Shebas
It’s All About the Hat
The Jazz Age Junkie often wonders why so few women nowadays wear hats. The hat is the perfect expression of personal style, especially hats that are appropriate for evening frolics. Women of the Jazz Age embraced the hat with a passion that has rarely been duplicated since, and the joy of selecting and donning the perfect hat for you will put you smack center into the spirit of the Jazz Age.
The early 1920s saw the rise of wider brimmed hats in felt and straw, and as the decade wore on the brims got smaller and hats fit more snugly. The 1930s gave rise to an expansion of styles, many of them bordering on insanity. Take Ninotchka, for instance. In the 1939 film named for her, she is seduced by a hat that is so wildly reminiscent of a toilet plunger, that one wonders how Greta Garbo manages to look glamorous in it.
Veils and feathers are two of the best features of Jazz Age hats. They provide a good measure of the glamour and should be flaunted as frequently as possible. What is more seductive than a veil that flirts around the eyes? It doesn’t need to actually veil the eyes; some barely dip below the hat rim, but just the hint of a veil is all that’s needed to evoke the glamour of the time.
Marlene Dietrich knew how to flirt through a veil.
A word about asymmetry: It rocks. The hat that slouches to one side has an allure that is hard to resist, and will give any ensemble a dollop of Jazz Age authenticity. There is something undeniably seductive about eyes that peek around the corner of a brim, then are suddenly gone as a woman tilts her head.
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The Cloche
This hat was the cat’s meow of the 1920s. It frames the face and puts all the attention on the eyes. The minimal brim is designed to complement a bob. Daytime cloches were often decorated with ribbons or embroidery. Evening cloches were often beaded. Hair, either straight or curly, should be pulled forward to escape the confines of the cloche and add to the cloche’s style around the face.
No one wore a cloche better than Garbo.
The Turban
The turban was popular with flappers for both day and night. Day turbans were relatively plain while their evening counterparts were often satin or velvet, decorated with jewelry and/or ostrich feathers.
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The Toque
I think of the 1920s toque as a cloche without the rim. In the 1930s, it got a little taller and often had some kind of crazy projectile aimed threateningly at the sky or at rival hats.
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The Unclassifiable
Although you may not have the formidable skills needed to make a hat, nothing prevents you from embellishing one (or re-embellishing when something new is required). Feathers, ribbons, scarves, brooches and whatever tickles your fancy can make your hat a one-of-a-kind wonder.
You can also pay a bloody fortune for something so unique and indescribably beautiful that you’ll never regret going into debt for it.
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The artist Tamara de Lempicka,
who is said to have owned more than 200 hats
Frocks
In the late twenties and early thirties, hemlines rose to just below the knee, waistlines dropped below the waist and dresses took on a tubular shape, draping from the shoulders and giving a boyish silhouette.
Don’t be a cliché. Enough with the beaded flapper dresses! (Not all flappers wore beads, and besides, they weren’t all flappers.) There are oodles of styles to choose from. Here are a few that most clearly express the look of the Jazz Age:
Tea dresses
Made of sheer fabrics in white or soft pastels, tea dresses were mostly worn by well-heeled women who could spend their afternoons at garden parties. Nothing says Daisy Buchanan better than a tea dress.
Afternoon dresses
These were dresses with more formal ornamentation, without collars, that could be worn to dinner parties, weddings, graduations and other special events. Only wealthy women could afford cocktail gowns, but many women had afternoon dresses in their closets.
Tabards
Tabards are lengths of fabric that fall from the shoulders front and back. They most often are draped over frocks, adding a layer of ornamentation and dressiness. They are a great way to convert an ordinary dress into an evening dress.
Cocktail gowns
Yes, some of them had beads and tassels, but they also featured feathers, fur, gold and silver embroidery, sequins and ruffles. Fabrics were usually soft, such as chiffon, taffeta, silk and satin.
Backs and necklines were frequently plunging.
The Little Black Dress
Coco Chanel invented the Little Black Dress in 1926, and it is still as essential and versatile as ever. You can make it into practically anything you want by adding scarves, boleros, jewelry, tabards or tunics. Do what you want with it, but be sure you have one.
Separates
Skirts and blouses were a big part of the Jazz Age wardrobe, and were considered “sporty.” Especially popular were sailor blouses and pleated skirts. For the most casual and sporty occasions, there was a menswear trend that featured cotton shirts with men’s ties over a pair of plus fours (a longer version of the knickerbocker) or riding breeches.
Coats
Cocoon Coats
The most iconic coat of the Jazz Age was the cocoon coat. It has no buttons or any other type of fastener, so you are forced to strike a glamorous pose as you wrap yourself in its luxury. For evening wear by swells going to the opera, they were often made of velvet completely bordered with fur, preferably white fur. For the rest of us, the cocoon could have fur at the collar and cuffs. Either way, it was the most Deco coat ever designed. A fur collar: the cat’s meow; a fur coat: putin’ on the Ritz.
