Smuggling,
Bootlegging and Speakeasies: How to Whoop it up and Look Good Doing It
When writing the second book in my time traveling
bibliophile series, the TEMPLE OF INDRA’S CURSE, main character Sophia Marcil
is pulled back in time once again. This time she’s sent into the past life of
her own Great Aunt, a young and rebellious Zafira Breathour. I researched many
different aspects of the 1920s while writing this book: Fashion, Art Deco, and
of course Prohibition and how it would have affected, the Breathour family during
the 1920’s in a tempered Toronto. What I discovered was that while Prohibition was meant to
eradicate the temptation of liquor, it had the unintended effect of making it
fashionable. As fashionable as Clara Bow with her wavy bob, pencil thin
eyebrows and rebellious spirit.
Temperance act and raids be damned. By barring liquor from the masses, the
government unwittingly turned many law-abiding citizens into criminals. Generation
Y also known as the ‘me me me’ kids of today have nothing on those brazen jazz
babies of the 1920s. Characters like Zafira Breathour from my
book who were suddenly freed of fitted garments flocked to speakeasies, blind
pigs and gin joints. After all, these private establishments were
accessible by password only and they could be quite glamorous. Whereas
Pre-Prohibition saloons were prejudice of women, the new world of nightclubs
invited both the bob-haired “flapper” and her “sheik” to drink cocktails,
smoke, and dance to jazz. Who could blame them? They could vote at last:
The 19th
Amendment to the
Constitution had guaranteed that right in 1920. Millions of women worked in
white-collar jobs and could afford to participate in the burgeoning consumer
economy. The increased availability of birth-control devices made it possible
for women to have fewer children. And new technologies like the washing machine
and the vacuum cleaner eliminated some of the drudgery of household work. And
so they indulged in their unprecedented freedoms, in my book Zafira and her
friends whoop it up despite the hell they catch every morning.
In the fourth
chapter, Zafira and her best pals, Florence and Deborah get all jazzed up for a
night of dancing. Zafira is rocking an apricot chiffon bugle-bead dress, adorned
with a long string of pearls wrapped twice around her neck as was the style. Her
lips painted a plum red and her eyes rimmed black as night. According to Fashion Time Machine, one of the main brands popular during
this decade was one we still know and use today, Maybelline. It was first
created in 1915 by a 19-year-old entrepreneur who noticed his older sister
Mabel applying a mixture of Vaseline and coal dust to her eyelashes to give
them a darker, fuller look. To complete the look Flo lent Zafira her spiffy
head band that rested across her forehead. Headbands / Scarves were all the
rage at the time. Decorated with precious gems, patterns, metals or even
feathers, the headband made the perfect flapper accessory. And the bohemian style
has even made resurgence today thanks to music festivals. Women in the 20′s
never left the house without a hat, gloves and a handbag. Other popular
accessories worn during this decade were, long strands of pearls, bangles,
dangling earrings, scarves, head bands and socks.
In Chapter Fifteen,
our Time Traveling Bibliophile Sophia Marcil has been thrown into this body of her
ancestor, Zafira Breathour and is sent on a trip to London, England with her
mother and sister. As she follows the throng of women through the streets of
London, listening to the sounds of lorries, cars and two horse-drawn hearses,
she notices a woman in a cloche hat. Women in the Roaring 20′s did not leave
the house without a hat or some type of head covering. There were many types of
hats, the garden hat, the Musketeer hat, the Beret hats, toque hats, turbans
and the 1920’s hat icon, and as I mention the ever popular cloche. These round
shaped, snug fitting, helmet like felt or straw hats came so far down the
forehead that visibility was only possible by lifting the chin up so she had to
look down on people. Brims were a mere 2 inches at most. Some curled up,
some angled out like a mini visor, and still others pointed down. By the end of
the decade brims were nonexistent.
Curious as to how
they would have looked, let’s jump into the fashion time machine. To see my smashing
inspiration when styling these characters, check out my Pinterest page, Temple of Indra's CURSE Book Two Inspiration.
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Smuggling,
Bootlegging and Speakeasies: How to Whoop it up and Look Good Doing It
When writing the second book in my time traveling
bibliophile series, the TEMPLE OF INDRA’S CURSE, main character Sophia Marcil
is pulled back in time once again. This time she’s sent into the past life of
her own Great Aunt, a young and rebellious Zafira Breathour. I researched many
different aspects of the 1920s while writing this book: Fashion, Art Deco, and
of course Prohibition and how it would have affected, the Breathour family during
the 1920’s in a tempered Toronto. What I discovered was that while Prohibition was meant to
eradicate the temptation of liquor, it had the unintended effect of making it
fashionable. As fashionable as Clara Bow with her wavy bob, pencil thin
eyebrows and rebellious spirit.
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