Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been drawn to the feminine world evoked by the charming items I found on my grandmothers’ and aunts’ dressing tables. I have memories of various bedrooms in the Art Deco or Venetian Baroque style, where I would slip in and spend my time exploring among old perfume bottles, powder boxes, and other things that piqued my curiosity. I found the old silk curtains with matching bed drapes, lovely cushions, lampshades, and more to be fascinating.
In those days, these items were somewhat snubbed, considered old-fashioned, and people preferred more modern furnishings. Even those who loved antiques couldn’t appreciate the charm of those slightly kitschy furnishings. Yet, I lost myself in them and asked my grandmothers many questions about how people used to dress, the purpose of the various items I saw, and those items that may have been forgotten but not discarded, no longer in use. My interest in the world of ladies’ boudoirs was born in those years.
Later, as I became passionate about the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald and American literature in general, I often found the atmospheres of ladies’ boudoirs and sitting rooms evoked in those pages, true mirrors of an era and witnesses to the history of fashion.
Ribbon art: the Ribbonwork technique
To create the furnishings for their charming boudoirs, the ladies of those times invested not only their money, of course, we are talking about social classes that could afford it, but they also had creative energy, manual skills, and proficiency in embroidery, sewing, and other arts, such as cartonnage.
Just arrived
I’ve found some beautiful American magazines from the 1920s dedicated to ‘Ribbon Art,’ which involves using silk ribbons to create various types of decorations.
Browsing through these magazines is like taking a dive into the life of a ‘Flapper.’ In Italian, it’s often translated as ‘maschietta,’ meaning a bold and unconventional girl for that era. She liberated herself from the confines of the corset, dared to cut her hair short, wore rather short skirts, and loved to have fun, dance, attend parties, travel, and enjoy life.
So, here’s a series of fashionable accessories to create using the Ribbonwork technique, such as bandeaus (headbands), hat embellishments, garters, belts, lingerie items…
For example, this dance purse made of gradient silk ribbon is absolutely stunning. It’s decorated with metallic lace and Ribbonwork roses, and it features a mirror at the bottom. This purse was used to carry a powder puff, the compact (a pocket-sized powder box), and perhaps lipstick during dance nights.
Or this lovely pouch made of interwoven pink ribbons and decorated with lace and Ribbonwork roses. It was used to hold a small velvet powder puff and was an accessory for an evening purse.
Absolutely precious is this oval box for holding thimbles and sewing scissors. It has a lid embroidered with silk ribbon in a Ribbonwork rose motif.
Moving on to interior decorations, these magazines offer a thousand suggestions for creating furnishings for the boudoir, the nursery, or imaginative decorations for parties and gatherings.
Lampshades, cushions, pincushions, powder boxes, linen bags, and charming, colorful, and exuberantly decorated baskets fill these old pages.
In this context, these three stunning pincushion cushions made of silk, lace, and Ribbonwork ribbons are very interesting. They were used to hold hat pins and are filled with sand or sawdust, making them very hard and compact, shaped like small logs.
Very beautiful and rare, this stunning lilac silk cushion with ecru lace and a Ribbonwork motif applied at the center, along with a garland of silk roses. Equally impressive is the moire silk picture frame in cream color with Ribbonwork rose embroidery and a basket.
Pink silk curtain embrasses adorned with Ribbonwork silk ribbon roses and charming lace lampshades with silk rose decorations.
Here’s a beautiful silk lilac lingerie bag with lace and metallic lace, featuring a magnificent Ribbonwork application in the center. There’s also a charming paddle-shaped mirror with a richly decorated back in lace and Ribbonwork silk flowers.
Some delightful powder boxes, one heart-shaped with a miniature in the style of Marie Antoinette, and another with a half-length porcelain figure forming the handle of the powder puff.
Light blue silk hatpins cushion with silk roses and lace.
Boudoir lilac silk shirt case with RIBBONWORK flowers from the 1920s.
BOUDOIR silk pillow lilac lace and RIBBONWORK roses.
Antique powder puff with half porcelain doll handle.
1920s mirror with Ribbonwork roses and wand.
1920s powder puff envelope with Ribbonwork roses.
Antique French powder box with ribbonwork and small roses for the Boudoir.
Antique box covered in lace and Ribbonwork.
Hatpins cushion with Ribbonwork silk roses and lace.
Antique sewing set box with Ribbonwork silk roses.
French photo frame with Ribbonwork, an Edwardian-era rose basket.
