It's rare that a biographer has a life more interesting than his own subjects, but Lytton Strachey was a biography waiting to happen. The eleventh child of an Indian civil engineer and the essayist Lady Jane Strachey, Lytton went from being a proper history student at Cambridge to living life as a de

Bloomsbury, Clever, Excessive, Glamour, Perverse, Profane

In 1931 the audience rose in tribute as Saint Sa'ns' music from "The Dying Swan" played to an empty stage. Anna Pavlova had just died of pleurisy. On her deathbed, she issued one last request: "Bring my swan costume." By the end of her illustrious career, the swan had become her emblem. One stunning

Charming, Ecstatic, Feminine, Glamour, Grand, Opulent, The early russians

Josephine Baker adored him. Cher would have loved him. Liberace would have hired him. He was George Barbier, the creator of flamboyant, glittering, over-the-top costumes for flamboyant, glittering, over-the-top people. Barbier's designs were visual glories, often adorned with paste jewelry, flowing t

Art nouveau fashion, Decorative, Excessive, Fantastic, Glamour, Overflowing

With Madeleine Vionnet, modern style and elegance stepped onstage. The 'Queen of the Bias Cut,' she replaced the upholstered look of bustles and petticoats with flowing lines and draped fabrics. She liberated women from the torture and constraint of the corset; she allowed them to breathe, to move gr

Art nouveau fashion, Classical, Clean, Elegant, Glamour, Organic