The Lady Magazine

8 April 2016

I have often wondered what it might have been like to have grown up in the 1920s and 30s – in the euphoric postwar period which defined what we now call the art deco era. Was it really like living in a Noël Coward play or an Agatha Christie thriller? Did everyone go to jazz clubs or on weekend trips to hotels with vanity cases and powder compacts that complemented the decor? I do hope so. British designers led the world and influenced everything from art and architecture to lidos and lipstick holders, so why not remind ourselves occasionally of how beautiful everything was? I am unsure if our glorious cover star Dame Helen Mirren is a deco fan, but the brooch and earrings she is wearing betray more than a nod to the glamorous screen sirens of the era. It’s certainly a long way from the battle fatigues she has to wear in her latest film. Horticultural photographer Clive Nichols doesn’t exactly don camouflage material when he embeds himself in the borders of our finest gardens, but his touch is as light as dew and as enticing as the crystal drop earrings on our fashion page this week. A small, but perfectly formed treat, surely? Until next time, best wishes,