Sequins, glitter, flashes of red, silver and gold heralded the annual Blue Mountains Roaring Twenties Festival held this past weekend that featured the Charleston Charity Challenge, the Long Lunch and The Darnell Collection Twenties Fashion Parade.
In it's fourth year, the Long Lunch celebrates regional produce.
Five courses, each provided and prepared by local producers and restaurants, matched with local wines, set the scene and got the two hundred guests in the mood for
the annual Twenties Fashion Parade, styled by Charlotte Smith with outfits and accessories from
The Darnell Collection.
Six models walked the catwalk,
under the Art Deco vaulted ceiling of the Hydro Majestic Ballroom,
showcasing six different Twenties' looks.
Not a sequin, feather boa or spangly headband was seen in the parade.
Instead, daywear, sportswear, beach pyjamas, and silk robes brought to life socialites and movies stars who might have frequented Maxine Elliot's Chateau de l'Horizon,
during an era of glamour, excess and louche lifestyles of the rich and famous told
in Mary Lovell's book, The Riviera Set.
Garments new to the collection were seen for the first time including a stunning embroidered beach pyjama set that highlighted the exotic and the Oriental in the Twenties, as well as a new, informal fashion style introduced by Paul Poiret in the early 1900s
and then made all the rage by Coco Chanel in the early Twenties.
Two silk kimonos, recently gifted to The Darnell Collection along with 700 other pieces,
also featured on the catwalk.
A rare claret coloured silk day dress, accessories with a rare ermine stole and velvet hat from Paris, also appeared on stage, as did a gentleman's sporting outfit including a linen shooting jacket and natty American-made tweed plus fours.
My co-presenter was Roger Leong, a friend, colleague and academic who is currently the Senior Curator at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney.
His knowledge of and passion for Art Deco made him my perfect guest.
The exuberance, luxuriousness and beauty of the 1920s is still unsurpassed.
The Darnell Collection boasts an extraordinary number of truly exquisite pieces from this decade. Fashion is so much more -
it is story telling about social history too.
Thank you Brigitte Grant Photography for your beautiful photographs
that capture the opulence of the Hydro Majestic Hotel and
the decadence of the Roaring Twenties.
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| With my co-presenter, Senior Curator at MAAS, Roger Leong |
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| A rare robe with a pattern and colours so iconic of the 1920s |
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| So perfect for a stroll down the boulevard in Cannes |
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| A rare day dress with Bakelite buttons in an Art Deco pattern |
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| A stunning embroidered Beach Pyjama set and a rare silk beach bag |
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| Plus fours and a linen shooting jacket make for a sporting 1920s' day |
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| A pretty silk day dress and Egyptian silk long vest, cotton parasol and Bakelite driving goggles suit a Poirot heroine |
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| 1920s accessorising |
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| A rare and very delicate ermine stole and a beautiful hat with a brim made of golden lace |
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| A pop of colour in the 1920s |
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| Photographed in the opulent Cat's Alley at the Hydro Majestic Hotel |
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| Lounging in silk |
