From the poised elegance of an Erté lady with her Fox hounds, to the joie de vivre of a Sonia Delauney fabric, the Art Deco era encapsulated freedom. Fashion, Theatre, Music and Dance threw away the rule books and revelled in a new freedom of self expression. For the first time too, the divide between classes began to blur a little. From the minute King Oliver serenaded the gangsters of Chicago with his Jazz, the door nudged opened for anyone to rise from obscurity if they could hold a note, carry a tune or dance up a storm. 

At the other end of the social spectrum, architects and artisans fashioned ever more sleek and exquisite buildings as palaces for industry, entertainment and relaxation. 

Many of these buildings remain with us; their precise symmetry sits satisfyingly well in the urban landscape, with an enduring sense of rightness to their proportions.

Communication was also key; accessible magazines carried fashion plates for the iconic couture fashion houses and jewellery ateliers. If Cartier diamonds and pearls were beyond reach, then Woolworth stores carried amazingly creative and affordable lines in paste and celluloid; costume jewellery became an industry with its own stars and designers. 

We are revisiting this era for our 2022 retreats because it is so enticing and inspiring. I looked first, at the building decoration of the period, borrowing a sun motif from a door, a snippet of industrial machining from a lamp, sketching out the lines and curves. Next, I added details gleaned from the precise engineering of Cartier, fringing inspired by a flapper dress and beaded details from a Paul Poiret dress. As always, the design is ‘elemental’ in construction, so the elements can be re-configured in many ways.

With an exquisite, mother of pearl inspired cabochon at its centre, the Dancer would look perfect nestled on a bias cut gown, peeking out from a fur-lined balloon coat from an Erté or Poirot fashion plate, yet equally at home with a little black dress, or T-shirt and jeans. 

Champagne spilled as the crowd jumped out of their seats when she leapt from the arch to slide across the stage in a perfectly-controlled split. Reaching beyond her pointed toes and folded so far forward that her dancing earrings brushed against the floor, she looked up from beneath those thick, long lashes, turned her face towards the stunned audience and flashed them a winning smile. The curtain fell and she ran backstage, heart racing and elated; the Danse Sauvage had been a show-stopper, they were still whooping and cheering. Reaching for her silken robe and kicking the dressing room door shut in one choreographed movement, the ‘Black Pearl’ threw herself into the chair, rocked back and stretched out her slender limbs, smiling and breathing in the evening’s success.

Her reverie was broken by two sharp knocks at the door as it opened. The Count beamed at her, “Mia cara Josephine, dolce ragazza, baby, baby, you’ve taken Paris by storm! Tonight Pablo invites us to take caviar and Champagne chez Prunier for everyone to see.” Her eyes upon his, she threw off her robe, wiggled free from the exotic, banana skirt, then slid into her golden satin gown and turned for him to fasten it. Reaching behind the mirror to her velvet bag of treasures she drew out the finishing touch for the evening look and placed a glittering long necklace about her neck. Watching her reflection she ran her hand down to the end of the shining tassel, smoothing it in place. Josephine laughed, kissed the Count hard and fast on the lips, then scooped up her fox fur from the chair, grabbed his hand and the two of them swept from the little room.

Suspended from slinky, crystal beaded ribbons, a sparkling square frames the largest of three bezeled chatons, finished off with a delicately beaded, divinely swishy tassel, giving La Vedette more than a hint of Chinoiserie. Thoroughly elemental, as ever, there is plenty of scope for playing with the design and techniques to construct gorgeous new creations.