The Golden Age

At the Victoria and Albert Museum in London there is currently a wonderful exhibit called The Golden Age of Couture. If you are going to be anywhere NEAR London before January 8, don't miss it. It's fantastic. Did you ever play that game where you pick which historical era you would like to have lived in? Well, for me, it would be post-World War II, the late 1940's through the 1950's. Oh, sure, I know it wasn't the most enlightened time socially speaking, and that our "Happy Days" perception of it in this country is rose-tinted and inaccurate. And perhaps there are more compelling periods to live in, intellectually or sociologically. But the truth of the matter is that I'm really not interested in living without either soap or mascara (not to mention a cocktail here & there), so I'm sorry, Versailles during Louis XIV is right out. But in 1947, there was soap, martinis, lipstick & eyeliner, good jazz, automobiles, and women got to look like this:

This is the Bar Suit from Christian Dior's 1947 New Look Collection. It's my ideal; my favorite silhouette of all time -- romantic and feminine and pretty darned swoony. Of course, I realize that the above is advertising photography and looking at it and saying that "women in 1947 looked like this" is roughly akin to saying "women of 2007 look like this" while perusing photos of Catherine Zeta-Jones at a red carpet event, but let's leave my fantasy alone, shall we? Had I been alive in 1947, I would ALWAYS have looked like this. End of discussion.

Hard as it is to believe, the New Look was rather shocking and revolutionary for its time. Remember, during WWII there was fabric rationing and all kinds of shortages -- this skirt, with its yards and yards and yards of fabric, was positively decadent. And many people now look on it as a step backwards for women -- during the War women had been brought into positions that were abandoned by men off fighting, working in factories and offices and making real strides forward in independence and power. After all the soldiers came home, the New Look signified women's return to a submissive role -- the soft shoulders, the wasp waist, the enormous, movement-inhibiting skirt. Still, it's pretty hard to argue with this

as a fabulous way to look.

The V&A exhibit focuses specifically on the world of post-War couture, so what they have on display is work from some of the most important designers of the 40's and 50's and it's truly wonderful to look at. The exhibit itself is... well, it's not the best-designed museum exhibit I've ever atttended, although it is chock-full of jaw-droppingly beautiful things. It's a crowded and not extremely well-organized -- don't take a large backpack or a child in a stroller, because there isn't a lot of space. There isn't a strictly organized traffic flow for any of it; so while I appreciate not being herded around like livestock, what I wound up feeling like was a rat in a maze, except not all the rats were going in the same direction so periodically there would be big clumps of rats that would reach a sort of impasse, or there would be one rat who wanted to spend longer in front of one dress or go back and compare it to another dress and that rat was prevented from doing so by the pack or just inconvenienced all the other rats by swimming upstream... okay, you get the picture. Enough with the rodent metaphor, and please don't think it in any way indicates that I don't think the exhibit is worthwhile, because it is not possible to feel rat-like while gazing on something like this:


This is the back of a gown by my beloved Cristobal Balenciaga, mid-50's. Breathtaking.

Balmain, 1957

Antonio Castillo for Lanvin-Castillo, 1957. The embroidery on this bodice is done by the firm of Lesage, still in existence today.

This tartan gown is by Jaques Fath from 1949. It was made for a member of British royalty, as I recall, for a state occasion. (Must remember to take notes!!)


Beaded and embroided pink satin shoes by Roger Vivier for Dior, late 50's. Swoon.



Gorgeous couture tailoring by Michael Donéllan in 1954. There is a large assortment of suiting by Donéllan, Balenciaga, Creed, Chanel, and others in the exhibit. A good suit is just as difficult (maybe more so) to make than a stunning evening gown, and the Fashionista in me was so frustrated that I couldn't climb up on the dais, take these things off the mannequins, and turn them inside-out to examine the cutting and seaming.

Balmain organza extravaganza, about 1950. Wheeeeee!!!

Silk brocade from Givenchy, mid-50's. This dress makes obvious why so many of Balenciaga's clients turned to Givenchy after Balenciaga closed his atelier.



Dior, 1957. I don't care who you are -- you put on this dress and you are instantly the most gorgeous thing in the room.

Worth, late 50's

Spectacularly beaded & embroidered velvet from Dior, 1956. This dress is cocktail length. You know, so it's more practical...

More Dior, black silk velvet and faille, 1949-50.

