The nostalgia of the past is something that intrigues and inspires me, mainly because I think much of the past is a lot more exciting than today, when people were not simply clones of each other and seemed to really live.
The twenties was most certainly a decade for the party animal, full of excitement, fashion and freedom. Therefore, I think it is the perfect era to look back on for a bit of optimism in these tough times.
The beginning of the twenties saw a golden age of frivolity as the Great War had just come to an end in 1918 and people were in the mood to party. With the return of service men from Europe to their sweethearts as well as the rebellion, incited by prohibition made hedonism the unofficial sponsor word for the decade. People just really didn’t care!
Something which added to the decade of rebellion was the beginning of prohibition in the US on January 17 1920. The idea that this would create a morally strict American backfired completely and instead a morally loose generation of bootleggers and the black market emerged.
As a result organised crime exploded and it seemed the whole world was run on tricks. This is what makes the 1920′s so intriguing. Even the most elegant looking of ladies were keeping pills and powders inside their lockets; nothing was as it seemed.
Additionally, possibly my favourite aspect of the twenties was the fashion revolution that finally gave women some freedom. The flapper dress was created and the flapper girl was born.
The waist line was dropped and so were women’s inhibitions. The restrictions of corsets and earlier fashions were gone and women had plenty of room to do the Charleston.
The little black bob, the sparkles, the colours, the dramatic jewellery also were the big fashion musts, making the twenties the decade of over-doing it, and why not? Women had greater freedom, thanks to the likes of the Suffragettes and women now had the vote.
The twenties was most certainly an important era for women and gave women the building blocks for freedom and independence.
Alongside the fashion, the flappers and the underhand tactics the twenties were most certainly not boring and make them one of the most intriguing decades, which is why, for me it is one of the most exciting times to look back on.