Flapper Friday
A few weeks ago I watched Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen. The story focuses on an American Writer who goes to Paris, where each night at midnight he goes back in time and meets some of the greatest writers and artists the city has played host to, including Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso and Dali. He also meets a girl, played to perfection by Marion Cotillard. She is the perfect 1920′s flapper girl, all bobbed hair, loose fitting sequined shift dresses and little beaded bags. I’ll do a proper review of the film soon, but since watching it, I’ve been reading up on 1920′s fashion, and I absolutely love it.
The girls of the twenties were true fashion pioneers, throwing aside the corsets and incredibly restricting underwear of previous generations, and opting instead for loose-fitting shift dresses they could dance in. Although their clothes were still very beautiful, practicality was top of the fashion agenda, allowing the flappers to keep up with the boys as they drank, smoked and danced their way across town.
The photograph on the left is from an amazing shoot by Grace Coddington for US Vogue a couple of years ago. You can see her pulling the shoot together in The September Issue, the behind the scenes documentary about the magazine. It’s a beautiful editorial, and one of my all time favourites.
If you love the twenties as much as I do, then you need to get the 1920′s Fashion Sourcebook. It’s £23 on Amazon, and it’s a brilliant look at all aspects of twenties fashion. It’s a huge book and has hundreds of illustrations and photographs. Definitely a must have for any modern day flapper girls!
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