More Mad Genius!

Yippee! It's Couture Week -- Spring 09 is already upon us -- in Paris and it started off with a bang at the salons at Dior headquarters on the avenue Montaigne. Instead of the usual enormous show venue, Galliano presented his collection in a much more intimate environment.

Which was appropriate...

...given that a lot of the clothing was, well, intimates.

Inspired by photos of Dior and his models & seamstresses in the 1950's, the collection mingled the wild fantasia of Galliano's Dior with the images of half-dressed models preparing for presentations. Does that sound outlandish?

It was, a little.

But in the most wonderful way.

Stephen Jones did the hats, which were magnificent.


Some of the lingerie references, like the one above, were blatant, but if that was too much for you, how about this?

Just a hint of a slip in the most gorgeous, creamy silk with lace that probably cost my rent peeking out. Lovely.

I have a lot of slips, but none with this kind of quality. Suddenly I'm really feeling the lack.

Oh, that hat!!

Where on earth does a person wear such a thing?

Wherever it is, I want to be invited.

I'm not a big bustier/corset person ordinarily -- frankly, I don't have the bust to make it worthwhile. But this? Is so beautiful that this weekend is going to find me rifling through my favorite vintage stores looking for something along these lines to play with.

Look at all this beautiful hand work -- just stunning.

Not every look featured lingerie. Some of them were just plain old garden-variety heartstoppingly beautiful clothes.

There was a lot of super-saturated color, which I of course loved

along with the details you only find in couture.


Cathy Horyn talks about this dress in her review of the collection.

This is a deceptively simple dress, but as Ms. Horyn points out, it's all about that lapel. Look at it -- how it starts off as a traditional notched lapel and then somehow melts into a cowl. That is amazing.

I sew -- I've made a few notched collars in my time -- and I can't begin to imagine how that was done. Look also at the set of that sleeve, how it elongates the line of the arm. These are the things that make the difference in clothing, and these are the things we have almost completely lost thanks to mass production. Why do designer clothes cost more? Because of this. Yes, the Dior dress you buy at Saks is still going to be factory-produced, but not at the same scale as your average department or discount store garment. And before it got to the factory, more time was spent on these sorts of details -- the placement of a seam, the set of a sleeve, the angle of a collar. Those things take time, skill, and money, and there's no getting around it.

Plumcake and I are going to get together with a bottle of wine and hold hands and look at this collection and cry, I think. I do believe she & I could get into one mighty girlfight over this here dress. (I'd put your money on me -- I'm scrappy and not above fighting dirty, especially where couture is involved.)

A lot of the looks fell somewhere in between on the lingerie scale, using sheer fabrics to reveal just a little.

Yes, please...

This makes me want to run mad...

That blouse is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Like I said, I'm not a big one for underwear as outerwear, it's just not usually my thing. But something about this positively intoxicates me. I love that it doesn't really shoot for "sexy" in the way we've come to think of it -- the overexposed bosom, the thigh-high slit. This is coquettish, a bit naughty, amusante. These clothes are a light-hearted afternoon tryst in a sun-filled pied-a-terre with the curtains open on French doors that overlook some grand Parisian boulevard. That kind of joyful, giddy sexy when you're laughing out loud and not in the least ashamed.

And what's completely insane? I'm looking at this thinking, "Hmmmmm... I have a couple of great jackets. Maybe I need to get some tap pants. I won't go the whole garter belt route, but maybe some opaque tights instead..."

But there you go. I'm seriously, insanely considering it. Like I said -- intoxicated.

But the best bit? The whipped cream on the sundae? The shoes. THE SHOES!!!!

Aaaaaiiieeeeeee!!!! LOOK AT THEM!

They have those tiny little rubber snap closures like you find on old-fashioned garters & girdles!! And that pink!! That perfect nude/ballet pink!!! What is prettier or more feminine than that? Oh, I cannot express how these shoes have shredded my sensibilities -- I'm going to start saving NOW for a pair of these.


So there you have it -- more of our boy Galliano's wizardry. I've read a few reviews and comments complaining that this is nothing groundbreaking, it's too retro, that Galliano is revisiting old territory. And no, it's not cutting-edge fashion. It's a glorious tribute to a beautiful tradition designed by a wonderful mad genius. Which is sure as hell good enough for me.


PS... (And remember how I told you Cathy Horyn's commentors could be long-winded & tedious? You must check this out. I mean -- what the what???)

