!

An interesting fashion plate

Lily Elsie was a hair goddess.

Keeping all this in mind, I went through my wardrobe and put together a spring/summer inspired 1910s look, complete with a hairstyle that took me at least thirty minutes to do.  I got so many compliments at church, and one of my friends even said she needed to start an instagram dedicated to my hair.

I bought the shirt at Wet Seal when I was in high school, and the pleated skirt came from Kohl's.

I did my hair with no help from a lady's maid.

I bought my shoes from Ebay.

I think this is my favorite belt.  It came with a dress I bought several years ago.

My Grandma gave me this faux pearl necklace.

What do you think?  I loved it!  Come back next week for bobbed hair and independent women.  On to the 1920s!

My Literary Friends

At this point in my life, I couldn't imagine working anywhere else than at an elementary school.  It's been an amazing first year (well, part of a year), and I've grown SO much.  Seriously, you don't realize how much a daily dose of lunch duty will change you until you go from being scared of a handful of children to walking around shushing a room of a hundred.

One of the most fun things that went on this year was library appreciation week.  Anybody who knows me knows that I love books, so I was excited when our librarian announced a week full of events.  This included guessing teachers' favorite books, Literary Bingo, and trying to figure out how many jelly beans were in a jar.  My favorite thing was that she invited the teachers and staff to dress up as a book character and go on the morning announcements to talk about their book.

This time last year, I never would have been brave enough to do anything like that.  But this year?  I decided to dress up twice, of course.  I still can't believe I did it, and the kids loved it!

My first character was Nancy Drew.  When I went to Five Points, Nancy was my favorite.  I think I read every Nancy Drew book they had in the library, and even the ones at the public library.  The Nancy Drew series has been around since the 1930s, written by a myriad of people under the name Carolyn Keene.  Because I own an original 1945 copy of The Clue in the Crumbling Wall, I decided to go as 1940s Nancy drew.  I altered a 1960s skirt and practiced my victory rolls, and we can't forget a magnifying glass.

 

 

1940s hair is NOT EASY.  But it's SO pretty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We even got in some really weird, 40s inspired poses. (But what is the deal with my face?)

 

Another of my favorite books is Stargirl.  Stargirl is brave and zany.  She doesn't care what other people think about her, and she's not afraid to have ideas that go contrary with society.  She takes Mica High School by storm.  My favorite of her crazy outfits in the book is the prairie dress.  And it wouldn't be complete without her giant sunflower bag and ukulele.

And we can't forget her faithful pet rat, Cinnamon. He was a pain to make, but so worth it!

This dress is so flowy and I love it.

Look at it!

LOOK.

I even sang and played the ukulele on the announcements to people who had birthdays.  It was great!  And I wore these clothes the whole day, two different days, all over campus.  How many other jobs let you do that?

With school ending, I'm going to be posting again, and way more often!  In just a few days I'll be starting a fashion history series, and after that? Well, sewing, of course.  And writing. And other stuff.  Yep.