Line #101 Main/TheFlapper


1	[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flappers_dancing_on_rooftop.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:305:Yes, we're dancing ''on the ledge of a roof, in heels''.\
3	Ain't we got fun?]]
4
5	The quintessential modern, emancipated Western woman of TheRoaringTwenties. A young lady even more spirited than the SpiritedYoungLady, coming of age in an era when Victorian morals were loosened at the same time that [[OfCorsetHurts tightlaced corsets]] were, thanks to newfound liberty, rising feminist movements, and (in the U.S.) the 19th Amendment.[[note]]Which forbids states from forbidding women from voting. Yes, that's [[ConfusingMultipleNegatives confusing]], but that's UsefulNotes/AmericanFederalism for you.[[/note]] She listened to jazz, [[EverybodySmokes smoked cigarettes]], danced [[DanceSensation the Foxtrot, the Tango, the Shimmy, the Peabody, the Black Bottom, the Baltimore Buzz, and the Charleston]], wore make-up for the first time since the 18th century, drank with the boys (in America, she was as much an opponent of the 18th Amendment[[note]]Which prohibited alcohol[[/note]] as she was a fan of the 19th), peppered her speech with [[JiveTurkey slang]] and [[ClusterFBomb cusses]], and enjoyed the various other delights that the '20s had to offer. Aesthetically, [[TwentiesBobHaircut short hair]], short skirts, [[PimpedOutDress short, loose & low-waisted evening gowns]], [[ZettaiRyouiki turned-up silk stockings]], [[PetitePride boyish figures]], and swanky cloche hats were a must.
6
7	The flapper's social and sexual liberty was a result of such feminist developments as women entering the workforce and gaining the right to vote, and of women's growing hatred of the [[DoubleStandard classic notion]] that promiscuous men were "studs," while promiscuous women were "whores". In the flappers' eyes, "sheiks" and "shebas" were equal, so they could be just as sexually free. Needless to say, this stance contrasted rather starkly with the more conventional view of women as {{housewi\|fe}}ves and mothers who should be subordinate to their men and [[StayInTheKitchen preferably not leave the house]].
8
9	The popular image of the flapper we know of actually [[OlderThanTheyThink dates back to at least the 1910s]]. While the word ''flapper'' appeared in dictionaries as early as TheGayNineties, the flapper girl started to evolve during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and the Prohibition era. As the decade progressed, and with the help of prominent women like UsefulNotes/CocoChanel, hats became tighter and narrower, skirts became shorter, and the silhouette more streamlined, like the image you see above. [[https://www.racked.com/2017/5/19/15612000/flappers-fringe-myth Contrary to popular contemporary imagery]], flappers did not always wear sleek bobs, fringed dresses, feathered headbands, nylon fishnets stockings, and open-toed stiletto heels. These were an invention of filmmakers in TheFifties, who tried to evoke the era fit for Technicolor cameras. [[labelnote:Brief details]]Actual flappers wore fringe sparingly, and viewed long fringes as very impractical for dancing and expensive, being made of silk or rayon; hemlines at the time were knee length at its peak before dropping in the very later decade; headbands were Edwardian carryovers that persisted through the early 1920s when some women were reluctant to bob their hair before it went out of fashion by the middle of the decade when bobs became commonplace; stockings were rayon, and shoes were round- and close-toed, and the heels were thick Cuban or Louis. [[/labelnote]] In fact, the fringe dress and fishnet stockings were only worn by showgirls, and the popular (mis)conception was only made possible by the invention of nylon.
10
11	The concept also spread east to Japan and China, where it spawned the "modern girl" (モダンガール ''modan gaaru'', or モガ ''moga'' for short) and "modern Miss" (摩登小姐 ''modeng xiaojie'') cultures respectively. The ''modeng xiaojie'' would likely wear high heels and high-slit, figure-hugging dresses called "[[UsefulNotes/{{Qipao}} cheongsams]]" in reaction to the painful foot binding and the antiquated loose robes of the Qing dynasty.
