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Description
All of these Disney/DreamWorks/etc. flappers are getting re-polishes for the new '20s. They will have a new blog on tumblr, as well as a new folder in this DA gallery, starting New Years of 2020. All of these old versions meanwhile are going to be dubbed "WIPS." Chrome out.

Browsing vintage photos online, you'll find that many an actress and model in the '20s posed in costume as a sexy, extravagantly dressed "Gypsy." Actual Romani Americans in the 1920s were more likely to be just another immigrant group, living in their own segregated communities. Many were traveling performers living in wagons, per the romantic stereotype; but many others were shopkeepers, continuing the crafts they'd been practicing for generations.

Rumor has it that silent film legend Charlie Chaplin was part Romani, born in a Gypsy wagon according to one recently discovered letter. Was Chaplin just a white guy telling a big fish story, or was he in fact a Romani American hiding in plain sight during a time when it would've been incredibly dangerous (for his career if nothing else) to reveal his heritage? We might never know.

I remember my grandma--who was a little girl in the '40s--telling me about Gypsies who lived in her town. She said they called themselves Roms, and lived in shops, painting the glass windows black for privacy. She never interacted with them, because her grandma (or some older relative) constantly told her the usual racist "they'll kidnap you!" routine, so she was terrified of Gypsies as a kid. As an adult though, my grandma is one of the most forward thinking people I know. She was very much onboard with the Civil Rights movement of the '60s, for example.

So what about Esmeralda? She's fiery and outgoing, and the flapper movement was made for her. Flaunting her heritage is a great way for a Romani dancer and palm-reader to earn money at the fair. Working as a performer, Esmeralda befriends one of the "freaks" at the sideshow, falls in love with a Prohibition agent, beats off a perverted judge, and prevents her crazy bootlegger cousin Clopin from impulsively killing people.

* * * * *

Esmeralda's dress was inspired by Seraphine's red dress from the webcomic "Lackadaisy." Well, not the comic itself actually, but the bonus "sketchbook" drawings on the website's page.

I do not own the character Esmeralda.

The rest of the Disney flappers: lizzychrome.deviantart.com/gal…

Like what you see? Want something else custom-drawn for you in a similar style? I'm offering relatively cheap commissions: lizzychrome.deviantart.com/jou…

Description
All of these Disney/DreamWorks/etc. flappers are getting re-polishes for the new '20s. They will have a new blog on tumblr, as well as a new folder in this DA gallery, starting New Years of 2020. All of these old versions meanwhile are going to be dubbed "WIPS." Chrome out.

Browsing vintage photos online, you'll find that many an actress and model in the '20s posed in costume as a sexy, extravagantly dressed "Gypsy." Actual Romani Americans in the 1920s were more likely to be just another immigrant group, living in their own segregated communities. Many were traveling performers living in wagons, per the romantic stereotype; but many others were shopkeepers, continuing the crafts they'd been practicing for generations.

Rumor has it that silent film legend Charlie Chaplin was part Romani, born in a Gypsy wagon according to one recently discovered letter. Was Chaplin just a white guy telling a big fish story, or was he in fact a Romani American hiding in plain sight during a time when it would've been incredibly dangerous (for his career if nothing else) to reveal his heritage? We might never know.

I remember my grandma--who was a little girl in the '40s--telling me about Gypsies who lived in her town. She said they called themselves Roms, and lived in shops, painting the glass windows black for privacy. She never interacted with them, because her grandma (or some older relative) constantly told her the usual racist "they'll kidnap you!" routine, so she was terrified of Gypsies as a kid. As an adult though, my grandma is one of the most forward thinking people I know. She was very much onboard with the Civil Rights movement of the '60s, for example.

So what about Esmeralda? She's fiery and outgoing, and the flapper movement was made for her. Flaunting her heritage is a great way for a Romani dancer and palm-reader to earn money at the fair. Working as a performer, Esmeralda befriends one of the "freaks" at the sideshow, falls in love with a Prohibition agent, beats off a perverted judge, and prevents her crazy bootlegger cousin Clopin from impulsively killing people.

* * * * *

Esmeralda's dress was inspired by Seraphine's red dress from the webcomic "Lackadaisy." Well, not the comic itself actually, but the bonus "sketchbook" drawings on the website's page.

I do not own the character Esmeralda.

The rest of the Disney flappers: lizzychrome.deviantart.com/gal…

Like what you see? Want something else custom-drawn for you in a similar style? I'm offering relatively cheap commissions: lizzychrome.deviantart.com/jou…