The 1920's has long been one of my favorite periods in history.  Even nearly a hundred years later, the decade oozes opulence and feminine mystique.  I love the fashions, the social and sexual revolution women went through, and of course, the music.

So when I saw Flapper by Joshua Zeitz, it's no wonder I was drawn to it straightaway.  Just as the title implies, the book focuses on describing how the iconic flapper impacted American culture. Zeitz talks about how F. Scott Fitzgerald (author of The Great Gatsby) and his wife Zelda influenced the flapper stereotype -- in fact, Scott modeled all of his female characters so heavily after Zelda that you could make a strong argument for her being the original flapper.  He also talks about other factors in the creation of the "New Woman": actresses such as Clara Bow and Louise Brooks, changing fashions that eliminated corsets and gave women greater freedom of movement, and the rise of modern advertising, which for the first time used applied psychology to make customers think that they really needed this or that product to be happy, or beautiful, or successful.

In fact, the way Zeitz puts it, the 1920's was like a gateway decade -- the doorway into modern America.  Modern advertising, politics, women's and social issues, spending habits, and entertainment all came into being during this era.  The last sentence of the book states, "The flapper was, in effect, the first thoroughly modern American."  As such, it's easy to see why this American icon of the 1920's is so enthralling to so many people, even today!