Hello sweetheart, I wanted to tell you about this wonderful 1920s style Great Gatsby birthday party that I went to a couple of weeks ago, because it made me realise that I have been born in the wrong decade for sure! I had far too much fun planning my outfit, hair and makeup (and far too little time to execute it all!) and it was so wonderful to spend the evening among all these beautiful feathers, pearls and jewellery! I shall begin by telling you how I put my outfit together (clearly the pressure was on, with all my antique jewellery experience!!)
A vintage boa, a sequin silver flapper dress and vintage heels
I paid a visit to Vintage Shrewd in Dorking for inspiration and ended up finding this glorious black, 1930s (close enough to the 20s) ostrich boa, which I thought was the perfect accompaniment to my silver sequin (close enough to be) flapper dress and my vintage heels (that are probably 1940s, but oh well!) As for my makeup I spent far too many hours studying 1920s makeup clips on youtube, and as with all things vintage it is so interesting to see how it all fits together into the different times in history… let me tell you more:
1920s hair and make up, vintage boa. Please ignore the sultry look and the pout – when in 1920s red lips one does however get away with anything!
1920s red lips – highlighting the centre of the mouth and avoiding the corners to create a proper pout
During the 1920s makeup became available to ladies of all social classes, so with this new exciting way of transforming your appearance, ladies were layering it all on! Eyes went dark dark dark and eyebrows very thin and drawn quite far down on the sides; suddenly lipstick was applied in public with the trendy colours ranging from red to plum. I didn’t actually have time to buy any plum coloured lipstick, so I stuck to my favourite red one from Mac – Satin. I started out by drawing the contours with a red lip pencil, highlighting a soft “cupid’s bow” shape, and I also made sure not to go all the way out to the corners of my mouth, to create that 20s pout that was so desirable (however, my thoughts kept wandering over to Helena Bonham Carter in Alice in Wonderland, which was not exactly the look I was going for..!)
Andrew Prince headpiece
I also ended up wearing this headpiece by our very own Andrew Prince. I curled my hair and rolled it up in a bun-like creation – leaving a few strands to hang down to frame the face. As for my jewellery I wore a 1920s bracelet from Cape Town, some drop earrings and an agate ring with marcasites, not to take away focus from the headpiece – although the 20s is the one period that is very forgiving if you want to pile on lots of jewellery!
And over to the other guests – I LOVE how everyone made such an effort, and managed to capture so many different details of the 20s – you will see what I mean:
OMG how much do we love the looks of these 1920s people!?
The lady on the far left is wearing a glorious hat, which became the talking point of the party – we all loved it! In the middle the long sequin dress shows how fun the decade was, with extraordinary clothing designs that would sparkle and shine until the small hours! And our dapper gentleman on the right was correct from top to toe – including his super awesome white shoes, as shoes were a very important detail for the 20s gents, and used to perfect their look and make a statement!
And some more fashionable 1920s ladies…
And in the photo above, on the far left we have the perfect 1920s bob haircut; the ladies of the time would chop off their long, luscious locks, and wear the most creative headpieces with their new, short hairdos! Second to the left we have the fabulous birthday girl in the Daisy Buchanan headpiece and a long sequin dress. Second from the right we have the period typical contrast of white and black, which you also find a lot of in 1920s Art Deco jewellery design – strong colours against white, love! And on the far right the marked drop-down waist which was so fashionable at the time, not to mention rows and rows of pearls – thank you Coco Chanel!
A champagne coupe tower – doesn’t get much more fabulous than this..!
Pearls for the girls, feathers, glitter and sparkle – I was in heaven!
And then we danced and ate the night away among all these glorious 20s decorations – check out the little champagne glass tower, just amazing!!!
I mean, who doesn’t need a Pictorial Review Fashion Book!?
The handsome Bentley
… and finally, since we are on the subject of the 20s: Bentley above is a Newfoundland dog – and most of today’s Newfoundland’s can be traced back to a English show dog named “Siki”, who lived in the 1920s. “Siki was an outstanding example of the breed, but more importantly, he was a very prepotent sire that produced outstanding progeny. Siki and three of his sons were imported into the United States and when crossed with the American Newfoundland, began the definition of the Newfoundland standards as we know them today. Almost all Newfoundland’s can trace their pedigrees back to Siki” – including Bently here. (1)
Source:
(1) Watercubs and Kivisilmän – The Newfoundland – Breed and History
Decades of Elegance 