Good Morning

Well its May and the car was frosty this morning, most upsetting. Ah well chin up Jones. I would love to direct everyone's attention to http://couturemillinery.onsugar.com/Fashion-from-8os-00s-8381125 its a fabulous blog thats full of great fashion info and it just so happens that the milliner/blogger is the lovely John Quinnell-Hill. Enjoy.

Wedding Headwear

As most of you know in a few short weeks I'm getting married........I have made a headpiece to wear but I'm not entirely sure whether it makes me look like I have a swan on my head. I will post a picture soon.

Although Oscar De la Renta's new wedding collection has put a cat amongst the pigeons....http://www.instyle.co.uk/fashion/editors-picks/oscar-de-la-renta-bridal-spring-2010

Now do I go for a big whispy flower on my head?!

It will all end in tears

Good things must come to an end, this is what happened to the roaring twenties. The wall street crash of 1929 changed peoples ideas of living foot loose and reckless. One book that strongly reflects the change and his own personal change is Evelyn Waugh's - Vile Bodies although its writen after the time. It starts with the joy and excitement of the early 20s parties and care free attitudes, but then the calapse of the country and the outbreak of war changes everything. The 1930s brought huge unemployment accross the world.

Hats!

As you can see from the pictures from my In Vogue book there was plenty of wide variety of headwear in the twenties. I have already talked about the cloche which seems to be the most memorable peice of the era. But I think there are a few other lengendary items.......

The Tiara
In the early twenties there was a great influx of Russians escaping the Bolshevicks, half of the women ended up working in major couture houses. At this point tradditional Russian embroidery became very popular, the House of Kitmir embroidered Chanel dresses. This new Russian influence brought new ideas to western fashion, they used a mix of fabric and fur. There was a new trend of dresses and coats embroidered and lined or trimed with fur.
'The most popular feature of Russian national costume was probably the northern Russian Kokoshnik, a festive headdress that influenced tiara design and came to epitomize, with the cloche, the hats of the 1920s.'
Although by 1925 Russian folk art had lost its cool, Art Deco became popular along with other cubist styles.

Mens Fashions

Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, its a shame that he isn't wearing his straw boater.

Certain stereotypes of the era come to mind, Charlie Chaplin wore his legendary small bowler hat. Although I doubt this sparked a trend in men.

As with previous decades men wore hats depending on their class, upper class men wore top hats or a homburg hat. Although things were changing, with the upper classes owning and driving cars they needed a driving hat, which was a soft cloth cap usually worn by the lower classes. Middle class men would usually wear a trilby hat and working class men would wear a flat cap or no hat at all.

Some quotations I enjoy......

'Everything in the twenties was done after a cocktail, to jazz.'

Evening wear.....'for evening there are diadems or bandeaux of silver leaves or gold tissue.'

Josephine Baker '......the length of her graceful body, which is light sealskin brown, is swathed in a full blue tulle frock with a bodice of blue snakeskin......she wears an enormous diamond ring and a very impressive diamond bracelet. Her hair, which naturally grows in tight curls, is plastered close to her head with white of egg and looks as though it was painted on her head with black shellac. As she appears at the Folies Bergeres, one is struck by her great decadence of line. When, for the finale, she wears only a diamente maillot of tulle and red gloves with diamond balls hanging from the tips of her fingers......' John McMullin
Josephine Baker was obviously a very confident woman who took control of her body and lead the way for other black performers. I would of loved to of seen her banana outfit.

'We practically live in bathing suits and coconut oil' Me'raud Guinnes, 1927
Chanel pioneered the sun tan, this went hand in hand with the other fashion of swimming.

'To lose weight has become an obession' In Vogue
So this is where it all started, the twenties began our obsession with staying slim. The twenties silhouette was one of a boyish slim figure.

In Vogue 1920s Pictures

Some positively beautiful pictures from the era taken from In Vogue: Sixty years of celebrities and fashion from British Vogue. For a long time I have taken this second hand book for granted not really paying it that much attention but its a true gem.