The 20s & 30s: Flappers & Vamps

I have been putting together a history of American Popular Culture for the 20th century going decade by decade, and this look at 20th Century fashion has been very helpful in what is obviously one of my weaker areas. In this particular volume Cally Blackman looks at the 1920s and 1930s, the eras of Flappers and Vamps, respectively, as she covers two decades fo social changes and cultural trends from the Garconne look and the Charleston to the Great Depression and Art Deco. Clearly fashion becomes one of the ways the style of a particular era is defined and Blackman does more than provide historic illustrations and photographs of what people were wearing. She develops specific themes for each decade and explains not only what people were wearing but why. We see how in the 1920s women started leading more active lives and their clothing became more practical while men replaced Edwardian-style clothes with the "Great Gatsby" look. By the 1930s the bias cut introduced by Parisian couturier Madeleine Vionet became the greatest fashion innovation of the time while the influence of Hollywood stars and well-dressed gangsters led to another change in men's fashions.These examples should give you a good sense of the depth of detail Blackman provides in this book, which each point accompanied by an appropriate illustration. At the end of the book a look at the technology of Fashions in the 1920s and 1930s shows the big impact of the birth of rayon and the creation of elastic yarns. A time line shows developments in fashion (such as Patou brining out the first suntain oil or Alice Marble wearing shorts at Wimbledon) in one column while others cover World Events, Technology (first hairdrier and invention of nylon), Famous people, and Art & Media. This book does an excellent job of showing how style and design relate to what was happening in the world. I know this book is aimed at secondary students, but I sure learned a lot from it. There are six volumes in the 20th Century Fashion series (the 60s and 70s each get their own books), and I trust the rest will be as useful to me in my goal as this one. Of course, this book is also useful to anyone looking for fashion ideas for a play or musical set in these periods.

"The 20'S & 30's: Flappers & Vamps" is great in conjunction with "1900-02: Linen & Lace." Short and sweet, this book tells you about this "roaring" era of clothing. Check out the rest of the "20th Century Fashion" series. I recommend.