The “things” took partying seriously and paid great attention to their outfits. They were often socially privileged, many of them were queer and their antics were widely followed in the media with a mixture of horror and fascination. One of these was Cecil Beaton, the future celebrity photographer, who delighted in cross-dressing both on stage and off.īeaton became part of a set of high society socialites who were known as the “ bright young things”. Daring male university students started wearing makeup. There was also a new market for novels, such as Radcylffe Hall’s banned book The Well of Loneliness (1928) that focused on, rather than merely hinted at, queer lives. In Britain, women over 30 had finally been given the vote and there was widespread concern about the new hedonism of their younger “flapper” sisters. Established regimes were toppling across Europe. This drew on a subculture that had existed for decades, perhaps centuries, but after the first world war gender-bending fashions became front page news. The 1920s brought about a rise in androgynous fashion among a high society set that broke boundaries and caused controversy. First panel of The Freak Merchants or, the Bright Young People by Arthur Wallis Mills, published in Punch (1930).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |