I was inspired as a young girl by the wedding photo of my “Babci” Nell Sadlock, my Polish great grandmother. She was married to my great grandpa in 1927. Her bobbed hair, ankle-length wedding gown and giant bouquet are all signature styles of the time, and my eye was always drawn to that wedding photo more than those from other decades. While she claims to have been on the late train in terms of forward-thinking fashion (her cousin was the real rebel in the family who cut her hair off first), I like to think that I have flapper in my blood.

This picture inspired me so much in my younger years as I learned what society expected of women and how the flappers threw the rules to the wayside, challenging gender stereotypes and redefining what it meant to be feminine: flappers burned their bras long before the feminists of the 60s!

This is the look that informs many of my other looks as I continue to be inspired today by the boldness and confidence of this 1920s archetype.

Where it all started: my great grandmother in 1927.