The High Priest of Art Deco

Each art or craft has its own High Priests and Priestess’ that are revered and recognised as the best in their respective fields. Haute Couture had Balenciaga and Vionnet and Interior Design and furniture has Emile Jacques Ruhlmann. These are the craftsmen and women by which all others are measured!

Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann basically alone is the man we have to thank for Art Deco as his designs and interiors epitomised for many the glamour the era. He was at the forefront of the transition from the fluidity of Art Nouveau to the geometric simplicity of Art Deco.

In 1919 Ruhlmann founded, the company Ruhlmann et Laurent, specializing in interior design and producing luxury home goods that included furniture, wallpaper and lighting. By this time, Ruhlmann was concentrating on individual pieces of furniture. His designs were executed by highly skilled craftsmen making formal elegant furniture using precious and exotic woods in combination with ivory fittings, giving them a classic, timeless appeal for the extremely wealthy.

Around this time, the French Société des Artistes Décorateurs, founded in 1900, was trying to encourage high standards of design and production in France through its annual exhibitions at the Salon d'Automne. The French government agreed to sponsor an international exhibition of decorative arts to be held in 1915 to further promote France's position in the field. Because of the First World War, this was postponed until 1925 and was called the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, the exhibition that gave Art Deco its name.

Ruhlmann had several pavilions at the exhibition in which he used exotic work from other artists and designers to provide beautiful and opulent settings as showcases for his own furniture. For example, in his Pavilion d'un Collectionneur, an oil painting by Jean Dupas, Les Perruches, of heroic proportions depicting female nudes with parakeets, hung above the fireplace. The pavilion's exterior featured metalwork by Edgar Brandt and a panel by sculptor Joseph Besnard. The centrepiece of the pavilion was a grand piano designed by Ruhlmann and made from such exotic materials as amboyna wood and Macassar ebony.

The thing is that Rhulmann's furniture does not carry the strong and angular geometric shapes that we consider to signify Art Deco. The streamline silhouette he favoured is simple and very elegant. Any decorative accents are meticulously crafted using luxurious and expensive materials, and are very restrained and stylised.

The interiors also display a purer form of Art Deco than what we are used to. Filled with rich colours, gently curved furniture and painted surfaces, these were the forerunners for the interiors which were to become mainstream Art Deco.

He believed that fashion started amongst the rich elite because they were the ones who could afford the costs of experimentation. He further believed that the whole purpose of fashion was for the display of wealth. In fact Ruhlmann claimed that, in spite of the high prices he charged, he lost money on each piece of furniture because of the expensive materials used and the amount of time and effort that went into each piece.

In 1933 Ruhlmann discovered that he was terminally ill. To protect the reputation he had built for his furniture he said in his will that the company was to finish any outstanding orders and then the company was to be dissolved.

Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann's reputation as the supreme furniture designer of the 20th century has survived intact. His furniture which is included in the collections of some of the world’s major museums is testament to this. Timeless in its appeal and the highest form of the craft these are items of furniture to be desired and coveted.

Racing Savoir Faire!

For many the weekend means attending a race event, the sport of Kings. Who can deny the excitement of 'your horse' crossing the finish post and winnning!

For ladies it means donning all wonderous assortments of hats and the like, and possibly buying a new outfit just to attend.

All these young ladies are doing it with savoir faire, as befitting the sport!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Bicycle Savoir Faire

If only I could dismount from my bicycle looking as good as this young man? Invariably my hair is a mess from my helmet, my trousers are tucked into my socks, and riding with such a heavy coat? Well forget it!


It is nice to see that he is being safety conscious with such a bright yellow shirt. When I was 18 I saw a bright yellow men's suit in the pages of Vogue (it was the late 70's), so immediately enlisted my mother to make me a bright yellow shirt similar to the one below! Now if only I had kept that shirt!



I also do some heavy duty cycling in the summer which involves the wearing of much lycra, which I am not even going to get into on a blog about savoir faire!

