Evening Dress - Art Deco Trust

A GUIDE FOR ART DECO EVENING. COCKTAIL, OR THEATRE WEAR
By Lee Anne Freeman of Deco Affair

LADIES

An elegant black dress is a good all round starter. It can be straight through or waisted. Made of crepe, georgette, or velvet, it could have godets flared out in fullness, bias cut hiplines, frills rippling diagonally to the ground. The sleeves of the dress can be cape-like, straight with detailed buttons or frills.For an exotic and opulent evening look, beaded, sequined and embroidered frocks are appropriate especially if they are straight through similar to a shift frock.

Accessories are very important. Costume jewellery such as diamante bracelets, earrings, and necklaces, long beads of jet or coloured glass or even plastic are all the rage. So is the slave bangle which was very popular in the 20’s. Don’t forget your evening clutch bag. You can use ribbons, feathers, and oriental fringed scarves, strings of pearls, long black gloves, and strap shoes with a Louis heel or a court shoe.

Stockings should be cream or skin tone, and can be worn with a seam up the back. Appropriate headwear includes a cocktail hat or bandeau with a feather trim, or even flowers. Use anything that sparkles. A woman reveals a light heart by wearing a pretty, inconsequential hat – “a frilly bit of nothing”.

Make up: Scarlet fingernails – toenails were not enameled in the same colour as the fingernails, but were pink. Rouge is worn on the cheeks and lobes of the ears. Eyebrows were plucked to a thin line. False eyelashes are a lovely extra.

LADIES QUICK REFERENCE

Evening frock mostly black, long or mid-calf, beaded sequined or embroidered is always elegant and slimming. Accessories – use colour in a fringed scarf, long beads, drop earrings, bangles, small clutch bag, and evening gloves. Headwear –Bandeau or cocktail hat – a frilly bit of nothing.

Shoes – strappy or court with a closed-in toe suitable for dancing or strolling
Evening cape of fur or velvet for the cooler evenings.

AND REMEMBER – Satin and velvet, sequins and feathers are for evening wear, just as they are today. For day wear, clothes should be of the same sorts of fabrics as you would wear today. And the over-riding rule in Deco times was that clothes were no longer restricting and uncomfortable. They were practical and suited to the wider range of activities that women were enjoying.

GENTLEMEN
Menswear was of 4 types – casual, streetwear, formal and evening.

CASUAL (AND IDEAL FOR SUMMER DAY WEAR) Blazer, long-sleeved shirt, light coloured (perhaps linen) trousers with wide legs and turn-up cuffs, front creases starting with pleats under a deep waist-band, braces, , neck-tie, bow tie or cravat, brown brogues or two-toned shoes, panama or felt hat.

STREETWEAR With a dark suit, double or single breasted, plain or striped, with white shirt, neck-tie or bow tie and black shoes, you can’t go wrong. The gangster look of the 30’s is an easy to achieve alternative for day or evening wear, although it has become rather a cliche. Wear white braces and white tie or bow tie with black shirt and black trousers, and 2 tone black and white shoes. Finish off the look with 2-tone black and white shoes and a mafia black felt hat. A violin case can be carried, and doesn’t need to contain either violin or machine gun.

EVENING WEAR Traditional dinner suit (tuxedo in the USA) with black bow tie is ideal, although a very dark grey or blue lounge suit will do. A white dress shirt with plain collar is best, although wing collars would have been worn in the Deco era. The waistcoat, if worn, should be black. The top drawer option is of course the evening suit with tails, white waistcoat and bow tie, top hat and cream or white scarf. Black leather or patent leather shoes in all cases. A black walking tick adds a nice touch.

AND REMEMBER - Gentlemen should always remove their hat scarf gloves and stick before entering a room. These items are traditionally left on the coat rack, but these days you’ll be lucky to find one and you accessories may not be there when you go to collect them. And hats are NEVER worn indoors.