Ebony It Girls: Black Women’s Fashion of the 1920s

An “It Girl” is a woman who defines the fashion, culture, and beauty of an era. During the early twentieth century, popular Black stage and screen performers defined Black women as fashion symbols. From Josephine Baker’s banana skirt to Florence Mills’s perfectly shaped bob, the Black female performer embodied sensuality, elegance, and beauty despite widespread anti-Blackness that had stripped these women of their humanity only decades prior. Black female performers were propelled to the status of celebrity by way of prioritizing and valuing fashion and dress.

This hybrid event will discuss the most notable performers of the 1920s and ‘30s who set out to define Black womanhood as assertive, beautiful, and sensual.

Es-pranza Humphrey is a historian of Black studies and museum educator based out of New York. She received her BA in History from the University of New Haven and her MA in American Studies from Columbia University. Her research has incorporated interdisciplinary approaches to spotlight the Black feminine identity expressed through various forms of performance art. Her latest research endeavors focus on the history of fashion as activism for Black women in the 20th century. She is currently the Assistant Curator of Collections at Poster House