Memorial weekend is upon us and that means just one thing: theme parties!!! We specifically want to jump on that Great Gatsby train and throw a FLAPPER GARDEN PARTY! In our current 20th Anniversary Issue, on news stands now, we dove right into the lives of these swell gals and uncovered the secret history of the movement, and it’s got us thinking All Flapper All The Time! Here’s how to do it:
1. TALK LIKE A FLAPPER
Flappers had their own slanguage, and here are a few we included in the story:
Blow – wild party
Gimlet – a chronic bore
Frog’s Eyebrows – nice, fine
Let’s Blouse – let’s go
Meringue – personality
2. Look Like a Flapper
3. Dress Like a Flapper
Think long pearls, dropped waists, and fringe! Authentic vintage might be out of the question, but you can recreate the almost century old looks with some research. Check out some super nerdy fashion history here, here, and here. Don’t you love outdated html sites?!
4. Drink Like a Flapper
Prohibition was still in full effect, but that didn’t stop flappers from imbibing. Gin was the drink of choice, cooked up in someone’s bathtub, usually. It smells like Christmas and mixes up some instant speakeasy to any drink recipe. Here are some great recipes to try, from Refinery 29:
The Gibson
2 1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1 or 3 cocktail onions for garnish
Pour ingredients in a mixing glass, stir well with a cocktail spoon, pour into a martini glass and top with garnish.
The Bee’s Knees
2 oz gin
½ oz lemon juice (we just used half a lemon)
¾ honey syrup
Pour ingredients in a shaker and top off with honey syrup. Fill the shaker halfway with ice, shake it, and pour into a tumbler.
The Southside
2 oz gin
1 oz simple syrup
½ a fresh lime
2 sprigs of mint (plus one for garnish)
A splash of club soda
Slice lime into wedges, squeeze juice into shaker, drop in with mint, top with syrup. Then, muddle the mixture, add gin, fill shaker halfway with ice and shake in a rolling motion. Pour into a cocktail glass, and top with club soda and garnish.
Don’t forget to invite your Temperance Union pals!
5. Dance Like a Flapper
Flappers were able to let loose and shake it up. Their moves were amazing. Watch these videos to learn this dance. Just do it. You will be able to charm the socks off of anybody at any gathering, anytime. You’re welcome!
6. Eat Like a Flapper
Keep it simple and stick to classic garden party fare, which has it’s roots in the prohibition era.
7. Discuss Feminism Like a Flapper
Don’t think flappers were feminists? Think again! According to this article,
Flappers lived in an age where they could vote and work, drink and smoke like men, and this gave them a heady sense of freedom. In her column “Tables For Two” in the New YorkerLois Long revels in the new freedoms that women found in nightclubs: “We women had been emancipated and we weren’t sure what we were supposed to do with all the freedom and equal rights, so we were going to hell laughing and singing.”
And the flapper were all for opposing gender roles as well. As it read in the 1920s magazine, The Flapper women were debating,
…whether all the blame for extremes in behavior deserves to be centered on the flapper, or whether it can be traced to the male of the species to whose whims she is supposed to constantly cater.
Sassy. And let’s not forget that Flappers hosted parties for political reasons to, include the National Women’s Party convention (ha) in which women were fighting to pass a law that would make all people equal and free from sexual discrimination.
Images via thedandy.org, angelasancartier.net, examiner.com, history.com and kingsacademy.com
