Cursi

A cryptic fashion message for today:

The Great Balenciaga had a word to define his opposition: cursi.

Cursi was Cristobal's catchword for what he considered commonplace and unrefined. But it is also a great irony, for all successful trends become "cursi":

1980's "Power Suit" for women: when will we finally acknowledge that the big bow blouse with jacket/skirt derives from YSL's couture?

1960's "Space Age" couture: all derived from Balenciaga's late stage.

These were so successful in their time that the fashion edge is completely gone.

A lesson for designers now and for the future: make the the commonplace and unrefined your friend. Ultra-refined elegance can last but only so long before it gets reproduced to death.

- AP

Fashion Starters

As today is the 1-year anniversary of the paris copy, frequent readers here probably already know this:

Fashion never starts with ease or convenience. Fashion is a show, a performance of self. What looks like a simple silhouette often times is the result of advanced techniques. In the old days, these skills were learned in a couturier's workshop.

Something you don't often hear about in these days of global fashion: designers who work from sketches vs. those who work directly on a live model. Certainly the comment that haute couture is a "laboratory for fashion" is never heard now.

We should not lament the passing of haute couture, but embrace the best of the now.


- AP

Jean Muir - London Fashion

Jean Muir is due for a re-discovery. Where British Fashion cannot seem to free itself from the Punk Movement of the late 1970's - early 1980's, Muir kept a silhouette that was London's answer to the chic of Saint Laurent.

Just a fashion thought for this Monday.

- AP

Earth Day 2009

It is very nice and global to celebrate Earth Day, so here is a photo shot from Giza.
The Giza Plateau, as some have noted, seems to be roughly the center of the planet's land mass.

Hats off to the Ancient Egyptians, who apparently knew how to mark spaces with style.

- AP

Sphinx: Random Utterances

The fashion talent that should be in Paris seems at times to be in London.

Green as a concept is over. Consumers got the point, and are somewhat bored.

The Danish Royal Guards have such style!

Who needs a designer when one can have for spring:
- a day vest by Lemarié (aka, the House of Feathers)
- an evening vest by Lesage (aka, the House of Embroidery)

Royal Court Fashion: Rose Bertin

One name that has managed to survive the French Revolution is that of Rose Bertin.

Without Rose, Marie-Antoinette might never have defined aristocratic French fashion of her day.

Let us remember that it was a king's mistress who usually set the fashion tone of the court during the 18th century, not the queen.

- AP

The Fashion Moment: Alaïa

Gentle Reader -

The current fashion moment is about Azzedine Alaïa. After his 1980's heyday, he remained on his own course, only to return to this moment.

This is not Monsieur Alaïa's first return to the fashion moment - that marvelous (if very brief) time when a designer's point-of-view IS the view. Sometimes that fashion moment is only two seconds. At other times, it can be a whole era.

In Alaïa's case, the fashion moment tends to be both brief and periodic. However, there is always a deepening of fashion understanding. Alaïa cannot be defined solely by dress shapes or decorative effects.

Alaïa is a master of technique and a continual reminder that the skills required in the haute couture do not belong solely to the haute couture.

- AP

Fashion Magic

For this Vendredi/Friday, a bit of color and magic. Fashion has to be magical. Otherwise, you merely have clothing.

- AP