Fashion in the 1920's

Fashion in the 1920’s was such a leap from the earlier decades because women were finally dressing more modern. Dresses were shorter in length, pants were worn by women, and styles were much more dramatic and glitzy than before. In “Nice Work If You Can Get It”, the costumes we wore were very to date with the time period. In this blog post, I will be talking about the different costumes I wore and how that was in style in the 1920’s.

In the opening scene of the musical, the chorus girls wore red flapper dresses. This dress was the fashion symbol of the 1920’s. Flapper girls, or young women who behaved and dressed in a boldly unconventional manner, wore these types of dresses when they were out at a bar or club dancing. These dresses usually had a lot of fringe on them, crazy beading, and usually stopped at their knees (which was very scandalous to do in the 1920’s)

When I first entered the stage, I wore a blue A-line skirt that stopped at my knees, a white blouse, gloves, and a fur coat. My character, Eileen Evergreen, was a whiney, expensive girl who is known as the “finest interpreter of modern dance in the world” so she had to wear the most expensive looking outfits. I also had on a lot of jewelry like pearl necklaces, earrings, and a diamond ring to look more high class. Pearls were a definite jewelry must in the 1920’s, whether it was pearl necklaces, pearl earrings, or pearl rings; that stone was worn by all the ladies.

For the men, they wore pin stripped suits. This style was very popular among men back in the 20’s, especially for those who went to clubs and bars a lot. The pin strip was what really showed that the suits were from the 1920’s, pin strip wasn’t much of a fashion trend in the later years.

At the end of the show, it is my wedding day. I wore a gorgeous white lace dress that stopped right above my ankles. I thought it was the perfect 1920’s wedding dress because it had the classic fabric of a wedding dress, yet the style was clearly from the 1920’s with it’s shortened length and the A-line look. I paired this dress with a pink pearl necklace and pearl earrings and of course, a veil. Even though I got left at the alter, I sure looked great!

My favorite fashion decade would definitely be the twenties! I loved the fringy flapper dresses, the classic pearl jewelry, and the dramatic makeup looks. It was definitely the roaring twenties!

Beauty and Hair in the 1920's

This weekend I am fortunate to be apart of the Kennedy High School production of “Nice Work if You Can Get It”. And while everyone was being hectic and getting ready for our first performances, I got a chance to really think. I noticed that every girl and boy was focusing a lot on our hair and makeup. We had specific guidelines on how to shape our hair into the right form. We also had to make sure it was appropriate for the time period. This time period was in the roaring 20s, so many things influenced the styles of hair. The styles included a lot of pinned up hair and curls, smoky eyes and thin eyebrows, flapper dresses and pin stripped tuxes.

For hair, girls had to create the classic 20’s pin up curls that make you hair look much shorter than it actually is. I first curled all my curl into tight little ringlet curls and then teased it slightly to create more volume. Then I shoved a ton of bobby pins in my hair and pinned the curls in different places around my head to make it seem like my hair was only chin length instead of it’s actually length. Once you get the length right, how you style it is totally up to you. Because of my character, I pinned some curls to the side of my face to frame my face. Other girls pulled some curls out and made it look more natural, while other girls put a headband in to make it seem like they were truly a flapper girl.

Even though you would think makeup in the 20’s wouldn’t be much different from what it is now, it definitely is! In the roaring 20’s, makeup was centered on a smoky eye with greys and blacks. To create this apply a white or silver on the center and inner corner of your lid, then apply a grey or black on the outer corner of your lid and along the crease. Then blend to get that smoky look. Apply some winged eyeliner and you’ve got the perfect 20’s smoky eyes! For lips, red was the staple color in the 20’s and it was applied very thinly on the lips (definitely not how Kendall Jenner wears it!) Eyebrows were also much thinner and longer than they are today. For blush, it was applied to the center of your cheeks.

Those were just the different trends for hair and makeup in the 1920’s, in my next blog post, I will be reviewing the fashion in the 1920’s!

