featuring guest authors; crafting tips and projects; recipes from food editor and sleuthing sidekick Cloris McWerther; and decorating, travel, fashion, health, beauty, and finance tips from the rest of the American Woman editors.

Note: This site uses Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

#FASHION WITH TESSA--GUEST AUTHOR ALICIA DEAN

Award-winning author Alicia Dean began wrote her first romance, featuring an Elvis Presley look-alike hero, at the age of eleven. She still has the tattered, pencil-written manuscript. Today she joins us to talk about the fashions of the 1920s. Learn more about Alicia and her books at her website. 

Fashion in the 1920’s – Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

Clothing in the 1920s, especially for women, brought about one of the most drastic fashion changes in history. With the new era of independence and freedom and change, women shucked the uncomfortable bindings of corsets and long dresses. Hemlines began to rise, and the restrictive clothing began to loosen. Dancing and going out on the town was a big part of socializing in the 1920s and to accommodate that way of life, women began to wear loose-fitting dresses with lower waist lines, which was especially comfortable for the popular dance of the time, The Charleston.
The cloche hat was quite popular.

In the Martini Club 4 series, all of our heroines, although from England, adopted the flapper wardrobe after arriving in New York City, with the exception of Meggie, from Kathy L Wheeler’s, Reckless. Meggie is a singer, who prefers the body hugging style of dress. But after all, what else should a sexy, siren songstress wear?

Men’s fashions changed quite a bit as well. Less often did you see the stuffy, buttoned-up look and drab-colored suits. Men adopted more colorful, rather unusual looks, much of it patterned after the style of popular athletes.
In Ruined, my hero, Vince, wears a newsboy cap and suspenders. I modeled him after Robert Redford and these are photos I used as inspiration:
Although I’m not much of a clotheshorse, I do love the gorgeous, fun dresses from the 1920s. (I’m satisfied to knock around in jeans. Or even sweat pants. But my very favorite go-to outfit is my comfy pajamas.) My heroine, Eliza, had an opportunity to attend elegant affairs in the story, which gave me the opportunity to dress her in all kinds of awesome outfits.

What about you? What do you think of the styles of the 1920s? Would you like it if we went back to wearing the flapper dresses, beads, and funky hats?

 
Ruined: Martini Club 4 Series—The 1920’s

She vowed she’d be no man’s doxy, but fate had other plans... 

After the Earl of Goodwin attempts to force himself on her, housemaid Eliza Gilbert flees England for New York, hoping to build a better life. But the land of opportunity proves as harsh as the London docks, and she finds herself in a situation more dreadful than the one she escaped. 

When Vince Taggart’s childhood friend disappears, he heads to New York in search of her and meets Eliza, a woman with a less than honorable reputation. Inexplicably captivated, Vince can’t force himself to stay away, especially when he learns Eliza may be the key to finding his missing friend. 



Ruined is one of the books in the Martini Club series, four themed novellas written by four different authors. All are currently on sale for 99 cents. Check out the other books in the series here.

14 comments:

Alicia Dean said...

Thank you for hosting me on your adorable blog. Love it!

TheaH said...

I love the 1920s fashions! Great stuff and combined with the dazzling jewelery and swinging lifestyle, it seems like it was a blast! Great fun researching, I bet.

Alicia Dean said...

Yes, Thea, I had such a good time researching. I learned all kinds of fun stuff. Thank you for stopping by!

Diane Burton said...

Love the hats. If I was younger (a lot younger LOL) I'd love to wear the flapper dresses. What an amazing time for women back then. Almost like the 1960s.

Alicia Dean said...

Ah, come on, Diane. You could totally pull off a Flapper dress. :) Yes, what a time for women. Wild little things, they were. :)

Darcy Flynn said...

Like Diane, I too love the hats. I'm a hat person and have a closet full. I do have a straw hat that's similar in style to those of the '20s. I wear it in the spring with a low waisted '20's style dress. :)

Angela Adams said...

I love Robert Redford!

Leah St. James said...

I've always thought the '20s fashions for women were kind of ugly and shapeless. I didn't realize they were designed (if I read correctly) for ease of movement. Smart! And I suppose after decades (centuries?) being trussed up, they were entitled to let loose! I really enjoy the men's styles of the '20s though.

M.J. Schiller, Romance Author said...

Great post! I might enjoy wearing a flapper dress from time to time, but I'm with you in liking to dress down more. I wonder what women like us wore in the 20s or if they just sucked it up and wore the dresses. I don't know...they do sound comfortable...but then you'd have to be all dolled up and I'm not sure I'd like that. Hmm. Interesting question! Loved the post and, Robert Redford, yum! Thanks for sharing! I loved this book, especially the hero!

Alicia Dean said...

Darcy, you seem like a hat person. I bet you'd look adorable in a cloche. And in your hat with your 20's dress. :)

Alicia Dean said...

I do too, Angela! :) Thanks for stopping by.

Alicia Dean said...

Leah, they were shapeless, and I used to think they were unattractive, but after immersing myself in the 20's, I now love the flapper dresses.

Alicia Dean said...

Yes, MJ. I wondered, too, what they did to be casual. Although, really, since they were used to wearing dresses all the time, I'm sure they had casual dresses and they didn't bother to doll themselves up. Some of the flapper dresses were really snazzy with fringe and shiny sequins and so forth. Thank you for the kind words!

Judy Ann Davis said...

I love those newsboy caps and the flappers. Those were the days...of gangsters, flappers and awesome old cars.