Voici Paris Haute Couture - exhibit Den Haag

During our weekend in Den Haag, by accident I discovered that there was an exhibit about haute couture in the local museum, so I made my boyfriend promise that he would take me to Voici Paris Haute Couture the next day. It was amazing; the first room we entered, presented Chanel's SS09 pieces. The room after that Worth, then Paul Poiret, Vionnet and vintage Chanel, the room after that Dior, Balenciaga and Givenchy -the dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's!-and next Jean Paul Gaultier and Armani Privé.... It truly was amazing and I was in complete awe of the amount of detail in those garments.

One of my favorite fashion exhibits ever, and definitely a must-see ...

Chanel SS 09 Haute Couture

Dior AW 2007 Haute Couture - See: Sex and the City

Cristobal Balenciaga 1950's Haute Couture

Too many pictures; more after the jump!

Fairchild

No more Human-Computer Interaction, please! Yesterday I finished up studying the approximately 1500 slides of the course and now I'm reading and making an extract out of the reader, which is 800 pages. I'm going crazy. It's fairly interesting but it is taking forever. So I would rather be spending my valuable time on preparing for my other exam Costume and Fashion, although that textbook is quite elaborate as well.

And I've just realized that I left my trustworthy fashion guide at my dorm in Leuven. As an addition to the standard course reader, with no illustrations what so ever, I was planning to look up the various fashion trends throughout the centuries (like e.g. the Peter Pan collar or Greek chitons) in my Fairchild Dictionary of Fashion.

The book really is a must have for anyone planning to enter the industry professionally or anyone who is just extremely interested, since it offers essential terminology. Any fashion journalist or retailer needs it. Period. Plus, it has helped me out a lot for my thesis as well, since it features lists and lists of clothing items, in which movie they originally appeared and which fashion trends they set into motion. Think: Marlon Brando in The Wild One and his perfecto jacket, which caused the sales to increase tremendously.

A great bonus on the very last pages of the book is the overview of fashion designers, ranging from Armani to -once again- Worth.

By the way, Fairchild publishes many other amazing fashion books, check out their overview by category.

Christmas films

First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with the ones you love. I had a great time to say the least. And eventhough we spent most of the evening/day at the dinner table, there was never a dull moment.

Every Christmas though, on the Belgian and Dutch television stations the same kind of movies are being aired. (Think: Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Elf and many B-rated movies) We never really watch them. However, there is one film that is usually programmed during the holidays that I do watch: Sissi. It reminds me of lazy December nights at my grandmother's where we would watch Italian dubbed movies like Gone With The Wind. Today on the other hand, it caught my attention since I have to study the empress' wardrobe for the my exams in January.

In this portrait she is dressed by Charles Frederick Worth, the first designer known in history. Before that, authorship did not exist in the 'industry' and fashion trends were not dictated by one single person. In 1862 Worth introduced the oval shaped crinoline, which was flat at its frontside.

These are some photographs of the older, round ones. The biggest crinolines could have a diameter of 2 and a half meter, which is crazy. How did those women move at all? Many men at that time were not very keen on those 'skirts' since they kept their ladies on a asocial distance. However, I would love to go back in time for a day and try one of those dresses on. I guess one would feel like a princess in a heartbeat.

Chanel Short

Another great example on how fashion and film can intermix:


Lagerfeld must be the busiest man in fashion. He directed the following Chanel Short Film called Paris-Shangai: A Fantasy and designed the Métiers d'Art collection inspired by the same theme. Furthermore he is a succesful photographer (see e.g. : the dom pérignon-campagne with C. Schiffer) while still being the creative director for Chanel and Fendi.










Oh, and remember the Lara Stone by Karl Lagerfeld-piece?





Later today my Costume & Fashion-class will take place, and we will learn more about Gabrielle Chanel's design. Last week we already studied Charles Frederick Worth and Paul Poiret. I'm very excited.