Anatomy of a Masterpiece: Cristóbal Balenciaga

Something a bit different: I'd like to spend the next few days discussing the suit above, a masterwork by Cristóbal Balenciaga. A quick note on the image itself: it's been attributed on the web as a shot for Vogue--whether American, British, or French is unclear. It looks like early Irving Penn, again an uncertain provenance. The suit almost certainly dates to 1950. I hope to provide more details over the course of the next few days.

In the meantime, today's focus is on the most extraordinary aspect of the silhouette: the wasp waist. This was achieved with disciplined corsetry and padding added to the lower portion of the jacket to emphasize the curve of the hips. The detail was originated by Christian Dior as part of his famed "New Look" of 1947. "I wanted to employ a different technique in fashioning my clothes," Dior said, ". . . I wanted them to be constructed like buildings."

Balenciaga adopted the silhouette and added a detail which is a subtle feat of tailoring: a front panel that effectively converted a single-breasted jacket from the waist up into a double-breasted one below.

Nicolas Ghesquiere, now fashion director at the house, took this silhouette as inspiration for his Spring/Summer '08 line, here modeled by Natalia Vodianova.

Will today's image-stricken women ever embrace a mode that emphasizes the curves of the hips? I very much hope so--minus the corset, of course--for what a voluptuous look this is.

Toro Toro Toro: Fashions Inspired by the Bullring

The subject of bullfighting inspires impassioned discussion (preferably across a table spread with jamón ibérico and glasses of fino sherry). Today I'm working one little corner upon which all combatants can reasonably agree: the matador looks marvelous, and knows it.

The corrida has inspired designers through the age. The duds by Givenchy, pictured above (from the May 2009 Deutsch Vogue) are merely the latest example.

As chic as they are, though, sometimes the real thing is even more resplendent. Take as an example this bullfighting ceremonial cape recently up for sale on eBay. It didn't hit its reserve, which is not terribly surprising, for the thing is a masterpiece.

Every once in a great while, elements of an actual traja de luces (suit of lights) comes up for sale. Apart from their value as sartorial craft, these are avidly collected by aficionados, and the prices reflect this.

More gently priced, and only slightly less dramatic, are bits and pieces like this matador's cap.

Even further removed from the ring itself are garments and accessories that are inspired by a bullfighting theme. Scarves and skirts patterned with the subject are affordable (but be ready to take some heat from any anti-cruelty crusader who happens to get a close look).

More subtle are these little cufflinks. An interesting signal to send a man who has your heart shouting ¡olé!


(photo top sourced from cakenotcoke.com)

Born to be Styled: How to Retrend a Vintage Motorcycle Jacket

Ordinarily I'm very keen on function in fashion. But sometimes the off-kilter works in a way that makes me say "damn what it's supposed to do, that looks fantastic."

Such is the case with this cropped bomber from Phi's 2009 ready-to-wear collection. (This boutique brand is slowly growing presence around the world, showing in hip outposts like Colette in Paris as well as in their own shops in L.A. and downtown New York. If you want haute urban edge, and have handfuls to spend, this is the label you want.)

What I love about this jacket is the cropped sleeves. Which is hardly news in ready-to-wear, but to do it with a motorcycle jacket is audacious, because the whole genetic code of riding leathers is about protecting skin and joints against the very unlovely road rash in case of knockdown and slide.

So, clearly this one's for display purposes only, but what a display. The black-on-black proportions sing.

In terms of reality, most of us can't afford this piece off the rack. But what we can do is work those same proportions on the cheap. Motorcycle jackets are all over charity shops/thrift stores, and they're equally findable, and affordable, on eBay. Below is a nice looking one in a boy's large, for a petite lady . . . obviously size up to suit your own shape.


How to get the fashionable cropped sleeve, if you want it? Before buying anything pay a call to your local alterations person, and find out if they can work with leather (most industrial sewing machines can, but do ask). If the alterations folks can't do it, maybe there's still a shoe repair outfit nearby with the equipment and gumption to do the fairly simple job of cutting and hemming the sleeves.

