“A Not-Too- Serious celebration of the Art Deco Style” it says on the posters.

In fact I found it a VERY serious business indeed!!!!!!

We’ve just returned from sunny Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, after performing my one-woman show “Forget-Me-Not” in the annual Napier Art Deco Weekend.
For anyone who hasn’t experienced a Napier Art Deco Festival I suggest you book your accommodation right now for 2011. The city bursts at the seams with everything Art Deco and visitors from far and wide make this annual pilgrimage to soak up the atmosphere and play at being flappers and dappers of the day. People collect and sew all year round to wear the correct outfits for the correct events, which extend to couples and families being totally colour co-ordinated with each other for the entire week-end. Phew! Dressing up is all part of the fun when people can take on another persona and enjoy being a character in their very own show.
Festival-goers are dressed to jaw dropping quality, in some cases even down to the correct underwear, and that’s because a high percentage of these clothes are the real thing. In some cases the garments being worn are as old as 80 years plus! To a lover of vintage clothes this is one mighty fine feast for the eyes. It’s not just the few that are making the extra effort but a huge proportion are going to extraordinary lengths to wear the correct clothes and accessories, including the odd vintage Rolls Royce to transport them in!
For someone like me who performs as a character from the period, it gives me a unique chance to indulge Forget-Me-Not in the sights, sounds, feel and even smells of the period. As with any club, you get to socialise with others who are passionate about the period, with fans of Deco proudly revealing their latest finds. Handbags open to reveal genuine compacts, garters, cigarette holders, purses, hip flasks and of course jewels darling! Under hats you will find freshly finger -waved hair or sharply cut bobs, and in our case, Pauly now has vintage glasses with prescription lenses so that he doesn’t feel out of place with modern specs. I think there is something very special about being able to wear and use genuine items in this context, and I swear people carry themselves differently wearing period clothes, whether they are genuine or not. Like elegant movie stars, people drift from soiree to soiree, and rather charmingly the men even behave with chivalry!

Here are just a few pics of a fabulous weekend.