We are dreaming of a white...hot Gatsby-themed party!
Ok, so maybe the new Gatsby movie has received quite a few rotten tomatoes and literature buffs are turning up their noses at director/producer/screen writer Baz Luhrmann and set/costume designer Catherine Martin's razzle dazzle version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's American classic. However, we feel that you can't help but get inspired and excited by the husband and wife duo's brightly-colored, visually-decadent rendition of the roaring twenties fused with the "hip-hop consumerism" of the present day. And being creatives in the 2000s, we are always looking for an excuse to come up with a party scheme with hopes to one day produce it!
Her head spinning with ideas after just seeing the movie, Peyton dug up story boards from design school in which she had taken creative liberties with Fitzgerald's text to create her own versions of the interiors and exteriors described in the book. Here are two of my faves that seem pretty spot on:
"...even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay."
or
"...enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby's enormous garden."
"chain of connecting verandas to the porch...in its deep gloom we sat down side by side on a wicker setee."
or
"a rosy-colored porch open toward the sunset where four candles flickered..."
So where did Fitzgerald get his inspiration for the imaginary towns of East and West Egg, you ask? Manhasset Bay in Long Island. And where are we imagining our own fictitious party to be? Also on Long Island, but perhaps in the shabby-chic-Manhattan-summer-escape-beach-town of Montauk??? And why a white party?
Well three reasons, really:
1. I personally love white and have always wanted to have a white party!
2. Perhaps the all white theme can cleanse away some (but certainly not all) of the decadence and bring some pure simplicity to our own EPiC Gatsby interpretation.
3. Who doesn't love a guy in a white linen suit? And I don't mean your Southern dad's linen suit either. These gentleman--one of them being the glorious Robert Redford in the first film version of Gatsby and the other one being my childhood and forever celebrity crush Brad Pitt...oh and P. Diddy, too--display it oh-so nicely.
And what else can I tell you about the setting? Well how about a beautiful grassy lawn, near the beach of course, outlined with big whimsical trees adorned with crystal chandeliers (gotta keep a little razzle dazzle) and string lights. And how about some of those blowing white curtains depicted in the movie that so beautifully came right from the book: "A breeze blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding cake of a ceiling..."
What about food and drink? I will make this easy. Champagne, and lots of it in my favorite shaped glass, the coupe!
Finally, there should be lawn games and music aplenty. Croquet? Cards? Dancing? And definitely some '20s jazz with a little Jay-Z and Lana Del Ray mixed in. At the end of the party sparklers will be lit and white paper sky lanterns will be let go with wishes on the beach (the ones that are so popular right now at weddings, which originated in Asia).
So, when is this party? T.B.D, but an American girl can dream, right? Check out EPiC's Pinterest Board for more Gatby inspirations on fashion, events, and decor!