Fashion 101: Yves Saint Laurent

It has been a while since my blog has mentioned anything about France now that I live in New York City. So for this lesson of Fashion 101 I wanted to feature a true legend to the fashion world, and France's own, Yves Saint Laurent.

As I just visited the Alexander McQueen Exhibition: Savage Beauty at The Met (don't worry that post is coming...and YES it was amazing), I was reminded of an equally great exhibit I had the honor of visiting last summer in Paris. That's right, I had so many posts and photos going up in the summer of 2010 that somewhere amongst the chaos of my cross-Atlantic move, I had a tiny little gold mine of snapshots that got lost in the recesses of my external drive! So here's to another great Fashion 101!

Yves Saint Laurent at the Petit Palais 

along the Seine River...my heart just melts as I think of it. 

**Please note: not all of these photos are the best, I was shooting from the hip...literally... as I was trying to discreetly capture the ambience of the exhibition for you guys without getting caught.**

At 17, Yves Saint Laurent started his career as an assistant to Christian Dior in 1953. Dior gradually accepted more and more of his sketch submissions and named him his successor to the House of Dior. In the Fall of 1957 Dior died unexpectedly of a heart attack and suddenly at 21 Yves Saint Laurent was to direct his first runway line. 

Here are the stats that any true fashionista should know about YSL:

1. Fused Art and Culture with Fashion

In his premier line for the Christian Dior label, he set the world on fire by creating Dior's signature "New Look" with trapeze dresses. 

 {merci Girl's Guide to Paris}

His life was all about art and culture and it was constantly cognisant in his collections. Including his famous YSL color block dress inspired by the well known Mondrian painting, and was just one of many art reinterpretations over the course of his fashion career. His influence was often found outside of Europe as well, and he is credited as the first designer to send ethnic models down his runway, including longtime muse, supermodel Iman.

{merci fashion freax}

2. Founded Ready to Wear

As many designers in the mid sixties meddled with a few pret-a-porter pieces, Yves Saint Laurent was the first to launch a full ready to wear collection in the Fall of 1966. In addition that Fall, he opened the first of his ready to wear stores which he called his Rive Gauche stores, in Paris. Catherine Deneuve was his first customer. 

Fashion fades, style is eternal ~Yves Saint Laurent

3. Uncovered the lost art of Couture

The sixties and seventies were a time where the golden age of decadent couture had long been forgotten, ahem... polyester suits. But as a couturier himself, Yves Saint Laurent's creations brought back haute couture into the spotlight it deserved. 

Haute couture consists of secrets whispered from generation to generation...If in ready to wear, a garment is manufactured according to standard sizes, the haute couture garmet adapts to any imperfection in order to eliminate it. ~Yves Saint Laurent

4. The women's tuxedo suit

YSL's partner and longtime companion Pierre Berge once said, "We often say Chanel has liberated the woman, which is true, but we can also say that YSL gave them the power." No truer words could be spoken. Yves Saint Laurent's designs were specific to empower the woman and pull out her beauty at the same time. In his Fall 1965 collection, YSL introduced Le Smoking, his women's tuxedo pantsuit that changed to female corporate look forever. YSL is also credited with other trends such as safari jackets, thigh high boots, and his coined beatnik look.

{merci wikipedia}

Yves Saint Laurent was a vital piece of the ever evolving landscape of fashion, and experiencing this exhibit was truly breath taking. In the Centre Pompidou on January 22, 2002 YSL showed his last collection before retiring, showcasing 30 new looks and a collection of 300 models emphasizing the highlights over his career. He died of brain cancer on June 1, 2008 in his Paris residence.

I want to thank all the women who have worn my clothes, the famous and the unknown, who have been so faithful to me and given me so much joy. ~Yves Saint Laurent

 {merci yoox.com}

 Thank you Wikipedia and the Petit Palais for your wisdom.

Fashion 101: Goodbye to a Legend - Elizabeth Taylor

It was a sad day yesterday, as the world said goodbye to the very last Hollywood Golden Age Legend. Elizabeth Taylor, dangerously curvy, fashion icon, died at 79 from heart failure that had her hospital bound many times in the last 7 years. Known for her many (8) marriages, to the likes of Nicky Hilton (Paris's grandfather) and Richard Burton, among others, she stayed very much in the public eye up until her death.

