Flappers with sleek bobs, cupid blow lips, long strings of pearls and lots and lots of sass, the roaring twenties were the place to be!
Kathleen Rose, aka “Rose Dolores”, a Ziegfeld Girl in peacock plume dress. c.1917-1923 Isn’t this the most wonderful costume? I’d love to know what kind of show it was a part of, whether she just moved slowly around the stage and posed in the costume or whether it was part of some kind of routine. I’m(…)
1920s dance pioneer and performer Ruth St Denis wearing an amazing outfit in a Burmese solo dance from 1923.
Marion Davies, Ziegfeld girl, Hollywood actress, self-described “silly, giggly idiot” and mistress to William Randolph Hearst, half length, seated, facing left; in Yolanda. Photograph by Alfred Cheney Johnston, 1924.
A rather saucy photograph of Doris Eaton Travis showing us her tanlines in about 1920, during the Ziegfeld Follies years.
Ziegfeld Girls: The gorgeous Fairbank Twins photographed by Alfred Cheney Johnston, 1922
Little girls in flower-themed fancy dress costumes at the Wildflower Preservation Society, Illinois Chapter circa 1920. [4 photos]
1920s silent movie star Theda Bara looking a lot less vampish than she was generally made out to be! I think this might have been a publicity photo for the movie Carmen. It was taken in 1921 by Orval Hixon.
Ziegfeld Follies girl draped in velvet and long stings of pearls photographed by Alfred Cheney Johnston, 1920s. Isn’t she lovely?
Actress, singer, and dancer Ruby Keeler was born Ethel Hilda Keeler in Canada, 1910. She became a Ziegfeld Follies girl after receiving a note from Flo Ziegfeld, who sent her bunch of roses and a charming note asking “May I make you a star?”.
A very fancy 1920s cloche hat with amazing detailing and what looks like metallic inserts. Isn’t it fabulous?
Alla Nazimova, Arthur Hoyt & Rudolph Valentino in the movie Camille from 1921. Camille is basically the same story as La Traviata: a good time girl (with consumption) falls in love with the hero, they live happily for a short time before fate intervenes and various bad things happen including her dying of consumption. I(…)
Is it just me or does this strapline sound a little insidious? A bit like ‘Mothers Littler Helper….’ Beechams Pills were actually a laxative (containing soap, yum!) rather than something addictive, but still… Would you know what this ad was for?
You know my feelings about real fur by now, and if you’ve somehow missed that you can read about it here. I have to remind myself though that the past was a very different place, where wearing fur was aspirational and fashionable and the ethics of it weren’t questioned at all. One thing I still(…)
The beautiful 1920s silent movie star Lillian Gish. I assume this is a publicity photo from one of her movies, but does anyone know which movie it’s from?
Rudolph Valentino and his dog. Actor and heart-throb Valentino appeared in many films, including Moran of the Lady Letty (1921), which was filmed in a variety of Southern California locations, including Balboa, Anaheim Landing, Catalina, and the Lasky Camp in Santa Ana Canyon. Does anyone know what his dog was called?
1920s movie stars Vilma Bánky & Rudolph Valentino in The Eagle, 1925. Aren’t they beautiful?
A striking photo of Joan Crawford in the 1920s. I love the way the silhouette and shadows really add to the composition of this picture. Isn’t it stunning?
Photo of an unidentified woman photographed (I would guess) in the 1920s in Sydney, Australia. I love her outfit, from her sharp flappers bob, to her feather fan and drop waisted evening dress, it’s such a pity that her name has got lost in the mists of time. Could she even be a relative of(…)