Book Review-Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern and an Outfit Post

This summer I read the book Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz.  It is not a new book, having been published in 2007, but it was excellent and if any vintage lovers out there have been remiss in reading it as I had, they need to rectify the situation!   As a vintage style lover and a feminist I appreciate history's independent, rebellious women, and the flapper certainly is that.  In the 1920s women really redefined their traditional roles: attending college in large numbers, entering the work force,  living outside the family home, voting, and expressing their sexuality.  The book profiles a few of the most influential flappers, some everyone has heard of like Zelda Fitzgerald:

 Others like Louis Long 

who wrote a column for the New Yorker under the pen name Lipstick are less well known, but equally glamorous.

My one disappointment with the book was there was nothing in it about African American flappers,a serious oversight since African American culture revolutionized music, dance, and style in the 1920s.

 



I'd still definitely recommend the  book for anyone who wants to learn more about the women of this exciting era, a decade that really ushered in the modern age.

The 1920s, along with the 1930s, is my favorite style era and I try to base my vintage look as much as I can on the women from these eras.   I was lucky enough to be able to treat myself to  a beautiful dress from the wonderful Etsy store Adelines Attic.  Though the dress is a 1930s number I paired it with a flapper style hat from Anthropologie, mod cloth shoes, and a 1930s crochet bag and I think the outfit had a sort of flapper air.  This is definitely one of my favorite outfits ever, and it's lovely to give  a style nod to one of the most fascinating eras American history.

In case you would like  a gorgeous vintage hat of your own, and why wouldn't you, I urge you to visit the wonderful blog Chronically Vintage and enter the Blue Rose Vintage hat give away for a chance to win a hat from Blue Rose Vintage that represents your own favorite era.