Setting the stage at 12 as a child star in National Velvet, Elizabeth's violet eyes, and talent transitioned her into great MGM roles as she grew...grew in to a curvacious sex bomb.  But MGM had yet to recognize this Golden Age Legend potential. Her first major movie was the original Father of the Bride in 1950.

She continued making many movies that she was not happy with, but MGM refused to cast her in anything higher. Finally she co-starred in Giant with James Dean in 1956 and her stardom catapulted. Her next 4 films were repeatedly Academy Award Nominations for Best Actress: Raintree County, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly, Last Summer, and finally winning for Butterfied 8.

By the time Cleopatra rolled around, Elizabeth Taylor was the highest paid actress, signing a one million dollar contract...two million after overtime...in 1960! This is when she began her scandalous infidelity with co-star Richard Burton. Later Burton would become her long time husband, as well as co-star in a total of 8 movies. One in which she received her 2nd Academy Award, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

Elizabeth Taylor had a passion for jewelry and was known for her fair share of opulence...including the 33.19 carat Krupp Diamond and the Cartier 69.42 carat Taylor-Burton Diamond. Oh and did I forget to mention the 50 carat La Peregrina Pearl Burton gave Taylor for Valentine's Day...that originally belonged to Queen Mary I of England?...yeah. So it made perfect sense when, one of the first celebrity endorsed (and most successful) perfumes, White Diamonds, was born.

{Merci WeHeartIt for photos and Wikipedia for Timeline}

Goodbye to the last of Hollywood's Golden Age

Elizabeth Taylor

1932 - 2011 

Fashion 101: History of High Heels

High Heels have a long history of adoration. Fashion has showcased an array of creativity for these feet adornments over the centuries...but where did they come from? Rumor has it that King Louis XIV was the man (that's right) that started the trend... but that's not entirely true.

"I don't know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot!"

~Marilyn Monroe 

 {merci weheartit}

{Merci Jessica Lee Jernigan}

High heels actually began their story with the Chopine dating as far back as 1000 BC Egypt! They reached as high as 20" at times and required servants to help the socialites walk around! These shoes were prohibited in Venice...but that didn't stop their fans. Catherine de Medici in Paris in the 16th Century was the first to have heels designed for her (she was rather short) where the heel elevated higher than the toe.

{merci Figlia}

Always a sex symbol, the English Parliament punished women (as witches) all who used high heels to seduce a man into marriage (oh la la)! But by the early 1700's they became necessity fashion in the royal courts, and leading the trend, King Louis XIV had many ornate high heels embellished with miniature battle scenes (very manly).

Heels reached as high as 5"...just as long as no one's were higher than the king's (complex much??).

By 1791 the man with the ultimate Short Man Complex banned heels with the French Revolution...yes Napoleon did that ladies. The ban was an attempt to show "equality"...yeah. High heel history stops for a bit as politics catches up.

{merci Goddiva Blog}

High heels were back in business in the 1860s when the invention of the sewing machine lent a whole new variety of design. The French high heel fashion continued to be the trend setter. By the 1920s high heels came in a variety of widths, heights and styles. This was a turning point for shoe history because the shorter style Flapper dresses now allowed shoes to become accessories to an outfit rather than a hidden undergarment. The T-Strap heel was a very popular style. In the 1930s American footwear began making its mark, as the glittery Hollywood heels of Ginger Rogers began to influence footwear!

{Merci Pookie from Laredo}

Post war, 1953, Christian Dior collaborated with designer Roger Vivier to create a curved feminine high heel to compliment the curve of his clothing line. This was the first stiletto ladies...not quite the provocative versions of today, but controversial then nonetheless. The term stiletto, Italian for small dagger, was appropriately coined.

{Merci Past Perfect Vintage}

{Merci oocities}

The Women's Movement of the 1960s brought heels low to "Liberate the captive foot of womanhood" but as the 1970s approached the Hippie culture embraced platforms as style, as their concerns became anxiety about the world's future rather than footwear. 

{Merci Christian Louboutin}

{Merci Manolo Blahnik}

In the Women's Movement of the 1980s the high heel becomes a symbol of power. From there, high heel history is well...history. In the 1990s specific footwear designers begin to have fame such as Manolo Blahnik and Christian Louboutin. Television shows such as Sex and the City, showcasing Carrie Bradshaw's ever committed relationship to her shoes catapult high heels to cult status and continues today.

