There has been extensive coverage on the Internet of L’Uomo Vogue party for the Venice Film Festival opening, organised at Palazzo Papadopoli.
During the last few hours there has been instead a lot more interest and speculation on Louis Vuitton’s celebrations tonight in honour of Sofia Coppola's film Somewhere, at Palazzo Polignac.
Gatecrashers are warned, though, this is a very private party for only a few guests (no obnoxious fashion bloggers, because you don't need them to sell anything here, but quite a few obnoxious characters from the, erm, "extremely talented" Italian "cast").
You will have further options to do some gatecrashing at Vanity Fair Italia’s party for Julian Schnabel's Miral at Palazzo Pisani Moretta on 9th September; at Diego Della Valle’s dinner again at Palazzo Papadopoli (on 10th September) in honour of Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo and at the Hollywood Night Party at Molino Stucky Hilton Venice on the Giudecca Island (12th Sept), where even the staff is expected to dress up in Hollywood style (dear me, at least leave the staff alone…).
So while we will probably see at the weekend the net being flooded by "Who was wearing what at Louis Vuitton's party"-features, let’s go back in time to rediscover one of the greatest parties that took place in Venice, Charles de Beistegui’s “Le Bal Oriental”, also known simply as “Le Bal Beistegui” at Palazzo Labia.
Don Carlos de Beistegui y de Yturbe was a multi-millionaire art collector and interior decorator.
A heir to a huge fortune, he had a house built on the Champs-Élysées that was designed by Le Corbusier, with a roof terrace by Salvador Dalí and other amenities such as an electronically operated hedge that parted to reveal a view of the Arc de Triomphe.
Beistegui bought Palazzo Labia – located in the Cannaregio area of Venice – at the end of the 40s and filled it with many works of arts, tapestries and antiques, turning it into a magnificent example of what was later called “Beistegui style”.
Fifty-nine years ago, on 3rd September 1951, Beistegui held a masked costume ball in his Palazzo.
Invitations were sent months in advance and the list included hundreds of guests, from public figures and members of the aristocracy to millionaires from all over the world, among them also the Aga Khan III, Jacques Fath, Orson Welles, Daisy Fellowes, Gala Dalí, Gene Tierney, Countess Jacqueline de Ribes, Princess Maria Pignatelli and Countess Consuela Crespi.
Among the designers and artists involved to create the costumes there were also Christian Dior and Salvador Dalí (who designed each others' costumes), Pierre Cardin and Nina Ricci.
The “party of the century”, as the event was dubbed, was a glamorous extravaganza, an extremely lavish celebration that ended up on many newspapers and magazines.
Guests carefully studied their amazing attires, while entrances were carefully rehearsed to make sure everything went smoothly.
Beistegui was clad in scarlet robes and his 18th century costume was completed by a huge wig and platform soles; loving Oriental artifacts, the collector Arturo Lopez Willshaw and his wife Patricia dressed as the Emperor and Empress of China; couturier Jacques Fath opted for a Roi Soleil costume that, being heavily embroidered, didn’t allow him to sit down in his gondola.
Lady Diana Cooper was instead dressed in a Cleopatra costume inspired by Tiepolo’s Palazzo Labia fresco "The Banquet of Cleopatra".
Entertained by a fine dinner, jazz bands, dancers, troupes of giants and even the Venice firemen performing human pyramids, some guests ended up going home in the early hours of the next morning.
Cecil Beaton photographed the event for Vogue and he perfectly managed to capture the flamboyant atmosphere, with Orson Welles almost looking out of place in black tie with his head topped with feathers since his costume was late and Daisy Fellowes dressed as the Queen of Africa.
For the occasion, Fellowes, a very famous figure in the society in the 1920’s, unanimously considered as a fashion pioneer (she was a supporter of Elsa Schiaparelli), a trendsetter and style icon, but also famous for being a jewellery collector, novelist and poet and editor in chief of French Harper's Bazaar, wore the famous “Hindu Necklace”
This piece of jewellery had been created by Cartier combining a string of emeralds, sapphires and diamonds set in platinum with two bracelets.
The necklace followed the trend for “Tutti Frutti” (the necklace was re-christened with this name after 1963, when Cartier redesigned the piece for Fellowes’ daughter) jewellery that spread in the 30s when jewels featuring multi-coloured exotic stones were considered as the height of fashion.
Fellowes made a grand entrance even though she wasn’t feeling too well and many celebrities invited admitted she was the most elegant guest at the party.
It's a shame Cecil Beaton is not alive today, because he would have taken better pictures than anyone else at the parties currently taking place in Venice.
Who knows, he may have even turned Franca Sozzani, Quentin Tarantino, Danny Trejo and Robert Rodriguez (pictured here at L'Uomo Vogue party) from a bunch of criminals caught in pre-robbery action into a stylish group of people.
NB If you don't manage to gatecrash any party, don't despair, just get yourself a copy of Jean-Louis de Faucigny's Legendary Parties (well, dig it out from a library or try to find a battered copy somewhere as it can be a very expensive book) and enjoy reading about the most extravagant events – "Le Bal Beistegui" included – ever organised.
No chances to find the book? Try the 5 DVD box set Le Bal du Siecle (The Ball of the Century) about different famous personalities from Peggy Guggenheim to Charles de Beistegui (check out the embedded video – in French).
http://dailymotion.virgilio.it/swf/video/x2x20w?additionalInfos=0
Le bal du Siècle extrait Beistegui
Caricato da chateaudegroussay. – Guarda video esclusivi per il web
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