Tame the Mane

Brushes, combs, and whatever else people use to tame the “mane” that they are so fortunate to have on top of their heads. But it’s just hair right? So why do we need things to control, form, and style it? Hair can shape your face, and it’s the first thing people really see (besides your expression on your face). It’s important to style correctly, and use the right tools when doing so. There are so many different tools you can use to style your hair. There’s wide tooth combs, paddle brushes, teasing combs, round barrel brushes, and more. Each comb and brush has a specific job it can do for your hair. I will be explaining what type of brush works best for your hair.

If you have thick, coarse hair like mine, it’s best to use densely set bristles in your brush to make sure it doesn’t pull out all your hair. I would recommend buying plastic bristles because that’s the most gentle on your hair.

If you have thin, long hair, I recommend using a big paddle brush. These paddle brushes are very wide so can brush out more of your hair so it won’t take years to brush it all out. These brushes also make your hair sleek and straight without adding volume.

For curly hair, I recommend using a wooden brush. Wooden brushes are gentler on hair and won’t separate your curls. Wooden brushes are also great for brushing after you curl your hair to soften the curls, they make it look much more natural.

Combs are best used for teasing and they are much cheaper than teasing combs. Make sure you buy the combs with parting pick so you can also part and section off your hair easily. While teasing combs are meant for teasing your hair, I find combs much easy to work with and won’t pull out as much hair.

When blow drying your hair, be sure to use a round barrel brush. This brush can smoothly brush out your hair but also add tremendous amounts of volume. Grab a section of hair and then face your blow dryer onto your hair so you can brush it out and dry it at the same time. If you also twist your brush around your hair while your blow-drying you can also get some big, voluminous curls out of it as well!

If you brush your hair after you shower or whenever your hair is wet. Never, ever, ever use a brush to brush out your hair. ALWAYS USE A COMB. Using a brush can pull out a lot of your hair and puts a lot of weight onto the hair. I recommend using a wide tooth comb because it can brush out most of your hair without pulling a lot of it out.

Using the right tools when styling your hair very important when creating the perfect look. I hope this post helped with what tools you should use!

Nice Work If You Can Apply It

I am officially in show mode. Next week, the musical I am in, “Nice Work If You Can Get It” will be finally showing. I will be playing Eileen Evergreen, a dramatic, attention grabbing, girl who is known as the greatest interpreter of modern dance in the world, but she just looks like she has seizures onstage. Everyone should come to Kennedy High School to watch this hilarious show at 7 on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and 2 on Saturday as well. That being said, today I will talk about what kind of makeup you should wear onstage so you don’t look washed out.

On a stage, bright stage lights are lit to brighten the stage and the performers. Due to these extremely bright stage lights, a performer can look washed out wearing their day makeup, so they must apply heavy stage makeup. I will use stage foundation as a base to ensure my face won't look washed out. The stage foundation is much more thick and creamy, almost like a concealer as a foundation. By wearing stage foundation, a performer won't look washed out and have an even skin complexion. I also recommend applying a slightly darker foundation shade because the stage lights will make your complexion look whiter than usual.

For blush and bronzer, I recommend applying a lot more than you're used to. Stage lights can easily whiten your face, so you need brush and bronzer to outline your face shape. Bronzer is especially important because you can completely change your face structure using bronzer. When I apply bronzer or blush for a stage performance, I was have the mind set of, "If you don't look like Kim Kardashian yet, you need more."

For eye shadow, it really just depends on what event you’re performing on stage for. If you’re in a big, flashy musical like “Chicago,” the more eye shadow the better. But if you’re performing a musical like “Spring Awakening,” it’s best you keep the eye shadow at a minimum. For me, I will be using a lot of eye shadow because it is such a flashy show. On the other hand, I think that anyone who is going to perform on stage needs eyeliner and mascara. Eyeliner and mascara can outline and emphasize the shape of your eye, so you need these makeup items when you’re performing. I also recommend wearing fake lashes, especially if you have short lashes like me, to open your eyes more.