Stealing a Million with Savoir Faire!

You can not deny that Audrey Hepburn is the epitome of female chic and style. When teamed with the debonair Peter O’Toole you have the ultimate in Savoir Faire! Their only movie together “How to Steal a Million” is one of my favourites. The movie transports us into a world of casual, sophisticated elegance which seems effortless. And it was for these two. They didn’t have to try, regardless of makeup, scripts, extras, sets and directors; they were born with the savoir faire gene.

I just love the following photos, both stills from the movie and behind the scenes, which illustrates this perfectly! The pictures speak for themselves!

So if you haven't got a million to steal, you can stll dream about it with some inspiration from Audrey and Peter!

I Love a Sunburnt Country

I usually don’t post about current events on Savoir Faire, however this one is just a little too close to home. As an ex-patriot Australian living in Canada, my thought’s are with those back at home who are inundated with flood waters and torrential rain. Luckily I do not have any family in the affected areas, however I would be un-patriotic if I wasn’t concerned.

With more rain and flooding predicted with Australia’s third largest city Brisbane soon to be inundated the situation is getting worse.

The good thing is that we Australian’s are a resilient lot. We will pick ouselves up, brush ourselves off and carry on.

To quote Dorethea McKellar in her iconic poem about Australia “My Country” written in 1904,

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel-sea,

Her beauty and her terror

The wide brown land for me!

Are they Antlers On Your Wall?

As a trend Antler’s have probably done their dash. Herded like reindeer or moose they have popped up in all aspects of design and style these days. Whether from the catwalk to the latest in interior design the antler is appearing quicker than you can dispose of those tacky dollar store antlers everyone dons at sometime over the Christmas Season.

So at the moment nature is in and particularly the antler. Although some say it has done its dash, it has not hit mainstream design. We have yet to see it in Pottery Barn or the likes, which still gives the antler time to for us mere mortals here at Savoir Faire to still champion its cause.

It’s an iconic indication of some sort of rural lifestyle, I guess,” said the designer Rogan Gregory, who briefly displayed antlers in his store on Franklin Street. “It’s like, if a store has antlers on the wall, that somehow makes them legitimate.”

Conjuring up images of cottages and chalets, it is reinforcing our love of nature albeit in a strange way. Gone are the dusty old examples hanging on Great Uncle Angus’ wall above the fireplace. In their place we have wonderful, chandeliers, lamp bases and coffee tables fashioned out of Rudolph’s headgear.

Fashion is starting to embrace the trend with fashionable young hipsters wearing the motif screen-printed on T-shirts or fashionistas sporting antler earrings or pendants.

Used in countless fashion editorials, antlers are harking to a fantastic world full of lavish excess. Taking the antler out of its natural environment stylists have elevated it to levels of modern day glamour. On men and women we have seen them parade down catwalks in herds, turning the wearers into modern day Vikings, ready to conquer to new worlds.

Adorning handbags and shoes it is reinforcing our hunter instincts by wearing the spoils of our shopping trips like trophies for all to admire.

Wallpapers, single motifs on walls or gift tags the antler is bringing nature in doors, so that all that is needed to conjure up the look is a fertile imagination and a can of paint, instead of tramping the hills of Scotland for discarded pairs.

Not to escape our increasing urges to get fit the bicycle below is sporting antlers has handlebars.

So go ahead, and have fun, even if you have to resurrect Great Uncle Angus’ antlers, and make candelabra out of them!

The Evening Jacket With Savoir Faire

Savoir Faire is just loving these series of jackets for men, for hitting the town in party mode!

These are all by different designers and follow the same train of thought, Why should women have all the sparkle?

With designers such as McQueen and Raf Simons represented , these certainly ooze savoir faire.
However for the man who is not afraid to try something different and new, they are so glam!

The detailing and the amount of workmanship is highly evident even with the shadowy photography, which leaves us wondering what the overall effect is.

Not for your average night out on the town but for something truly special, cut a dash and try one of these on for size!