You just can't come across a 1920s flapper "costume" today without encountering the feather. You know what I mean, that gaudy headband thingy with the one or three feathers proudly protruding from it that supposedly demonstates to us that this is what the 1920s really and truly looked like. It's a common culture and universal belief.  But I'm here to tell you people, the feather didn't happen.
 

IT'S A MYTH

At least not the way it's thought to have happened. Authentic 1920s headbands were really just variations on hats; they were usually wider than the "costume" headbands we see today, made of cloth, and they wrapped around the head like mini turbans.

Or they were sparkly spangly beaded bangly evening things that actually did look something like the headbands seen in novelty costumes, though usually more elaborate--some of them could be VERY elaborate.

But bands, hats, turbans, or any headwear in the 1920s seldom, if ever, had feathers attached to them. The feather myth is probably just a quick and dirty way to suggest a lot of fancy bling worn on the head in the 1920s, which it definitely was. But it actually had alot more thought and artistry put into it than one or two feathers. Admittedly you might find a few actual examples of feathers worn in headbands in vintage 1920s photographs, but they seem to be much more the exception than the rule; meanwhile gems, flowers, beads, knots and dangles more regularly made appearances.
 

 

Don't believe me? Google it! Look at authentic 1920s photographs, and you will find very few pictures of 1920s head bling containing feathers. Well you might find one or two, but they will be the exception, not the rule. They just didn't commonly wear them back then, anymore than we do today, lest we be a Vegas showgirl.
 

They did however wear some extraordinary hats and headpieces, many worthy of a poem, but feathers weren't generally part of it. It's like the recent saying goes that is commonly seen on social media: "pictures, or it didn't happen." The pictures can't be easily produced, because the feather didn't really happen.
 

I'm a 20th century history geek with an Art History background who grew up watching and obsessing over old black and white films from the 1920s to the 1960s, and learning the style and culture of the past probably better than my own. I've been known to identify old films and photographs to within a year or two of their actual date just by looking at the fashion, and you can say I've got this Aspie kind of compulsion for period dress to be accurate. It drives me nuts when someone gets it wrong! So I've started this blog feature to point out a number of fashion and culture myths that will hopefully give a clearer picture of what was actually happening back then! Feel free to ignore me as needed lol.