'Age Of Glamour: Fashions Of The 1920s And 1930s'

"We have some really neat garments," says Hiester in describing the collection. "One I particularly like is a black chiffon dress with large gold sequins sewn on in the shape of a ribbon going across the dress along with pink rosettes. It's called 'robe de style' dress and is low waisted, but then the skirt is a little bit fuller than those real tubular ones."

The tube dress is the most commonly thought-of style when one thinks of flappers. It stopped at the knees, the hipline was low and it literally translated a tubular effect from the shoulders to the hem. The black chiffon dress was worn by a local resident to a St Cecilia Ball. Since 1821, this event has been the cornerstone of the Charleston social scene.

A similarly styled dress of peach taffeta is also on exhibit, with little built-in hoops to make the skirt stick out, giving it a unique shape and look, personalizing the fit for the wearer. According to Hiester, "Robe de style was introduced by French fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin, offering it as a feminine alternative to the tubular, boyish dresses that were so popular."

Since this time period was receptive to soaking up any new craze, it is no surprise that even fashions were influenced by Howard Carter's historic discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922. "Because Egyptian themes were really big in the 20s - they'd opened King Tut's tomb and everybody was just gaga over Egypt - it certainly shows up in the fashions. We've got a magenta chiffon, it's a tubular, just a straight down dress, but it's got this wonderful beading in magenta embroidery all over it in an Egyptian motif," notes Hiester.

Adding to the Egyptian-styled displays are assuit shawls that are linen with small, shiny metallic brads. Thousands of these tiny, thin wire nails with small heads are looped over the weave of the fabric in unique geometric designs. "I think those were popular in Egypt and then adapted and brought over here for even more use," observes Hiester.

Egypt was not the only foreign influence on 1920s fashions. Women donned kimonos while playing Mah Jongg, the newfound exotic game imported from China. "We have some very nice Mah Jongg sets. We have one that was made in China in 1923, and it's a great little wooden box with five drawers of tiles. We have another set that's in a little suitcaselike case and it was purchased by a local couple when they first got married in the early 1930s," says Hiester.

Most of the examples of kimonos represented in the collection are silk, but one is of a crepelike, crinkly cotton fabric. Hiester adds, "One of them is actually an Oriental kimono with this fabulous white on white embroidery and a big sash. I'm sure it was just imported for the Western market, but very Oriental looking. They were for lounging and smoking and drinking and doing all those fun things.

"The trends were coming in at all levels of use in society; I understand that they were playing Ouija like crazy, talking to the spirits. Our Ouija board is 1870s/80s, but all kinds of games and sports seemed to have been very popular. It's also when the crossword puzzle really got its big start. We have a nice 20s tennis racquet that was used by a girl in college and also some early golf clubs. This was really the first time that women were encouraged to participate in some of these more active sports and some of the fashion designers were designing garments specifically for sporting stars, especially the tennis and golf folks," acknowledges Hiester.

With sporting events comes a more leisurely look, and while the dresses may have shown more leg, slacks were waiting in the wings. "Pants become more acceptable for women, starting in the 20s, but mostly for loungewear like silk pajamas or smoking wear and for sports - riding jodhpurs, for example. But I haven't found much use as regular street wear for women; we'll see that more in the 30s," says Hiester.

The fashions of the ladies who wished to spend a more subdued night on the town are also represented in the exhibition. "We have a beautifully stenciled velvet evening coat that was designed by Mariano Fortuny, the Venetian designer," says the curator. "This was one of his special techniques. It is black with these wonderful stylized flowery accents, and it was worn by a local artist, Elizabeth O'Neill Verner. She was very instrumental in the preservation movement here in Charleston in saving some of the old houses. That's why Charleston looks like it does, because of her efforts in saving some of these earlier buildings. She did a lot of pencil sketches and ink sketches of little street scenes and then sold them all over. They really got to be quite popular."

