The Bee's Knees

As long as I can remember I have had a fascination with the 1920s. This decade was quite an extraordinary period of history. A war had just been won and our country was celebrating, high on easy credit and moonshine. Freud was rediscovering our sexual natures as human beings. Women's fashion was also extraordinary at this time. Skirt hems became so short that they not only exposed the ankle but occasionally even the bare knee. Women tossed aside their corsets and embraced the sensual androgyny of drop-waist gowns and cut their long locks in favor of bobbed hairstyles. They were no less womanly for setting aside these feminine conventions, instead they felt free to embrace their vital sexuality in a way never before seen.

While I was perusing Life According To Celia (the highly enjoyable blog of my former wedding gown client) I came across some images that capture the themes of this era so strongly and beautifully from the book Jazz Age Beauties: The Lost Collection of Ziegfeld Photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston. This work is definitely one I will be adding to my collection.

It is especially fitting now as the last of the Ziegfeld Follies girls, Doris Eaton Travis, passed away just a week ago on May 12, 2010 at the age of 106. She had this to say of being one of Ziegfeld's Girls:

“It was beauty, elegance, loveliness,” Mrs. Travis recalled in an interview with The New York Times in 2005, “beauty and elegance like a French painting of a woman’s body.”

Victorian Ball

Last night I was able to attend my first Grand Victorian Ball since before I had my children. I was a wonderful evening full of costumes, dancing, friends, laughter, and lemonade. Getting my ballgown done in time was a little stressful, but I got it done and was overall very happy with the results. (But I won't lie... there were definitely several safety pins where hooks, bars, and snaps were supposed to be!)

I did have a dilemma with my hair since mine is much to short to be Victorian. Rather than wear a wig, I decided to try to pass mine off as best as possible by pin-curling most of it and styling the front into a pompadour. I added in some jeweled hairpins and a sort of fascinator and I felt very pleased with the effect.


If you think period costumed gatherings might be an adventure you would like to try, the Social Daunce Irregulars, Friends of the Engilsh Regency, Victorian Tea & Dance Society, Mikal Sandoval's Speakeasy, and Club Cicada are just a few of the many options available to folks living in the Los Angeles area.

A Night at Club Cicada

Last weekend, I celebrated my 30th birthday at Maxwell DeMille's Club Cicada in Cicada Restaurant on the ground floor of the Historic Oviatt Building in Downtown Los Angeles.

What a fantastic evening! Walking through the breathtaking lobby through the doors of the restaurant (manned by a fully uniformed doorman) is like taking a step back into time. Most patrons choose to dress in period clothing from the 1920s through the 1950s. From start to finish your visit is overseen by gracious waiters, a masterful bartender, and a host of other characters. The music for the evening was provided by Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys and was beyond delightful (you can even watch a webcast of the evening). It was, every bit of it, worth the rather expensive tab at the end of the evening. We topped it all off with a couple of traditional Paper Moon portraits. I think I'll make it a yearly tradition!

*Paper moon photos from the folks at Hobo's Vintage.

The Next Big Thing

Now that I have the wedding trio (bride, mother of the bride and flower girl) completed, it is time to turn my sights on a new project. This time it will be for myself to wear to the Social Daunce Irregulars Victorian Grand Ball. These events are so much fun! What could be better than dressing up and dancing reels, waltzes, and polkas with gentlemen in period evening wear? And all for less than $30!

The next event is November 28, so I'm planning to make my gown in wintry colors like dark green, gold, cream, and maybe accents of burgundy. And because the Victorian Era spans the years of Queen Victoria's reign from 1837 to 1901, it is important to pick a more specific style within the period. I prefer First Bustle Period of the 1870s. The end of November will be here before I know it, so I better get to work!

30 in 30

In just 30 short days, I will be turning 30 years old! To celebrate this exciting and momentous occasion, I will be spending an evening soaking in vintage glamor at Club Cicada in historic downtown Los Angeles' Oviatt Building. I will be wearing this David Meister dress and will be styling my hair something like this cropped curly 'do from 1953, but probably with some gardenias thrown in, and maybe a birdcage. Or maybe I'll just go with the fascinator. I'm open to suggestions!:

Prima Ballerina

"Prima Ballerina" because this is my first post! In creating costumes for dance and watching dance, I have always preferred flowing skirts with lovely drape that emphasize the fluidity and grace of movement. The costume, like the dancer herself, seems to float on air.