Influential People
Known as the "It Girl", representing the era's image of youthful independence and modern femininity.
What is Clara Bow?
Films that relied on visual storytelling, with exaggerated expressions, body language, and texts displayed on the screen to convey dialogue and plot.
The booming economy of the 1920s was partly fueled by the rapid growth of this industry.
What is the Film Industry?
This group of women, known for their modern, independent attitudes and rebellious style, helped revolutionize fashion in the 1920s, moving away from restrictive Victorian-era clothing.
What is the Flappers?
This 1927 film, the first feature-length film with synchronized dialogue, marked the beginning of the "talkies" era, revolutionizing filmmaking and leading to the decline of silent cinema.
What is The Jazz Singer?
Populized the "Little Black Dress" (LBD) and an androgynous look with bobbed hair and tailored suits.
What is Coco Chanel?
This term is often used to describe the cultural and artistic boom of the 1920s, characterized by the rise of jazz music, dance, and the influence of sound films in Hollywood.
What is the Jazz Age?
American actress and dancer, known for her sleek bob haircut and roles in Pandora’s Box and Diary of a Lost Girl, symbolized the flapper era and female independence.
What is Louis Brooks?
Women adopted more functional clothing, such as drop-waist dresses, cloche hats, and lower-heeled shoes, reflecting their increasing roles in work and leisure.
What is Practical and Comfortable Clothing?
This constitutional amendment, passed in 1920, granted women the right to vote and reflected the growing empowerment of women, which was also mirrored in the portrayal of strong, self-reliant female characters in films.
What is the 19th Amendment?
English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer, famous for his character "The Tramp," combined comedy with social commentary in films like The Kid (1921) and City Lights (1931).
What is Charlie Chaplin?
This actor, known for his suave and debonair style, set new standards for men's fashion in the 1920s, making tailored suits and sophisticated grooming the height of fashion.
What is Rudolph Valentino?
These hats, fitting snugly around the head, became a fashion staple for flappers.
What is Cloche hats?
Flappers were not just fashion icons; they were instrumental in promoting women’s rights and social change, supporting movements like women’s suffrage and workplace equality, and challenging traditional gender norms.
What is the role of the Flappers in the 1920s?
This economic crisis of the 1930s saw audiences flock to movie theaters for glamorous and uplifting films that provided a temporary escape from financial hardship.
What is the Great Depression?
Wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald, she challenged traditional gender roles through her love of dancing, smoking, drinking, and open expression of sexuality—traits flappers embraced.
What is Zelda Fitzgerald?
This iconic 1920s film, along with Hollywood's glamorous star system, helped solidify the industry's global influence, showcasing wealth, luxury, and the spirit of the Jazz Age.
What is the Great Gatsby?
Youth culture and rebellious spending habits in the 1920s foreshadowed economic issues that would culminate in this 1929 event.
What is the Stock Market Crash?
Dark eyeshadow, bold lipstick, and thin, arched eyebrows became fashionable, challenging the previous idea that makeup was only for actresses or "immoral" women.
What is Dramatic Makeup?
This 1920s social event, which involved the rejection of Victorian-era fashion, was characterized by women wearing shorter skirts, bobbed hair, and adopting bold makeup, symbolizing a break from traditional gender roles.
What is the Flapper Fashion Revolution?
American filmmaker, actor, and comedian, known as "The Great Stone Face," revolutionized physical comedy with his precise stunts and deadpan expression in films like The General (1926) and Sherlock Jr. (1924).
What is Buster Keaton?
This system, employed by major Hollywood studios like Warner Bros., MGM, and Paramount during the 1920s and 1930s, allowed for efficient filmmaking and helped solidify Hollywood as the world’s film capital, influencing global cinema and shaping genres like musicals, westerns, and crime dramas.
What is the studio system?
This nationwide ban on alcohol sales and consumption began in 1920.
What is the Prohibition?
The hourglass figure of the previous era was replaced by a boyish, straight-line silhouette, de-emphasizing curves.
What is Loose and Straight Silhouettes?
The flapper's embrace of modernity and social change during the 1920s coincided with Hollywood's emergence as a global powerhouse, promoting a new sense of freedom and autonomy through film and fashion.
What is Hollywood’s cultural impact on the 1920s?