Vintage Glamour: Le Bal Oriental, 1969

"The Oriental Ball in 1969 has been regarded as one of the most extraordinary parties of the 20th century, and as a high point in my life," Alexis de Redé recounts in ‘Alexis, the Memoirs of the Baron de Redé. "I'm regularly asked why I gave it, and I have to admit that there was no particular reason. I simply chose to throw a ball. The Oriental Ball, as well as my rare racing victories, made me well-known in Paris. It garnered a great deal of attention. I started planning it in March 1969, sent out invites in May, and the event was held on December 5th."

Jean-François Daigre, a discovery of Marie-Hélène’s, designed the evening. He had worked for Jacques Dupont. He had a vivid imagination, but a terrible temper, and there were dreadful rows between him and Marie-Hélène. He would suddenly lose his head and shout. ‘Do it yourself,’ and then storm off. There were so many flare-ups that it became nerve-wracking but as ever, it was all right on the night. I did not have those problems working with him. Daigre transformed the Lambert into an Eastern fantasy.

An unidentified woman and a man in oriental-inspired
costumes, accompanied by a costumed man carrying a parasol

Seated in the center, actress Odile Rodin Rubirosa, in costume
of oriental inspiration

Prince Karim Aga Khan IV and his wife Begum Salimah
Aga Khan

There were two huge white life-sized elephants made of papier maché in the courtyard. These were ornately dressed and a rider sat on top, under a golden canopy. At the bottom of the stairs, there were two Hindu musicians, a zither player in red and gold and a beauty in a turquoise sari, clinking cymbals. All the way up the staircase to the apartment, at suitable intervals, stood sixteen half-naked muscular men, hired from Paris gymnasiums, dressed as Nubian slaves, holding torches to guide the guests.

At the top, a figure in a black tunic and long black turban announced the guests in a reverberating voice. I greeted them as a Mogul prince, my costume designed by Pierre Cardin.

The Lambert itself was a fantasy reminiscent of the Thousand and One Nights. All about was the scent of jasmine and myrrh. The Hercules Gallery was filled with Turks, Arabs, Russians, Chinese, and Japanese. Turbans and false beards abounded.

Marie-Hélène came as a Siamese dancer, Johannes von Thurn and Taxis as a Hussar, and my favourite guest was the Vicomtesse de Bonchamps, an American living on Foch Avenue, who was born as Dale King. She came as a pagoda. She had to be brought to the ball in the back of a truck, as her costume was made out of metal. She could not sit down in the truck and she could not sit down at all until she took it off. You have to make a balance between enjoying the evening, or the impression you want to make, I am not sure she got it right.

Kenneth J. Lane, the jeweler, wore a turban of Russian sable skins, with wolf tails hanging from it and a huge cape made of Zorino skunk, trimmed with wolf fur. It was a warm night, so he may have suffered a bit.

Other guests included the Prince Karin Aga Khan, his wife Begum Salimah Aga Khan and the Begum Om Habibeh Aga Khan, Crown Princess Margrethe of Denmark and her husband Prince Henrik., Valerian Styx-Rybar, Jimmy Douglas, Clé-Clé de Maillé, Brigit Bardot, the Lowensteins, Salvador Dali, Amanda Lear and Bettina. One guest brought a baby panther in his arms.

Salvador Dali wearing a purple coat, a long wig with a crown
of golden leaves and holding a pair of face-to-hands, seated
with Amanda Lear, dressed in red

The singer Regine and her husband in oriental-inspired
costumes

Seated from left to right, applauding, Princess Margrethe of Denmark, baroness Marie-Hélène de Rothschild and Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, Prince of Denmark

Clé-Clé de Maillé came to this ball. It was her last appearance in public. The next day she went to the clinic, where she died two weeks later. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer, but did not want to have the breast removed since her greatest joy in life was to sunbathe naked. So instead she took chemotherapy with distressing results.

Brigitte Bardot was almost naked but for strings of coins and a little black chiffon, as was the recently widowed Odile Rubirosa, of whom the press wrote, she arrived ‘all but nude, her bare bottom covered by a bit of silver chain mail (with great chinks in it) trough which Odile’s charms shone through. ‘Her costume was predictably audacious.”

I have a wonderful memory of the evening nonetheless, and its full splendour is recorded in a vast album, bound in leather and encrusted with semi-precious stones. with watercolour images of the décor and guests by Serebriakoff.

— excerpt from Alexis, the Memoirs of the Baron de Redé

Salvador Dali, Amanda Lear and Begum Aga Khan III

Princess Maria Pia de Savoy in a turban, chatting with Prince
Henri of Denmark and his wife Princess Margrethe of
Denmark, with Madame Vincente-Minnelli in a green
costume in the background