1930-1939 The return of Elegance

The Wall Street Crash brought bankruptcies and mass unemployment. In 1932 over 10 million people had no food or wages in America, in Germany was 6 million people and in England 3 million. There were 10.000 unemployed in the French fashion houses. Those who managed to rescue their fortune did not show it off, at least not publicly. Everything from dress to interior design was discriminating taste and value but as society...

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The look of the decade

Carla and Eleanor - famous G sisters from Berlin.The bobbed hair cut, eyebrow  were rigorously plucked and pencilled in as black lines with turned down ends. Brunettes used black and brown shadow, blondes preferred green or blue.  They used kohl to make large almond-shaped eyes of unfathomable dep...

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1920-1929

Jazz and the Charleston- Bobbed hairs cuts and red lips, free love and cigarettes, birth control and short skirts... And the end of it all the Great Depression. 'Flapper Girl' A young woman, especially one in the 1920s, who showed disdain for conventional dress and behavior." That is, conventional in the 1920s. The style came around after the first world war, and women were tired of trying to conform to society's idea of normal - women...

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The look of the decade

During the course of this decade women managed to personify three different ideal types: the little girl, the self-sacrificing Madonna and the exotic vamp. Lillian Gish 'Sweet little gir...

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1910-1919

Ballets RussesBallets Russes ("Russian Ballet") -created in 1909 by the Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev, originally housed in the Théâtre Mogador in Paris, then in Monte Carlo. Worked for Diaghilev's death in 1929. Stars of the team were: Vaslav Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, Mathilde Krzesińska.Inthe repertoire the group was based on the synthesis of the arts: classical dance, painting (set design), poetry / novel (libretto). Changes introduced: choreographers...

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Idols of the decade

Sarah BernhardtIsadora DuncanMata HariEleonora DuseClaire Waldoff Elsie De Wo...

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Victorian / Edwardian

 VICTORIAN ERAThe history of United Kingdom under the reign of QueenVictoria Hanover. The Queen was in power in the years 1837-1901. It was one of the longest uninterrupted reign of one monarch periods in modern history.There was stability in the country and growing prosperity, and the United Kingdom became the largest world power. George Stephenson's locomotive and the steam engine by James Watt is a symbol of contemporary Britain. There was...

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