Hopelessly Lost

After last weekend's uproarious reading of Noel Coward's Hay Fever with my sisters (which you can read about here), I had to go and read Blithe Spirit and Private Lives as well, and now I'm officially in a very Noel Cowardy mood. I want to lie about in slinky 1920's dresses and trade brittle, witty banter with a handsome man in flannel trousers and a sweater like Mr. Coward's on this cover. Quite fetching, aren't they? I've been looking more to the Edwardian period and the late 1940's both in style and literature lately, but these plays have put me firmly back in the inter-war years. I love the lost generation- what they wore, what they drank, the way they spoke and danced and were completely out of control. I think I'm going to re-read Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night now, and perhaps follow it up with Murder Must Advertise (I love Lord Peter's interactions with the Bright Young Things) and Vile Bodies (oh, those B.Y.T.s. So madcap. So carefree. So completely barmy).

On the style side, these are the kinds of clothes I wish I could wear. Flowing, beautiful, and dramatic, with gorgeous hats. These dresses are just made for flouncing and flirting- there are times I think it's a great pity I wasn't born 80 or 90 years ago.
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