So, here it is. The big day is finally here. Yes, I'm talking about Halloween! And my costume this year is a flapper girl from that wild carefree era known as the Roaring Twenties. It was a time when a war weary world decided to cut loose. Styles morphed from stuffy Edwardian long skirts and corsets to loose fitting dresses with short hems influenced by the discoveries being made of Ancient Egyptian life and culture. The short straight or wavy bob hairstyles were also influenced by Egyptian relics and were all the rage, but I am not that committed to the look, so I've tucked my hair into a loose roll.
At my youngest daughter's brilliant suggestion, I decided to go with a flapper girl costume since it's 2020 and the days of the flapper girls dancing the Charleston in their tasseled dresses are 100 years ago. It was the time of prohibition, gangsters, Hollywood glam, the American nouveau riche being able to travel the world for the first time and the calm before the storm of the Great Depression and World War II. It was a strange and remarkable epoch in American History and one that has always fascinated me.
When I was a teenager I didn't know much about the history of this era, but Swing Dance parties were all the rage. The artsy college kids would throw them year round, everyone had to come in costume. My friends and I, being small town high school kids weren't on the invite list. The way to find them was to just drive around with the windows down on a Saturday night listening for the sounds of swing music.
I scoured all the thrift shops to find a dress, but the only ones that turned up were authentic, fragile, and hopelessly expensive. So, I broke code and went to those parties in my standard 90s alternative clothes--you know the wide leg trousers, a fitted tee with some sort of print like a can of Spam on it, Chuck Taylors, a chain wallet, etc. We carried on that way until people started asking who these costume-less party crashers were.
I stuck out like a sore thumb, but I just couldn't swing a swing dress. This was all back before the internet was really in use. Now there are tons of inexpensive options. This dress came with a basic headband and gloves for only $28, but I opted to buy my own accessories set to go with it so I could get something a little more opulent.
Full disclosure: the pearl necklace immediately broke when I took it out of the package and tried it on. It is made of glass pearls, not plastic, and although I appreciate the weight and quality of glass pearls over plastic, it made the strand quite heavy which is why it broke. Fortunately there is a knot in between each pearl so only one pearl fell off and it wasn't a total disaster. I still have all my old tools and parts for jewelry making, so I just attached a clasp to the broken ends. It wasn't easy, but I was able to salvage the necklace, and I think the necklace really helps to sell the look.
Everything else in this kit has been lovely and very nice quality. The dress also seems to be quite nice and a very good quality. I think I'll have this costume for many years. And, who knows, maybe swing dance parties will make another comeback and I can send my teenage daughters to the party in style--even if they have to crash them.
Post a Comment
Thank you for stopping by! I read every comment and I always try to respond. This is a polite and respectful blog, so please keep your comments polite and respectful too, or I will delete them. ;)
I ALSO DO NOT PUBLISH COMMENTS WHICH ARE INTENDED TO DIRECT TRAFFIC TO ANOTHER BLOG OR WEBSITE! It's cheap and tacky, so don't do it.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.