What are your favorite high heels mes cheries?

Thank you Mysexyhiheels and Simone le Blanc for the fashion history knowledge. 

Fashion 101: New York Fashion Week

All too soon the white tents will pop up at Lincoln Center my dears and this little fashionista has ants in her over the knee boots, just giddy with anticipation! Mais, where did the elusive New York Fashion Week get its start I wonder?

{merci Herald de Paris}

The earliest American Fashion Show on record was in NYC (bien sur!) in 1903 in the Ehrich Brothers Emporium. Allegedly held to lure middle class shoppers in the doors, this success had became a trend by 1910 and by the Twenties a nationwide norm. But it was still Paris who held the crown for anything fashion related worth turning your pin curled head for.

{merci NYC Architecture}

That was until World War II. The nation was in a state of panic, with no money to be found anywhere, suddenly the fashion crowd of New York could not fly to Paris to attend Les Defiles! Oh la la! In 1943 Fashion Publicist...and game changer...Eleanor Lambert, took advantage of the golden opportunity to turn the lime light onto the ignored talents of American work. She organized what she called "Press Week" for fashion designers to promote their work for fashion journalists, who until then never bothered to care...success had birthed a phenomenon. Vogue & Co. began featuring American designers among their many glossy spreads of the French elite, and the world's very first organized Fashion Week had been created!!

{merci Guest of a Guest}

It wasn't until 1994 that the scattered events throughout the city became centralized at Bryant Park. The once more theatrical public shows became streamlined and chic "invitation only" events. And 2010 marked the end of yet another era as Bryant Park's tents went down for the last time and the next lustful name was born... Lincoln Center.

{merci photography friend Adam David Kissick}

Thank you Wikipedia and New York's Guest of a Guest for the info!

If only I can click my pretty red heels 3 times to get into this home...

Fashion 101: Our Stylish Ancestors

A recent trip to Ellis Island had me overflowing with historic inspiration... As you may know fashion history (like fashion present) is something I really love. Something I always take away from museums and historic sites are the costumes of all the different places and times. The patterns, the colors, the culture of each time period that dictated the dress. It is so fascinating.

I can't even imagine the hope Lady Liberty must've given after being on a boat, miserable, forever, to finally feel free to live the life you dream. Walking these halls was awe inspiring. Most Americans can trace their lineage back to family that came through Ellis Island to settle here. I am one of them. Part Norwegian and part Irish I have many family members that checked in...and I was even able to find their names!

I've always loved vintage luggage, the main lobby is the room where all the belongings of the immigrants would be setting while they registered their families in the country. 

The few clothing displayed in the museum is what really got me. Attention Upper East Siders looks like your boots borrowed the fabulous style of 1906 Bohemia... good to know there's a little Cinderella in every walk down the runway. And how chic is this doctor's bag this woman is sporting? I really am on the hunt for one myself, it is my favorite closure for a bag... a bit hard to find since its not a fad right now.

Have you checked in at Ellis my dears?

Fashion 101: LBD

"You can wear black at any time, you can wear it at any age. You can wear it on almost any occasion. A 'little black frock' is essential to a woman's wardrobe. I could write a book about black." ~ Christian Dior

{weheartit}

That jaw dropping Little Black Dress has been done a million and one ways over the centuries, and it somehow never goes out of style. But where did it really come from? What catapulted it to stardom? Well mes cheries, any Miley or Gaga can strut her strut her stuff in Versace's latest invention, but to be a truly schooled fashionista, one must know her history. Besides, what is more satisfying than leaving someone speechless who misjudged you as a brainless ditz with a credit card? Put those nay-sayers in their place darlings, fashion is a power house industry and deserves the respect of a full education. So class, sit down and take notes.

Along with the Renaissance, Italy also birthed black as a fashion statement. Seen as far back as 1473 in the triptych by Jean de Witte, featuring a young woman in a lavish velvet gown with an intense scarlet ribbon. Although, the Spaniards are the reason for the initial mass appeal, as black dye was expensive, it became the color of the Spanish Royalty almost exclusively throughout the 16th century.