Images: Style.com

Me & Cathy Horyn Are BFFs, Me & Ricardo Tisci Are Not

Cathy Horyn is my favorite fashion journalist. If you aren't reading her blog in the NY Times, you're missing out. Last week, reviewing the men's shows in Paris, she called Ricardo Tisci's collection for Givenchy "just plain tedious," and my heart warmed with fellow-feeling. Horyn's post caused a tornado of comment on her already comment-heavy blog (While I really love Horyn's writing, I'm less enamored of the commentary that her regular readers provide. There are a lot of folks who seem to know a lot about fashion and they want you to know it, too. It is not uncommon for her readers to post comments that are a good chunk longer than the posts they're ommenting on. Frankly, that gets "just plain tedious," too.) and she followed up with a post wherein she spoke at greater length about "the insecurity of a designer who doesn’t have a meaningful, real vision." Bells chimed in my chilly little fashionista heart when I read that, because for several seasons now I've been looking at Tisci's work for Givenchy and thinking, "I don't get it. There's no there there."

Here are some of the looks from the collection:

Okay, nothing wrong with this, basic black suit, skinny trouser silhouette which is fairly common these days. It's hard to tell from this photo with the model's hands in his pockets just what exactly is going on with the tailoring of the jacket, but it looks inoffensive enough.

On the other hand...

Um, WHAT???

Ooooooh, for pete's sake, why not just put a frame around your johnson and be done with it? Honestly...

Much has been made of the fact that Tisci was supposed to be designing costumes for the late Michael Jackson's scheduled tour this year, and that this collaboration inspired many of the flashier pieces in the collection.

But I cannot for the life of me feature the King of Pop in this rig. Leather shorts and leggings. What. Ever.

I mean, really -- what am I supposed to do with this??

This I just showed you because... well, you know the because. Gracious.

Now. I know a lot of silliness shows up on the runway during all seasons, men & women, ready-to-wear and couture -- everywhere. And at first glance, you might look at John Galliano's collection and think, this is every bit as ridiculous as Tisci's stuff.

But it's not. It might be styled in an extreme way, but the clothes are actually really, really beautiful.

This collection was inspired by Napoleon, of all people. The runway show was divided into three themes: his early years in Corsica, his campaign into north Africa, and his time as the ruler of France.

Does this seem silly to you? I suppose in a way it is. But the up side of this is that it gives a designer a skeleton to hang his ideas on, and a way to indulge in higher-concept design than he could if simply presenting a bunch of clothes to wear. And as far as I'm concerned, the genius of Galliano is how far he can push the fantastical boundaries of an idea and still have beautiful, wearable clothes buried in it. The styling of the three outfits above is decidedly extreme, but it's easy to see how it is in service of the ideas of the collection, and it doesn't rob the clothes of their impact. The leather safari jacket in the first photo is a thing of real beauty, as is that gorgeous embroidered shirt in the second.

The second section of the show was my favorite.

I just love this. I'm always a fan of a monochromatic palette done in lots of different textures, and I think these desert-inspired clothes are simply gorgeous.

That jacket is fantastic. FANTASTIC.

No, of course no one is going to walk down the streets of Manhattan swathed in mosquito netting, but it makes for a lovely effect on the runway.

Aside from the Lawrence of Arabia headgear (and probably the sandals avec chaussures), if a man showed up to take me out to dinner wearing this, I wouldn't bat an eye. Okay, I would bat, but in the good way. He would be ill-advised to leave that embroidered vest unattended, though. I would gank that in a heartbeat.

The other thing I love about John Galliano? Sense of humor.

C'mon! That's FUNNY. Nothing Tisci showed in his collection had even the tiniest bit of humor about it. Okay, sure, it was funny, but not in the way you want.

Pat McGrath did the makeup for Galliano's show and as usual it was great, but it was in this last section that she really got to go to town and show what a genius she is.

Voila! Napoleon himself! If you are a hair stylist or makeup artist, it must be a dream come true to work with Galliano.

Normally I don't go for the sort of goth thing we're edging into here

(unless it's a certain Billowy Coat King of Pain TV character whom I still miss), but I think this is beautiful. I doubt there are very many men who will be willing to take the time to wrap themselves so artfully about the waist with a shirt like that, but I really think they should. (Yes, it's a shirt. Look closely. Talk about working your wardrobe resources!)

I also don't think any of the men in my life would be willing to go with this look, with the embroidered lapels and the layers of what looks like tulle, but again -- just gorgeous. As we know, any designer gets extra points from me for things that reward movement, and even this still photo makes me want to put on this coat and run across the moors or some such.

So.

