Corsets

By: John Coleman, Dan Warhol, Elise Meyer, and Kaitlin Johnson.

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The 1920's was a sign of great change for women in society. Women fought to earn many important rights. They also started to set fashion trends. Women gained the right to vote during this time period. The flappers were a big hit. They symbolized the jazz-age very nicely.The 20's was a very life changing time for women. Now, let's learn a bit more about the women in this time-period.

A very brave group of women were the flappers, The flappers were the rebellious women of the 1920's. They set many fashion trends and fads for women and girls of all ages. Also, flappers were told that how they dressed was unacceptable and not proper. The flappers were very popular for their generation, but the older generations thought of them as an outrage and a discrace! The flappers were very important to the 20's. The flappers were the bad girls during the 20's. "The flapper, whose antics were immortalized in the cartoons of John Held Jr., was the heroine of the Jazz Age."(1) A regular flapper was a young women who was looked as a a little "fast" for there age. Flappers offended the older generations because they were not acting feminine enough for their time period. The way they did that is they attended a lot of "manly" events such as: ball games, crew races, and other affairs at men's colleges. Flappers were not as bad as they seem, and they did not smoke or drink. ([|The Jazz Age])[|(Welles Page1]) media type="custom" key="3037716" The flappers dressed differently from how their elders taught them to.Instead of wearing their hair long like regular ladies, they wore it short and bobbed. Every thing was trimmed down and lightened so it was easier to move. They put on make up, and may have applyed it in public. No "regular" girl in this time period would even dream of doing that! They even wore their dresses baggy, that showed their arms and knees, and they knees were powdered white! Nobone ever ever thought of doing that! "However, flappers did more than symbolize a revolution in fashion and mores - they embodied the modern spirit of the Jazz Age."(Jazz Age) Because they wore these "rebellious" clothes for their time period, they were considered "modern". ([|The Jazz Age]) ([|Welles Page 1]) ([|Rosenberg 1])

media type="youtube" key="3svvCj4yhYc" height="344" width="425" T he fashion of the flappers was a very controversial subject. It started as proper women, then lead to the revolutionary flappers, the 1920's was extremely different than anyone had seen before. Teen-aged girls were rebelling against their mothers to be more like the flappers And those who didn't were forced to wear gloves just to hold hands with their boyfriends. All of the women in the 1920's were probably considerable people. But, as you will find out, not everyone was happy with how people were dressed.

As we talked about the flapper women of the 1920's, they were considered very rebellious compared to the way women were "supposed" to look. From wearing mini skirts and having short haircuts, to one of the most shocking fashion dilemmas of this era--wearing make-up. The way the flappers looked is often described as youthful and boyish. These women did not embrace the curves that they had which was popular at this time, they made their bodies look straight and flat, and wore loose clothing. This was very different than the popular fashions for this time of being lady-like and proper. One company who designed clothes for these rebellious women was the Sport and Play in Coloured Prints. They used smart, simple, casual styles in lightweight printed fabrics. These articles of clothing made women feel sporty and young. And, probably the most famous person who designed clothes for people such as the flappers, was Coco Chanel. She invented the woman's suit and the little black dress, which were both very popular designs for those who were flappers. And surprisingly, we still wear and use the things that she designed and created in this day and time (1920s Women's Fashion Articles,pg.1).

