New post for the FT: Art Deco

My latest blog for the FT's How To Spend It is on Art Deco jewellery. Researching this particular topic was an absolute delight and as I was writing, thousands of images sprang to mind. The following pictures act as a kind of illustrated appendix to my original blog for the FT. 

Oil paintings by Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka, whose 'soft cubism' style of painting became strongly associated with Art Deco:

The Sleeper, 1932

Portrait of Madame M, 1930

The dramatic shadows and contours of her paintings continue to inspire fashion today: 

Cutler & Gross look book

The artist at work. Note the outfit!

The silk gowns of Madeleine Vionnet and Madame Grès were very popular at the time. Their bias-cut designs created a new, liquid silhouette. Their dresses were worn by Greta Garbo, Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich. 

Two Vionnet gowns, 1930

Madame Grès gown, Vogue 1933

Maggy Rouff gown with smoked crystal cuff, 1934

Lelong gowns, c.1930s

Accordion-pleated gown, c.1930s

Marlene Dietrich

Joan Crawford

Tallulah Bankhead

Jean Harlow

Claire Trevor

Carole Lombard

Clark Gable & Constance Bennett 

Rita Johnson

Betty Grable

Everett Marshall & Dolores del Rio 

Dolores in a sequin gown

I visited the Bentley & Skinner shop on Piccadilly to look at their selection of Art Deco jewellery. My wire-haired dachshund came along for the ride, although she went to sleep as soon as the sparklers came out for a closer inspection. Obviously not as much as a magpie as her owner! 

In-house jewellery experts Rachel Warner and Amanda Frost had kindly pulled out a beautiful edit of their most striking pieces, including this brooch by Cartier: 

Art Deco brooch by Cartier 

You can view this brooch in their online boutique by clicking on this link. I also spotted some beautiful Art Deco engagement rings at Bentley & Skinner, including this very unusual diamond plaque and black enamel ring. 

The Great Gatsby has inspired an entire collection at Tiffany & Co, with models draped in sublime 1930s-inspired gowns:

Liu Wen for Tiffany & Co

An exhibition of Art Deco make-up boxes and miniature clutch purses - mini-audières or nécessaires - opens at Goldsmiths Hall at the end of this month. A book accompanies the display, 'Ultra-vanities: Bejewelled make-up boxes from the age of glamour' by Meredith Etherington-Smith. 

We have an exquisite Art Deco-inspired dress currently in stock at Juno Says Hello. Floor-length black tulle embellished with thousands of crystals. To view this gown in our online boutique, please click here. To browse our range of Art Deco dresses, follow this link. 

Dress from Juno Says Hello 

Dietrich was famous for her beautiful hands


Loretta Young


Miriam Hopkins


Crawford as Letty Lynton, 1932


Kitty Carlisle


Dorothy Lamour


Lilyan Tashman with her pals

The heroine of the age: Greta Garbo


Garbo nursing a Chambord martini


Jean Harlow in fur, satin and diamonds


Irene Dunne


A young Lucille Ball, c.1930s

To read my FT blog on Art Deco gems, please click on this link. 

The adventuresses of the 1930s were every bit as glamorous as the movie stars. I've just finished reading Beryl Markham's autobiography, West With The Night. One of the most fascinating women of the era, Beryl was the first woman to fly solo from across the Atlantic from east to west. 

As well as a pioneering aviatrix, Beryl was the first female racehorse trainer in Africa.  She married three times and had an affair with the son of George V.  Hemingway was so envious of her writing in West With The Night that he said 'I am completely ashamed of myself as a writer'. Her description of flying through the African skies at night made me wish I was a pilot. If you're looking for a holiday read - or simply escapism - this is the book. 

My next post will be on something much noisier than jewellery - vintage motors. Mercury Cougars, Mercedes SL 280s, Thunderbird Convertibles and the incredible women who drove them. Buckle up... 

Our Pop-Up Shop on Portobello

Last month we held our first pop-up shop on Portobello Road, sharing the space with Notting Hill jeweller Orit and fashion label Melabelle. 

The event was a great success and thank you to everybody to came along. It was lovely to put faces to names of online customers and Twitter followers who made the journey. 

Our beautiful vintage dresses 

Including Coco, who dropped by with owner Sophie, of Merchant Archive. Look at that face! Butter wouldn't melt. 

One customer went home with this gorgeous 1970s sheer dress:

A special thank you to Catering Temps who provided the staff for our late-night shopping events, and to photographer Stuart Beesley for the glossy snaps. 

Original 1950s abstract rose coat

Two more happy customers... 

To sign up to our newsletter for updates about forthcoming events, please click on this link. In the meantime, keep an eye on our website - our new collection goes live at the end of May. 

Bond Girls: Five Decades of Style

The Bond girl has an irresistible allure. More than just a love interest, Bond girls can be allies, enemies, colleagues, honey traps and assassins. The first Bond girl was the legendary Honey Ryder, played by Ursula Andress in the 1962 film Dr. No.

