Poiret

Gentle Reader -

Paul Poiret was one of those few individuals in fashion who happened to be a visionary, but not a great craftsman. What does this mean, exactly?

If you take a look at his clothing when compared to Callot Soeurs, Lanvin, or even Redfern (who remembers that name nowadays?), there is striking detail, but little technical mastership of what makes a dress, well, a dress.

However, no other person was as responsible for defining the look of the years before the Great War (World War I, for those in North America).

Poiret orientalized Parisian couture. This may not be Poiret's most significant contribution, but it is one of the more revolutionary moments in haute couture, setting the stage for YSL's references many decades later.

The best place to see Poiret's work is not up close. Rather, the illustrations of Paul Iribe define Poiret's moment when he was the Pasha of Paris.


- AP

Sphinx: Utterances C23-C27 (The Next Wave)

Yes, it's that time again when the waters that come from the Palmier Fountain in Paris portend of possible things to come...


C23: Eco-shamanauts: earth-aware travellers of the 26th Century who mix tribal with space age in a sustainable way. Think white, ochre, and grass with gold.

C24: Smart ceramics in everyday life are not far way, but need to be invited into the present. Smart ceramics have manners.

C25: A shift from jewellery to adornments will emphasize the healing potential of rocks.

C26: The cravat (necktie) in traditional Japanese fabrications for Spring/Summer 2013.

C27: Lanvin, Balenciaga, Alaïa: Paris has regained the lead. But who would bet on Venice?

Court Fashion: First French Emprie

Gentle Reader -

One of the great mysteries of fashion is the Empire style and its frequent appearances throughout modern designer collections.

How is this style, which essentially is a Greek Revival shift, able to come back again and again? Poiret, Balenciaga, YSL, Lagerfeld for Chanel...the list goes on of desginers/couturiers/stylists who have visited the exaggerated proportions (high bustline/waistline) that are the Empire-style hallmark.

A few reasons to offer:

1. The women who wore them: Josephine Beauharnais (later, Bonaparte), Madame Recamier
2. The painters who immortalized them: David, Ingres
3. Simplicity of silhouette

Later interpretations are often in heavier or embroidered fabrics, but we must remember that the original versions were really quite revealing. Many of the fabrics used were sheer and suggestive of the form that was wearing them.

The Empire style's true success is that it is one of the few garment styles to have successfully made the transition from Ancient Greece(conceptually, at least) to the modern fashion canon. This is a style of clothing that did not require women to wear a corset, making it the most modern (and ancient) thing for an independent woman to wear.


- AP

Sporting Club Style - Cairo

 

In the great cities and former imperial capitals of the world, fashion is something that nowadays is found on the street or on red carpets of the annual spectacles which are televised the world over.

Still to be found, however, are these enclaves of style, where fashion takes a back seat to codes of class and social status. Notice that I have made a distinction between style and fashion, for they are really two different things. Just ask Ralph Lauren.

If you're in Cairo, you know that SCS (aka, sporting club style) is perhaps even more reassuring than American Prep.

And what does the photo have to do with all this? I happened to be near the entrance of one of the more exclusive clubs in Cairo, so this photograph is a clue.

- AP

Fashion: The Tone of the 2010's

Can the future inform the present? Can the far-future inform the near future? This might prove to be the case in this Age of Aquarius. Whether or not you believe in astrology, there are certain facts about effects of the earth's axis over time, and this would be one of them. We are entering a new time period. To give the gentle reader some perspective, the bust above is from the latter part of the Age of Aries.

We are in the first stages of a conscious push-pull between what is

natural, sustainable, organic, traditional, authentic, etc.

and

technological, mechanical, metallic, wired, "nano"-anything

This will be far deeper than just fashion, though Mr. C. (as in Chalayan; not to be confused with Monsieur G. at Balenciaga) and Euoko skincare have already tested the waters of the future.

Again, a push-pull should be evident, whether or not men still wear suits and skins. Evident whether or not we live in cities and in communes (again).

Evident whether or not we create a utopia or a nightmare.

Of course, the present will choose its own future. But what lies ahead is already here.

- AP

The Feeling: 1940's

Gentle Reader -

Are the 1940's back? For those who are bored with the ever-quickening cycles of "past re-hash", this time it's a bit different.

Of course, it really isn't about the 1940's. But the current mood, "the feeling", as it were, is about resistance.

Resistance has its positives and negatives. However the shoulders, the print dresses, seem to suggest that period when Paris was occupied.

And we all know the last time that happened.

Remember, the current mood isn't exactly the tone for the next decade. That's a topic for next week.

- AP

Sphinx: Hints of Style

C21: For autumn/winter collections: evening jackets of satin duchesse and lacquer. The effect: the Art Déco vases of Jean Dunand.

C22: Venetian glassware still inspires. Look to the 1560's - 1630's for examples.

C23: Black pearl cuff links.

Future Fashion: Designer Auras

Gentle Reader -

Health and wellness products and fashion are not a new phenom. However a quick trip into either the past of the future suggests the following:

- Tea that can change human auras to desired shapes and colors around the body. Perhaps an oolong blend that gives a health-inspiring red-gold tone. A kind of 'suntan' for the spirit.

Of course, what if tea already does this? Perhaps Kusmi and Mariage Frères would be the best suited to take advantage of this trend - before it occurs.

- AP

The Attitude of Color

There are those who wonder how pictures of everyday Cairo can equal "fashion". I suppose that one has to be open to the social reading of clothing in order to understand what might be considered fashion.

However, today is about the attitude of color - which colors evoke certain feelings?
Power Red, anyone? In the photo above, we have green and blue - two of the more tranquil colors.

For those who believe in THE COLOR of the fashion season, any quick flip through archives of major magazines will soon show that those key colors in fabric soon become out of date.

Remember, colors aren't just colors. If your spirits are lifted with yellow accents, by all means see how much yellow you can get away with and not look like a canary.


- AP

The Next

We are currently in one that in-between time when the designing and fittings are being done before the final decisions are to be made:

What will next appear on the catwalks?

For those who would like to see what a really good presentation can be, please view the latest collection by Monsieur G. at Balenciaga.

- AP