Masterdress: Cristóbal Balenciaga

Gentle Reader -

This image of a Balenciaga gown belongs to the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museoa (CBM), the home of many a vintage item made by arguably the greatest male designer of the previous century. Certainly we should give credit to his workrooms, those spaces where the clothes were actually made by skilled staff.

It's a masterdress from 1951, in a class all its own. It does not scream for attention; rather curiously, it has its own presence.

To make the online pilgrimage to the CBM, visit cristobalbalenciagamuseoa.com.

- AP

Cryptic Mondays: More Fashion Fragments

Gentle Reader -

Some cryptic fashion messages for this Monday:

* The 1940s deserve a re-evaluation: the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the modern era once coexisted in an intoxicating mix

* Geoffrey Beene: a past master that should not be underestimated

* Leather openwork: no, it is not the new lace. But it does reflect the moment.

* Maggy Rouff: overdue for rediscovery.

* Ungaro: ??? Exactly.

* Advice to Hedi at YSL: not too much Hedi, not too much Yves. Get the iconic pieces to work once again as a modern vocabulary

Enjoy unraveling these delightful fragments!

- AP

Couture: Reborn?

Gentle Reader -



Last week's couture presentations in Paris offered hope that couture can be reborn. This wasn't about shapes and silhouettes, but a feeling that Paris can again be the absolute center of fashion. Really, did anyone talk about Berlin Fashion Week?

Two brief notes for the future:

At the very least, certainly it is time to call Azzedine Alaïa exactly what he is: master.

The question of the moment: does Nicholas Ghesquière/Balenciaga enter (or is that return?) to the realm of couture?

- AP

ps: with due respect to Ms. Horyn, there was much more to the Chanel show than met the eye.

The Sphinx Speaks: Dior Now

For those nervous about a Dior without Galliano, please remember that Dior has been Dior with (and without) the following:

- Christian Dior (the New Look, among many other looks)
- Yves Saint Laurent (the Trapeze, before opening his own house)
- Marc Bohan (polite suits and dresses - and underrated)
- Gianfranco Ferre (dramatic, bold draping)

The more pressing question for Dior is: what will be presented? The collection of a dismissed designer, or something else?

- AP

2010: One Look Back

Gentle Reader -

Fashion is ever on the move, though sometimes it's in circles.

One last look at what may be the dress of 2010, done by the late (Lee) Alexander McQueen. An example of when fashion went forward.

Towards 2011 we go!

- AP

Couture Masterpiece of the Week: Jean Patou

A dress to study: this technical masterpiece from Jean Patou is both subtle and dazzling. Confidence and carriage are needed to wear it to great effect. A reminder that great dresses demand to be shown off. From the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A).

- AP

YSL: The Complete Vision

Gentle Reader -

Let it be said that Yves Saint Laurent has transformed into a complete body of work. I don't suppose we will see the Givenchy archive anytime soon, though this would be an opportunity not to be overlooked.

Perhaps we must look to that 1983 retrospective/exhibition at the Costume Institute. Then under the direction of the legendary Diana Vreeland, the display of key YSL looks back then set the tone for the current Fondation Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent, where the couture archive is housed.

The result is a enigma and a challenge: how can a dead designer influence fashion like an Old (or Modern) Master?

No, it's not that the YSL archive competes with current fashion. But it is a benchmark of what fashion, what haute coutue once was. It quite rightly belongs to the past, yet has the ability to inspire future designers, like Rembrandt or Matisse.


- AP

Fashion Quote of the Day: YSL and Karl Lagerfeld

What is the difference between Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld?

Yves had a vision of that took over fashion.

Karl has a view that keeps fashion fresh.

- AP

The Couture House: More than the Name

Gentle Reader -

Surely you've not been fooled by equity firms (among others) who have acquired the names of once-great couture houses.

The fashion collections produced by these half-dead houses, while on-trend, is less than stellar - and certainly does not live up to the standards of those same names sewn inside of the clothing.

It would be too easy - and too unkind - to list the many Parisian fashion houses here. However, it is more instructive to give one successful example:

Balenciaga under Monsieur G.


Balenciaga no longer produces haute couture (such as the vintage example above), but remains edgy, at the forefront of fashion. Certainly the clothing is much different than when Cristobal himself presided, but the spirit of the house remains. Why? Here are some thoughts for those fashion executives overseeing the number-crunching:

1. To own a fashion house, you must know fashion. La mode is not the same as producing lacquered pens. Fashion is a part of luxury, but requires spirit. This is powerful - and can be dangerous. Lagerfeld himself has on more than one occasion referred to Mademoiselle's ghost.

2. A designer is more than an employee. Or at least should be. The designer is that person who should give life to a house. I can't say how a designer breathes life to the fashion created, but there is a difference between clothing with life - and mere clothing. A replaceable employee is often loathe to give more than technical ability. Often, ideas are withheld as well, to say nothing of dreams and one's own essence.

3. Trends are not meant to be followed, but played with. In the current era of Big Fashion, everything seems to be reduced to the Numbers. And the Numbers are afraid of not creating profit. And so the Numbers direct the designer-employee to be as on-trend as possible.

Trends exist, but it is a designer's ability to play with trends - emphasizing here, diminishing (or discarding) there - that produces vibrant fashion. Color, proportion, embellishment and fabrication: the designer should be in control.

4. Visit (or create) the archive. Houses with storied-pasts require trips though those pasts. Recreate the story. Reinvent the story. The fashion label was bought for a reason, so use what is already on hand. Clean breaks from a couture house's history were once new and revolutionary, but by now it is a cliche. Use what is on hand.

- AP

The Invisible Hand 2: Philippe Venet

Gentle Reader -

With fashion as Big Business, it is sometimes hard to remember - or imagine - the days of haute couture's heyday. The masses who read the fashion titles know the designer names, but certainly not the names of couturiers (et oui, couturières aussi!).

Philippe Venet. Look him up. Study the images. This is homework.

There is a politeness of silhouette, as if Venet's muse never strayed very far from the exclusive worlds of the aristocratic 7th or grand bourgeois 16th in Paris - particularly after 1968. You might think this could hinder one's talent. In the case of Venet, it allowed for a flowering of a woman in a certain private world.

To put it another way, Venet could be called the Master of Discretion.

Venet's talent has never been underestimated, merely overlooked. This is both a danger and an advantage for those who pursue fashion with an Invisible Hand.

- 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

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