- The thing that the 1920's wants
is for things to look straight.
(bell ringing)
- My curves are not accentuated.
I need to bind these down so I'm flat chested.
- I just naturally have the box, which is just so great.
- All right. (laughs)
(upbeat music)
Hey, I'm Mei.
- And I'm Sierra.
- And my boobs are on the smaller side.
- And my boobs are on the larger side.
Fashion has obviously changed a lot throughout history,
as well as ideal body shapes and also ideal chest sizes.
- So today we're gonna be learning all about
1920s flapper fashion.
And then, we're gonna try and recreate a look
from the era at an awesome costume store.
We're gonna see what chest size
the flapper fashion of the 20s favored,
by comparing the fit of our final looks.
- Then, to finish our challenge off in style,
we are going to reveal our looks to our friends and family
at a fabulous 1920s themed party.
- So my experience growing up with a smaller chest
has been not that bad.
Maybe in middle school,
when everybody was going through puberty
and I was kinda just waiting to see like,
"Okay, you can come out now."
I feel fine about it, now.
What about you, though?
Was it different for you, did you feel okay?
- It was very different.
I recall the moment where I looked down
and I was like, "Whoa, those are there."
And unfortunately in our society women
with larger chests are over sexualized.
And so, as a young girl, I was heavily sexualized
and I was not asking for that,
but that's how people would look at me.
It's just unfortunate that people, no matter
their gender, can feel threatened
by a confident woman in her power.
- Say it louder for the people in the back.
I feel like I have literally no idea
how to describe my personal style.
My go to, is kind of like loose-ish pants,
little shirt, big shirt on top.
Clearly, I'm literally wearing the exact thing.
I don't dress too feminine anymore.
I definitely used to,
and I had a lot more trouble finding things that fit me
when I was dressing more feminine.
- Yeah, I mean for me personally,
I just wear what I'm feeling.
So this morning I wore an oversized hoodie
with matching sweat pants.
- I know literally nothing about flapper fashion,
but I'm excited to learn.
- It's like prohibition, shift dresses with little,
it was that. - Yeah, I know her, yeah.
- How do you not know these things?
- I actually don't, I'm not even playing dumb.
I actually have no clue what you're talking about.
- I expect to find that these amazing flapper shift dresses
are probably not gonna look so good around this region.
- We'll still look good.
- All right, so to get the challenge started,
we're gonna bring in a fashion historian,
who's gonna teach us everything that we need to know
about the outfits of the 1920s.
- Let's bring her in, where is she?
- Hello. - Hi.
- Hi. - We're so happy
to have you here.
- Let's start with the basics, what exactly is a flapper?
- The general consensus is that a flapper
is usually a rebellious teen girl.
She's really embracing modernity
and independence in the 1920s.
We've just had the 19th amendment,
so women have the right to vote for the first time.
World War I has also just ended.
So, men have been gone for the past five years.
And so there's this younger generation of women
who have so many more opportunities
than the women before them.
So, you also sort of see the ways
in which their clothing is differing.
Your hemline might be a little bit higher,
your stockings might be rolled down.
- [Both] Ooh.
- Stocking.
- And all of these things are sort of combining
into these attitudes of freedom.
- Breaking all the rules.
- Yeah, going in and coming into themselves.
- So what exactly is 1920s flapper fashion?
- The thing that we think of
when we think of 1920s flapper fashion,
which is usually a fringe dress or a lot of beading.
Those are clothes that primarily we think of
because they were costumes on stage, in film and television.
Instead of the clothes that a flapper actually wore
in her day-to-day life.
A lot of the clothes that are real flapper fashion,
but is just a little bit more subdued.
So you see a lot of like sailor styles.
- [Mia] Not what I thought.
- Yeah, you see a lot of vests.
The most important thing in period fashion
is always gonna be silhouette.
And the thing that the 1920s wants
is for things to look straight.
If you were wearing something
that might be a little bit wider than your bust or hips,
it's still gonna look straight.