All in all, just be sure to apply more makeup for performances than you usually would for a daytime makeup. You want to look alive in your performance, not dead!

Miss America Serves

Yesterday was Miss America Serves day; a day where all contestants, titleholders, and anyone involved in the Miss America Organization volunteered their time to help out our community. The Miss America Organization values service and as a queen for local, state, or even our nation, your duty is to serve your people by volunteering and helping out as much as possible.

As Miss Metro’s Outstanding Teen, I volunteered my time in Des Moines helping out at the Adam C Medina Banquet with my fellow sister queens. I started out my day by driving down to Des Moines to begin prepping for Miss Iowa by doing mock interviews, practicing my walk for fitness and evening wear, and getting all my paperwork done. I then headed down with my sister queens (Miss Metro Kelly Koch, Miss Greater Des Moines Serica Rowley, and Miss Greater Des Moines Outstanding Teen Sophia Agguire) to the Natural History Museum to volunteer at the Addam C Medina Foundation Benefit to honor Addam Media who passed away from a drunk driving accident. This foundation was created to let others know the danger of driving under the influence, but also proote youths to reach and achieve their dreams. We helped out at the each activity area, like hula hooping, making cranes, and even face painting! This event was not only a great volunteer experience; I also had a lot of fun at each activity.

Everyone involved in the Miss America Organization did something similar to my experience yesterday to celebrate the importance of serving others. Whether it is cleaning up litter from a park, volunteering at a non-profit organization, or just donating items to the Salvation Army, volunteerism was happening all around the nation. If you #missamericaserves on any social media website, you will see so many pictures, posts, and videos of Miss America girls volunteering at different events.

It still boggles my mind that people still stereotype pageant girls as catty, dramatic, and act like the girls from toddlers and tiaras when there’s a day the Miss America Organization dedicated to serving others. The Miss America system is known as a pageant, yet I believe it’s a way for women to grow and become well-rounded, successful people in our community. As a Miss America contestant we are learning how to connect with others, be skilled in something we are passionate about, be poised and confident onstage, and learn the importance of volunteering. I am so grateful to be a part of an organization that teaches me such important life skills. Happy Miss America Serves everyone!

Love Your Style

On this blog, I continually talk about the different trends that are in style this season, what to wear and what not to wear, and what kinds of clothing items looks best on what body type. But while it’s great to receive fashion advice from others, the most important thing I’ve learned about fashion and beauty, is to wear something you love and you feel confident in. It’s great to follow the fashion norms of society, but what makes you unique as an individual is what style of clothing you love to wear.

I, personally, am a victim of not wearing something I like to wear because I think other people will think it’s weird or not stylish. I sometimes think I should buy something that everyone else has just because everyone else has it. For example, everyone these days are buying Birk sandals, but for me personally, I think they look like Jesus shoes. But since everyone is buying them, I’m slowly feeling the need to buy them even though I don’t think they look that cute, especially not on my feet. If I ever want to wear something out of the box, I always get nervous because I’m afraid of what others will think of my outfit so I revert back to an outfit I know everyone will approve of.

But as I grew older and learned more about my fashion style, I slowly realized that I can buy and wear whatever I want to wear because I love it. My fashion style should represent who I am as a person and not what society approves of. While I like to keep up with the trends, I don’t follow all of them because I have my own fashion trends I like to follow. If I want to wear a crazy patterned shirt with crazy pattern pants, then I’ll wear it because I feel confident and beautiful. As long as I feel fashionable in my outfit, then my outfit is already in style.

Fashion shouldn’t be a set of rules that everyone must follow. Fashion is creativity. There should never be a limit on how unique or crazy an outfit should be. So I urge all my fashionistas, buy those quirky shoes, put on that bright neon dress, and dress by your standards, not society’s. It’s okay to follow fashion trends and its okay to not follow fashion trends. How you dress and how confident you are in your outfit should be the most important part.