The Changing Role Of Flappers In The 1920's

The 1920s was the peak of a women’s revolt for independence and ability to represent themselves individually while taking control of their own lives. The traditions of victorian gibson girls were worthless as the newborn flappers took control with their rebellious fashion sense and thoughts of equality. “Flappers drank, smoked, drove cars, cut their hair short while fraternizing with men and took full advantage of the advances in cosmetics technology at the time.” The roaring twenties fashion icons such as Joan Crawford and Clara Bow began to wear bold makeup and cut their hair short in order to disport the glamorous party girl look. The beauty industry took off with famed Hollywood designers such as Coco Chanel and makeup brands like Tre Jur
Before the 1920s, wearing makeup was seen as a preoccupation for actresses on stage or prostitutes. However, the views of the people and culture of our nation changed as the flapper girls took over. Due to world war one, the number of women outweighed the men. This motivated some women to look more appealing and desirable. In regards to the technological advances of the twenties, blush, lipsticks, and most famously Maybelline’s cake mascara became more popular and an accepted view of society. Fuller and longer lashes were obtained by petroleum jelly before Maybelline came out with their invention. The mascara was a rectangular box, half being a pigmented black or brown color and the other half casing the brush. Maybelline started its uprising with this mascara however later perfected new innovations such as foundation, eyebrow pencils and bronzers. According to Glamour daze, “Those cosmetic innovations of the 1910s of lipstick, eye-shadows, mascara and pan-sticks from brands like Max Factor were now to be seen on dressing tables and handbags across America and Europe. In Japan, still not under the spell of fascism, Shiseido was producing their own unique beauty products for the ‘modern Japanese woman” (Kasdan) By 1909, an entrepreneur named Gordon Selfridge sided with the women revolt for independence to create a cosmetics boutique that had a “try before buy” policy. The boutique lacked popularity at first, however, made its mark by 1920. The “try before you buy” concept became popular as it was advertised in chain companies such as pharmacies, drugstores and department stores. Harlots became nonexistent as women eased into the concept of face powders, creams, mascaras and lipsticks. Maybelline’s cake mascara was now critical in every women handbag along with the new innovations and improvements of