Shoes Are Easy
Mary Janes
Why are shoes easy? Because the Mary Jane, the most popular shoe of the 1920s is still available today. It’s a shoe with one strap and a buckle or button (today, often Velcro) and a short heel. It’s a comfortable shoe, and one that’s perfect for dancing. Pumps were also worn, but they weren’t very high. If you’re going to dance, though (and surely you’ll want to), the Jazz Age Junkie recommends something with a strap.
Character Shoes
Another style that will look appropriate with your Jazz Age wardrobe is the character shoe, the style of shoe worn by actors in musical theater. They are designed for dancing, with a strap that crosses the ankle or a T-strap. This shoe will not fly off while you dance the Charleston. You are going to dance the Charleston, aren’t you?
And besides that, shoes haven’t changed very much. A pair of plain pumps with two-inch heels will always work. Two-inch heels with a buckle – even better.
Handbags
Handbags were small in the Jazz Age and meant to be held in the hand, hence the name handbag. Shoulder straps came into style later in the era. Daytime handbags were often tooled leather or embroidered fabric. In the early 1920s, reticules (pouches closed with a drawstring) were popular. Later, rectangular underarm bags came into style. For a detailed survey of every type of Jazz Age handbag check out VintageDancer.com. In fact, you can go to Vintage Dancer to learn more about every item of Jazz Age clothing for women and men. It’s an invaluable reference that goes into much more detail than the Jazz Age Junkie has room for here.
Stockings
Women of the Jazz Age did not go bare-legged into the world. Silk stockings were worn mainly in the evenings, and the nicer ones had seams and pinholes that ran up the back. Silk stockings were not very stretchy and tended to bag at the ankles, a look you can duplicate by buying yours in a size larger than you need. Pantyhose didn’t exist; stockings were either held up by garter belts or girdles or they were rolled under the knees and held up by garters. The color of stockings was chosen to complement the rest of the ensemble. The Jazz Age Junkie loves the look of back seams, and if you do as well, do not buy panty hose with seams. You will go mad trying to get them straight.
For a thorough and unabridged discussion of stockings, I refer you once again to VintageDancer.com, a place of meticulous research.
Jewelry
A long string of pearls is a must-have, especially one tied in a knot somewhere around the bosom. But there are so many more options, especially art deco brooches and earrings.
And if someone should say, “Goodness, what beautiful diamonds,” you know the appropriate rejoinder, right?* If you’re a jewelry lover, you might just break the bank once you get started, but please don’t blame the Jazz Age Junkie – she simply points out the possibilities.
* “Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.” Mae West, I’m No Angel (1933)
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Hair
If you have stick-straight shiny black hair a la Louise Brooks that effortlessly swings as you do the Charleston, I envy you, and please don’t show up at my party. If your hair has a little curl, you may want to try finger waves and/or spit curls. They were called spit curls because they were set in place by actual spit. Luckily, in the 21st century we have mousse and gel to keep our curls curly.
The bob, of course, was the style of the Jazz Age, but not all women wore their hair short. Longer hair was pulled back into a bun at the nape of the neck that looks vintage fabulous with the right hat.
Cigarette Holders
Heavens to Betsy, don’t smoke! I’m not even sure that all the women who sported cigarette holders in the Jazz Age actually smoked either. It just looks so swanky, you’ll want to stick an unfiltered Lucky Strike on the end of your long, jeweled cigarette holder and wave it around histrionically like Auntie Mame.
If you look at magazine ads from the Jazz Age, you will find that cigarette companies often claimed that smoking was actually good for you! At least in the 21st century we’ve made some progress in the right direction on that front!
Gloves
I love gloves, but have you ever tried texting with gloves on? But wait, why are you texting? You’ll break the spell if you bring out your devices! Okay, you’re right, I’m being ridiculous. We have to have our phones, so the Jazz Age Junkie tucks hers into her miniscule beaded bag and finds a dark corner of the speakeasy when she absolutely has to use it.
You will find, however, that gloves without fingertips make everything easier, but keep in mind that these did not exist in the Jazz Age. Also, keep in mind that women removed their gloves for dining or sipping tea.
In the evening, women wore long opera-length gloves that came up to or over the elbow, but as the Jazz Age wore on, women began to go gloveless to show off their arms (and sun tans).
And for driving, something all the most up-to-date women were learning to do, there were driving gloves.
Hip flasks
Golly, what’s more fun than a hip flask! If you want an excuse to show off your legs, secure yours to your thigh or calf with a garter. You’ll have to bare your leg every time you want a dainty little slug.
Parasols
Jeepers, you can’t go to a picnic without a parasol. Silk, paper or lace, in pastel colors, will all look swell with your summer frock.
Scarves
You’ll need a variety of large ones (and don’t be stingy, baby*). Just throw them around your shoulders and let them waft in the breeze. (Be careful lest they get caught in the open-spoked wheels of your convertible sporting automobile a la Isadora Duncan.)
*Greta Garbo, Anna Christie (1930)