This is my favorite. Red silk chiffon from Jean Dessés, 1953. I'm pretty sure this dress dances all by itself. This is the dress of my dreams -- in this dress I would be perfectly perfect. I would drink nothing but champagne. I would have no split ends. My feet would never hurt. I would be as witty as a Phillip Barry play. I would dance divinely, my dear. Men in tuxedos would pursue me, planning to buy me jewels. Other women might hate me. I would not care.

Sigh.

The exhibit also has a really wonderful section of photography, with work by people like Richard Avedon and Irving Penn, among others, including this one:

Dovima with the Elephants, Richard Avedon, 1955 (The gown is Dior.)

The models in the photos from this period are so elegant, so beautiful, so witty, desirable, glamorous, so soignée... so everything we idealize in feminine beauty. They are positively inspirational. (And made me want even more to never, ever again see some grubby, hollow-eyed teenaged girl in need of a bath and about a dozen good meals modeling clothes.) I saw this exhibit with my wonderful friend Caroline, who is probably the best amateur photographer I know (and could give a lot of professionals a good run for their money) and she took this photo of me as an homage to them:


I've got nothing on Dovima or Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn, but I do what I can.

(You can see more of Caro's beautiful photos here. Check 'em out, you won't be sorry.)

I was not allowed to take photographs at the exhibit, but the nice people in the gift shop foolishly sold me a book of postcards, not guessing that I had a scanner and nefarious motives. But do take a gander at the truly great website that the V & A has put together for this exhibit. It has tons of information, a really interesting interactive timeline, and great photos. Look it over and plan your wardrobe for when we finally achieve time travel...

Photos: Victoria and Albert Museum, Caroline Charles

More Things I Didn't Know I Needed

Continuing on with my avaricious coverage of the Fall 2007 Couture Collections, I bring you a few more things I may or may not (probably not) be able to live without:


#1: A patent leather beret.

(Also, Helena Christenson's cheekbones & cleavage wouldn't hurt)

This is from Dior. I do like hats, I wear them, although they do regrettable things to my curlycurly hair. (If you're me and you put on a hat, you're committed to the hat for the duration. Because when I take off the hat, my hair behaves as though it's still wearing the hat. Someone with stick-straight hair was complaining to me the other day about how she can't wear hats because her hat head is so terrible and I looked at her like she had three... well, heads. Was she kidding me?? How could it make any difference? Me, on the other hand -- I look like some weird topiary shrub after I've worn a hat for a while. But I digress...) I'm very taken with this hat, I think it's adorable. I also love pretty much all things patent leather, although I predict this little chapeau may mark the apex of the patent leather trend -- there's pretty much nothing left to make out of it, so I think the pendulum will swing back in the other direction. This means snap up all the patent you can find while it's out there, because it won't be around forever.


#2: This dress

(Lefranc Ferrant)

I just love this. (But not the puffball headgear.) I love the idea of a long, easy shirtdress, that skirt whipping around your feet as you waltz around your fabulous penthouse apartment making sure all your friends' wine glasses are full. So elegant, so cozy.


#3: Long leather gloves

(Lefranc Ferrant)

Because they're just cool. Admit it, there's something very sexy about an elbow-length glove, especially a leather one. Also, since I think the bracelet-sleeve coat is still going to be around this winter, they're practical. I picked up a black pair last year and I really love them, but this year I think I need them in colors:

(Valentino -- gloves AND feathers! Heaven!)

(Dior)

I'm still eating my heart out about the gray patent leather ones I saw on sale at Saks last winter and didn't buy. Look at these with all the fabulous buttons:

(Nicolas le Cauchois)

#4: A gorgeous little jeweled evening minaudiere. I just can't think of anything more glamorous. (These are all from Valentino. Mr. Valentino is responsible for quite a lot of acquisitive impulses on my part this season, and I suspect I won't be alone in that.)









#5: I'm really not at all sure what's going on with these but I love them anyway

(Jean Paul Gaultier)

Wow.


And finally, since I'm asking for stuff, how about this guy:



He closed the show at Dior. I feel he would be a lovely addition to my wardrobe, don't you?


Photos: Elle.com, Style.com

The Grown-Up Fashionista's Lament

Cathy Horyn feels my pain. You should check out her New York Times article on the increasing difficulty of dressing like an adult in today's fashion climate. I'm a big fan of Ms. Horyn's, she's a terrific, insightful journalist and her blog is great, thoughful reading about fashion (although the comments section has turned into what appears to be a blog itself for some regular readers).

I'm still undecided about the cute little DVF dress I bought the other day. It's not about the dress, it's about how much I loathe or can live with my own chubby little knees. It's a close call, unlike these:

Giambattista Valli

I will not be wearing this. It's a lovely little thing, it looks like an upside-down flower, but I don't have the... (wait for it) stems.

