Vintage Balenciaga

Gentle Reader -

For today, there are no prophetic statements to post. Just enjoy the perfection of line in this deceptively simple Balenciaga dress.

- AP

London Under the Radar: A Touch of Subtlety

Gentle Reader -

Expect a lot more of London as we head toward the 2012 Summer Olympiad. While the brash/clash/dash of London fashion is world-famous (and rather peculiar to the city), there is a certain quality that also excels in London:

The Art of the Subtle

Perhaps you call it discretion - or some other name for the obviously not-obvious detail that marks fine workmanship, quality and thoughtfulness. This isn't to be confused with Italian workmanship, which is more accurately a sublime bravado.

The Art of the Subtle isn't readily found in London department stores. Rather, it is in the quiet shops that you will find it on display in spades.

And you might not ever notice it.

- 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.

Couture: Past Tense?

Gentle Reader -

Question: Can haute couture still exist outside of museum exhibitions?

Perhaps the answer can be found this week during the Fall/Winter presentations in Paris.

- AP

The Magic Touch

Gentle Reader -

There once was a debate in fashion that went something like this:

Is a dress designed on a body better than a dress based from a sketch?

Chanel herself thought so, but in haute couture, it really did not matter - ultimately, a dress still had to move perfectly, and both methods could achieve this. How? Because the dress was made by hand...actually, lots of them.

There are still some ready-to-wear dresses that have a bit of that "made by hand" quality we ascribe to the couture, as evidenced at times by Lanvin under Alber Ebaz.

The importance of a stunning dress is what it does, how it moves, how it transforms a woman.

A bit of human magic, added to genius, is sometimes all it takes to make that happen.

- AP

Fashion: Which Directon?

Gentle Reader -

Are you feeling a bit midnight blue for fall 2011? Or perhaps a bit more cinnamon, particularly for evening?

Maybe it's just that you want a skirt that can go all day, no matter when your day begins (or ends).

A dress? A suit? New or vintage? High street or second-hand?

Fashion is a point of view, but always a point of view that is in the moment. Imagine what your point of view might be. But hurry, you must choose before the fall magazines are published.

- AP

Transitional Fashion: Not Quite

This dress is most likely circa 1830-1840. In many ways, it is easy to see that this is a transitional silhouette:

- not quite the high waist/bust of Grecian gowns from the Napoleonic period
- not quite the wide lower waist that would soon be the rage

Today's fashion is again approaching that "not quite" moment which signals a shift in silhouette. The question isn't a what so much as it is a where and when.

- AP