Le Bal oriental
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Le Bal oriental was a masquerade ball held by Carlos de Beistegui at the Palazzo Labia on 3 September 1951.
It was one of the largest and most lavish social events of the 20th century. It launched the career of the Venetian fashion designer Pierre Cardin, who designed about 30 of the costumes worn by members of the "dolce vita" who attended. Christian Dior and Salvador Dalí designed each other's costumes. Cecil Beaton's photographs of the ball display an almost surreal society, reminiscent of the Venetian life immediately before the fall of the republic at the end of the 18th century. The party was to be one of the last truly spectacular events in the famous ballroom.
The invitations went out six months beforehand. The guest list included the Aga Khan III, Barbara Hutton, Gene Tierney, Countess Jacqueline de Ribes, Jacques Fath, Count Armand de La Rochefoucauld, Duff and Lady Diana Cooper, Orson Welles, Daisy Fellowes, Paul-Louis Weiller, Cecil Beaton, Gala Dalí, Baron de Chabrol, Desmond Guinness, Alexis von Rosenberg, Baron de Redé, Prince and Princess Chavchavadze, Arturo Lopez-Willshaw, Patricia Lopez-Willshaw, Fulco di Verdura, Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, Princess Natalia Pavlovna Paley, Nelson Seabra, Aimée de Heeren, Princess Ghislaine de Polignac, Princess del Drago, Princess Gabrielle Arenberg, Hélène Rochas, Princess Caetani, Princess Colonna, Prince Mathieu de Brancovan and many others.
Among the guests of Le Bal oriental were the painters Fabrizio Clerici and Leonor Fini; there is a photograph of them both, in the wee hours of morning, coming back from the party in a gondola, still in their costumes. Christian Dior and Salvador Dalí designed each other's costumes. Winston Churchill and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were invited but did not attend. Many who would have liked to have been invited were not. The host wore scarlet robes and a long curling wig, and his normal height (5 ft. 6 in.) was raised a full 16 inches by platform soles. Cecil Beaton's photographs of the ball display an almost surreal society, reminiscent of the Venetian life immediately before the fall of the republic at the end of the 18th century. The "party of the century" launched the career of Pierre Cardin, who designed about 30 of the costumes. Nina Ricci was another designer who was involved.
