Now here's some weather I can get excited about -- Tropical Storm Cristobal! When I heard this announced on the radio, a very large smile appeared on my face, as I imagined what it would be like if my most beloved designer of all time created a storm. In my dreams, just such a thing as this happens -- chicness and glamor rain down from the heavens! Couture clouds pelt us with perfectly constructed garments! Can you imagine? Around our feet swirl a flood of creations as magnifique as these...
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A "sac" dress. Marvelous. This is from 1956, but you could still wear this and look cutting-edge.
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Oh, his sleeves... His sleeves alone are worthy of museum retrospectives. Look...
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Could you just die?
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Gorgeous cape with perfectly tailored sleeveless sheath beneath it.
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This is the sort of thing that made Diana Vreeland say, "If a woman came in in a Balenciaga dress, no other woman in the room existed."
That jacket is a piece of sculpture.
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I would kill for this dress. Is that not the chic-est thing you've ever seen??? I want one in every color. I want one in charmeuse, one in silk velvet, one in lightweight wool crepe...
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The legendary Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn, one of the most beautiful humans to ever walk the earth.
Remind you of anything?
Yeah, Miuccia does her homework.
As do the ladies at Marchesa...
And Christopher Bailey over at Burberry...
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Aaaaaand John Galliano...
Here's the man himself:
Handsome devil, wasn't he?
I've had a little good Balenciaga fortune rain down on me in the last couple of months, in the form of fabulous bargains. Here's a wonderful dress that's wool jersey and so I won't be able to wear it for a few months yet, but I didn't care, I had to have it.
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Another unexpected Balenciaga windfall from a little while back:
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So. While someday I hope to acquire real, true vintage Balenciaga from the hands of Cristobal himself, I'll have to make do with this for now. Shouldn't be too terribly difficult.
Photos: HeavenofGowns.com, OperaGloves.com, KerryTaylorAuctions.com, Meadows Museum, Style.com, Texas Fashion Collection, AP, Style Spy
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3 comments:
Oh, those vintage photos are marvelous, thanks so much! Just the thing to go with my morning coffee. :)
I just adore those vintage Balenciagas! Your dress is marvelous, and I'm drooling over those sandals. Alas, my wearing of House of Balenciaga is limited to handbags.
Balenciaga - pure genius. Thank you for your great post.
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