Historial Need-To-Knows

[Bourbon]

WELCOME TO THE GOLDEN TWENTIES
things you may need to know if you don't already

FASHION
"The 1920s are characterized by two distinct periods of fashion. In the early 1920s change progressed slowly, as many were reluctant to adopt new styles. From 1925, the public passionately embraced the styles associated with the Roaring Twenties. These styles continue to characterize fashion until early in 1932."
MEN

Many styles of mens clothing in the 20's were inspired by athletes - The "Living Heroes" of the era. Football players Red Grange and the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, for instance, influenced the style of coats like the raccoon coat and the camel hair polo coat.
Charlie Chaplin depicted his tramp character with a costume that best suited the feelings of many immigrants. The tight, sleek coat that seemed to conform with the popular style for men against the ragged, baggy pants of a man foreign to American fashion.
The most popular attire for the working man in a growing modernistic society was the suit. The suit was adorned by the famous and the infamous, from Al Capone to Scott Fitzgerald. The general population of men in 1920's America were looking for a style of dress that would make them appear more youthful and athletic. The suits that men usually wore for business and casual affairs detoured from the broad-shouldered, stocky appearance to the more slender, agile, and boyish looks.
Examples: ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR

WOMEN

Although the flapper is most closely associated with 1920s fashions, a number of other clothing styles were equally as popular during the decade. Skirt lengths fluctuated quite a bit, women donned flashy evening attire, comfortable sportswear, and conservative work suits, and dresses either hung straight or flared at the hip. But despite the variety, women's 1920s fashions all broke free of the physical and social constraints of the previous century.
Women's clothing featured brighter and more vibrant colors than fashions from the previous decades. Following on from the depressing circumstances of the Great War (Now known as World War 1) and the post-war recession, most people were hoping for a better future with greatly improved living conditions.
Underwear experienced a revolution with the beginning of a major move from restrictive corsets to lighter and more practical underthings that provided increased freedom of movement. The modern style of bra was first introduced in the early 1920's and rapidly increased in popularity throughout the decade.
Shoes and stockings became the focus of more attention as fashion items once their visibility increased due to raised hemlines on dresses. The color and designs of footwear and hosiery (stockings) assumed greater importance as part of co-ordinated outfits, which led designers and manufacturers to introduce new and varied colors, styles, materials, and patterns. Silk and Lisle stockings in trendy pastel shades were all the rage with women of all ages.
In the 1920's Womens swimsuits evolved from being dark-colored, heavy, baggy and rather ugly encumbrances to form-fitting and light-weight colorful bathing costumes. However, bureaucratic attitudes to the new bathing suits were much slower to change, leading to well publicized conflicts between female bathers and law enforcement officials.
Examples: ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR

MONEY

$1.00 in 1925 had the same buying power as roughly $12.00 in 2011.
If you feel the need to be dead on in the money section while you are RPing, try this site for help.

FLAPPERS
"Flapper in the 1920s was a term applied to a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. Flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking, treating sex in a casual manner, smoking, driving automobiles and otherwise flouting social and sexual norms."

Flappers' behavior was considered outlandish at the time and redefined women's roles. The image of flappers were young women who went by night to jazz clubs where they danced provocatively, smoked cigarettes through long holders, and dated freely, perhaps indiscriminately. They rode bicycles, drove cars, and openly drank alcohol, a defiant act in the American period of Prohibition.
In addition to their irreverent behavior, flappers were known for their style, which largely emerged as a result of French fashions, especially those pioneered by Coco Chanel, the effect on dress of the rapid spread of American jazz, and the popularization of dancing that accompanied it. Called garçonne in French ("boy" with a feminine suffix), flapper style made girls look young and boyish: short hair, flattened breasts, and straight waists accentuated it.

PROHIBITION
"Prohibition was instituted with ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on January 16, 1919, which prohibited the "...manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States..." "

Done to cut down on crime rates, Prohibition actually sky-rocketed criminal activity. Organized crime had it's golden age while the Alcohol Underground fueled the demand for beverages and a good time. There were many people and places, dedicated to making alcoholic beverages available to people who wanted them. Speakeasies were secret establishments where alcohol was available. Bootleggers or rumrunners were people who bought and ferried alcohol.

TOLERANCE
"During the 1920's, racial tensions in American society reached boiling point. New non-protestant immigrants like Jews and Catholics had been arrived in their masses from south-east Europe since early on in the century. Together with Oriental, Mexican and the African American population these minorities suffered the most at the hands of those concerned with preserving the long established White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (W.A.S.P.) values that were an integral part of American life. Prejudice and racism reared its ugly head in many areas of society, with people showing a tolerance for racist views in the media, literature and towards organizations like the Ku Klux Klan."

SLANG

If you wish to add a little more realism for the era into you RP, Here is a list of popular slang from the Jazz Age.

[Bourbon]

LINKS
helpful things


Women's Hairstyles if the 1920's

Flapper Fashion

Mens Styles in the 1920's

The Food Timeline

Shopping in the 1920's

1920's Music

1920s Entertainers

Home decor and common items in the 1920's