12
13	The look, high-spirited attitude, and hedonism of the flapper became less acceptable after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and disappeared following the economic hardships of TheGreatDepression.
14
15	Compare and contrast TheSuffragette, her predecessor, and TheLadette, her direct descendant and SpiritualSuccessor.
16	----
17	!!Examples:
18	[[foldercontrol]]
19
20	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
21	* Gina in ''Anime/PorcoRosso'', as befits the early depression setting. Especially apparent in comparison to the Edwardian dress she wears in her flashback.
22	* Keiko from ''Manga/InThisCornerOfTheWorld'' was a "modern girl" when she was young, which was the Japanese equivalent of the flapper.
23	* A young Stayler Allman wore the typical Flapper fashion in the ''Manga/TheWitchAndTheBeast'', which is not surprising given the Art Deco-inspired setting.
24	[[/folder]]
25
26	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
27	* While protagonist Prudence of the 1925-1926 comic ''ComicStrip/TheAdventuresOfPrudencePrim'' doesn't consider ''herself'' to be a flapper, she does make an effort to hang out with the popular crowd of modern gentlemen and stylish women her own age -- who are referred to as flappers in the comic's captioning verses.
28	-->...and Prudy dared to stray\
29	Off with a jolly flapper crowd, quite up to date and gay.\
30	And all the young men smiled at her, and all the girls turned green\
31	With jealousy and envy of this budding social queen.
32	* ''ComicStrip/Blondie1930'': The titular character started out as this until she married Dagwood Bumstead. Her maiden name was even "Boopadoop", a play on the then popular expression "Boop-oop-a-doop".
33	* ComicStrip/{{Nancy}}'s aunt Fritzi Ritz was the stereotypical flapper, and was even originally the main character of the strip. Then Nancy was introduced and gradually took over the spot as the main character, and Fritzi's flapperdom was toned down as her role more and more became "Nancy's parental figure."
34	* Olive Oyl from ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}''.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Film]]
38	* ''Film/OurDancingDaughters'' (1928) could have been called ''Flapper: The Movie'', as it offers archetypal examples of the trope. All the women in the movie are stereotypical flappers--hard-drinking, sexually liberated young party girls with short haircuts.
39	* ''Film/TheGreatGatsby1974'' and ''Film/TheGreatGatsby2013'', naturally.
40	* Evie in ''Film/HighRoadToChina''.
41	* Almost all the women in ''Film/TheCatsMeow''. As a bonus all the costumes are [[DeliberatelyMonochrome black, white, and gray]] so they look like Creator/EdwardGorey characters.
42	* Peppy Miller and every woman in ''Film/TheArtist''.
43	* Most of the women in ''Film/SinginInTheRain,'' with the notable exception of [[BitchInSheepsClothing Lina]].
44	* Millie Dillmount in ''Film/ThoroughlyModernMillie''.
45	* ''Film/PandorasBox'' is a fairly dark take on The Flapper. Lulu definitely qualifies, with the slinky dresses, short bob haircut (which became quite famous for a while thanks to this film), dancing, and sexual liberation. But when The Flapper gets involved in prostitution and murder, it's not so fun.
46	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': Tiana in her [[TheFinalTemptation white dress]] and Lottie at the beginning of the movie.
47	* ''Film/GirlShy'' features Creator/HaroldLloyd imagining seducing a flapper. She is smoking and dancing to jazz, of course.
48	* In ''{{Film/Maxie}}'', the ghost of a 1920s flapper possesses the body of a 1980s yuppie housewife. HilarityEnsues.
49	* ''Film/TheBlot'' features several at the parties and fancy dinners that Phil attends, most notably his hard-drinking, hard-partying, cloche hat-wearing girlfriend Juanita. Flappers in general and Juanita in particular are presented unfavorably, contrasted with Phil's new girlfriend, demure Amelia. A disgruntled Phil noting that Juanita is "rather loud".
50	* ''Film/WhyBeGood'' has Colleen Moore as Pert Kelly; short dresses, cloche hats, a Charleston dancing pro, and a healthy respect for drinking equals absolute flapper.
