May 24 2013, Style In View
“It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such beautiful shirts.” So sobbed Daisy, awash in a shower of some of Gatsby’s finest.
It would be remiss of me — nay, it would be going against my duty as both a fashion journalist and an English Literature graduate — not to open any article on the Gatsby inspired 1920’s revival by referencing Daisy having a moment amidst some of the finest examples of tailoring ‘new money’ could buy, which she then proceeded to use as glorified snot rags. (If you’re in any doubt, just have a look at any other articles on the subject. See, we’re all doing it! It’s practically required.) And hey, any fashion trend that allows me to legitimately reference Fitzgerald, thus validating my degree, is okay with me.
One can thus only imagine Mrs Buchanan would be positively in raptures about Baz Luhrman’s extravagant, no-holds-barred translation of Fitzgerald’s novel (though possibly less so about being compared to a Kardashian), that has left us wondering how we can best reinvent ourselves in her image; a theme which, after all, lies at the very heart of the novel — it really is a quality insight into my degree for a smidgen of the price I paid for it that you’re getting here, folks.
Ah yes, hardly had the ink dried on Luhrman’s contract before a full revival was decreed and our fate of spending the next few months searching out drop-waist dresses, Mary Jane shoes and lopping our hair off in favour of bobs was set. Why, not since Mad Men hit our screens and we wore nothing but pussy bow blouses and pencil skirts for months on end, has Hollywood caused such a full on immersion in the fashion of decades past. Just as then, this can only be good news, for what better time to celebrate, after years of fiscal austerity, than the Jazz Age? And what a time it was as flappers threw off the shackles of the Victorian era, losing the corsetry (pre bra: not a great era for the bust, FYI), adopting increasingly short hemlines and embracing a new promiscuity; a time when accusations of celebs in cultsmeant something other than Kirstie Alley’s Scientology gurn.
So, my friends, it’s time to do as Jay Gatz and throw ourselves head first into Jay Gatsby’s revised world. Granted the glimpse of flashed ankle may not hold quite the same scandal that it did back when, but this is where some of us may wish to take Lurhman’s lead and embrace a modern take on the fashion. Try a drop waisted mini dress, an embellished short skirt or of course, rejig your beauty regime and consider experimenting with the emphasised eyes and flapper bobs or Marcel waves. Most of all, now is the time be overcome by the spirit of the decade: the decadence; the opulence; the raciness; the fashion.
