Savoir Faire on the Beach

Maxwell Spencer Dupain was a renowned Australian modernist photographer, whose work to a large extent is relatively unknown outside of Australia, where his images are icons.

Some of his most iconic images were shot on the magnificent beaches of Sydney and Australia in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. The beach plays an integral part in the Australian lifestyle and psyche lucky for those who live close to it. It is something that defines Australia.

In 1937 he photographed the head and shoulders of a friend Harold Salvage lying on the sand at Cullburra Beach. The shot, entitled “The Sunbaker”, became Dupain's most famous piece. However, it was not until the 1970s that the photograph received wide recognition. It was purchased in 1976 by the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, and has become an iconic national image.

For many Australians, Dupain's photographs define beach culture, and it was the beach that was the inspiration for his most famous and enduring images. The Sunbaker, At Newport and Bondi all capture a decisive moment and portray life between the wars realistically.

These images appear as fresh and modern toady as what they did over half a century ago, when they must have appeared revolutionary.

Poolside Savoir Faire with the Paleys

Inspired by the “Enchanted Homes” post on pool houses on her blog the other day my thoughts were instantly drawn to the iconic pictures of the 50’s of style icon Babe Paley at her estate in Jamaica.

Babe Paley was the quintessential style icon with Truman Capote describing her as thus “Babe Paley had only one fault, she was perfect. Otherwise, she was perfect.”

Photographed at the Paley’s Round Hill estate in Jamaica, this is Savoir Faire in the highest degree. With a name change to White Orchid, Round Hill is now owned by Ralph Lauren and was built by William Paley for his wife Babe. The Paleys abandoned Jamaica for the Bahamas in the 60's where they developed the exclusive resort Lyford Cay.

Although re-decorated by the Lauren’s it has lost none of its savoir faire and is somewhere where I am sure would all long to spend some time!

Sunny Savoir Faire

Don’t these travel posters for Egypt just make you want to travel?

Created by various artists for a variety of companies including Egyptian State Railways, various hotels and shipping companies they promise us a vacation filled with exotic savoir faire. Enticing us with bright colours and images of a monumental Ancient Egypt, these posters would beckon one from travel agent’s windows of grey European capitals during the winter months. Passers by would stop and dream of sunnier climes and exotic trips across the desert visiting the Pyramids, forgetting their drab surroundings for a couple of minutes of their day.

In this age of computer generated graphics and digital photography I sorely miss examples such as these. Highlighting one of travel’s golden eras these were graphics to be admired and collected.

Is it because today’s traveller has changed in their outlook, that they don’t produce posters like these any more? Or is it a different sort of exotic that leads us to travel?

Spring Narcissus

With the advent of spring, just around the corner, many of us in the Northern Hemisphere are awaiting the prospect of warmer temperatures with anticipation. One sure sign of spring is the first peek of spring bulbs poking their green shoots above the soil after their long winter hibernation.

Spring bulbs of any sort remain some of my most favourite flowers, from the humble crocus which is first, to the highly scented hyacinth, to my favourites of all, the jonquil and the daffodil. Who has not seen fields and fields of wild daffodils in pictures or in real life and not been impressed? Or, who has not smelt the heady scent of its cousin the jonquil and not thought instantly of spring?

No matter what you call them either narcissus or daffodils these flowers signify spring the most to me. There was always what seemed to be an eternal wait after winter to see their green shoots either in pots or clumps in the garden and then for them to grow and bloom in the most wonderful shades of white, yellow and orange.

Narcissus is the botanic name for this genus of mainly hardy, mostly spring-flowering, bulbs in the Amaryllis family native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia. With several 100 different types it is one of the most prolific of spring bulbs.