51	* 1927's ''Film/GetYourMan'' is about a man in an ArrangedMarriage who falls for a flapper (played by the quintessential flapper actress Creator/ClaraBow).
52	* ''Film/{{Sappho}}'': Although they don't indulge in the stereotypical dancing, listening to jazz or illicit alcohol, Sappho and Helene otherwise fit into this. Both have the bob hairstyles (Helene from the beginning, Sappho a bit later) and the dress style. The pair are also sexually liberated, unapologetically having an affair together and [[LoveTriangle sharing Sappho's husband]], with the setting during the late '20s. [[spoiler:It ends badly however as Sappho kills herself when their affair collapses.]]
53	* ''Film/HeadInTheClouds'': Though she's introduced in 1933, Gilda has a bob haircut, flapper style dress and hedonistic lifestyle. She definitely enjoys drinking, dancing, listening to jazz and casual sex.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Literature]]
57	* ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'': Most of the females in the novel, both played straight or played with.
58	** Jordan Baker, a fashionable and gorgeous golf player who dates Nick Carraway.
59	** Mrs Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan's lively mistress.
60	** Subverted by Daisy, who isn't spirited and actually dislikes Gatsby's lavish, chaotic parties, and would prefer to stay in her calm world of Old Money.
61	* Isobel "Izzie" Todd, from Kate Atkinson's ''Life After Life'', is Ursula's non-conforming aunt who wears short dresses, makeup, and Chanel No. 5.
62	* ''Literature/MurderForTheModernGirl'': Ruby Newhouse is an 18-year-old girl who lives in 1928 Chicago and is an independent, confident woman who is against the mistreatment of women in her era. She also has her hair bobbed and wears sleek, elegant dresses from her time.
63	* ''Literature/TheSunAlsoRises'': Brett.
64	* In another F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, Gloria in ''Literature/TheBeautifulAndDamned''. Since the novel is set in the 1910s, she is explicitly said to be an early proponent of the fashion.
65	* Naomi in Tanizaki Jun'ichiro's novel ''Naomi''.
66	* Sadie, from Sophie Kinsella's ''Literature/TwentiesGirl''.
67	* Creator/AgathaChristie's [[Literature/TommyAndTuppence Tuppence]] was a flapper in her first appearance (then she marries Tommy and becomes more respectable but no less adventurous) as was Bundle in ''Literature/TheSecretOfChimneys'' and ''Literature/TheSevenDialsMystery''.
68	* The ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'' short story "Ode to Joy" by Jonathan Clements in ''Short Trips: The History of Christmas'', features a [[AsianFoxSpirit Kitsune]] in the Emperor's Gardens who takes the form of a moga. The Doctor has to break it to her that it's 1990, and "modern girls" in Tokyo are wearing tracksuits.
69	* A book called ''Moonshine'' takes place in a FantasyCounterpartCulture to America in the 1920s. Naturally, the main character, Daisy Dell, is depicted as being a flapper as are a lot of other female characters in the novel.
70	* Laura's rebellious, wacky Granny in ''Literature/IfIGoItWillBeDouble'' used to be this.
71	* ''Literature/CreatureCourt'' by Tansy Rayner Roberts is a CultureChopSuey of 1920s America and Ancient Rome, and contains a fair few of these. Notable examples include HardDrinkingPartyGirl Delphine, who turns out to be a deconstruction as the novel works into the [[BeneathTheMask insecurities]] [[StepfordSmiler her lifestyle is hiding]], and Livilla for a more murderous variation.
72	[[/folder]]
73
74	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
75	* ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'' premieres with the onset of Prohibition, but it isn't until the third season (when the show's timeline has advanced to the early 1920s) that we get an honest-to-gosh flapper in the character of Broadway chorine Billie Kent.
76	* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'':
77	** Lady Rose [=MacClare=], the Crawley sisters' rebellious younger cousin. After Rose begs Robert to let her go out to a club or some such, Lady Mary says:
78	--->'''Lady Mary''': Your niece is a flapper--accept it.
