The little town of May’s Landing alongside The Chamber Society is a beautiful 1920s social club, one on the risqué side of town. 

Collabor88 is celebrating its second anniversary with a huge showcase – two stories featuring all the regulars and all the guests from the past year. It is the biggest Collabor88 showcase yet and best of all, it features the clothing from one of my favorite fashion eras, the 1920s. I first fell in love with the 1920s during my summer visits to my great aunt who was kindly called “a character.” She had been good friends with F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and she and her husband partied with them at their apartment on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. However, time moved on and they and she did not.

This lovely dress from The Secret Store is materials ready – and so lustrous in the moonlight.

How could a child not adore her, this 70-something woman dressed in rich, beaded and embroidered flapper gowns and gold and silver encrusted pumps with her hennaed hair in a bob with a flower on the side. She told wonderful stories of that era. Stories of speakeasies, parties and jazz. She taught me songs, dances and filled my head with stories of their parties, of meeting Charles Lindbergh before he disgraced himself, of Louis Tiffany and of course, Scott and Zelda. She loved that era and never left it. Yes, she was a few bubbles off plumb and probably looked ridiculous dressing in fashions sixty years out of time, but for a child – she was incomparable. Besides, she was family and families love their odd ducks. 

These shoes from Schadenfreude are also materials ready and show the kind of detail that made Jazz Age clothing something to obsess over for a lifetime.

The quintessential accessory of The Jazz Age was a long rope of cultured pearls, many of them dyed in all sorts of colors. My great aunt had a tree branch that she covered in mirror mosaics from which she hung a rainbow of long pearl necklaces.

Besides, how crazy was she? The clothing flattered her lean and spare frame. The bob accentuated her eyes. Why should she have moved on to the fitted waists and structured jackets of the 40s and 50s when she did not have the curves that made those fashions work?  And why should she give up the stunning details and beautiful art deco patterns just because other people had moved on?

She’s dead now, of course. She was a woman of her century, born in the first decade and dying in the last decade. She saw the world change, but did not change with it. But she really was rather wonderful – and so very happy.

The loose curls of this hairdo from D!va were a popular style as was the flower in the hair. The gorgeous skin is from Glam Affair.

So here’s to you, Merry Christmas. You filled my childhood with glamour and excitement and introduced me to jazz and the blues. I knew you were odd, we all knew you were odd. But we loved you for it.

Store info at Blogging Second Life
****SHOPPING LIST******
Poses: oOo Studio
Skin:-Glam Affair – Katya – Europa 05 C @ Collabor88
Eyes: Poetic Colors classic – forest morning (m) bright
Lashes: Lelutka
Mani/Pedi: SLink Mesh Hands with FLAIR mani applier
Hair: “”D!va”” Hair “Layla” (Type A)(Red amber) @ Collabor88
Clothing: The Secret Store – Sequined Flapper Dress V1 – Nude – @ Collabor88
Shoes: Schadenfreude Casinelle, materials @ Collabor88
Jewelry: DECO – MESH Marilyn Pearls (Salmon) @ Collabor88
Location: May’s Landing maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Floris/142/87/24