The other thing about our costumes or two,
is they're going to have added some form of a waistline-
- Got it.
- Because they are still attempting to cater
to a modern version of what would be like, a sexy flapper.
- What did women wear as bras?
Were the bras different for small boobs versus big boobs?
- For girls with smaller chest,
it's a very minimalist,
like chemise bralette type situation.
Cup sizing isn't a thing until the 30s.
For a fuller-chested woman, it's a sports bra
but it's a sports bra on steroids.
Because the thing that they want
is this flat-chested silhouette.
Okay, so with all of that information considered,
do you feel ready to go to the costume store
and put something together?
- I feel as ready as I could be.
- I feel disappointed that I have to hide my curves.
- Should we go to the store?
- She's driving, let's go.
(giggles)
(upbeat music)
- Okay, so we are here at Starmakers Costumes
in Glendale, California.
- Here, there are over 40,000 costumes.
I will be trying on all of them.
And we have our friend Gavin,
who is a stylist for the shop
who will be assisting us with our looks.
- Welcome to Starmarkers Costumes, glad y'all are here.
- The historian shared with us
that our general idea of fringe,
that wasn't actually the everyday look
for flapper women of the time.
- It is true.
And we actually have a couple of vintage pieces
that y'all can look at for reference,
but we also have several beaded, tassley dresses.
- All right, you wanna just go
get into it? - Beaded.
- Yeah, let's go.
- All right. - Cool.
(upbeat jazz music)
- Oh, this is cute.
- It's giving me old English.
- It's giving me this cut it off the sleeves
and it's Vivienne Westwood.
- I know this isn't what we're supposed to be doing.
- But this is also really fun.
- These are so small, I think.
- Are these kids?
- Yes.
- Oh, these are children.
- So these ones aren't for us?
- Very good. Very good.
- We're getting a little ahead of ourselves.
- The big boobs will not fit in these costumes.
(laughing lightly)
Who's the guy who is against fires.
- [Man] The bear?
- [Both] Smokey, the bear.
- See, you love putting these hats on,
I don't know about it.
- It's clean, look at that, you're fine.
Just try it. - I don't know.
- Just try it.
She's decking it.
- Honestly, I would wear that.
- Try it on.
Can we try it on?
- [Man] You can.
- Thank you Sir.
Lemme try it on, I already tried five things on.
- Monica said they wore vests during the time.
- True.
- So right here, we have some of our exquisite dresses.
- Oh, my God. - Oh, the beaded.
- Yeah, so take a look.
- So, we're gonna need a ladder.
- I think these are the more like everyday look.
- The chill.
- Pull it off,
- All of these.
- Pull it off.
- To the dressing room Gavin.
- So these are the dresses that I pulled for you.
We have a couple of actual events and stresses feel free to,
yeah.
- They've been well loved. It seems.
But the difference between like this and this critic tense,
it has no shape. The shape is the same straight.
- So feel free to look through see
what you buy and try it on it.
- This was the one that I love.
This is so heavy.
This is like 15 pounds of dress.
- I'm wearing this for longer.
Holy dine that we have to wear these for a whole.
We'll be dancing. Oh my God.
This one is even heavier than the other ones. Pleat, wait,
hold this. Please look at my bicep.
Oh yeah. This is already.
- Betrayed. Yeah.
I like the draping of the beading on that one.
- This one is really pretty. I think we just found a match.
I know. I want.
- I really love the colors in this.
- Yeah. This could be cute.
- Definitely costuming
but I think this one will actually fit me.
- This one is a lot more chill.
Also slightly costuming.
- I think you've got to try it.
- We'll try it out.
(upbeat music)
I hate it.
This is fun.
- This is fun.
- The fit less.
- Okay.
So ,I think mine works for me
because my curves are not accentuated.
- No it's doing the right thing.
I think just preference wise.
I just don't. It's not feel, I don't love that for you.
- I don't love it. Once you start it spinning, all right.
- Aaaah
Okay, way better.
- I like this.
So I know, I feel wow.