 <span style="color: rgb(246,60,151);"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,0);">The "appropriate" fashion for women was nothing like what the flappers wore. There wore many dresses in the 1920s, with many different colors and textures. The women who wore "normal" clothes during this time were very concerned with the way that other people dressed. They were afraid that their daughters, or nieces or grand-daughters would decide to be a flapper. The mothers of some girls made them wear gloves if they were going to hold hands with a boy. They made them wear dresses and such, so that they could express their femininity. The older women definately did not want their children to be rebellious like the flappers. Most of these non-flapper women wore long skirts, and other sophistiacated looking items. And as you can tell, there is a striking difference in these two fashions from the same era. And these differences mirrored the feelings and beliefs of the women in the 1920s (Pauline Westin, Flapper Fashion-1920s fashion history, pg.2). media type="youtube" key="Xg3ZEcvkcLU" height="344" width="425" <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">The Anti-Flirt association was a group of people who were opposed to the way thay the "flappers" dressed and acted in the 1920's. They held meetings and handed out badges so people would know that they were against flirting. This group of angry citizens and parents specifically were disliked the 1920's Flappers, teenagers going out without a male chaperone, teens going to all-night parties, and their precious daughters holding hands with men without wearing gloves (*gasp*!). " <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> But after the horror of the First World War, the younger generation distrusted the older generation and ‘did their own thing’ which was a blow to the face of the establishment" (The Anti-Flirt Group 1). The Anti-Flirt Association also disliked the outfits that men in the time period wore. Things such as trilby hats and pinstriped suits. These outfits seemed to apaul this group of people. They held meetings and discussed the issues and what they planned to do about them. More specific things icluded for men were spats, and for women, smoking in public and driving motor cars.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Women's rights played a huge role in the 1920s.<span style="background-color: rgb(255,255,255);"> <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Before any rights were established women were not even considered people. In the 20’s they were just housewives and did chores. They could not vote or keep money they earned for themselves. Luckily, some women had enough and changed the way they lived. Rights and amendments were established for women. Thankfully, these changes were made or we might have been living the same way they did. The women in the 1920’s changed the outlook on society for women these days now. Let us see what exactly happened to the women of the 1920’s. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255,255,255);"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">media type="youtube" key="gP7s6CNHTOs" height="344" width="425" <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">" Women did not have a ny property rights and once she was married, she was no longer allowed to own land, couldn't keep the money she earned for herself and was not allowed the care for and control her children" ( The Women's Rights Movement in the 1920's 1). Women then were considered "a man's property" and were not even considered a person at all. Women back then couldn't have jobs and were not allowed to vote at all. A woman in this time was not supposed to be a part of the working world, and for some women they didn't have a choice. If on a rare occasion she found a job, the woman was paid very little. " In society, women were supposed to stay at home with the children, do all the household chores including dairy and tending to the gardens, as well as preparing all the food" (The Women's Rights Movement in the 1920's 1). If a husband died without writing a will, his wife could not inheirt anything of his. That includes any of his money that she earned herself, or the land that she owned before she got married. Bascially before any rights were established, women just remained as housewives with little to no rights.

Luckily, Women's rights were established. One important woman who played a role in women's rights was Alice Paul. She was the head of National Women's Part. Alice felt that the 19th amendment wasn't enough. She pushed for an equal rights amendment to be added to the constitution. (Women's Movement Powerpoint 10) Another act that stood out was the Dower Act. " In Alberta, The Dower Act was passed ...giving women the legal right to one third of her husband's estate during his life and his death" (The Women's Rights Movement in the 1920's 1). Women received the right to vote in the 1920s as well. They got this right after the 19th amendment was passed stating that women could vote. (When Women Got The Right to Vote 1). Thankfully, women received these rights, because without them, women today would probably still have little or no rights. It may have been a long fight to win these rights for women, but luckily for our generation, they recieved them whether it took one, or one-hundred years. media type="youtube" key="xg4VnzVlZ9A" height="344" width="425"

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">So, as you can tell the 1920's was quite like a roller coaster ride for the women. They went thorough many dramatic changes on how they could live, and would live. First off, the flappers made a tremendous impact on the 1920's, because they were the rebels of their time. Also, women got appropriate rights restored to them. The Roaring 20's was a very important decade to American history.



__Resources__

"The Anti-Flirt Group 1" 19 Jan 2009 <http://www.artdecowomen.com/deco/artdeco.html>

"The Anti-Flirt Group 2" 19 Jan 2009 <http://nigelgraves.co.uk/history/usaboom.htm>

"Flappers Style and Culture." __The Jazz Age__ 1. 18 Jan 2009 <http://www.geocities.com/flapper_culture/>.

Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Flappers in the Roaring Twenties." __The Flapper__ 1. 21 Jan 2009 <http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/a/flappers.htm>.

Welles Page, Ellen. "A flappers appeal to parents.." __The Jazz age__ 1. 18 Jan 2009 <http://www.geocities.com/flapper_culture/appeal.html>.

Westin, Pauline. 2. 18 Jan 2009 http://www.fashion-era.com/flapper_fashion_1920s.htm#Attainable%20Fashion%20For%20All.

"When Women Got the Right to Vote" 18 Jan 2009 <[|ttp://www.usefultrivia.com/history_trivia/modern_history_trivia_002b.html]>

"Women's Rights Movement." 15 Jan 2009 <http://www.socyberty.com/History/The-Womens-Rights-Movement-in-the-1920s.215395>.

"When Women Got the Right to Vote" 18 Jan 2009 <[|ttp://www.usefultrivia.com/history_trivia/modern_history_trivia_002b.html]> 18 Jan 2009 <[|http://www.oldmagazine] articles.com/women-fashion-articles-1920.php>.

"1920's Women in Society Powerpoint." 15 Jan 2009 <file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Elise/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/C0LDIMXM/WomensMovement1920sAnd1960s-PaigeZ%5B1%5D.ppt#262,10,Alice