Punks & Flappers And What They Can Teach Us

This is my latest piece for The Huffington Post that looks at the commonalities between punks and flappers, both of which have been on the cultural radar lately. It is as nerdy as it sounds. It's a good thing!

Punks and Flappers and What They Can Teach Us

Punks And Flappers

I'm loving how pop culture right now is fascinated with two groups that may seem diametrically opposed: punks and flappers. Punk is the theme of the annual Met Gala this year and the 1920s are obviously a point of interest thanks to that little art house flick, The Great Gatsby.

Vogue.com is doing some wonderful videos for both groups. Legitimately artistic and very slick.

Jazz Age Nerd

True nerds, such as myself, are re-reading The Great Gatsby before the movie comes out. This is partly to refresh my memory, which has faded since I last read it in high school. Also, I am really looking forward to beginning sentences with the phrase, "It was good, but I feel that Baz Luhrmann didn't quite capture...."

Any overachiever worth their salt, however, knows that one text is never enough. There has to be auxiliary reading to add a conceptual framework. (My degree from Columbia is really rearing it's head here...)

Enter Flapper, a book that came out in 2007 and is a cultural history of the flapper. It's required reading for jazz age aficionados such as myself. It also serves as an ad hoc biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald, who at one point was considered the leading authority on the flapper movement, simply because he was the only one writing about them. It's a fun book, but hardly light reading. Be prepared to learn quite a bit about everything from speakeasies to the birth of The New Yorker magazine.




In terms of new releases, Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, chronicles the Lady Fitzgerald's life with F. Scott. It came out in March.

The Jazz Age Cometh

When BHLDN puts images like this in their e-blasts, how can I not spend almost half an hour looking at all their goodies?

Note that the woman on the left has the same haircut that I do. Ahead of the curve, kids.

Source: google.com.au via Pauline on Pinterest

Mary Pickford Rears Her Head Again

A few days ago I posted a short video bout Mary Pickford, since I've been on a bit of a Flapper kick lately.

I was in Times Square this morning, which as we all know is one of the most overdeveloped part of Manhattan. I looked up and noticed an old building with statues built into the facade. The details struck me as odd. Why had I never noticed this building before? 1920s era buildings are the sort of thing that pops up on my radar.

I pulled out my camera and started taking photos. Even though I've been in New York City since 1999 I never knew that this building existed, mostly because it's been covered by a TGI Friday's for years, and I have no business ever going into a TGI Friday's.

TGI Friday's moved out (Praise Allah!) and Express is moving in. The building, according to the internet, is the old I. Miller Shoe Building. It was built in the 1920s and the limestone facade features statues of Ethel Barrymore, Marilyn Miller, Mary Pickford and Rosa Ponselle.



Here is a link to what the building looked like when it was first built. It hasn't been cleaned in decades, which makes a lot of people wonder if Express will take advantage of the limestone underneath and bring it back to is splendor. There's a whole history of the building here.

What is the universe trying to tell me when a silent screen vixen pops into my consciousness twice in once week?

A Short Vieo About Mary Pickford

While we're on the subject of Flappers, here is a fascianting video about Mary Pickford, silent screen gem and one of the founders of United Artists Studio.

Trends From The Jazz Age That I Hope Catch On

Source: trend-ish.com via Sandi on Pinterest

I'm a little disappointed that The Great Gatsby isn't coming out in theaters until nesxt summer. I was looking forward to the inevitable flapper fashion craze it would bring on.

So I wrote a piece about it for The Huffington Post/Stylelist. Bring on the bobbed hair.

Trends From The Jazz Age That I Hope Catch On