So back to fashion, today I want to talk about designers I love, and being me these are designers long dead. Each of them left their mark on the world of fashion and left it changed for the better.
First up, Paul Poiret, he was a French Designer during the 1910's, we have Paul to thank for liberating us from corsets. He was heavily influenced by the Eastern culture and many of his designs featured a kimono like gown over harem style pants. Here are some examples of his work.
The Hobble skirt, probably not the best idea, women could hardly walk in it. When the "Tango" dance craze hit, brilliant Paul solved the problem by creating the slit in skirts!
The Lampshade Gown: concept and reality.
Monsieur Poiret was a lover of turbans also.
Next designer: Gabrielle Chanel, according to stories, she and Poiret hated each other. She thought his fashions ridiculous and he thought hers made women look like shop girls and factory workers. Chanel created her fashions according to her needs and when supplies were scarce during WWI she worked with what was available, mainly jersey. With this fabric she was able to drape gowns that moved with the body and were light weight.
Chanel was the inventor of the the "LBD" the little black dress. That's her on the left. What I find amazing about this photo of her is that you can't tell what decade it was taken in. The 20's, 30's, 50's? Now that is classic fashion at it's best. In fact, it's more than fashion, it's a personal style.
One of the other items Chanel is famous for, the Chanel suit. This is also something that every woman should have in her closet, it looks good on all shapes and sizes and the jacket can be worn with jeans and look amazing! The House of Chanel still includes a jacket every season. Again this is more than fashion.
Next up: Christian Dior
Christian Dior rose to prominence after WWII and helped Paris regain it's standing as the "Fashion Capitol of the World" during the war, factories were shut down and fabrics hard to come by. In 1947 Dior was in business and introducing his "New Look" to the world. Suddenly women's fashions were ultra feminine again. If I had to pick a favorite era of fashion, for me it's the 1950's.
Dior's design was so iconic, even Barbie was outfitted in the New Look when Mattel introduced the designer series.
Last but not least: Cristobel Balenciaga
Dior called Balenciaga "The Master of Us All" quite a compliment, I mean have you seen Dior's work? If everyone else's designs were just ice cream, his designs were gelato. His designs were sculptures, no one else has been able to come close to what he could do. When he retired and shut down his fashion house his customers cried all the way to Dior. Two of his proteges were Hubert de Givenchy and Oscar De la Renta
Here are 3 different examples of his work.
The other thing that makes this era in fashion so wonderful, the models. My personal favorite is Dorian Leigh. She started as a model late in life (for a model) and already a mother. She lived an interesting life to say the least. She was a personal friend of Chanel and Truman Capote, in fact Capote based Holly Golightly from "Breakfast at Tiffanys" on Dorian. Feel free to press the link and read about her. Her life would make a great movie and what's more she was the older sister of model Suzy Parker. Below is a photo of her from Revlon's most famous ad called "Fire and Ice" it was so popular that recently they brought it back and tried to duplicate it using Jessica Biel, I prefer the original. Oh, and they brought back the lipstick shade too.
Don't you just envy Dorian's figure?
Now on to my other reason for loving fashion, while movie costumes aren't really fashion they can influence fashion. Does Jennifer Beal's ripped sweatshirt from "Flashdance" ring a bell? The movie that gave me my love of historical fashion was "Gone With the Wind." WOW! What a movie! Even the extras wore historically accurate costumes from the skin out. Pantaloons, corsets and crinolines all made from the best fabrics. The costume designer? Walter Plunkett, he was Hollywoods go to designer for historical accuaracy. About 20 or so minutes in to the movie the heroine Scarlett O'Hara gets married. The time is 1861 and the Civil War is about to start, since her hubby is headed off to war to lick the Yankees a wedding is quickly arranged. Scarlett is 16 at this time and wears her mother's dress from 1844. The dress is done in the earlier style with the larger sleeves of the Romantic Era. Vivien Leigh, the actress who plays Scarlett is about 5'2" Barbara O'Neal who plays her mother Ellen O'Hara is considerably taller, the wedding dress is too long for Scarlett and is slightly ill-fitting. Details!
Here's another costume from the movie, the hat was created by John Fredricks of New York. The entire costume cost about $3000.00 in 1939!
Walter Plunkett's original design
And a publicity photo of the costume. It was only seen on screen for a few minutes. The one on the right is my all time favorite costume from the movie.
One of the most talented men I have ever come across in my research is Cecil Beaton, he was a photographer, set designer and costume designer. If you have seen "My Fair Lady" you've seen his work. He didn't just design the costumes, he designed the hats and the sets of the movie. Tell me if you think the costume below looks familiar.
That's the lovely Audrey Hepburn modeling for Cecil Beaton's camera. While this costume was not for her, it was designed for an extra in the Ascot scene, she was a great admirer of fashion and loved Beaton's interpretation of Poiret's lamp shade dress. Here are a few more samples of this amazing man's work:
The exquisite Vivien Leigh in Anna Karenina
Leslie Caron as the title character in "Gigi" one of my favorite movies. I have pictures of my mother in law from a few years back, it's amazing how much she looks like her. Absolutely gorgeous!
And finally to wrap it up, my current favorite costume designer who happens to still be alive, Colleen Atwood. Again she pays attention to detail and her costumes allow the actors to lose themselves in their roles. She has costumed, Memoirs of a Geisha, Chicago and Mars Attacks! but in my opinion her best work has been with Tim Burton. Her costumes help set the mood and personality of the characters. This costume is from Sleepy Hollow and is on my bucket list of things to make before I die.
Memoirs of a Geisha
Sweeney Todd
So that's it for now, I haven't even mentioned Lanvin, Elsa Schiaparelli, Adrian, Travis Banton and Edith Head! I could go on for days! So from the little girl who was forced to endure the humiliation of wearing the same outfit 2 days in a row I was able to find where my talents lie. So I guess I owe my mom a thank you? Who would believe it.
Terri
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