The American Dream

This week, I have mainly been watching Boardwalk Empire with the boyo, a new HBO drama directed by Martin Scorsese based on 1920s America during the Prohibition. Not only does it feature brilliant familiar faces in the form of Stephen Graham of This is England "Combo" fame, who plays Al Capone, and the excellent Michael Williams AKA Omar Little in The Wire, but it also showcases the most beautiful art deco 1920s costumes that, well from my perspective, are the best thing about the show. Such a girl…

Rusty thick velvets, rich draped furs, the most pretty lace underwear and silk slips you can imagine, lean rows of beads, intricate beaded hats and flapper headbands - this is art deco luxe that is both dreamy and captivating.

I did a bit of the old research and found out that the costume designer on the show is actually the Emmy-award winning John Dunn. And it all suddenly made sense as to why the clothes look so supreme when I discovered that this said John Dunn is also the man behind some of the very best looks in another HBO series that has since inspired style magazines the world over, Mad Men.

Dunn acknowledges the 1920s as being a momentous time for fashion as ‘the corset had almost disappeared. Women had just started wearing bras and panties for the first time. It was when Chanel started designing. It was the birthplace of modern clothing.”

And he certainly delivers the vision here, with the glamour recreated so vividly that it feels like the characters from Boardwalk have just walked straight out of an F Scott Fitzgerald novel.

Talking of Fitzgerald, Penguin have just released some glitzy metallic special editions to mark the 70th anniversary of the writer's death.
 
So now not only can you be transported to art-deco period glamour via Fitzgerald, but you can carry a piece on the bus with you.

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