So it seems that Gatsby fever has taken the world by storm. Everywhere you look, 1920's inspired music, clothes, accessories and parties are springing up and influencing how we dress, what we watch and even what we drink, due to the rise of prohibition inspired cocktails. I love the 1920's period and the sense of style that accompanied it - it was a departure from the straight-laced Victorian era and traditional values and an especially exciting time for women in the fashion and beauty stakes. Everything was new, exciting, decadent and dangerous, and The Great Gatsby captures the cultural moment perfectly. I have a deep love of F Scott Fitzgerald's book, probably due to studying it at A-level (you'd think this would put me off), and I still have my battered Penguin classics copy full of annotations, highlighted lines and post-it notes. The way he writes (at the risk of sounding like an over-enthusiastic literature student) really is like poetry, and I can still remember poignant favourite passages from the novel.

“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.”

― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

“There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams -- not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.”

― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed like a flower and the incarnation was complete.”

― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

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I've been excited about the release of the new Baz Luhrmann film ever since I heard rumours of its making a few years ago. Not only could I watch one of my favourite books transformed by the big screen, but I could simultaneously indulge my love of Leonardo Di Caprio. Win win. I saw the film last week, and was suitably impressed. I am a massive fan of the original 1974 film with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow (personally I think they make a better Gatsby and Daisy) - but that film, just like the new one, was very much of its time. Although like a typical lit student I managed to analyse Luhrmann's film whilst watching, I'm sure it would be just as entertaining if you knew nothing about the book whatsoever.

Mia Farrow and Robert Redford, The Great Gatsby, 1974. Image via www.filmreference.com

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The link between modern-day cultural extravagance and that of the 1920's is very well done, especially through the soundtrack. Sometimes the heavy hip-hop beats provided by Jay Z and Kanye West jar a little with the images seen on screen, but Baz Luhrmann's at times almost surreal cinematography helps pull this together - the music adds to the tone of the film and the darker message it's trying to relate. Lana Del Ray's "Young and Beautiful" is potentially the most beautiful thing to come out of the film, and I can't stop listening to it.

Like most people, I was entranced by the costumes in the film. Designed by Miuccia Prada and Catherine Martin, it was going to be something special. Considering that our Grad Ball is 1920's themed, my beady eyes were searching out style inspiration. Carey Mulligan's wardrobe was absolutely stunning - she was often draped in violet and pastel coloured silks, furs and lace. The Tiffany's jewellery was jaw-droppingly beautiful, and I now have to invest in some sort of dangly, diamond-esque headgear.

Image from Yahoo! Lifestyle

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So the question is, how can we jump on the band wagon and emulate this 1920's glamour? Fortunately, the high street is stuffed to the gunnels with Gatsby inspired clothing. Even walking past a vintage shop in my local town, they had a Gatsby themed window display - but with genuine 20's items instead of the mass produced stuff. Vintage shops are probably the best place to start shopping for original pieces, especially if you don't want to look like everyone else at the latest "Roaring Twenties" themed party. However, they can often be expensive; the jewels and embellishments on authentic flapper dresses and accessories can mean they are very much not purse/student friendly. So where else can we turn?

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