Monday Muse: Erté

Last night on BBC Four I watched "The Boyfriend" starring Twiggy. Fabulous 20's inspired costumes and back drops that made you want to jump through the TV to take part in the sophisticated mayhem, sadly having to settle to a bit of a bop around the living room. The film must have cost a fortune to produce in the 70's. I would love to know what became of all the costumes, and whether Twiggy was able to keep one or two.
A favourite scene is captured on the record cover for the sound track, dancers on a large gramophone record in a display a kin to synchronized swimming. (source)
The film made me think of one of my favourite Illustrator's/Artist Erté.

       Erté: A Russian-born French artist, his true name was Romain de Tirtoff, better know by the French pronunciation of his initials, R.T, the name Erté was born.
Lavish, chic, risqué, sophistication, imaginative, an undertone of dark fantasy, fabulous detail, all wrapped up in a big stylish Art Deco bow. Erté designs inspired many forms: costumes, set designs for opera, interior decor, magazine covers for Harper's Bazaar, Jewellery, you name it Erté style knew know limits. 
Working throughout his life, and living to the grand old age of 97 in France, in his own life time a 1960's revival put Erté back into the spotlight celebrating his influence upon Art Deco. His style lives on books in and posters, we have a selection of postcards in Jamboree as pictured to the right.
One book I can recommend is a Dover publication Erté Fashion Designs: 218 Illustrations from "Harper's Bazaar", 1918-32, a lovely gift from my brother some years ago, a fab source of inspiration. Check out the amazon link for a peek inside. Their are also other books available - do you know of any you could recommend?

Looking at the illustrations I also wonder if Lady GaGa is a fan - what do you think?

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One of my favourites.

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I love the above image, it's as though a cascade of glitter has been set free in celebration.

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I had never seen this image before, and simply said wow!

I was sad to see that Past Times is know more, they always stocked Erté designs on gifts etc. Used to love the Art Nouveau section to.

Are you a Erté fan?

H

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The Evolution Of Women’s Hair, In Under 4 Minutes {new blog post}

An interesting video I wanted to share, we love a bit of period design - we know you do to ;).  Although the video has already come under some flack for not featuring short hair, I think it's like most history, It's to give a representation of the period/decade, surely couldn't be possible to feature every detail. Not to mention how painstakingly long this must have taken to create. 

Although I do agree that at the 70's section it seems to jump to the 1960's and then to the 80's.

But see if you can see the model nearly laugh at 0.36 mins-ish.

We seem quite tame now don't we? unless your lady GaGa of course.

What do you think of the video?

~We thank you!~ Giveaway time ;)

As a big thank you for all the support of fabulous tweeters, funky facebook amigos, blogger buds, and our lovely instore customers. We thought we would have a lil giveaway. 

Up for grabs is this unusual contemporary kitschy horse necklace - be in a chance to ride off into the sunset wearing said necklace ;) simply be a follower via any of our pages blog, twitter, or facebook and pop us a message - or give us a retweet. Feel free to enter on all three sites for your chance to win - e.g add your comment to all three pages for 3 entries - wayhey!. Closing date is the Sunday the 26th of June. Names shall be picked out of a hat old school style ;)
Good luck
x

{Give away now closed - stay tuned for future give aways}

Life on the ocean waves ~*new blog post*~

With new arrivals of nautical goodies arriving at Jamboree, the collection is growing. Bathing belles basking in the sun, jelly fish inspired t-light holders - their pearlescent sheen sparkling like water. With the watchful eye of the lighthouse close by. Take a peek at our goodies page for more nautical inspiration.

What are your favourite memories of the seaside, castle building, braving a paddle in the sea, or maybe not so favourite - sand in your sandwich's, or a nip on the toe from a crab in the rock pool? We'd love to hear your stories.

Bathing belles from £7.95 to £9.95 each

Smaller t-light is also available in a more compact style £3.95 - above £4.95.

What do you think of these bathing belles costumes?

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And the lady had violet eyes - Elizabeth Taylor ~{New blog post}~

I'm sure that this bathing suit didn't compare to Elizabeth's natural violet eyes as so many people have commented about over the years.

Sad to hear that a true hollywood goddess sadly passed away - Elizabeth Taylor. You may have spotted Elizabeth as the image on our opening hours sign - a true classic beauty, and as George Michael said in his tribute - "Elizabeth Taylor was the last of the Hollywood greats, and a fantastically charming woman." .

