Al things Gatsby

 

The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922. The story primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his quixotic passion for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan.

In the 1920s and 1930s American fashion began to assert itself and soon gained world recognition. Hollywood was instrumental in providing the world with the looks for concepts of dressing with feminine allure and glamour.  Going to the movies was a night not only for the pleasure of seeing a romantic film, but also a journey to glamour and the inevitable role reversal that watching a film engendered. Women wanted to look like their fashion screen idols, wear the hairstyles, make up and clothes that their favorite star, who obviously belonged to a very modern advanced world wore.  Film goers wanted modern looks like their 1920s on screen icons.

Women demanded the same exciting new fashions and beauty tricks and products as the film icons and stars wore and so costumers and beauty experts became important in their own right.

The 1920’s era embodied the beginning of modern America with the lush, ornate style of Art Deco architecture, art, clothing, hairstyles, decor and furnishings.

The passing of bustles and corsets gave clothing designers much greater freedom of expression resulting in innovative styling. Women started to dress in new and colorful fabrics echoed the joy felt by a war weary population following the end of hostilities.

Dresses from the 1920’s were lighter due to less material and new synthetic fabric. They were brighter and even shorter. Evening dresses, coats and jackets were often trimmed with fur. Hemlines rose for most of the decade but dropped slightly toward the end.

Costume jewelry became very popular in the 1920’s when the fashion that women wore became a lot less formal requiring diamonds or ruby. Jewelry materials ranged from the new plastics through to rubies, gold, and platinum. Platinum was the new luxury metal used with stones like coral, jade, aquamarine, citrine, onyx and opal. Trend-setting designers were Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli. 

 

The fashions of the twenties required new and different fashion accessories. There were new styles of  dresses with their low cut neck-lines and shorter sleeves provided opportunities to display jewelry around necks and wrists. Various clips and pins helped to maintain modesty by supporting underwear and fixing sashes around the waist. Beaded bags in colorful designs were draped over the shoulder or fixed to a belt and looked absolutely stunning.