Monday 9 March 2015

Icon's Through The Ages: 1910, The beginning of celebrity.

It's no surprise that here at Dirty Fabulous HQ that we regularly think about fashion history. I can endlessly search the internet for more information and pictures of vintage fashion; the dresses, hats and accessories...but what about the women who wore them and inspired others. They are the ultimate fashion icons.
An 'icon' is defined as a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol or as worthy of venerationDespite this description being a little stuffy we all know what it means and to find our fashion icons we must turn our attention to the land of celebrity.

We might think that 'celebrity' is a relatively new concept but society has always had people they looked up to and aspired to be like. But instead of reading about their fav celebs daily rituals, minute to minute via Twitter or Instagram our friends in the past gleaned occasional titbits of celebrity news from literature and newspapers.


Oh what a visually rich and voyeruristic world we live in now...

So let us take our social media accounts back with us to the early 20th Century. Technology had introduced the world of cinema and silent movies were making celebrities so accessible and close we could practically touch them. For the first time in history the wealth and fantasy dreamt up by huge film studios was being shared to the world and people went crazy for it. Some of the biggest actresses and fashion icons of that time were 

#LilianGish 







Totally gorgeous, Lilian had huge eyes which were perfect for the type of acting needed in silent films. She could easily inspire today's boho babes with a look that oozes melodrama and romance.

Whilst we're using our imaginary historical Instagram accounts to see what Lilian has been wearing lately we'd probably stumble across #MaryPickford 


#MaryPickford






Mary and Lillian were actually friends and it was Mary who introduced Lilian to her major acting career. I'm sure they swapped many a style secret! Mary was known for her fabulous blonde locks and caused outrage amongst her fans when she chopped it off in favour of the bob that was becoming popular in the 1920's.
I just adore how evocative the make-up of this era is paired with the black and white imagery. 

Next up we'll follow the many fashion dames of the Roaring 20's...stay tuned!

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