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