Just got good news that there is going to be a showcase this year at my dance school and it's going to be different than before! This time it's theme is a Murder Mystery in a 1920s Speakeasy. It's going to have a story to it so I'll be in-character after my dance number. (I've been craving a theatrical project. I'm going to have to brush up on my '20s slang.)
Right now, I'm plotting what to do with the character that I've chosen and how to design her costume. I thought this would be a fun example of developing a costume design as in the moment instead of in hindsight.
Character Description
This is the character prompt I received from the organizer:
Polly Peppers - The flapper with a Dark Past. She dances and laughs like she hasn't a care in the world, but Polly's real story is darker than anyone knows. Is she hiding more than just a broken heart?
So a few words stood out to me immediately: Flapper, Peppers, Laughter, Dark Past
To be honest, the first thing I zeroed in on was the name Peppers...because it immediately reminded me of a character from one of my favorite web-comics that is now becoming an animated production: Lackadaisy. One of the major characters is Ivy Pepper, who is a flapper, definitely involved in suspicious and dark characters, and very eager to prove herself.
The comic is also incredibly well researched into the area and time period and provides some fun little insights.
Once I moved on from that initial fixation on a character I know. I thought about Pepper the name and what it relates to. For awhile, I kept thinking black pepper and figured I might be making something dark. But as I was driving home, I remembered there are such things as red peppers...green ones too...and yellow and white pepper too. So that freed me from the original DARK theme.
The word flapper makes me think short skirts and fringes (which are historically accurate as I would later research). What else is a short skirt with fringes? Latin style ballroom dresses, that's what! So I immediately thought, "I can use that pattern I just got printed! I didn't think I'd need it so soon! Hooray!" (Spoiler: I have to abandon this idea after the research.)
Research Phase
I knew I would have inaccurate presumptions at the beginning since I was just driving home from the dance studio and not actively online. Once I got home, I hopped on Pinterest and searched for Flapper. The first results were a bunch of Halloween costumes. I also went to a website that sold vintage inspired dresses that I kept getting ads for in my email. I was seeing fun designs but I like historical accuracy or at least knowing where things come from. America in the 1920s is well documented and photographed. So I looked for "vintage flapper girls" and just started collecting pictures of dresses I liked and saved some blog posts about dresses at the time. This became a rabbit hole that I burrowed in for awhile, even downloading a period beauty routine book from the 1920s. I was hoping to get tips for makeup and hair, which it did have, but it also had a skincare routine, diet and exercise suggestions and I was absolutely enthralled with how things are STILL THE SAME. And yet different. It suggested splashing your eyes with water every morning and night, which is medically unadvisable because our eyes can handle that just fine without the introduction of tap water which has stuff in it.
Also the ideal weight formula was incredible...according to the 1920s beauty standard, someone of my height should be 115lbs! 😱 I have disappointed my ancestors. But I did like the exercise regime and I may do it since they're done on a bed or on the floor.
Then I got back on track and started considering what design principles I could glean from this research. SO, for the 1920s the iconic party dress styles include:
- Dropped waistline...very dropped
- Knee length skirts...although that length could be achieved with fringe
- No sleeves. Just spaghetti straps or sleeveless bodices
- Deep V, Wide V, Square, or a subtle sweetheart front neckline
- Deep V, Wide V, Wide U, Backless, straight line backlines
- Fringe, beading, feather trim, art deco style, embroidery
- Side Ruffles
- Rolled stockings
- T-strap Mary jane heels
- long beaded jewelry
- Head bands, turbans
Some other things of note were asymmetric hemlines, handkerchief hemlines, flutter sleeves, and mesh tops. These weren't common but I did find examples of them.
Applying Research to My Design
That's a dump of a lot of information and I noted lots in common with ballroom dance costumes like necklines, fringes, mesh, feathers, and beading. There is a Hollywood version of a flapper which is what the store-bought costumes are loosely based on. It may not be exact in style, but it can help with color choice since the photos of the time are not in color. I did find some colorized pictures but not clear. (As I was writing this, I paused to see if there was a way to colorize and there is AI that can. So I uploaded some of my reference photos from the time period to get SOME idea of colors. It's interesting.)
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| Colorized with palette.fm |
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| Coleen Moore from Synthetic Sin 1929 |
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| Same dress colorized |
Now...the downside of the flapper and style of the 1920's is that it caters towards slim, narrow hipped and narrow chested individuals. Which means the style does NOT flatter my figure according to various modern style guides. A dropped waistline, embellished hems, close fitting and a plunged neckline all draw the eye to my hips.
But you know what...I'm going to flip the script and just embrace the attention my hips will get! 😘
I want that dropped waistline, fringed hem and I'm debating the plunged neckline. This should free me from one of the constraints I usually put on dresses, and that's dressing for my body shape according to modern style advisors.
I will consider my preferred color palette. I like darker and deeper colors for myself. I may even dye my hair or get a wig. So, now I will try to figure out how to make myself look good and create the character.
Designing for Polly
I've designed for the "flapper" aspect of Polly and the historical fashions to get inspiration. Now, to look into the character and try to reflect that in the dress design. This can be done with shape, color, decorations, and accessories. They all can feed into this persona.
The description describes her as acting as if she's carefree. In reality, inside there's something "dark" and "broken-hearted".
Carefree to me suggests softer edges and bright, warm colors like yellow, pink, or green. It's loose, flirty and fun.
However, a darker dress could lend to this "dark side" in a literal sense. The sweet-heart neckline can also be reminiscent of a heart. (A dark heart as it were.) But the accessories may be bright and distracting. Long dangling pearls or rhinestones, bracelets, and glittering fringe. I may go blonde! (Or a bright red head since I look better as a red-head than a bright blonde.)
Alternatively, a deep plunging neckline and lots of sharp angles can be reminiscent of a dagger. I could make the modesty panel in the deep-V red against a dark dress to suggest a dark secret...maybe a murder secret. Red glittery fringe to go with it. Then again, a deep-v backline could suggest "stabbed in the back". Further suggested if I wear a sharp back-drop necklace. (A little off style but neat!)
Red and black (again) seem to be where I'm leaning when it comes to colors for the dress. It just seems like a brighter color goes with the carefree, but it can also be blood. Maybe red can be the central color and black the secondary color since my competition dress is also red and black. This makes me want to branch out and try different color combinations, but on the other hand I do have the thread for it.
Anyway, that's all I can do for now without making visual sketches of my ideas and getting some sleep. All this is just the initial idea and I expect it to evolve and iterate as I think more about it. These are all just first thoughts.
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