Flapper Fashion

This heavily beaded Georgette dress was worn by a member of the Ira Follett Warner family of Fairfield.

This traditional flapper dress has hand-sewn beads in a floral pattern, with rose designs.

This black chiffon dance dress has butterfly design motifs.

This orange tiered silk dress was owned by Polly Poindexter Lumbard of Fairfield.

Evening dress with gold lame sash.

Full-length raccoon coats became an important item for men during the 1920s, and while they were especially seen on college campuses, successful buisnessmen like Elwood Hand of Southport also sported them.

Shawls, capes, and scarf coats were a popular choice worn over sleeveless evening gowns. This deep apricot evening coat has dolman sleeves and a dyed fox fur collar. It is sophisticated and rather high-end, with its reversible rust gold brocade, emproidered floral lining, and elaborate cuffs.

T-bar white silk heels

Accessories

With shorter skirts revealing women's feet and legs, shoes took on a new visibility and importance in the 1920s. The style of shoes moved away from pratical towards experimental in their comfort and use of materials, similar to the change in dresses and hats. Women purchased mulitple pairs of shoes to wear with different outfits, including shoes with higher heels. The t-bar shoe, which fastened with a single strap and button, became popular to wear for dancing and evening wear.

Gazette du bon ton

These original prints illustrated the influential Parisian fashion magazine, Gazette du bon ton, which featured contributors from the burgeoning Art Deco movement. This magazine was one of the first to combine the artistic, literary, and fashion worlds, and illustrated the image of a "New Woman": slender, independent, and daring.

Published by Lucien Vogel from 1912-1925 (with a short hiatus during World War I), the magazine published 573 color plates and 148 sketches illustrating the work of designers like Lanvin, Doeuillet, Paquin, Poiret, Worth, Vionnet and Doucet. The designers provided the models, and the illustrators represented the era's feel and fashion. The Gazette du bon ton was taken over in 1920 by Condé Montrose Nast, who used it to shape the new layout and aesthetics of one of his next acquisitions: Vogue.