Tidbits, Gleanings and Gossip from your Kentucky Gateway Museum Center | Ledger Independent – Ledger Independent
During the 1920’s, a new ideal emerged for some women.
They had been clad from their toes to the top of their heads and held together with whalebone corsets and petticoats of Victorian days. In the 20’s, the emancipated young woman embraced the new fashions. They were happy to give up those corsets in favor of the less restricting elastic webbed girdles, which often had suspenders attached to them for holding up stockings.
For the first time in history, women’s underwear became sheer. Gone were heavy cotton bloomers, and in their place were lighter weight knickers, chemises, and petticoats. Stockings also became sheerer and often barely covered the knee. “Gone was the black wool that thoroughly covered a woman’s legs. The newest models made it appear as though she wasn’t wearing stockings at all.” Fashion designers were clever in their gradual change of the hemline.
“They first introduced scalloped and handkerchief cuts that confused the human eye into thinking that skirts were still long. But, by 1925, the average skirt hemline had risen as much as sixteen inches. Still, it was 1926 before they reached the scandalous length that actually dared to show a woman’s knees.”
Along with bare arms and shorter skirts came the realization that something else should come off. Clothes were so concealing before the 20’s, it was rare to see bare legs or underarms so removing hair there wasn’t an issue.
“Before 1910, depilatories for those areas were used primarily by actresses or dancers, or for surgery.” Don’t get me wrong. Shaving for women goes back to the Stone Age. Archeologists have found that both men and women shaved their hair, even on their heads and faces “so their opponents in battle wouldn’t have the advantage of grabbing onto anything. It was also to prevent their chances of frostbite.” Throughout Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was common for women and men to” remove all of their body hair (except for their eyebrows) to allude to cleanliness, and conform to a beauty standard set by women like Cleopatra.” “Among the most popular tactics to remove hair in Egypt were tweezers made from seashells, pumice stones and even beeswax and sugar-based waxes, which they’d apply and rip off with fabric just like we do today. According to the Encyclopedia of Hair, copper razors dating back to 3,000 B.C. were found among ruins in Egypt and Mesopotamia too. There’s also evidence that women in Turkey used homemade pastes to remove much of their body hair.”
In the ancient Roman Empire, hair removal was a signifier of cleanliness and a signifier of class — but only for women. Wealthy women during this era took to removing “all their body hair with pumice stones, razors made from flint, very scary-looking tweezers called “volsellas” and depilatory creams.” According to Queen Elizabeth I, the hair on your face should be groomed. That meant eyebrows had to be shaped, and mustaches should be removed, much like today. There was also a trend to remove the hair from the top of your forehead, which would make your face appear longer. “Mothers were said to have rubbed walnut oil and, in some cases, cat poo, to prevent hair growth on the forehead of their daughters.” (It was probably a great way to deter suitors, as well!)
When fashion lifted the skirt to the knees, who needed hairy knees?! With the mass production of women’s magazines in the era,” the goal was not only to fulfill women’s needs — it was to create new ones.” The appeals were largely based on fashion. They also told women what they should do to look fashionable. Advertisements in Harper’s Bazar started to target underarms with the new trend in sleeveless dresses. “The Woman of Fashion Says the Underarm must be as smooth as the face.” “Without Embarrassment-An Intimate Talk to Women — The fastidious woman today must have immaculate underarms if she is to be unembarrassed.” Products enabled “a woman to bathe stockingless, without self-consciousness.” King Camp Gillette invented the safety razor — “Milady Decolette is the dainty little Gillette used by the well-groomed woman to keep the underarm white and smooth.” His disposable blades (1901) and the invention and packaging of instant shaving cream (1919) allowed women of the 20’s to have beautifully smooth knees so they could be powdered and rouged in case they were to be seen during the new dances of the time such as the Charleston.
Ladies, enjoy the freedoms and humane practices of shaving and come see the fashions of the 20’s in the Calvert Gallery at KYGMC on 215 Sutton Street. The handwork on the clothing is absolutely beautiful- and you won’t see much body hair on the mannequins, they are fastidious!
Questions may be sent to [email protected] ;Kentucky Gateway Museum Center, Maysville, KY
Let’s block ads! (Why?)