79	** Lady Edith is arguably a subversion: she adopts a flapperish hairstyle, is more than a bit of a tomboy, and fully embraces women's rights--but being who she is (very much a country girl, albeit one who likes to see London from time to time), it's hard to call her a true flapper.
80	** Though she'd never admit it, Lady Mary isn't so different from Lady Edith. She loves the flapperish fashions (to the point of going [[TwentiesBobHaircut full bob]], unlike Edith), can see the point of flapper thinking on sex, and runs her own business affairs (she runs Downton and is a shrewd businesswoman in her own right), but is even more of a countrywoman than her sister, and is a widow and mother of the heir to the Earldom of Grantham to boot.
81	* ''Series/FirstDay'': In the series finale, the girls all dress up with flapper styles for a student party (boys also wear retro outfits from the '20s era).
82	* ''Series/TheFirstLady'': Hick and other women are still wearing flapper-style garb in the early 30s.
83	* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S2E9TheTroubleWithTempleton The Trouble with Templeton]]", Booth Templeton's late wife Laura was one during the 1920s.
84	* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "The Convict's Piano", the gangster Mickey Shaughnessy's girlfriend Ellen is a flapper who is seen on his arm at a party in 1928.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Music]]
88	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_Hanshaw Annette Hanshaw]]. Her style combined both The Flapper and TheIngenue.
89	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Kane Helen Kane]], the woman WesternAnimation/BettyBoop was based on.
90	* The Lumineers' ''Flapper Girl''.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Pinball]]
94	* Creator/{{Capcom}}'s unreleased ''Pinball/{{Kingpin}}'' has Trixie, the {{Moll}} of the mob boss.
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
98	* Wrestling/OldeWrestling, which has a 1920s theme, turned [[Wrestling/KimberLee Kimber Lee/Princess Kimberlee]][[note]]She was "Abby Laith" for a time on ''Wrestling/{{WWE NXT}}''.[[/note]] into "Kickin'" Kimber Lee, a wrestling Flapper. She was a {{Face}} and had a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6VvEvlPrSA match]] against [[WorkingClassHero Working Class Heel]] [[Wrestling/RubyRiott Heidi the Riveter]].[[note]]Heidi Lovelace, aka [[Wrestling/TheRiottSquad WWE's Ruby Riott]]. The match was another chapter in their rivalry/feud that extended across several promotions. The commentators notice "Kickin'" Kimber Lee's dance skills and question whether she has a dance background. Kimberly Frankele does have a {{Ballet}} background and has worked as a Ballet instructor away from wrestling.[[/note]] In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr7RK56ZwQ4 this promo]], Heidi gets a telegram (complete with TelegraphGagStop) expresses her disapproval of Kimber Lee's lifestyle.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Theater]]
102	* ''Theatre/{{Chicago}}''.
103	* ''Theatre/NoNoNanette'' originally had the OpeningChorus "Flappers Are We."
104	* Most, if not all, musicals set in the 1920s or 1930s in a major American city.
105	** ''Theatre/AnythingGoes''
106	** ''Theatre/ThoroughlyModernMillie''
107	** ''Film/SinginInTheRain''
108	** ''Theatre/TheDrowsyChaperone'' does a nice job of satirizing this trope.
109	* The {{Gangsterland}} segment of ''Theatre/MichaelJacksonTheIMMORTALWorldTour'' features flappers.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Video Games]]
113	* Lulu Milton from ''VideoGame/GardensOfTime'' is a flapper in all but name: she's implied to be from the USA of TheRoaringTwenties, dresses like a flapper save for the lack of a cloche hat, and is the most bubbly and cheerful of the girls in the game.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
117	* ''VisualNovel/SpeakeasyTonight'' begins when the protagonist's forays into the flapper scene cause her parents to ship her off to live with her Uncle Charlie, supposedly a pillar of moral character who will be better able to keep her in line. Turns out Uncle Charlie is secretly a bootlegger, and after he's injured in a shooting his niece takes over managing his speakeasy.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Web Animation]]
121	* The "old-timey" ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' video "It's the Sneak!" mentions flappers and features Marzipan dressed as one.
