In February I was invited to a friend’s Galentine’s party. Although I’m pretty sure I’ve done things with gal friends on Valentine’s Day in the past, I’ve never been to an ‘official’ party before. It was so fun! We ate loads of delicious food that the host had stayed up all night (literally) making and watched the movie Bottoms—which is hilarious and weird and sort of touching at times. There was also a bar stocked with all sorts of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. And lest you’d forget this was a gal’s night, there was a face mask and nail station. All pleasure, no guilt.
My friend had decorated a section of her kitchen wall with dozens of pink and multi-coloured paper hearts. The table was chock-full of food, including at least two beautifully decorated cakes. There were dried rose buds strewn everywhere. She’d thought of every detail.
I love it when people go all out to decorate their dinner table, either with a theme or just a colour scheme. It makes the event more special. And it’s a good outlet to express creativity. It’s like art directing—and transforming—your space to give the ambiance you want.
My mum never dubbed herself as creative, yet when I was growing up she’d decorate the house even for ‘lesser’ holidays like, incidentally, Valentine’s or Easter. And now she has a theme at every dinner party she hosts. She clearly goes through a creative process to come up with those themes, starting with what she’s cooking (an art in itself), which then informs the table presentation. It will sometimes spill onto the table’s surroundings. Some birthday bunting on the buffet, some framed picture of the “fêté” on the wall. She’s marking the occasion through decoration.
That’s also what we do when we dress up for an event. We recognise that it’s a special occasion and we honour it with clothes to match. That’s how I see it anyway. With my fashion design background, I obviously never thought that caring about dressing up was superficial.
I recently came across photos of my friends and I in our 20s, having dinner and being super dressed up for it. Our group motto was definitely that you could never be over-dressed, and it was great. We always made sure those events were special.
‘Decoration’ isn’t trivial. It’s part of a time immemorial human desire to beautify our environment and ourselves—not to make ourselves more physically attractive to others, but to find joy in our appearance through creativity. Because beauty uplifts our spirits.
Judith xx
Monthly inspiration
Speaking of beauty, I went to see the exhibition Sargent and Fashion last week.
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) used fashion in his paintings to express identity and personality. To do so, he acted as a stylist: deciding what the sitters would be wearing and often pinning the garments to create the desired effect. Sometimes he would also change certain details, or even the colour, of the clothing as he was painting them.
The portraits he produced are stunning. I love that the faces and hands are rendered in detail (albeit with a sort of flattering soft-focus), whereas the garments are often more impressionistic. Yet, from further away they seem very life-like. It’s only when you observe them closely that you see how loosely they’ve been painted. Like in the below painting. The lilac sash is actually made up of bold brush strokes, as opposed to being painstakingly rendered in detail. But our brain sees a sash right away.
To be completely honest, if I’d gone for the fashion part of the exhibition I would have been disappointed by the lack of real garments included in it. But I was more than satisfied with the beautiful paintings.
You can follow my illustration and graphic design work here.