Lilac Falls

Lilac is the colour of March, which works for both spring and autumn, depending on which hemisphere you hail from. Supposedly it’s autumn here in Melbourne, but you wouldn’t know it from the temperature! It feels like high summer still. Lilac, however, does suit me, a fact I did not discover until the last few years. I always held purple in abhorrence because my mother foisted a little too much of it (her favourite colour) on me when I was a child.

I am enjoying this chic calendar this year. I particularly enjoy the fashion illustrations of this era, the 1930s–50s – the insouciant brushwork is just so elegant. Watercolour was a favourite medium, and is not the easiest to master; the illustrators of this period show an admirable command of it. You can practically feel the weight in the drapery in these gowns.

These gowns are from the Nuit Quisante and Nuit Romantique collections, from the House of Worth, 1950–51.

Have a fabulous month!