The History of Bohemian Style
Bohemian style encompasses a broad range of looks in clothing, accessories and home decor, all of which have in common an emphasis on self-expression and freedom. The term "Bohemian" was first used in the mid-19th century to refer to various counter-cultural groups in Europe that were more interested in art, poetry and romance than in career and duty to crown and country. Charles Baudelaire, Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allen Poe were all associated with bohemianism.
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Dandies and Flaneurs
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A dandy was a man who put a great deal of time, energy and money into his appearance. Beau Geste was the classic example of a dandy. While not all bohemians were dandies, and not all dandies were bohemians, there was a substantial overlap between the two. A flaneur (French for idler or loafer) was a man who would spend his days wandering about the streets and cafes of Paris, wearing perhaps a frock coat and ruffled shirt, drinking absinthe and declaiming poetry.
The Lost Generation
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In the 1920s, a group of artists and writers in Paris, many of them expatriate Americans, assumed the torch of bohemianism and became known as the Lost Generation. Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and Virginia Woolf were all associated with this loose grouping of people. Their clothing was characterized by loose, comfortable dresses and short hair for the women, raffish suits that were perhaps a bit threadbare at the cuffs for the men.
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Beats and Beatniks
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The most well-known expression of bohemianism in North America was the emergence of Beats and Beatniks in the mid-20th century. The Beats were a loosely affiliated group of writers who appeared in the 1940s espousing drug use, opposition to social conformity and openness to the unpredictable. They were followed in the 1950s by a broader mass movement that became known as the Beatniks. Beatniks favored black clothing, berets, beards for men and short skirts for women. The Beatniks rapidly became a media sensation and their look was commercialized to the point of parody, and by the mid 1960s was being superseded by the hippie look.
Hippies
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Bohemianism in the late 1960s and early 1970s was dominated by hippies. The dominant look of the hippies, according to their many detractors, was that "you couldn't tell the men from the women." Long hair was everywhere. Favored items of clothing included Nehru jackets, brightly colored paisley patterns, headbands, sandals and tie-dyed anything.
Ravers
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The 20th century closes with ravers being the most culturally visible expression of bohemianism. Ravers, who would gather in large numbers to dance to techno music at all-night parties, favored brightly colored, loose-fitting clothes that make dancing for hours more comfortable. Accessories included glittery makeup, multicolored hair and large sneakers or running shoes.
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References
- Photo Credit african american hippie girl image by monamakela.com from Fotolia.com
