How Women's Fashion Were Influenced by Hollywood and Relate It to the Present Day - Essay Example

In the history of fashion in America, the 1920s introduced an important term that referred to a 'new breed' of young women who dressed in short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and were prepared to show off their contempt for aspects resulting in the unacceptable behavior by the standards of the period. Thus, the term flapper in the 1920s was synonymous with the fashion of the women of the period which immensely influenced Hollywood.

Flapper culture which was a reality in the 1920s spread a culture among the young men and women of America which greatly contributed to the establishment of a modern culture and way of thinking and the role of Hollywood and the motion picture industry cannot be neglected. "Flapper culture set American society abuzz in the 1920s, jazz was becoming the musical craze of young people, hemlines were rising in girl's skirts in length, and in the backseats of automobiles. Therefore, it is important to realize that in 1920 flappers took the world of fashion by storm and the most important repercussions of the new culture were evident in the Hollywood film industry. Significantly, celebrity was becoming a buzzword during the period and women were discovering what life was 'really like'.

In Hollywood fashion, Colleen Moore, the star of Hollywood's first big flapper hit movie Flaming Youth, became a high-profile celebrity flapper, and Mary Pickford, Clara Bow, and the flapper queen, Louise Brooks followed in Moore's footsteps. An explanation, an analysis, and an evaluation of Flappers in the 1920s help us realize how women's fashion was influenced by Hollywood and how it relates to the present day. In an essential analysis of flappers in the 1920s, one comes to recognize that the heroines of the Jazz Age, who were called flappers, represented fashionable young women and offended the older generation.

Significantly, the flappers of the 1920s were often thought of as a little cocky, and "they offended the older generation because they went against what was thought of as acceptable feminine behavior." (Baldwin and Baldwin, 13) It is important to comprehend that the image of the Flappers brought about drastic and shocking changes in women's clothing and hair and the fashion of the day greatly influenced the Hollywood stars. The flapper was a symbol of fashion in the 1920s which was adopted by Hollywood celebrities in films and it highly influenced culture and society.

"The flapper, a sign of the 1920s, characterized the changes that were occurring in the decade. Flappers were young ladies, usually dressing in the styles described in the paragraph above. Some were also known to be cigarette smokers and cosmetics-wearers." (Women Gain Rights, Fashion, and Flappers) An evaluation of the flappers in the 1920s confirms that the American woman during the period brought about essential changes in the way they lived and in the way they were perceived by society. The most fundamental example of this change was the introduction of flapper culture in Hollywood and the rebelliousness of the flappers was represented by the media, movies, and film stars like Clara Bow. During this period, young women started to shatter all the rules of moral conduct which resulted in a modern trend in the American way of living for women which is followed even today.