Is The Great Gatsby still required high school reading? I remember when I was first introduced the F. Scott Fitzgerald book and how much I loved and was absolutely taken in by not only the characters and the story, but by the descriptions and imagining all the beauty and extravagance and decadence of the time. And then I saw the Robert Redford / Mia Farrow film and fell even deeper in love. I adore the style of this time period, from fashion and jewelry to decor and architecture. I love just about anything with an art deco, or even an art nouveau, influence.

So of course when the new Baz Luhrmann film came out I was beside myself to go and see it. The visuals in his movies are always so amazing. I remember being absolutely spellbound by Moulin Rouge. When the new Great Gatsby opened, I decided to take my daughter and ask mother/daughter friends to join us for the movie. My daughter was thrilled to go see the movie and that probably had more to do with Leonardo DiCaprio than anything else! But she was so excited she decided she wanted to dress up for the film. So we texted her friend and the two of them wore black dresses and character shoes and donned the flapper look as best they could on short notice:) It was pretty sweet.

The film was just what I expected…..a visual feast! Just gorgeous! One of the first scenes to strike me was near the beginning of the film when Nick first sees Daisy in her home. She was lost in laughter as huge panels of white sheers, being blown by the breeze, filled the room and rose high in the air and then and kissed her as they fell back down again. It was such a beautiful scene and so romantic. I couldn’t get the image out of my mind after seeing the film and set about thinking of ways I could make some portraits inspired by this imagery.

So a trip to a secondhand store and I found this treasure of a dress. I knew with some embellishments it could be perfect. Another discussion with Amy Schaming, my fabulous makeup artist and hairdresser, was just what I needed to take the costuming to a new level. Amy made the glorious headdress and had the perfect embellishments for the dress. My mother gave me the shoes just a few days before the shoot!

Amy’s amazing work on hair and makeup was absolutely perfect. We placed our beautiful “Daisy”, Nikki Thilges, on my luxurious purple tufted sofa and borrowed a couple of fans to blow the sheer panels I made to dress up my studio (one fan was from a client just down the street who was even kind enough to drop it by the studio on the day of the shoot!). We experimented with the lights and the placement of the furniture and posing, put the fans on high speed (and Amy sat behind the sofa giving the sheers a little extra throw every once in a while), and we shot some dreamy Gatsby images! I hope you enjoy them:)

And these two just for fun:)

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