Introduction of the Flapper Girl

Louise Brooks

Many women during the 1920's tried to achieve an oriental doll look with their pale skin and done up eyes. The favored cut of this decade was the super short bob cut. Only to be outdone in shortness by Eton Crop, where hair was cut very short and close to the head, then slicked back with hair oil to complete the boy-look. Finger waves and pin curls also became fashionable at this time.

Eyebrows at the time were extremely thin and often removed then redrawn even higher. An early version of eyeliner containing soot, lead and goose grease was used to make the eyes stand out, some used rice powder to achieve the deadly white skin . A fashionable flapper had short sleek hair, a shorter than average shapeless shift dress and a chest as flat as a little boy. As long as they looked boyish they looked fashionable.

Flapper women were known for their behavior and definitely "pushed the envelope" of what was acceptable and "lady-like".They drank (often in public), smoked cigarettes through long holders, and were sexually liberated, throwing "petting parties", equivalent to the modern sex party. The flappers even had their own vocabulary, with expressions such as "snugglepup", being a man who attended a petting party, and "bamey-mugging" a term for having sex.

Definition of a Flapper