Paris in the 1920s

My heart aches for Paris.  I may be married to The Big Apple, but Paris is my secret lover. So I thought I'd revisit my beloved city of light and love through a time that is often thought to be one of the most enchanting periods in french history: Paris in the 1920s. 

It's a very romantic notion, what it must have been like to sit at a little cafe and listen to great American jazz or see Josephine Baker do a little fan dance, first hand. Free thinking Americans flocked to the banks of Paris, where a person's race, sex, AND sexual orientation were accepted facts of life. So many of our greatest American artist, were once considered ex-patriots, all having spent a considerable amount of time in Paris, feeding off each ones creativity.  To frequent the cafes of Montparnasse, you would likely run into Ernest Hemingway, Man Ray or Gertrude Stein...or the quintessential flapper du jour, Zelda Fitzgerald.

It was the roaring 20s! The age of prohibition; visible knee caps and collar bones; Ziegfeld Follies and the Charleston; Cole Porter and Louis Armstrong!  And if you were lucky enough to be an American in Paris, it became a world of Picasso and Dali; Les Deux Magots and Cafe de Flore; joie de vivre; Folies Bergère; Art Deco and Haute Couture; La Garconne...Mademoiselle Coco Chanel!!!

How lovely it must have been to be a modern woman in 1920s Paris.  Oh how it must have been.  Maybe if I click my heels three times...

Youth Movement

I stumbled upon some old photographs via the NYPL Digital Archives.  If you have little to no knowledge of the Harlem Renaissance other than the fact that it was an historical period of time in which Harlem was in vogue...then these photos will prove that it was more than just a period of time in which a section of New York City was in vogue.

Known as "The New Negro Movement", the Harlem Renaissance was an artistic and cultural movement spanning the 1920s and 1930s.  Many famous and influential African-Americans came out of said movement; African-Americans such as Langston Hughes, Alain Locke, Zora Neale Hurston, Paul Robeson and many more.  I'd like to revisited the most notable players of "The New Negro Movement" in a separate post and focus on the influence they had on the youth of Harlem in this post.  The below photos were taken in 1939 at the Harlem Community Arts Center.  I love a young artistic mind!  I wonder if any of the children in the pictures ever went on to become players in the art world.  It's amazing how a photograph can tell a story but remain anonymous enough to let your imagination create wonder and fantasy.

The children are impeccably dressed for art class, wouldn't you say? And because this is a vintage fashion blog, it wouldn't be right if I didn't address the wardrobe...in fact I wouldn't be me if I didn't address the wardrobe! I love the kid in the last photo who is wearing short pants, amazing diamond print socks, and "spit shine" shoes!  He's a dapper little fella!