It is surprising of how many of the spring bulbs whose names have come from or have been inspired by Greek mythology. Hyacinth, crocus, and anemone all have origins steeped in legend and mythology, which appeals to my romantic side. None so more, as the narcissus. Narcissus or Narkissos (Greek: Νάρκισσος), is possibly derived from ναρκη (narke) meaning "sleep or numbness," In Greek mythology Narcissus was a hunter from the territory of Thespiae in Boeotia who was renowned for his beauty. Being exceptionally proud he disdained those who loved him. Nemesis saw this and attracted Narcissus to a pool where he saw his own reflection in the waters and fell in love with it, not realizing it was merely an image. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection, Narcissus died. Another version has it that he fell into the water and drowned as he tried to embrace his own image. In both versions, the Narcissus plant first sprang from where he died.

The subject of many paintings and artists renderings the legend has served as the inspiration for many, including Carravagio, Waterhouse and Dali with each treating the subject in quite different ways.

Photographs and modern day interpretations also abound of the legend. I am always amazed at how artists take a subject and make it their own, and wish that I had the talent!

However, the myth has also given us Narcissism the personality trait of egotism, vanity, conceit, or simple selfishness, which is something that Savoir Faire does not condone in any form.

Hopefully Spring is being embraced with the bloom of the narcissus in some form!

Russian Re-Birth!

While pondering what I would write about next on Savoir Faire, today after numerous false starts I had finally settled on an historical post that would takes us back to the splendour of Russia before the revolution of 1917. My chosen subject was Prince and Princess Felix Yusupov whose wealth it was said was greater than the Romanovs themselves. The couple had immense savoir faire, and their story is full of luxury, intrigue, near poverty and a mix of scandal. Prince Felix has the dubious distinction of being one of Rasputin’s assassins and Irena was an incredibly ethereal beauty, the only niece of Tsar Nicholas II.

Their story can be read in numerous books, and research on the Internet, which I will let Savoir Faire’s readers do for themselves.

Of course I got sidetracked and stumbled on Irfé, something I had forgotten about. While in exile in Paris the Yusupovs founded a short-lived couture house Irfé, named after the first two letters of their first names. The fact that the prince had played a part in the death of Rasputin added to the house’s cachet in the late 1920’s. Irina modeled some of the dresses the pair and other designers at the firm created. But the prince had little business sense, and two years after the 1929 Wall Street crash ruined his most prosperous clients, the Yusupov’s were forced to close Irfé.

Only two of the house's original creations are known to survive, as many American clients used to clip the labels out of the dresses they bought in Paris in the hope of evading customs duties.

After being closed for over eighty years the House of Irfé reopened again in 2008 and is now located on the Rue de Fauborg Saint-Honore in Paris, under the direction of creative director Olga Sorokina. "The story of this house is a part of Russia's history and heritage," Sorokina, has said of Irfé.

Sorokina said she was drawn to the label after reading "Beauty in Exile," fashion historian's Alexandre Vassiliev's account of the artists, models and nobility who fled the Russian revolution and influenced the world of fashion. She contacted Xenia Sphiris, the granddaughter of the founders, who agreed to a re-launch of the brand. The re-launch of Irfé is testament to the growing purchasing power of Russia's new rich, who have joined the exclusive coterie of haute couture clients in recent years.

All this aside I like the fact that Sorokina is not resting on or drawing on the faded glory of a forgotten label, but designing fresh new clothes that are perfectly suited to the clients they wish to serve. These are modern clothes for the under 20 something, who is rich and has money to spend. Maybe the new rising Russian rich?

“We want to be Russian but modern, respecting our origins but not caught in the past,” explained Sorokina. This season, Sorokina showed modernist architectural lines, employing protective finishes and complementing looks with lustre detailing. There were great astrakhan biker blousons with cut off sleeves, and wonderful sculptural skirts and dresses. The clothes were also practical – with natty leather biker pants for a woman on the move and precise cashmere knits for the more active customer.

Other elements to impress were the fine high-heels and ankle-boots, made in snake-skin or leather and bags finished with Royal crowns and violet interiors, all the better to sum up the posh Tsarist rocker mood of this collection.