122	* Lulu from the short [[https://vimeo.com/20217629 Juiced And Jazzed]] becomes one after drinking some alcohol during prohibition.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Webcomics]]
126	* Nearly all the women in ''[[http://www.allegedwhiskey.com/ Alleged Whiskey]]'' qualify, as the strip is set in 1928.
127	* ''Webcomic/DinosaurComics'': T-Rex is [[http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=645 very interested]] in flappers.
128	* Ivy in ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'', to the point where Rocky warns her not to come and see his conservative Catholic aunt. Zulie from the Maitre Carrefour cult is another, darker example.
129	* ''Webcomic/TheManorsPrize'': Hanged Man, the comic's resident [[MsFanservice Ms. Fanservice]].
130	[[/folder]]
131
132
133	[[folder:Western Animation]]
134	* ''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop'': None other than the Boop herself.
135	* This was the original characterization for WesternAnimation/MinnieMouse. However, times faded and she lost her flapper look. Though the recent ''WesternAnimation/{{Mickey Mouse\|2013}}'' shorts had her return to her old look.
136	* WesternAnimation/BugsBunny dressed up as one in "The Unmentionables" to sneak into Rocky and Mugsy's party, using a flapper dance as a means to repeatedly kick the stuffing out of Rocky.
137	* ComicBook/HarleyQuinn is depicted as a flapper in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''.
138	* ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' does this as a gag in one of the animated series episodes.
139	* Not an actual flapper, Korra from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' wears the hat of a flapper with her disguise.
140	* WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot: Vexus used this in order to blend in with teenagers, only for Jenny to find out because her apparel was obviously outdated for about a century or so.
141	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
142	** There is a photo of Marge's mother in her flapper days, one of which has her being arrested for wearing an OldTimeyBathingSuit that "showed too much gam".
143	** There is also a photo of Marge's grandmother Bambi as a flapper girl with the trademark Bouvier cigarette.
144	** Agnes Skinner in her younger years was a flapper and a unicycle-riding wing walker. Though she did dress like one for [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E11WorstEpisodeEver her date with Comic Book Guy]].
145	* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016'' episode Rainy Day, Blossom is seen dancing while dressed as a flapper.
146	[[/folder]]
147
148	[[folder:Real Life]]
149	* Adele Astaire (sister of Creator/FredAstaire and a huge Broadway star in her own right) was said to have "put all the flap in flapperdom."
150	* Creator/ClaraBow, the original IT girl, was Hollywood's foremost flapper in the 20s. She may have inspired the creation of ''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop'' along with Helen Kane.
151	* Creator/LouiseBrooks and her iconic bobbed hair.
152	* UsefulNotes/CocoChanel, the TropeCodifier who adapted the loose silhouette, wearing jersey cardigans and tweed pants, donning tan skin, creating the No. 5 and the LittleBlackDress, engaging in affairs with several men, and every little detail about her.
153	* When Creator/JoanCrawford came to Hollywood in 1925, she promoted herself by entering and winning dance contests doing the Charleston and other routines of that era. Her early roles often featured her dancing skills.
154	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Smith Elinor Smith,]] known as the Flying Flapper of Freeport.
155	* Creator/AnnaMayWong in the 1920s deliberately cultivated a flapper image in order to show that she was both American ''and'' Chinese. She's credited with helping de-mystify Chinese-Americans to the general public. While it didn't do her much favors in terms of what roles she got - Hollywood being reluctant to cast an Asian actress in anything other than DragonLady parts - she did become a fashion icon.
156	* Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of Creator/FScottFitzgerald, was dubbed "the first American flapper" by her husband. She freely drank and danced her way through the most exclusive social circles of New York and Paris. She's portrayed as such by Creator/ChristinaRicci in ''Series/ZTheBeginningOfEverything''.
157	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TheFlapper