Life of a Flapper Girl

Last Saturday, I told Ryan that if I didn't get off of the farm and do something FUN for a change that I was going to have a meltdown!! It has been SO unbelievably stressful these past few weeks:

• We are in the height of tourist season (while great for business, sometimes it can be hard on stress levels)
• We recently lost one of our llamas to old age (one of the original llamas/animals we purchased when we moved here, and also one of our favorites)
• We lost an equally-beloved "original" goat to a mysterious possible ingested toxin (though the lab results are pending), and had two more goats grow extremely ill (possibly the same cause - they had to be rushed to the ER vet and one had to be monitored overnight)
• We recently had our sweet little elderly bunny suffer a stroke
• Our grandfather, who has early Alzheimers (and whom we help care for), is hitting that turning point - he hasn't come out of his latest spell for close to THREE MONTHS, and I am beginning to wonder if he ever will...?

So, all in all, it's been kind of...difficult...lately. I'm not saying this for a pity fest, mind you, I just wanted to show why I said if I didn't get to do something fun for a change I was really going to have a crying fit!

I have been very fascinated with the history of the 1920's and 1930's lately, and I have been reading up all I can about these time periods. I recently found and ordered a rare reprint of the 1927 Sears Roebook Catalog! 1100 pages of history to peruse!! I'm so excited for it to get here! Then (though we can't afford to go), there is a "Speakeasy" Wine Dinner being held at the end of the month by one of the local wineries, and it's a vintage dress-up dinner! That just got me in the mood to figure out my flapper self!

Most people associate Flappers with the entirety of the "Roaring Twenties." However, in actuality, the style had its initial origins in the mid-to-late teens, and the TRUE Flapper style (as we think of it today) really didn't reach its popularity until ~1926.

I DO own one piece of authentic flapper apparel. Unfortunately, it's a winter coat:

(Please ignore the 1933 hat with the 1926 coat. FAIL for me!)

So, I opened my closet and tried to figure out what I could throw together. Several years ago, the fashion industry went through another revamp of the Flapper Era: I had a skirt from Ann Taylor that mimicked the pleated skirt style, and a flapper hat from Banana Republic. I found a long tunic-y gold camisole tank top and matching short-sleeved jacket, and some antique/vintage jewelry. The long "flapper" necklace was actually an antique rosary that belonged to a deceased family member. I didn't have much use for the rosary, but I wanted to be able to remember the relative and use the gorgeous lead crystal beads, so I made it into a necklace! Top top everything off, I used the gorgeous beaded "antique-style" purse that my mother-in-law got me for my birthday!

While we were out and about town on a day-long date, Ryan found himself a lovely little Stanley Sweetheart measuring stick! A Sweetheart for MY Sweetheart!