One of the evening coats on display is so thoroughly covered with tiny beads that it weighs several pounds. It is from the House of Worth in Paris, elaborately decorated, and donated to the museum by Mrs Sidney Legendre. The Legendres owned Medway Plantation located on the Cooper River in Kittredge, S.C. Medway's origins date back to 1686, and Carolina gray brick, which was used to help build Fort Sumter, was produced there.

While many of the clothes on exhibit may skew toward women of means, it does not negate the masses from baring their calves and shimmying to the jazz of Louis Armstrong. As Hiester explains, "I'm sure there was a large group of the population that couldn't be right up there, but the 20s fashions were also quite simple. They were simple to make and a lot of the pattern companies and women's magazines were promoting that. So even a not so well-to-do person could come pretty close to good style and fashion, because it was much more affordable than ever before.

"As for who exactly was wearing them, certainly the older women, grandmotherly-types, didn't wear the little flashy flapper flimsy things, but I think even their styles changed somewhat. They were a little less dowdy; maybe the housedresses were more comfortable, a little looser and just more fun. But there was a huge segment of the population that went in for this big change. They cut their hair; they did everything that hadn't been done before. Coco Chanel cut her hair, and everybody wanted that bob. I think a lot of people going to the movies saw these stars and they really wanted to emulate them," says Hiester.

With such energetic activities, it is a wonder any of these garments have survived more than eight decades. "They're pretty heavy, and the sad part is that these little dresses have such wonderful beading on them but the dress itself is made of chiffon so after wearing a few times they're really in very fragile condition," says Hiester. "Several of them I've had to lay flat for people to see. You can see them, they're lovely, but they don't even support themselves they're so heavy." The curator notes that even during their heyday on the dance floors, a rip or two was inevitable, "I think some of it did rip, so maybe they only shimmied once or twice."

Dipping into the museum's collection from the previous exhibition, "Foundations of Fashion," Hiester explains, "The undergarments changed dramatically. Instead of the layers and layers that we'd seen before, the corsets and the chemises and the petticoats, you'd have something much simpler, like a little all-in-one, a teddy or just a slip and panties. Bras were kind of more in fashion then because corsets were gone. But the bra was more interested in flattening than in flattering in the 20s. We have one on exhibit that is very flattening; it hardly even has a dart. All women couldn't have that look, but it's one they wanted. Everybody just wanted to look more youthful. The bra is from a nice set, along with a teddy, and there's a slip, too. It's from a wedding ensemble from a bride's trousseau."

On display is a piano that was used by George Gershwin during his stay in Folly Beach, S.C. "He came for the summer of 1934, and Siegling Music House, which was our big music house here in Charleston, loaned him a piano to take out to the beach house there. That's when he was collaborating with DuBose Heyward and they were writing Porgy and Bess," says Hiester.

Looking ahead toward the museum's next installment, the fashions of the 1930s, Hiester discusses what a difference a decade makes. "The art and the designers and the mood changed in the 30s, and there seems to be more emphasis on curves. I imagine that the depression had a lot to do with that era. It was a sobering mood. The look is going to be quite different, because instead of this tubular, short skirted, low-waisted outfit, we've got a very sensual silhouette that clings to the female body. They became longer again but the longer doesn't appear like it used to. It used to be shocking to show your ankles, but this kind of longer is just more sensual and the fabric is very clingy and lustrous.

"There doesn't seem to be the same emphasis on jazzy loudness that you see in some of these 20s clothes. It's more of a subtle glamour. Very luscious fabrics and velvets - and even rayon is coming into its own then - which is really just a wonderful drape appearance, emphasizing the whole look of the mature female body. Whereas during the 20s, everybody wanted to look like a young boy," says Hiester.

Much of this glamorous age was about youth, parties and good times. They were not ignoring the tragedies of their recent past but embracing the hope of a more peaceful and productive future. As Hiester explains, "It was right after 'The Great War' where our boys were over in France and places they'd never been before, and I think a lot of people felt like we better live for today because life can be pretty short. They lost so many folks. There were so many factors coming together to make this just an incredible time."

The Charleston Museum is at 360 Meeting Street. For information, 843-722-2996 or www.charlestonmuseum.org.