Louis and Fanny

French artist Louis Icart’s romantic etchings epitomized the sylph-like feminine ideal of the 1920s. Perhaps he created it. His model was his wife, Fanny Volmers. Her dreamy and sensuous poses are accented by luxurious gowns and robes that slip away from her body. They reveal, among other things, the freedom and joy of the age. Let Louis and Fanny be your inspiration to flaunt your finery from Jane’s Vanity.

Imagine the studio where Louis and Fanny worked. She  had been a mannequin at the Parisian fashion house of Paquin. Perhaps her day with Louis was spent experimenting with lingerie, chatting with her sister, also a model, and playing with one of the many dogs (and the occasional fluffy cat) that populated Icart’s work. The atmosphere? One wishes to picture it as a salon: bustling with creativity, furnished in Nouveau and Deco, filled with street noise, gramophone music, the laughter of the occasional glamorous guest.

You would fit right in to this scene in your own lingerie experiment. Your clingy robe might bare a shoulder or act as a billowy backdrop for something flirty underneath. Lise Charmel stuns us with her Rêve Orchidée Devoré Robe in lavender burnout silk covered in a cherry blossom print. Wear it loose with its matching lingerie set that translates the flower pattern into embroidery in shades of red, pink, white, purple, orange, and green.

Or choose a lounging pajama with matching kimono. Emma Harris seems to channel the world of Louis and Fanny with her Elsa Navy Silk Pajama Set and Robe. Its skimpy little racerback top features sheer appliqued inserts at cups. The appliqued pockets of the trousers allow you to strike a pose. The heavenly embroidered sleeves of the  kimono add flutter.

Gilda & Pearl register the opulence of the Jazz Age with their new Persephone Collection in shimmering pale yellow silk trimmed with metallic white lace. Enjoy the Camisole Set with its bedroom shorts, the slinky Slip, and the versatile kimono-style Robe.

One hundred years later, Louis and Fanny’s art is fresh and empowering. The scenes were not just about women, but for women. A celebration of beauty and erotic possibility. Take a cue from them and let your Jane’s Vanity wardrobe add magic to your life.

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