Frauen der 1920er Jahre: Glamour, Stil, Avantgarde

by Thomas Bleitner

Dieses so beeindruckende Buch ist die unvergleichliche Reise in die »Golden Twenties«, die ganz und gar besonderen 1920er Jahre, heute so en vogue und aktuell wie nie zuvor. In den 1920er Jahren werden die Partys länger und die Röcke kürzer und eine nie gekannte Experimentierlust erobert Bühnen, Kunstateliers, den Sport und so manches Schlafzimmer. Frauen machen den Flug- und Führerschein, sie greifen zur Filmkamera, sie werden Hollywoodstars oder zumindest Glamour Girls, sie kreieren eine neue Mode, sie lassen die Hüllen fallen, sie rauchen und trinken und tanzen fröhlich am Abgrund. Thomas Bleitner stellt uns legendäre und unvergleichliche Frauen vor, die in Berlin, Paris und New York alles, was als »normal« galt, als langweilig empfanden, unter ihnen Tamara de Lempicka, Dorothy Parker, Nancy Cunard, Claude Cahun, Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, Lee Miller, Josephine Baker, Anita Berber, Kiki de Montparnasse, Clärenore Stinnes und viele andere. Bei ihren meist glamourösen Streifzügen wurden die Frauen von ebenso interessanten Männern begleitet, wie den Fotografen Man Ray oder Edward Steichen, dem Verleger und Gründer des Modemagazins Vogue und zahlreichen Filmemachern, Schriftstellern und Künstlern. Reich bebildert, unter anderem mit großartigen Fotografien von Man Ray, Edward Steichen, Dora Kallmus und Claude Cahun. Das Buch hat ein großes Format, ein besonders gestaltetes Layout und ist hochwertig produziert. »Als die Frauen begannen, ihre Röcke zu kürzen und ihre Haare zu stutzen, war dies der größte Umbruch in der Geschichte der Mode der letzten hundert Jahre.« New York Vogue vom 1. Juli 1928

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Fashion, Womens

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Margery Bayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This smaller trim size coffee table book is a collection of profiles of a selection of women from the Roaring 1920s. This is a nice, easy to read overview of some interesting people.

As for the selection of women profiled, I appreciate that Bleitner chose women who were revolutionary in different fields (arts, fashion, dance, athletics, etc.), that he chose a mix of 'big names' to us still today and lesser remembered women, and it was a mix of American and European women (as New York wasn't the only cultural center going through a social and artistic upheaval in that decade). I was pleasantly surprised to learn there were a lot of women living there best bi and lesbian lives at the time. My one major criticism in the selection (even though this books is just a small selection of many possibilities and does not claim to be anywhere comprehensive) is racial diversity. Josephine Baker is the only non-White women included.

As this is a coffee table style book, it has some lovely graphic design in headings, layout, and gold end papers. Sometimes that photography was a little lacking as the photos chosen for inclusion didn't always match the certain icon painting or fashion look or moment that text was focusing on. I get there are some historical limitations here, but there were times I wanted to see the thing the text was describing and I felt a little cheated.

[Diana Whittemore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The 1920s has always fascinated me. This book was a nice little intro to some of the most influential women of the time. Some I had previously heard of, and others I learned about here.

This book is just an intro to the lives of these women. Which was perfect. I didn’t want a “coffee table” book that was too big or wordy. There are definitely a few ladies mentioned here that I will read more about.

I only wish there were more photos! I did fall down the Google rabbit hole looking these ladies up to see more pictures.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm forever fascinated by the 1920s and this book seems to prove that all the naked dancing in Babylon was not an exaggeration. Of course all the typical female icons of the flapper era are covered--Clara Bow, Zelda Fitzgerald, Josephine Baker, Amelia Earhart--but there are many fascinating women I knew nothing about. Claude Cahun was an early--and nearly anonymous by today's standards, publishing very little of her work in her own lifetime--experimenter in gender and photography. Lavinia Schulz pioneered a costumed form of dance that prefigures the European obsession in the 1970s and '80s with the merging of music and technology; Schulz and her partner Walter Holdt danced in bizarre costumes that seem to merge the characteristics of insects and robots. Tamara de Lempicka scandalized what we might be tempted to think of as a very permissive society by portraying lesbian attraction in her paintings and holding lavish, hedonistic parties where guests were served food, alcohol, and drugs by a nude staff. Clärenore Stinnes was a racecar driver who later circumnavigated the globe in an automobile--the first, alongside photographer Carl-Axel Söderström, to do so.

These and many others. And there are pictures.

[Karen O'brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a lovely coffee table book. Nicely presented and detailing many women from the world of film, adventure, fashion and music. Like other reviewer's, some ladies Ihad heard of and some not.
The women included in the book certainly led rich and colourful lives, some living to old age and some passing very young. I have been encouraged to read more about some of them, Googling and searching out further reading material. No doubt they were all influencers in their own right and we have them to thank for the way we live today. I will certainly come back to this book time and time again, as it's lovely just to browse, read snippets and enjoy the photos. They were all so glamorous! Highly recommended.