Art, Design, Theatre, Literature, History, Food, Laughter …
Cecil Beaton in China during the Second World War
Cecil Beaton Photographs from the collections of the Imperial War Museum.
‘Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.’
Cecil Beaton: Portraits and Profiles
Take care and keep laughing!
![Bird on the Beam © Sarah Vernon [Crated]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/e254blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Bird on the Beam © Sarah Vernon [Crated]")
![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/ma077blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra - Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (")
![Artful Pumpkins © Sarah Vernon [Redbubble]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/hl008blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Artful Pumpkins © Sarah Vernon [Redbubble]")
![The Boat House Tote Bag © Sarah Vernon [Fine Art England]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/totebagfae.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "totebagfae")
![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Photograph by “Nicolai Bernsten”:DJ;KGH; at “Unsplash”:http://unsplash.com Textures “2LO Confetti 17 and 2LO Distressed 12 from”:http://2lilowls.com](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/e289blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "The Boat House")
![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/photorehabcovermakeoveraugust.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "#photorehabcovermakeoverAugust")
![Photograph from the ex-Mrs FND Photograph from Unsplash Texture 2LO Ancient times 2 Clock created for Behind Time Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/e353blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Beating the Blues")
![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Vintage Henry Irving and Ellen Terry as Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing from The Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97514042/ The background is a blend of the interior of The Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851 from an old encyclopaedia — the venue was originally built in Hyde Park and the exhibition was organised by Prince Albert and Henry Cole — and textures from “2 Lil’ Owls”:http://2lilowls.com. http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/g/great-exhibition/](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/e284blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Beatrice and Benedick")
![Butterfly Cascade © Sarah Vernon [Crated]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/e250blog1.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Butterfly Cascade © Sarah Vernon [Crated]")
![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Green-painted fence https://unsplash.com/photos/FxeeNx_yMpw Lake Annecy by Mindy Sommers Celestial Eruption by eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/NvesrDbsrL4](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/v057fb.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Valentine Blush")
![Romance in Stone [framed] © Sarah Vernon](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/romanceinstoneframed.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "romanceinstoneframed")
![Photo Unsplash Texture - 2LO Haunting 14 & 2LO Haunting 23 - “2 Lil’ Owls”:http://2lilowls.com. Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/e285blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Night Landings © Sarah Vernon")
![Butterflies from China, Japan, and Corea: “Biodiversity Library”:http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/45490916 Texture: “Kerstin Frank”:https://www.flickr.com/photos/kerstinfrank-design/9181048645/in/photostream/ Flowers: “Rijksmuseum”:https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/my/collections/150967--sarah-vernon/mijn-eerste-verzameling/objecten#/SK-A-3899,0 Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/e309blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "‘Happiness is a Butterfly’")
![Gabrielle d'Estrees and one of her sisters [unknown]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/ma015frame.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "ma015frame")
![Venetian Rose Water © Sarah Vernon [Crated]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/e257blog1.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Venetian Rose Water © Sarah Vernon [Crated]")
![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Advert from The Graphics Fairy](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/e286blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Vintage Pettit’s Eye Salve")
![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/e221blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Bring up the Curtain")
![Yacht: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zakhark/572331622/in/faves-83665426@N05/ Texture: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kerstinfrank-design/19581317079/in/faves-83665426@N05/ Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/e303blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Sailing to the Moon")
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A Historic England Blog
Updates from the Archive on WordPress
My experiences of my time sleeping rough on the streets of North east England
Free full-color vintage illustrations in the public domain! Curated from postcards, books, ads, and more antique media from the 19th to early 20th-century.
Ranting from the chalkface
Exploring the spidery corners of a culture and the weird stuff that tourist brochures ignore.
Art and the philosophy of life
24 comments
Comments feed for this article
17/01/2015 at 16:42
jennifer barrile
One of my favorite quotes I have it hanging in my lil art studio.
LikeLiked by 1 person
18/01/2015 at 12:59
First Night Design
Perfect place to hang it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
15/01/2015 at 14:07
Sherry Key, Artist
“Like” and I love that bamboo too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
15/01/2015 at 15:01
First Night Design
Bamboo is magic in all its forms, I think.
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15/01/2015 at 01:42
mandy
I love that photo!
LikeLiked by 1 person
15/01/2015 at 15:00
First Night Design
It is rather splendid although he does look somewhat camp in those shorts. But since he swung both ways, it’s appropriate!
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15/01/2015 at 19:34
mandy
Lol. Oh Sarah, you just cracked me up! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
14/01/2015 at 23:03
Mary
I’m up for the imaginary dinner as well, interesting with plenty of good laughs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
15/01/2015 at 14:57
First Night Design
It’s always fascinating, isn’t it, to imagine such dinner parties.
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14/01/2015 at 17:38
elainecanham
you do the asking, and I’ll write down the answers!
LikeLiked by 2 people
14/01/2015 at 17:39
elainecanham
eek, that’s a reply to you line about quizzing Garbo and Beaton. Pressed the wrong button. Sorry, Sarah!
LikeLiked by 1 person
14/01/2015 at 17:42
First Night Design
Ha! I’ve been pressing wrong buttons for months…
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14/01/2015 at 17:44
elainecanham
Nice to know I’m in good company!
LikeLiked by 1 person
14/01/2015 at 17:22
First Night Design
Reblogged this on First Night Design and commented:
Cecil Beaton was born on this day in 1904.
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09/08/2014 at 11:52
Smorgasbord - Variety is the Spice of Life.
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
I saw this earlier in the week and saved to reblog – everyone has their own style. My mother used to get Vogue magazine from 1920’s onwards and being a keen seamstress would buy patterns of those outfits she liked. But they always had a twist – a beret to match or a cape in the same material. She was the jacket queen and I remember she bought a very vivid pink number at 92 and said to the saleswoman ‘I only buy the best as I expect them to last a lifetime!’ You can’t buy it and Cecil Beaton certainly proved that.
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06/08/2014 at 15:58
olganm
That would be a dinner and a half!
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06/08/2014 at 16:12
First Night Design
Thought I might throw in Noel Coward and FDR…
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06/08/2014 at 14:01
janemorley2014
Great quotation and fascinating photo – I’m a real fan of Beaton! 🙂
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06/08/2014 at 14:10
First Night Design
He was a fascinating man and a sublime photographer, not to mention his stage and screen costumes.
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06/08/2014 at 14:17
janemorley2014
Absolutely! – so many great talents to inspire! 🙂
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06/08/2014 at 12:43
teagan geneviene
What a fabulous quote!
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06/08/2014 at 14:09
First Night Design
It is rather, isn’t it!
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06/08/2014 at 11:55
janetweightreed10
Wonderful….Imagine sitting next to him at dinner…Have a lovely Wednesday. Janet:)
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06/08/2014 at 14:08
First Night Design
That would be rather fabulous. I think I’d put Garbo on the other side and quiz them about their relationship! Happy Wednesday!
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