The entire operation--jacket + nip/tuck--shouldn't cost more than dinner and a movie. You'll be able to ride the jacket right through the fall. Start looking now! As soon as the season turns, others will too.



(Phi jacket illustrated in British Vogue Catwalk Report, August 2009©The Condé Nast Publications Ltd)

Shut Yer Eye Hole: Hats At No Risk of Revival

Am finding it difficult to work fashion's haute front lawn on a midsummer Thursday. Consequently, am spending some time out back, with the disused fridges, junked cars on blocks, and random stuff that the cat dragged in. Specifically, an ultra-arcane style of headgear, with eyeholes cut in. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? Not balaclavas, which are protective in nature. I mean hats designers thought actual people might wear absent a snowstorm or a bank robbery.

Exhibit A, above: this clipping courtesy of Glamoursplash, highlighting a tendence that captured at least one photographer's attention in Paris' glory years as a fashion capital.

Who could possibly think that was a look worth reviving? A milliner in 1984, apparently, who sent his mum off to Royal Ascot Ladies' Day in one of his creations. Mum, bless her, looks like she's loving it (photo © Bettman/Corbis).



And whatever did happen to the veil/monocle ensemble so admirably trendspotted in the Modern Mechanix blog (click on image to behold)?





That same fascinating retro blog gives us this, a more fittingly practical version of the eyehole concept (again, click on the image, but deep breath first). What? That didn't catch on either? Really?



Truly, no-one with a scratch of design sense could think this notion would work, even for the most modern of women. Right? Right?

Well Trompe My Oeil: Bags To Make You Look Twice

The minute I saw this season's "Shadow" Birkin from Hermès, I thought, that one makes sense. Because as surreal as its embossed horizontal locking straps may be, they seem far less fiddly than the traditional arrangement of leaving the real, "working" ones open to dangle.

This bag got me wondering. Was it the first true example of the trompe-l'oeil bag genre?

The answer: Nope, not at all. There is a longstanding tradition of design houses issuing handbags under faux pretenses.

Some nice vintage examples:

This YSL tote


A lovely Roberta di Camerino velvet number (she made these a trademark)

A more recent Marc Jacobs example of a cleverly stitched clutch.

So who knows what creativity lurks in the minds of luxe bag designers? Not only the Shadow knows.

(top photo from Harpersbazaar.com, by Toby McFarlan Pond)

Fly Girl: The Aviatrix's Cap High Fashion Again

Jean Paul Gaultier, designing for Hermès, has seen the style potential of the aviator's cap, and used it as a recurring theme in his Autumn/Winter '09/10 line.

The question: was his inspiration helped along by the fact that Hillary Swank will be portraying Amelia Earhart in a forthcoming film? The wardrobe for the movie promises to be amazing, and it will be interesting to see how closely Hermès comes to replicating the leather-and-pearls élan of this incredibly stylish adventuress.

To give an idea, here's an photo of the lady herself, in a custom-made white leather flying cap.

If you'd like to get an early jump on the look, leather flyer's caps are available on eBay -- but this may be a little too authentic for anything but a costume party.

An more interesting and highly wearable option might be a hat like this one, a vintage wool cloche inspired by the idea of taking to the sky but more realistically stopping short at penthouse level.



(Hermès collection photographs from the Telegraph Online, by AP/EPA/Reuters)

Rainy Days and Mondays: Vintage Umbrellas To the Rescue

As the rain pelts down this morning in London, I'm getting a sense of déja vu. From last summer, and the summer before, when "summer" seemed a hopelessly optimistic term for the ongoing conditions outdoors.

So! You can't change the weather but you can brighten your sightlines with a fantastic vintage umbrella. Pop one of these babies open and the world will know who's great company in a storm:




(n.b. Umbrellas, like suspects, are best shown mug-shot style, profile and head-on)


Top: A graphic beauty with a red bakelite handle . . .




Center: A secret garden umbrella, with the floral riot hidden inside a plain white exterior . . .


Bottom: Umbrella as scarlet petticoat, doing the can-can against the showers . . .


If it ain't gonna rain on your parade, baby, brollies like these are the way to go.