iPhone Fashion

Gentle Reader -

We're reaching a point where fashion designers really must include a phone slot into clothes. Cell phones and smartphones alike should be held stylishly in place, yet easy to retrieve when necessary.

With the above sketch (done with Autodesk SketchBook Mobile for the iPhone), the question is, where would the phone slot be?

Just a light, breezy question during the rounds of fashion shows still underway. Spring may be in the air, but there is a seriousness in the undercurrent.

We are waiting for Paris.


- AP

The Space Age: Courrèges

Gentle Reader -

There was once upon a time an era when fashion looked to the future. André Courrèges is arguably the father of Space Age couture. In many ways, Courrèges took the clean, geometric lines favored by Balenciaga and pushed further - to the extreme limits.

Once the moon landings were televised, the Space Age - at least for earth fashion - was over.

While vintage collectors tend to favor this 1960's period of Courrèges, the master still produced clothing along these same lines. Courrèges pushed his aesthetic further, creating by the mid 1980's clothing that was also classical.

Later Courrèges is better Courrèges. A note for those who are still searching for the perfect A-line dress for a cocktail party on the Moon.

- AP

Original Style

 

Sometimes, style is everything. Chanel knew this all too well.

- AP

Sphinx: New Utterances (Hors Serie)

From the Palmier Fountain in Paris...

Utterance of the Day: Ungaro! Where are you?

Utterance of the Week: in fashion, one must learn the nuances between right and left as well as right and wrong. Knowledge of the differences can spell success or disaster in a collection.

Utterance of the Century: A dress does not need nanotechnology to live. Nanotechnology is needed to look like Jane Jetson.

What is Luxury?

Gentle Reader -

Just as fashion has been freed of the strict code of social ordering (OK, 90% free), it has also almost free notions of luxury.

For those old enough to remember, luxury had nothing to do with brands and logos. However clouded by romantic notions of authenticity (one of the more fraudulent concepts ever conjured), luxury is now simply the best of the moment.

There are those for whom luxury is represented by Hermès.
And there are those for whom, inspired by Imperial China, luxury is the sound of crickets at night.

Allow yourself to determine what is luxury in your own world.

- AP

The Invisible Hand: Mainbocher

Fashion tends to remember those who make a splash or create drama through clothes. However, there are those "quiet" designers whose influence still carries on decades later. Such is the case with Mainbocher (1890-1976).

Mainbocher was a transatlantic designer, a rarity in his day, and best known for Wallis Simpson's wedding dress (when she married Edward, Duke of Windsor). Yet he also created a slim suit for his often lady-like clientele. This suit still works today, if only because it is in contrast to today's trends.

There is genius in the invisible hand a designer can use. Mainbocher's talent was to use this talent of invisibility so that only the wearer makes the impression, not the dress.

It is one of the most difficult feats to produce, particularly in today's world of fashion.

- AP

Fashion Ease

Can fashion be uncomplicated and stylish? A thought while contemplating the Mediterranean at Alexandria.

- AP

Alta Moda/The Red Master: Valentino

Gentle Reader -

What ever happened to haute couture from Rome? Indeed, it is as if alta moda never happened. Today, most people (rightly so) associate Italian fashion with Milan.

For those with access to the archives of fashion past, a quick look through the pages of Italian Vogue are enough to inspire both frustration and admiration. The oft-times lack of originality gives rise to the former; the display of technical skill, the latter.

Valentino [Garavani] used to be associated with the alta moda of the 60s-80s, but the Red Master is in a category all to himself. There is throughout his work - from suits to elaborate gowns - not only a sensuousness, but more to the point, a sinewy finesse that is the marriage of silhouette and skill. Thus, his work places him conceptually closer to Paris.

For those firmly in the alta moda camp:

Roberto Capucci
Renato Balestra
Fausto Sarli
Mila Schön
Irene Galitzine
Furstenburg (Egon, not Diane)

The alta moda, however, is not dead, just in need of new life, new creators, new visions of what high fashion can be.

- AP

Thinking Pink, Again

It seems that trends in fashion seem to last less and repeat more often. The key "color of the season" may go down this path as well. Why do you suddenly want incorporate eggplant purple into your wardrobe? Or conversely, why is that lime/avocado item suddenly the one to put into storage?

Which colors are you - no matter what the fashion editors tell you?

For fall, creamy gray with Belgian chocolate brown seems to feel just right.

- AP

Sphinx: Masters to Collect

A sampling of areas of focus for this Tuesday:

Claude Montana for Lanvin
Karl Lagerfeld for Chloé
Mid-1980s Ferre Couture
First collections: Donna Karan, Prada
Last collections: YSL
Givenchy: 1970's Nouvelle Boutique

For some, these are pieces to collect. For others, these are designers to study further.

- AP

Coastal Fashion/Pre-Resort 2010

 

While France has already experienced la rentrée, those in the United States are soon to experience Labor Day - or better known as the End of Summer.


Instead of the usual fantastic voyages by yacht that seem to inspire resort collections, how about a collection that reminds wearers about the sand, sun and the ocean - without the boat?

Think khaki, not gold or silver metallics.


A thought for the next time you see a fashion layout that screams "Resort" but uses same fashion elements of the past 10 years.

- AP

DIY Vintage/Paris Originals - Nina Ricci

Gentle Reader -

There was a time when fashion came from Paris; everything else was a copy from Paris. That time is long past, but there is nothing to stop one from recreating those Paris Originals.

Here is a Vogue Pattern from Nina Ricci. The lines of the dress still work today: simple and chic.

- AP