Party of the Century | Le Bal Oriental, 3rd September 1951

photograph by Robert Doisneau

Over one thousands invitations for Charles de Beistegui’s Le Bal Oriental were sent out six months prior to the night of 3rd September 1951 to give guests time to design their elaborate costumes. The event, inspired by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s fresco The Banquet of Cleopatra at his Palazzo Labia, would see desperate Americans anchoring their yachts at the Venice Lido in the hope of an invitation.

Odette Toilette’s 1950’s Vintage Scent Session

 

On Saturday 6th December I attended the first of the Vintage Scent Sessions I booked with the brilliant Odette Toilette at Les Senteurs on Seymour Place in Marylebone.  To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but I left the session that day with any expectations I might have held very much exceeded.