Around the World in Vintage: Paris, 1920’s

Hello to the era of the flapper and raised hemlines

Photography by: Christopher Gentile Photography - Styling by: Elevation Hall & Boretski Gallery - Model: Leah Hamilton at Mode Elle

Join us as we take a trip to 1920s Paris to party with the rebellious garçonnes and their groundbreaking fashions. From scandalously shortened hemlines to special stockings made to hide a flask, the flapper girls of Paris created their own anti-fashion subculture that has now become one of the most iconic eras of the 20th century.

As post-war France prospered during the 1920s, youth culture boomed and young girls began declaring their independence and liberty for themselves, shedding the expectations and societal rules their mothers knew very well. Young women demanded higher hemlines, reaching to just on the knee, and sported oversized galoshes that flapped open as they walked. These galoshes are speculated to have inspired the term “flapper girls”. A 1928 article even details the new French trend of bringing sandwiches to dances and the loss of French decorum as the girls refused chaperones.

Along with the trend of shortened hemlines came the popularization of sportswear as daywear. Women were inspired by tennis, one of the most popular sports of the time, and began wearing tennis inspired pleated skirts and dresses. Overall women’s fashion became much simpler and less feminine, creating more intricate looks with bead work and embroidery.

Image from our lookbook, see more 1920’s inspired looks here.

Through these radical changes in both their fashions and behavior, flapper girls defined an era of newfound freedom and liberation. These young women were at the height of modernity, rejecting the established standards and gender-roles for women of the 19th century. Whether they were out dancing or spending a day on the town, they were causing a stir and having fun!