The Flapper Dress: Why You Buy It When You See It

There are a few moments in my life in which I deeply regret not buying something when I saw it, and to be honest these moments seem to be eternally etched in my memory: this lovely vintage 1950’s chair in a Macon antique store on Ingleside (it fit me perfectly, and I told my mom it was a great price at only $100, however she said we should walk around and come back- this was nearly 15 years ago and I still remember it being gone an hour later- thanks Mom); the first pair of wedge heels that I actually liked- at Karla’s on Cherry Street- they were Kate Spade and on sale; and this authentic 1920’s flapper dress at Moondance on Saint Simons Island.

A note: every so often. one will be invited to a 1920’s themed party. And if you EVER come across anything resembling a flapper dress you need to go ahead and buy it. Why? Well like I just said, every so often one will be invited to this type of party. And this is not the kind of dress you can just go out and buy. It’s a little easier for men, they can get away with some kind of hat and suspenders ( however another lessons I learned on behalf of the men: don’t get rid of nice double breasted suits, or stays, or hats- at some point in time they will either come back in style or you can wear them to this type of party).

So, this is one of those moments when I yet again kick myself for not wearing that dress. Now, luckily I did have a few to choose from that I could “make em work”- and again I deferred to David to help me pick out my dress. (Another note- apparently I made him sound “skeezy” in my last blog post about a dress he picked out- that was NOT what I meant, sometimes I parody my conversations.) This dress is a recent purchase from Rumor Boutique by Blu Pepper, and it works because of both the shape of the dress (A-line) as well as the sequin detailing.

Now I have to say, the biggest fashion “win” of the night came from the birthday girl and hostess, Leila Regan-Porter, and I am not just saying this because she was the birthday girl- oh no I think you the reader knows me better than that. She had this gorgeous, Indian dress on that she told me she got in Stone Mountain and had altered. Apparently she had been shopping for sari fabric and came across this dress.

Now, one may ask- an Indian dress? For a 1920’s party? But yes really, you see the 1920’s were not just about flapper dresses for ladies, in fact the trends varied quite a bit. Evening gowns had various hem lengths and were many times made of a luxurious fabric.

The trends of the 1920’s were influenced by many historic events, such as WWI- the fact that women had to take the place of men in the workplace demanded less restrictive clothing, this is also when Coco Chanel emerged with her own visions of women’s wear. (http://www.eurbanista.com/fashion-history-from-ww1-through-ww2/)  I would also suspect that British Colonization of India influenced the types of fabrics being used at this time (although when I employ Google for verification, I cannot as yet find anything to support that, so please note at this time it is my own personal theory).

So, to pull away from this momentary fashion history lesson- you can at least learn from my own history. When you see a flapper dress, or really anything 1920’s inspired, do me a favor and go ahead and pick it up. I promise you won’t be sorry!

Now- aside from that don’t forget! If you are one of the first 100 subscribers to my blog you will be eligible to win a Betsy Pittard Designs tassel bracelet!

AND if you want to see more pics from last night’s event, as well as a “Who’s Who” of who all was there be sure to check out my other blog- link below 😉

http://aroundtownwithmissmolly.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-roaring-20s-revisits-wise-blood.html