Gallliano's shows and styling -- nutty, wacky, OTT. But that's okay with me. Galliano views every runway collection, for any of the labels he designs, as a laboratory for cooking up new ideas. You can see it quite clearly in his Dior Couture collections, and we expect to see the wildest flights of fantasy in couture, but he brings that to all of his ready to wear, too. He pushes everything to its most extreme and makes an enormous spectacle, but you can always see the bones of what he's doing inside it. Strip away the makeup and the mosquito netting and the laurel crowns on the models' heads and what you can see the beautiful clothes that are going to show up in the stores and the overall feeling of the season that he's created. Nothing Tisci showed is anything but a weak attempt at trendiness and shock value, and to my eye every single one of the exits from his show looked more ridiculous than any of Galliano's theatrical Corsairs with their inch-thick eyeliner. (And don't even get me started on how much it bothers me that Tisci seems to have no relationship What. So. Ever. To the history of the house of Givenchy; a designer, you'll recall, who was a protegé of Balenciaga and a favorite of Audrey Hepburn. Fancy Audrey wearing this. I don't think so.)


A note: Sorry I was AWOL all last week. It got a little hectic around here!


Images: Style.com

Fun in the Sun

I do not envy the modern fashion designer. I mean, these people work like slaves anymore. Spring/Summer, Fall/Winter, Pre-Fall, Resort... it's just one continuous fashion show. When do they sleep? It's hard to believe they're not all cocaine addicts; hell, I need extra stimulants just to look at all the pictures from all the shows, let alone have to do all that designing.

And yet, some of them manage to crank out show after show of wonderful stuff. Like my buddy John Galliano designing for Dior. Based on his last couple of resort collections, I wonder if this isn't Galliano's favorite season. He just seems to have so much FUN with resort. He's still very much working his retro, Palm Beach, Babe Paley thing, but I really thought a lot of the clothes were extremely wearable.

That is a GREAT dress. That is a dress just about any woman could wear and love, and depending on how you dressed it up or down, that dress could go anywhere from work to a lunch meeting to an afternoon wedding. Terrific.

Galliano loves color and I adore him for that. I don't think there was a single black garment in this entire show.

Beautiful suit. There is just no arguing with a suit like that. Gorgeous.

Okay, yeah, the skirt is a little over the top, but we've seen much crazier from Galliano, and the proportions are really good. It's not completely around the bend -- you could wear that, provided you had the touch of bravado it would require, and not look like a circus freak. And that jacket is to die for.

Lovely dress, lovely color, lovelylovelylovely.

Yes, this is very much a special occasion outfit, but who could not love it? Look at that skirt (or are they pants?) billowing out behind her! So dreamy!

Another beautiful, wearable suit.

Yeah, buddy. Full-on 1972 cocktails by the pool and I'm kah-razy about it. Every woman needs some leopard print, is what I say. Do not be afraid of the kitty-cat.

But back to earth -- everything about this is good.

Obviously his collection very inspired by a very specific stereotype -- the pampered Palm Beach aging-not-quite-as-gracefully-as-possible socialite. The theme seemed to extend even to the makeup. Maybe it's just me, but scroll back up & take a look at the models' faces. I'm wondering if the makeup artist behind all these looks purposefully gave them that over-Botoxed glaze. The eyebrows all seem just a liiiiiiittle too high, as though they're on their second or third face lifts, and the lips are just a liiiiiiittle too full, as though they didn't know when to stop with the lip-plumping injections. Maybe it's just me, but I thought it was humorous, and it does seem like something Galliano would do. And, along those lines, when I looked at the backstage photos, yet another cautionary tale presented itself.

Here we have Christina Aguilera (along with the Funky Little Fashion Troll himself) -- formerly one who favored Amazonian hair extensions so expansive that small children could sleep comfortably in them and skintight leather leggings so low in the rise that calling them pants was a gross exaggeration. Ms. Aguilera has married, brought forth progeny, and seems hell-bent on respectable-izing her image. However, troweling on bad foundation, plucking your eyebrows into mannequin-like arches and sqeeeeeeezing yourself into a too-small (satin!) suit with cleavage that threatens to interfere with your earrings is not the way to go about it.

This, sweetheart, is how it's done:

Behold Lauren Hutton (here with Jacqueline Schnabel, also no slouch in the sophisticated glamour department). I don't now how old Lauren is now, I don't care. Most 20-somethings I see could take a few pointers from this effortlessly, timelessly elegant woman.

Here's another lesson in Why Trying Too Hard Usually Backfires:

Jennifer Lopez (who has apparently donated her lips to charity or something) standing around looking terribly glam and terribly uncomfortable. Goodness, my hairline hurts just looking at her. It's all so perfectly, robotically matchy-matchy that she's managed to take an assortment of truly beautiful clothing & accessories and make them yawn-inducing. Here's another way of going:

Goodness knows, I do get tired of Lou Doillon's funky gamine bit, but at least she looks like she can sit down in her outfit, and like she might actually have spent her day doing something besides having individual hairs shellacked to her skull. A little imperfection can be an awfully good thing.



Photos: Style.com