On Cue

 

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Dress: Cue satin

Heels: Kitten D'Amour vegan leather

Bag: Kitten D'Amour woven straw, resin

Hinged Bangle: Gift, Precious Stones Jewellers silver

Cuff: Wallace Bishop brushed silver

Bangle: Gift, 20th Century Antiques & Collectibles vintage silver

Sunglasses: Witchery faux tortoiseshell/resin

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If you're an avid reader of this blog, you'll already know how much I absolutely adore art deco & have a rather substantial collection of deco furniture, glassware, jewellery, statues & figurines... Well, it's tough to find surviving 1920s clothing (particularly in silks & satins) in Queensland, Australia for obvious reasons - the heat & humidity here really doesn't help 100 year old fabric one iota - but there are plenty of labels with stunning reproduction styles in modern colours & prints! Case in point: the beautiful blue & navy floral satin bias-cut maxi dress with asymmetrical neckline from famed Aussie label Cue, styled up for an event in my beloved River City with a pair of black vegan leather dual buckle heels for height & a matching natural woven straw & black resin beaded handle bag from retro-inspired designer Kitten D'Amour to carry all the essentials. When it came to jewellery, I chose some beloved silver pieces that echoed the era - a chunky wave design hinged bangle from the lovely ladies at Precious Stones Jewellers in Uptown, a brushed silver cuff from Wallace Bishop & a thinner (yet heavy) vintage silver bangle from 20th Century Antiques & Collectibles that my younger brother brought me for a birthday present a few years ago for that touch of daytime shine. As you may notice, in the picture below, I'm wearing an oversized pair of faux tortoiseshell/resin sunglasses from Witchery to ward off the sun's harmful rays...

The Great Firebird

 

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Dress: Sacha Drake silk rayon burnout

Cardigan: Trottie Becke woven

Heels: Kitten D'Amour vegan leather

Bag: Kitten D'Amour natural straw, resin beads

Corsage: Kitten D'Amour silk

Bangle Stack: Gift, vintage Mexican silver

Bangle: Gift, 20th Century Antiques & Collectibles vintage silver

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Avid readers of the blog will already know how much I adore all things art deco - particularly the art, furniture, architecture, fashion & literature of the period - including the masterworks of the inimitable F. Scott Fitzgerald. With that in mind, it would be a foregone conclusion that I would be elated to see "The Great Gatsby" at a performance in my beloved River City & delighted to wear the slinky & stunning Firebird Dress in pink & red floral silk rayon burnout from Australian designer Sacha Drake, which certainly evokes the elan of the age in question. For the occasion, I styled it up with a vibrant red woven netting three-quarter-sleeved cardigan from Trottie Becke to ward off the chill in the air that I held in place with a purple silk corsage pin from retro-inspired label Kitten D'Amour, a pair of black vegan leather dual buckle heels & natural woven straw handbag with black resin beaded handle (also Kitten), a stack of vintage Mexican silver bangles that some dear friends brought back from overseas & a single, vintage silver bangle from 20th Century Antiques & Collectibles that my younger brother gave me for my birthday a few years ago to complete the look.

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80s Does Deco

 

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Dress: Sally Browne via Retro World Collective crepe, viscose

Heels: Wittner leather

Bag: Renee Loves Frances painted cane

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Avid readers of this blog will already know how much I adore vintage clothing & for me, the only thing better than ACTUAL items from the 1920s or 1960s is when the 1980s decided to recreate the looks in a plethora of funky or cutesy prints, including stripes or polka dots! Case in point: this amazing navy & white spotted crepe & viscose drop waist midi dress with bow detailing by celebrated designer Sally Browne that I discovered at the awesome Retro World Collective vintage store in Uptown in the Queen Street Mall - which just happened to be a perfect fit - styled up with a pair of white leather strappy heels with back zippers from Wittner & a white painted cane handbag from cool-girl-cult-label Renee Loves Frances to carry all the essentials. No more embellishment needed.

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This Means Waugh

 

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Dress: Lula Soul via Hummingbird the Shop viscose, tassels

Heels: Wittner leather, laces

Bag: Forever New vinyl, silver chain

Bangle: Gift, 20th Century Antiques & Collectibles vintage silver

Bangle Stack: Gift, vintage Mexican silver

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Feeling "darling in deco" in this 1920s inspired ensemble that I styled up to wear to a recent theatre performance of Evelyn Waugh's 1945 masterpiece "Brideshead Revisited," a three part tome which follows the life & romances of the young Charles Ryder & his fascination & entanglement with both Flyte siblings (Julia & Sebastian... & Sebastian's ever present & rather large teddy bear Aloysius*) who are members of a family of wealthy & eccentric English Catholics who live in a steadily decaying yet palatial mansion called Brideshead Castle & who change the trajectory of his life in many, many ways. It's an absolutely brilliant book & there's even an 11 part mini series from 1981 starring Jeremy Irons & Anthony Andrews or a more modern, abridged 2008 movie starring Matthew Goode & Ben Whishaw.

But I digress. For those who are interested, here's more about the ensemble... The stunning green & pink floral print viscose drop-waist midi dress with its voluminous three-quarter-length sleeves, elasticated waistline & tasseled neck from bohemian label Lula Soul (discovered at the divine Hummingbird the Shop in Paddington) was the perfect way to evoke a little bit of Julia Flyte for the occasion, particularly when mixed with a pair of blush pink leather pointy-toed lace-up heels from Wittner, a blush pink vinyl shoulder bag with silver chain strap from Forever New to carry all the essentials (hand sanitizer & facemask at the ready), a vintage silver bangle from the sadly-now-defunct 20th Century Antiques & Collectibles at Coolangatta & a stack of seven Mexican silver bangles that were sent to me by some dear friends who currently live overseas to complete the look.

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* Aloysius the bear - a furry little scene-stealer in the 1981 version - was modelled on Archibald Ormsby-Gore, the constant companion of the English poet laureate John Betjeman, Evelyn Waugh's best friend at Oxford University. Much like the eccentric Sebastian Flyte, Betjeman would take Archibald Ormsby-Gore & his other companion, a stuffed elephant named Jumbo with him everywhere he went regardless of his age or his marriage or the arrival of his two children & even wrote & published poems & illustrated children's books about the pair. In fact, both were in his arms when he died in 1984 at the age of seventy-seven.

Anthony Andrews as Sebastian Flyte dotes on Aloysius in the 1981 mini series

Aloysius, the scarf-wearing little scene-stealer himself...

John Betjeman with his beloved Archibald Ormsby-Gore & Jumbo in the late 1970s

Archibald Ormsby-Gore & Jumbo on display... together forever just as Betjeman would have wanted...