Halfway through the film Honey emerges from the Caribbean waves in one of the most iconic scenes in cinematic history:

Dr. No was followed by From Russia With Love, arguably the most popular Bond movie. Daniela Bianchi played Russian intelligence officer Tatiana Romanova:

One of the most stylish Bond girls was Pussy Galore, played by a 39-year old Honor Blackman in Goldfinger (1964). She works for the eponymous villain - before Bond converts her, naturally - and runs a team of all-female aircraft pilots. In the novel by Ian Fleming, Pussy used to run an acrobatic troupe of women trapeze artists (!) in the United States. Business is slow, so she re-trains them as cat burglars. And introduces them to a delicious life of crime... 

 

Pussy makes mincemeat out of Bond in Goldfinger's private jet...

Pussy - being far too stylish to disrobe - left the nudity to Jill Masterson, played by Shirley Eaton.

Jill came to a grisly end after apparently suffocating from gold paint. How much is this make-up guy loving his job..?

The first brunette Bond girl appeared in Thunderball. Dominique 'Domino' Derval was the baddie's mistress and was played by French actress Claudine Auger. Her monochrome wardrobe reflected her character's name: 

I love her swimsuit. For a similar look, try British-made Moeva. I bought a one-piece from their new collection and it does make you feel like a Bond girl. Or maybe the heat and daiquiris had gone to my head... 

If I had to pick the wardrobe of one Bond girl, it would be Helga Brandt. Played by Karin Dor in 1967 movie You Only Live Twice, Brandt interrogates Bond in the cabin of her employer's ship:

The hair, the jewellery, the nails, the chiffon cape... this is the look. I've sold several dresses that are almost identical to Helga's cocktail ensemble. Bad girls know how to party.

Connery was replaced by newcomer George Lazenby in 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Diana Rigg brought her elfin beauty to the role of Contesssa Teresa di Vicenzo, the only Bond girl to actually marry 007. Teresa was one of Fleming's most complex female characters, and Bond was a broken man after her death. 

Jane Seymour played one of the most unusual Bond girls: Solitaire, in Live and Let Die (1973). Employed as a clairvoyant by Dr Kananga, the dictator of a small Caribbean island, Solitaire's named reflected her virginal state. Her boss believed her purity allowed her to predict the future - and when Bond seduces her, Kananga decides to make Solitaire a sacrificial offering in a chaotic voodoo ceremony. 

Solitaire's look is pure 1970s. Have a look in our online boutique for similar dresses from the same period. The girls at Pixiwoo have created a fantastic video tutorial on how to get her shimmering make-up:

In Moonraker, American actress Lois Chiles played Dr. Holly Goodhead, an improbably risqué name for a CIA agent and astronaut. Her outfits were amazing... 

Britt Ekland played Mary Goodnight in The Man With The Golden Gun. Dressed in little more than a bikini throughout the film, she chose to wear a stunning sequin gown for the London premiere:

It was this very same dress that Kate Moss wore to her 30th birthday party in 2004. Kate Moss is a huge fan of vintage fashion. Click here to read my blog on her incredible collection. 

The next Bond girl has impeccable fashion credentials. Carole Bouquet played Melina Havelock alongside Roger Moore in 1981 movie For Your Eyes Only.

One of the main faces of Chanel in the 1980s-1990s, Carole's rare beauty contrasted with Ekland's girlish charms. 

You may also recognise her from Sex and the City, where she played Aleksandr Petrovsky's ex-wife in the penultimate episode. Click here to watch her have an awkward lunch with Carrie. 

Perhaps the most dangerous Bond girl was May Day, played by Grace Jones in A View To A Kill. A welcome contrast to the dizzy blondes elsewhere in the film, May Day was a intimidating woman with an even more intimidating boyfriend: an evil psychopath played by Christopher Walken.  

This is what she wears to Royal Ascot. A wimpy fascinator simply won't do when you're a trained assassin... 

Gorgeous Carey Lowell played Bond girl Pam Bouvier in Licence To Kill. Her day job is flying light aircraft. By night she hangs out at casinos wearing sequin dresses, drinking champagne and gambling. Why didn't I hear about this option at my college careers library?

Add a cigar and red lipstick and you've got Xenia Onatopp, Bond's nemesis in 1995 film GoldenEye. 

A true femme fatale, Xenia is happiest when crushing men to death between her thighs. Her workwear look of hotpants and military webbing was around long before Lara Croft: Tomb Raider hit our screens.

Actor Daniel Craig took over the role of 007 in Casino Royale and everything changed. Bond became much grittier and the script weeded out any smooth one-liners. A suitably complicated role was created for the new Bond girl: Vesper Lynd, played by Eva Green. 

Cinema is all about the grand entrance, and Eva played it perfectly... 

Like her compatriot Carole Bouquet, Eva is also a darling of the fashion world. Click here to see her as the 'face' of Dior Poison Midnight. 

British actress Gemma Arterton played MI6 agent Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace.  I love her retro hair and make-up in this film:

The very winsome Naomie Harris took on the role of Eve Moneypenny in the most recent film, Skyfall. Can M's secretary be a Bond girl? I don't see why not. Especially when she looks as ravishing as Naomie:

Looking like a Bond girl is easy - we have all the outfits at Juno Says Hello. For the month of May I'll be serving vodka martinis in the studio for private appointments - click here to get in touch and fix a date!