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Flappers were young
women of the 1920s who broke traditional dress and behavior codes. They first
appeared in Great Britain after World War I. The new, lively dances of the Jazz
Age required women to be able to move freely. Underwear called “step-ins” replaced corsets and pantaloons
and allowed women to move more freely. Women wound their chests with
strips of cloth to flatten it. They wore stockings made of rayon –
artificial silk – which they wore rolled over a
garter belt. The hem of their
skirt started to rise in the 1920s as well. At first the hem only rose a few inches, but from 1925 to
1927, it fell just below the knees.
Flappers had short haircuts called the “bob,” later replaced by an
even shorter haircut, called the “shingle” or “Eton” cut. The shingle cut was slicked down and
had a curl on each side of the face that covered the woman’s ears. They wore a felt, bell-shaped hat
called a cloche and started wearing a lot of make-up. It was a period of escapism – a
youthful reaction against dark and serious clothes (Rosenburg, Fashion
of a Decade: the 1920s, Herald 5).
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