But it was the tribute from Kylie stood out from the list of tributes.

"RIP Dame Elizabeth Taylor.....Like a pure white diamond you'll shine on and on and on." 

Elizabeth's love of diamonds was as well know as her list of husbands.
But we wouldn't have know her if it wasn't for her film career, a testament of time that eclipses any natural beauty, both immortalized in cinema history for future generations to see.
Watching National Velvet over the years, one of those movies perfect for a snuggly Sunday, it is one of my favourite films Elizabeth starred in, along with Little Women, minus her raven black hair as the blonde Amy March, epic Cleopatra, Cat on a hot tin roof to name a few.

Which are your favourite Elizabeth films?

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R.I.P

x

Deliciously Art Deco, Smurftastic & totally groovy! - belated Friday finds ~{Collecting}~

A belated Friday's find today.

Thanks to Johanna for sharing her fantastic discovery of a lovely pair of Art Deco prints from Whetherby Antiques fair.

Not jealous, honest! ;)
Any contributions to help build a time machine would be most gratefully accepted to travel back to the twenties - who's with me??. Utterly gorgeous images.
This has reminded me of a new figurine in Jamboree - Jazz age dancing couple. Go on, give us a twirl!

And just added to the shop today - Erté illustrated large postcards. Perfect for framing or adding to journals, or surprise a fashion/art loving friend with a snail mail postcard.

From wikipedia:Romain de Tirtoff (23 November 1892 – 21 April 1990) was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, the French pronunciation of his initials, R.T. He was a diversely-talented 20th century artist and designer who flourished in an array of fields, includingfashion, jewellery, graphic arts, costume and set design for film, theatre, and opera, and interior decor.

We <3 polka dots.
The best bargain for a recent discovery has to go to Vicky, creator of kitsch jewellery - Stars & Scars. I was lucky enough to win a necklace via Vicky's twitter RT giveaway - be sure to take a peek if you love doodles!
How much do you think Vicky's 1970's dress cost? 

Still guessing???

what do you think??

£20?
£10 maybe?
Drum roll.....


£1 - bargain!!! 
A girl after our own hearts. Fantastic find.

I spotted this lil fella in the charity shop window, feet pushed up against the glass, and that cheeky face.

Needing to open up Jamboree, the plan was to nip out and buy him, but the day rolled on and thankfully he was still in the window the next day. I couldn't resist him, as I am in the habit of calling my Dad - Poppa Smurf :) 

His label mentions 1979 - and he's in really good condition. And before he knew it he was given a squish. Adore blue and red as a combination - he's a winner!

Poppa Smurf is catching up on some reading, in the form of a mini children's classic nursery rhyme book, which probably today are not regarded the most popular of nursery rhymes, but classics in their own right. Wonderfully illustrated with vintage illustrations which I need to investigate, the style reminds me of Katie Greenaway.

He is currently residing on the back of the sofa.

Thanks again to Johanna and Vicky - be sure to check them out on Twitter.


Join in Friday finds - pops us a tweet or an email. Share your passion for collecting.

~:Friday Finds:~ Yeah baby yeah! retro blog post.

Friday seems to have sneaked up again hasn't it?, i'm going to keep track of time using a new discovery. Winding this clock up, I've been transported back to the 1960's.

I just happened to spot this on the way home via the side window of the NTDF (North Tyneside Disability Forum) Charity shop, Mam came to the rescue and bought it the next day for the bargain of a pound, but to be honest I had totally forgotten, i'm glad she remembered. 

A funky late 60's alarm clock. I was drawn to the colour, my favourite, turquoise blue, and it's super groovy to boot lol, with a yellow marbled patternation within the plastic casing. Still working, but I think I shall pass on using it as an alarm clock, imagine wrestling with that at the crack of dawn :D. It reminds me of the circular TV's, would love to have one to.

 Sticking with the retro vibe I wanted to share this advert for Miners make-up, it was actually the girls top that caught my eye though. Forget waking up with panda eyes, what about a panda top?

The above advert is from Mirabelle magazine June 20th 1970.

I really like the dress they have chosen for the model for the front cover.

It's interesting to reflect back with these magazines, one article I'll post on another day is how, from the 1970's they thought the year 2000 would be like. It's hilarious, we had a good chuckle. And being a fan of all illustration, the illustrated stories are fantastic to.

Which are your favourite decades?