Gosh, it’s been three weekends since Napier’s Art Deco Weekend 2014 and my life has been so hectic that I haven’t managed to post about it!
Despite the weekend falling in the middle of The Project, I managed to take a few days off to enjoy the vintage life, and to try to recuperate.
As usual, we drove up Thursday, so that we could get up nice and early on Friday for op-shop-a-thon, and a quick stop at the park to join in the wildest crowds of the weekend:
Duck, duck, goose, pukeko!
After thoroughly tiring ourselves out carrying bags of fabric and books and other vintage goodies around town, it was time to retire for a nap and a rest, before heading out for dancing at the SoundShell:
My companion for the weekend was the gorgeous Elizabeth de la Ray of Ills Winter & Porcelaintoy, who you may recognise as the wearer of the Madge Bellamy White Zombie dress and the star of the Monsters music video.
I got to dress her up again all weekend (such fun to dress someone of a totally different size and with a totally different figure, and see them look amazing in things that would be quite disappointing on me!). For Friday evening she put on an fabulous sequined top that I was lucky enough to get at a clothing swap:
I wore a cheater 1930s outfit: my Capelet of Yay (proper repro 1930s) and a bias cut silk crepe dress by Quicksilver(of all people!)
(clearly something exciting was going on in my upper left all evening 😉 )
Saturday it was up bright and early for walks on the beach and strolls in the gardens and vintage mini-golf and other shenanigans. I started out the day in my Sherbet Seersucker frock. Here I am watching the world’s cutest dog practically wriggle its skin off with the delight of having a ball to chase:
After enjoying the outdoors I stopped by the Criterion Hotel to watch Rose of Decadia do vintage hair and makeup:
And then popped outside to photograph the end result agains the backdrop of the Criterion:
By this time the day was getting uncomfortably warm (it got to 32 Celsius, and I’m not on speaking terms with anything above 27), so I popped home to apply cold compresses to my head and fan myself and change into something that would at least be cooler for the 5 minutes before my body temperature warmed it up again.
When that wasn’t enough there was nothing to do but climb in the fountain: the only place cool enough to have a dance that day!
Once my Bunnies frock was thoroughly soaked at the hem I had to head home to change again, this time into my Spotty Nautical frock and my new cream sometime-mid-century-does-1930s hat, which turned out to be the ideal outfit for the annual Full Swing group photo. Blue and white spots are wonderfully photogenic (and stand out nicely in a crowded group photo), and it’s almost like the group picked a red, white & blue theme!
After the photo we declared ourselves too hot to eat (but had dinner anyway) and then had another mini nap, before dancing in the streets in my Hula Goddess frock:
Only, since it was 27 degrees at 9 at night, I had one dance, declared the weather unfit for public consumption, and went home and read a book! (but it was a period book, so at least I was still keeping on-theme!)
Sunday was blessedly cool compared to Saturday. I like 26 degrees! We’re good friends!
Still, it was nice to have a rather chilled day to start with, hanging out at the WholeFoods Kitchen, which is where we ate almost every meal of Art Deco Weekend, because it is that good (and I usually hate restaurants where half the menu is vegan and gluten free).
From the cafe we sauntered to the Gatsby Picnic (oh Napier Deco Trust, with all the interesting things that happened in the 1920s and 30s in NZ, do you really have to borrow your Art Deco ideas from been-done-a-million-times overseas sources?) to loll around in the Glory Days Magazine’s ‘Opium Den’ in my beach pyjamas.
Then I popped home for a play with the vintage wireless and to put on ‘real’ clothes: my Bambi dress
All prettied up, we had one last stroll around the waterfront amongst the picnic settings, where we stumbled across a gorilla hunt.
Now where is that gorilla?
Once the beast was safely captured it was time to head back to Wellington for another year.
Goodbye Napier!
Sounds like a great (if hot) weekend! Love the outfits. The bambi dress is still fab and the beach pyjamas really come into their own.
Just watched the Spanish movie Belle Epoque (1993, I think – a very young Penelope Cruz) -set in 1931, there were some nice and recognisably early 30s dresses though I doubt total historical accuracy was a criterion.
Love the photos and how many costume changes you had. So lucky to have such a great wardrobe to kit yourself out — and every year it gets better.
Sounds like a great event! Thanks for taking the trouble to post these photos.
So many clothing changes! You were able to wear a lot of lovely outfits. And dancing in a fountain sounds like so much fun! I’ll have to add that to my list of things to do in life. Your other adventures sound fun, too. A gorilla! Dancing in the streets! Beach pajamas! Thanks for sharing pictures!
Best,
Quinn
Do you still remember how you said we’re possibly a version of each other in different countries? I’m getting that feeling again, because I’m not friends with temperatures above 27 Celsius, either!
It sounds like such a fun weekend; and it also looks like you made full use of all the 20s and 30s things you’ve made over the course of the HSF!
I really like the sense of that fun those photos convey. Gorilla hunt! Oh dear, poor gorilla had to be so hot.