Settling into my favorite armchair, I’ve found myself seeking relaxation and comfort at the start of what will surely be an exciting twelve-month turn ‘round the sun. Lounging in my favorite silk housecoat, a bite of Turkish delight and black tea at my side, I opened this year’s first issue of Life for some rather extravagant reading time.
An American couple fawn over the luxurious Damascus silk and gold brocade being sold by a Lebanese man in a market in Beirut.
What do you suppose I found nestled in the pages but evidence that my own extravagance is part of a larger atmosphere! Littered across this issue is a curious return to the lush grandeur of the La Belle Époque, the era at the turn of the century in which we became enthralled with the Ballet Russes and Leon Bakst’s vision of Schéhérazade, Alfons Mucha painted the natural world with feminine mystique, and…