Rag & Bone

In case you're nostalgic for your days of hopscotch & jacks. (Do little girls still play hopscotch & jacks? Or are they all too busy text-messaging their fellow 6 year-olds to plan trips to the mall to buy glittery fingernail polish?)

Alena Akhmadullina

This is strictly for giggles. Are you giggling? I sure did. Dr. Seuss couture!

Here's the right way to do it:


From Dior Resort 2008. This dress makes me want to cry a little, it's so perfect. And what is going on with those shoes??? Yowza!!

Which reminds me -- the Resort Collections are showing and I'm really going to be too busy to do any posting about them for the next few days and I'm feeling resentful about that. Here's a taste, from the hallucinogenic cocktail party that is John Galliano's imagination:




Oh, I soooooo want to hang out with him. He's just too much fun.


Photos: Style.com

The Master

Honestly, John Galliano makes me want to just lie down on the floor and cry. He's a genius.

All of these are from his Fall 2007 Collection, the brilliant ready-to-wear interpretation of the Couture collection I went all bonkers for a while back.







There are also some very drool-worthy shoes:







And a some handbags that have me surfing the net trying to find out how much I could get for one of my kidneys:






Go look at all of it. It's amazing.

Photos: Style.com

Practical, Shmactical

John Galliano is the Mad Genius of fashion and believe me, I mean that as a compliment. You have to be possessed by a bit of divine madness to put something like this on the runway:


But before you dismiss him as completely impractical and ridiculous, look at what that beautiful madness above from Haute Couture Fall 2006 had morphed into by the time Ready to Wear S/S 2007 came around:


That is a beautiful and wearable suit. Not madness at all.

Galliano's Haute Couture collections for Christian Dior are always some of my favorite fashion events of the year. They sum up everything I want couture to be - delirious visions of the far reaches of fashion possibility. Galliano does not flinch in the face of the impractical. He certainly doesn't compromise his vision, and for that I adore him.


Some people look at photos of clothes like these and say, "But where would I ever wear something like that? You know what the answer is? The answer is: "That's not really the point."


I marveled & swooned & ooh'd & ah'd over this collection, with its Cio-Cio-San meets the New Look riot of color and shape.


I can't stop imagining the sound these clothes must make -- that wonderful rustling noise that for most women from childhood onward has meant "special occasion." With every step, that tulle skirt would whisper, "Beautful! Beautiful!"

Is it shredded tulle? Angels' wings? Who can tell?

Probably some of these are going to show up on the red carpet at the Oscars, but they'll be dumbed-down for Hollywood and robbed of much of their magic, in my opinion.

But, you say. Beautiful those things may be, but I live in the real world. I have to go to work/the grocery store/teachers' meetings at my kids' schools. I understand. So I prowled around a little this weekend to find some things that just might bring a little bit of Galliano's madness within reach. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)






I'm showing you these close-ups so you can marvel at the amazing detail and construction of this dress, but note that the overall effect of it is very kimono-like, with a wrapped top and defined waist, which is an extremely flattering shape to most of us.


Try it in something like this easy little silk dress I found at Envie here in Austin. It's by Single Dress, and goes for $238. There's a tie in the back so you can cinch up the waist or not as you need to. A really great spring into summer dress -- you could put a t-shirt or even a collared white blouse underneath it.


I'm transfixed by this dress, I'm dying to see it in real life.


How did they do that? Is it really origami? How many layers is that?



Here we have the idea of a great, simple shape in a supremely useful neutral. (I, of course, would wear red shoes with this dress. I hope you will, too.) Great A-line skirt (as you come to know me better, you will learn that I am a rabid fan of the A-line, because it looks good on absolutely everyone).


Here's a close-up of the ribbon work detailing at the bottom -- so pretty. I love tone-on-tone texture details. This little beauty was at Fetish. It's Byron Lars for Beauty Mark, is all cotton with a hint of spandex, and retails for $374.


I'm a sucker for embroidery. So I really fell for this:



Modeled by the lovely and sweet Lorna at Adelante, this is a really terrific spring weight cotton coat. Great seaming for a great shape, and the detailing is to die for.


It's Chan Luu, and sells for $304.

So, take heart. You may not yet have the sort of life wherein you can swan about in ball gowns on a daily basis (note that I said "yet"), but there are still lots of easy ways to be beautiful, and maybe even a tiny bit divinely mad.

Photos: Style.com and Style Spy