Small Home Gazette, Summer 2022
History Brief: The Bee’s Knees
The Roaring Twenties ushered in “flapper” trends—bobbed haircuts; dark eye makeup for that vamp look; AND rouged or painted knees. Knee rouging (using a bit of blush powder or cream) became full-on knee painting (oil or watercolor paints) by the mid-1920s.
This was not just an act of creativity but an assertion of independence. Rolled stockings were the fad with the shorter hemlines. With movement and dancing, one might glimpse a decorated knee cap.
Knee rouge created a daring “look at me” effect below the waistline. Knee painting could be decorative or make a statement; simple or incredibly detailed—teenage girls painted boyfriends’ initials while women had artists paint realistic faces of the men in their lives. (Painting one’s own knees was tricky. Women either relied on the buddy system or went to skilled artists hired by salons.)
Knee art died out by the Depression but resurfaced in the 1960s—again, an era of shorter skirts and independent women embracing their sexual freedom. Whether it was the ‘20s or the ‘60s, it seems makeup trends were as much a societal statement as they were freeing and fun.
