It's no secret that I adore costume parties -- see this post for a photo of the costumes I made for my boyfriend and I when we attended a 1990's party for proof!
Basically any kind of theme is always going to make a party 100 times more fun for me, especially if I can get super creative and make my own costume out of nothing or things I have lying around.
The other night my sister and I waved our hair, donned pearls and rolled our stockings down (and all that jaaazz!!) for our friends 1920's themed house warming party.
Now, if I'm going to dress up, I'm going to put some effort in so I did some research on what the ladies were wearing back in the roaring twenties - I wanted to look a little bit more authentic than just a fringed dress and feather boa.
{image from my pinterest}
A lot of the images I came across showed very layered and busy looks, lots of draping fabrics and different lengths in the one outfit.
I found that the colour palette of the 20's tended to be fairly neutral - brown, cream, black and blush tones were standard, but deep, rich colours were also in vogue - think emerald green, dark royal blue and sultry deep reds.
There was also a big influence from 'exotic' Asian cultures in the types of fabrics and prints worn.
{all images from my pinterest}
So here's what we wore!
I went for a slip-like night dress with lace trim and an uneven hem, with a sheer gown over the top for layering. I wore pink fabric-covered pearls, cut off some old nude stockings and rolled them to under the knee (they stayed there with the help of some elastic tied around my leg under the roll) and some vintage shoes.
My sister wore a different slip - very plain but with a ruffled layer, an amazing bat wing batik-print jacket, black pearls and a fringed necklace, a turban (with her long hair stuffed underneath to create a faux-bob), rolled black stockings and simple brogues.
For my hair and makeup I tried to channel the beautiful Clara Bow a little. My hair was already curled somewhat 30's styled from the night before so I simply grabbed the ends and rolled them under a little, pinning them to my head to make sure they stayed.
For the "finger waves" I used my triple barrel curler and just clamped down for a few seconds, then clipped the waves in place to cool and hairsprayed the crap out of them!
I extended my eyebrows as per the 1920's style and filled them in to look rather thin and straight-ish, the eye makeup is kind of easy once you get the right shape happening because you can be a bit messy with it!
I also had some extra makeup help from watching this video I found on Youtube:
Costume parties are so much fun and I think you and your sister look fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThey're the best! And thank you :) x
DeleteLooking great! Only thing is, flappers didn't show off their knees much, contrary to opinion. Chanel thought that knees were the ugliest part of a woman's body. In the pinup pics they did and in later years but at first, knees weren't shown
ReplyDeleteThanks Selina :) I did notice that in my internet-trawling, sadly these were just about the longest, 20's appropriate dresses I could find in my wardrobe (and my sister has a bit of an aversion to anything below knee length haha).
DeleteWow, thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, SO much hairspray, although that seems to be becoming the norm for me ^_^
Oh wow, you girls look ravishing! Such fabulous frocks! You look sultry and glamourous, and also remind me some flappers from Boardwalk Empire. I love the dramatic and iconic 20's style, with all those blunt bobs, embellished dresses, pearls & rhinestone, burgundy heart shaped lips, mopey eyes, cloche hats, hairbands, t-strap mary janes, stockings, big coats, silk kimonos... not to mention the underwear. Where did you find those kimonos you're wearing by the way?!
ReplyDeleteAlso, always seek inspiration in Vera Cicero (Cotton Club)! ahah ^^ xx
ReplyDelete