We took a tour around the Mediterranean, stopping off at fabulous island destinations such as Capri, Mykonos and Ibiza on our way. We were inspired by the laid back yet extremely polished glamour of the party side of island life. It’s a collection that goes back to nature in various ways, yet always retains a particular sort of elegance.

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Madeline Weinrib and Soledad Twombly’s collaboration is available at Atelier Soledad 

Photo courtesy of bisbybis.wordpress.com, www.madelineweinrib.com

Whether the image of a woman resplendent in a kaftan conjures up Vreeland herself, reclining in her red sitting room, Elizabeth Taylor decked out in her brocade versions complete with jewels, Kate Moss cruising up the gangplank to Club 55 in Saint Tropez for lunch, Talitha Getty, beautiful on a Moroccan rooftop or even Auntie Mame, there is an air of nonchalance and spirit of eccentricity inherent in this way of dressing that we adore. It suggests a love of adventure, a fuss free approach that leaves plenty of room for good times and a relaxed sort of fabulousness you just can’t bottle. Kaftan wearers are invariably the most fun women at the party – most likely, equal parts glamorous and eccentric. They also look fantastic. Dripping in print or embroidery, clad in wonderful colour, swathed in luxurious fabrics – and then paired with some simple flats – this is a look that never dates and never ceases to make the best sort of statement.

In our designs at KOTUR, the idea is always to deliver just this sort of glamour.  It’s the kind that wears as well with jeans as it does with cocktail dresses, that takes you somewhere in your imagination, somewhere exotic and indulgent, without ever seeming forced. Gyspet style speaks to the kaftan wearer in all of us. Look to our designs, and you’ll see that they do, too.

Click through our gallery above to see some of our very favorite examples of wonderful kaftan wearers. Brilliantly bohemian, inordinately glamorous and effortlessly fabulous, these are women dressing with just a little bit of decadence, and we love them for it. Because too much of a good thing really can be wonderful.

Photo Courtesy:

1. Talitha Getty, Patrick Lichfield, Vogue, January 15, 1970
2. Elizabeth Taylor, That’s Entertainment (1974)
3. Diana Vreeland, photo by Horst p Horst in her ‘Garden from Hell’ 1979
4. Rosalind Russell in the role of Auntie Mame (1958)
5. Donna Marella Agnelli, photo by Horst P. Horst featured in Horst Interiors by Barbara Plumb, 1993
6. Catherline Deneuve, Vogue, 1966
7. Lee Radziwill in an Ottoman style Kaftan, Cecil Beaton
8. Grace Kelly, Getty Images
9.  Diane Von Fuerstenberg, 1970s
10. Marisa Berenson in gold caftan by Tina Leser with rings by Gripoix, Photo by Henry Clarke 1968
11. Ashley Oslen in vintage caftan by Neilson Barnard/ Getty Images
12. Kate Moss cruising up the gangplank to Club 55 in Saint Tropez by fameflynet.uk.com
13.  Margherita Missoni by Vittorio Zunino Celotto
14. Jerry Hall, 1975
15. Nicole Richie by Jeffrey Mayer
16.  Sheikha Mozah of Qatar in Chanel Spring 2011 Haute Couture

Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret Rose was born in 1930, four years after her sister. Their royal upbringing took a turn for the more public when her Uncle King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, making Elizabeth and Margaret first and second in line to the throne after their father, the newly anointed King George VI. Stories from their childhood often refer to the younger Princess as mischievous and spirited. The King is said to have described Elizabeth as his pride and Margaret as his joy. With a tiny waist and brilliant blue eyes, Margaret was photographed by Cecil Beaton wearing Dior couture in 1955, a celebrity of her time. Aged 22 she fell in love with Group Captain Peter Townsend, a divorcé 16 years her senior. He proposed but she was forced to decline – it had been decided that the Queen’s sister simply could not marry a divorcé. She went on to marry photographer Antony Armstrong Jones, later created Lord Snowden in a Norman Hartnell dress and the first televised Royal Wedding in 1960. Together, they were inordinately glamorous.

With him, the debonair photographer and her, the beautiful princess swathed in fur and diamonds, they lived a gilded life.  Their Kensington Palace apartment was filled with staff, their circle with aristocrats and celebrities. Golden it may have been, however, happy it was not. They had two children but their marriage was plagued by rumours of affairs and they divorced in 1978. At the time, the royal separation was seen as scandalous.

The Princess and her new husband were travelling on the Royal Yacht Britannia around the Caribbean on their honeymoon when invited ashore Mustique by her friend Lord Glenconner who had bought the island for £45,000 the year before. He later wrote in his memoirs that he said, “Ma’am, would you like something from Asprey in a box as a wedding present, or perhaps you would like this piece of land?” She waved her arm and said: “Oh, the land!” Armstrong Jones’s uncle the stage designer Oliver Messel was charged with designing the house built for her, named Les Jolie Eaux meaning ‘beautiful waters.’ The five-bedroom open plan villa featured the Greek columns and white façade identified with Messel’s famous Caribbean Colonial style. Built high on the cliffs around it’s own infinity pool, all balconies, shutters, flowery chintzes and palm fronded gardens, it was the very epitomy of 1970’s tropical glamour.

Les Jolie Eaux

Princess Margaret photographed on mustique by Alpha  

Lord Glenconner with life-long friend Princess Margaret

Lord Snowden never liked the island much, dubbing it ‘Mustake,’ and so it became Prince Margaret’s escape. Most of the affairs she was rumored to have played out on Mustique, by then a playground for the rich and famous. The images from that time have become iconic – pictures of Princess Margaret lounging on her sofa or balcony in a colorful kaftan with matching headscarf, her trusty cigarette holder never far from hand. There were legendary stories of parties, skinny-dipping and glamorous lunchtime picnics. Lord Glenconner’s 50^th birthday, with it’s golden theme and guests including Mick and Bianca Jagger was the crowning moment of island’s glory. Resplendent in a Carl Toms kaftan and turban, Princess Margaret is pictured at it surrounded by locals wearing nothing but a coconut shell to hide their modesty. She was a woman – and hers was the sort of life – that we at Kotur love to celebrate. One that’s lived with a cheeky smirk, plenty of glamour and just enough give-a-damn attitude to break the rules now and again. She may have been born to a life of strict social codes, but it seems her joie de vivre simply demanded that she didn’t take too much notice of them. And for that, if nothing else, we consider her really rather fabulous.

Princess Margaret in her Kaftan and turban at Glenconner’s birthday party – photographed by Patrick Lichfield
 Princess Margaret on the beach in Mustique – photographed by Lord Lichfield

In the end, Princess Margaret’s lifestyle caught up with her. A lifetime smoker, she had the first of several strokes whilst on her beloved Mustique in 1998 and died in London in 2002. To this day, she is considered synonymous with the island’s carefree and aristocratic sort of glamour, with a world of parties and fast sets and privileged naughtiness. A rebel Princess in legend as in life, it turns out.

Les Jolie Eaux on Mustique Island

Photo Courtesy of Patrick Litchfield, Alpha, AFP/Getty Images, mustique-island.com