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DIAMONDS IN FASHION: II
of
queenly elegance rather than fashion leadership. But spring and summer
courts at Buckingham Palace continued to call forth the finest diamonds
in Europe. And even Ascot and Goodwood, the famous race meets, shone
with diamonds when the reluctant sun of the British Isles obliged.
While Edward, then Prince of Wales, remained unmarried, there was no
official lady to enjoy the diamonds willed to him by his grandmother,
Queen Alexandra, but the wives of his brothers assembled all the family
treasure for the royal coronation in London, 1937. The Duchess of Kent,
with her slender, patrician face, revived the popularity of long
earrings by wearing branched clusters of diamonds that almost touched
her shoulders.
The
fashion for diamonds was further stimulated just before the second
World War by Lady Astor's "Cliveden Set" week-end parties, the fabulous
rise of night clubs in Mayfair, and the chic originality of Mrs. Wallis
Simpson, who became the Duchess of Windsor. It was the duchess who
started the vogue for huge diamond flower sprays and other forms worn
on the bodice of an otherwise severely simple gown. At the turn of the
century, necklines had been beaded, draped with chiffon and medallions
of lace and rosettes of ribbon, while diamond brooches, pins, and
jeweled ornaments were piled on top. With one superb jewel in hand, the
duchess would visit her Paris couturier, Mainbocher (born Main Bocher
in Chicago), and he would design a background dress expressly for the
ornament.
At
the beginning of the second World War, the creative fashion world of
both London and Paris took a knockout blow. The Fashion Group in
London, important branch of a large professional fashion organization
in America, closed for the duration. In Paris even the dressmaking
shops turned to uniform production. But the long period
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