This was taken. It literally feels like it's hundred.
- It fits you perfectly. It looks amazing on you.
It feels short.
Is this accurate to the time to be this short.
- We're getting a little cleavage here. Is that accurate?
- Again? We would have to bring it all in.
See if this was like my ideal dress.
I would bring it in a little bit on the waist here.
So it'd be a little tighter.
- This dress is making your butt look good.
Which feels wrong.
- I know.
- It shouldn't be doing that, but it is.
- This is too much.
(jazz music playing)
- Okay.
This to me feels more accurate,
like the way you're still getting some cleavage on it,
- but bear. Yeah.
Scandalous, pull it up.
I have no shape.
- Just as it should be.
- I need to bind these down.
So I'm flat chested. These do not exist.
- Yeah. I don't have to do much to achieve that part.
I just naturally have the box, which is just so great
and fun.
- This is definitely like a show girl, wealthier woman.
Yeah.
- I'm going to say these are getting me expensive. Okay.
- Okay. - Okay.
- I think it's time to look at the accessory.
- Yeah, let's go
(upbeat music)
So many colors.
- I love the glove.
- It's a really fun.
- This layering trying fun.
- My head is big, but-
- Your head is lovely.
- So cute.
Okay. The head pieces are also so fun.
- Wait, what have you, okay.
So we'll figure that out later.
- This is the one.
Should we shoes?
- Yeah. I guess you'd have to be able
to dance all night. Right?
- Yeah. I guess the short is more.
- They look like little stage shoes.
I feel like I have a good idea of what I want to wear.
- Yeah, me too.
- But we can't tell until we're fully dressed.
- We're gonna do the hair, the makeup, the fit.
It's gonna be incredible.
(upbeat music)
(drum rolls)
- I'm a little nervous. Okay?
- Don't be nervous.
- I'm gonna fall.
- So we're going to go,
like we're going to do a and then a reveal.
(upbeat music)
(crowd cheering)
(jazz music playing)
Oh my God. I not you Dan.
Hello, everyone.
Welcome to the party. Thank you so much for coming.
What do you think?
- I do love it. You're so excited.
All right. Well, are you ready to party or what's up?
Okay. Let's go.
(jazz music playing)
- I feel like Mei and Sierra killed it.
And I know that's not May's normal style at all.
Like I know may was anxious and nervous.
One thing I will say is that I don't feel like the style
of dress is very figure flattering for people
who don't have a specific body type.
It's not really about the curves.
- My friend Sierra with the endowments.
I was nervous because 1920s looks aren't usually flattering.
- You know, I think there's a lot of areas
that were built for her.
I don't think the twenties were necessarily like designed
with a woman with her body type in mind.
But when she came out, my jaw was on the floor.
Her confidence also sells it through the roof. I'd say.
- These days, the way that clothes are,
there's a lot of structure and a lot of showing skin.
So it's very obvious which clothes are meant
for which body shape.
But I felt like the shift dress
just looked good on both of them.
- Mei looked really good.
I've never seen her in heels.
So that was new and very fun and lipstick.
- They did a really good job of listening to
the conversation that we had, especially the way
that the proportion should be lined up.
You can definitely see the places where there was a little
bit more modern shaping,
but I also felt like the sizes that both ladies chose
were more in line with 1920s silhouette.
So I would say that things looked pretty accurate.
- I'm having a great time.
(laughing)
- A lot of fun now.
I was a little anxious before we came out.
But now that it happened, like the reveal happened now.
- This is a look. And I think it's beautiful.
I think if I did it accurately, I would be binded down.
- Yeah. It's not clearly neither of our personal style.
My shoulders are hurting.
It's so heavy.
- It is a very heavy dress. It looks accurate,
but it's, I wouldn't say it's flattering.
- So overall, I think this was a success. This was so fun.
I enjoyed you so hard to put her makeup on.
It's been wonderful speaking with you,
but we've got to get back to our body now.
- Let us know what area you want us to do next.
- We've got weight.
- Bye.
(upbeat music)