{fotobank.ru}

Fading in and out of style, black had predominantly declined in the 17th & 18th centuries. The first half of the 19th century, black paved its way as the fashionable color for men, who wore it in the English Style assimilated with merchants and businessmen. By the latter half of the century it became a fashion statement for wealthy women as well. But black was cemented in wardrobe after Sargent painted the Portrait of Madame X, causing a scandal in Paris and emerging it as the color of seduction.

{newyorksocialdiary.com}

The American Vogue of October, 1926 would forever change the game as it unveiled photos of Coco Chanel's "little black dress" that they described as "The Chanel 'Ford' - The frock that all will wear." Chanel had done much experimenting with black garb, but this piece debuted at a time when the world needed simplicity and craved a break from the extravagant canvases of her competitor Paul Poiret.

{weheartit}

Then Hollywood quickly climbed on board, with many starlettes featuring stunning black gowns that were crucial to their characters' role. Christian Dior became infatuated with this idea of minimalist beauty as he began bringing these desires of Hollywood to the runway and then trickling it down to the women who walked the streets. "I have no wish to deprive fashion of the added allure and charm of color, but I could perfectly well design a whole collection simply in black or white. Color cannot transform a failure of a dress into a success; it merely plays a supporting role in the cast where cut is the star performer." (Christian Dior). Continuing the phenomenon, in 1961 Hubert de Givenchy made that very rare and pure movie magic moment with Audrey Hepburn's iconic ensemble in Breakfast at Tiffany's, and women everywhere have never been the same.

{weheartit}

After a minor decline in the 60s, Yves Saint Laurent brought back black in steel force through the 70s and set his name in the history books. Through the next couple decades fashion wavered between whether it found black elegantly sexy or a punk statement toward anarchy. Powerhouse designer Vivienne Westwood created bridges for the fashion-antifashion opposing crowds and was the first to successfully change the industry toward an edgy, goth direction. Gianni Versace made his mark with a gift to blend the hard elements of the punk movement with the timeless seductiveness that we all know and love, and Karl Lagerfeld found a way to bring Chanel into the 21st century. With every turn of the season, designers left and right find new ways to amaze us, and somehow black is still not boring.

Reference: The Black Dress by Valerie Steele

Check it out for more awesome info darlings!

{weheartit}

I wonder what the next

la mode en noire holds mes cheries?

Fashion 101: History of Handbags

Whether you know them as purses, pocketbooks, totes, or sac-a-mains, the handbag is an item lusted after by women worldwide. Born out of necessity in the Middle Ages, handbags have come a long way to the glitz and glam of the designer purses of today. When I traveled to Amsterdam the one thing I was very excited about seeing was the Museum of Bags and Purses (Tassen Museum Hendrikje in Dutch).

ORIGIN

Clothing did not always come packing with handy little pockets for loose change and cell phones, as surprising as you may find it. The oldest remains of bags for personal items that have been found date back to the late Middle Ages, where men and women wore belts with hanging bags, much like external detachable pockets. By the 17th century they had evolved to hanging bags with long cords attached to the belt. For the wealthy they were a luxury good complete with ornate bead work and often used as the gift wrapping for the actual gift of money or jewels.

{aprongoddess.blogspot.com}

GAMING PURSES

A variety of games were a hobby of the people of the courts in the latter 16th century England. Your money, chips, and cards would be carried in this bag waiting to provide entertainment. This stiff round base to provide upright support at the table was often decorated with the family coat of arms, and not knowing the stylish game of the moment would have been very frowned upon.

{scran.ac.uk}

LIMOGES

A traditional wedding gift to the bride from the groom in Italy, France, and some parts of England. Named after the French town of Limoges, famous for its special bridal bags in the 17th to 18th centuries. These flat oval purses would range in the design from the groom's coat of arms to enamal depictions of the bride and groom or saints. Traditionally money would be placed inside as well, such as 13 coins, signifying Christ and the 12 disciples. I'm glad we now get more than 13 cents from our grooms on our wedding day!

WORK BAGS

Remember, the late 18th century was a time when every worthy woman was expected to bide her time on fine needlework. This work bag became a constant ally to those women, as they worked away over tea together. Typically of white satin with a drawstring top, most women would have embroidered any extra embellishment themselves.

{medeivalartcraft.blogspot.com}

STOCKING PURSE

From the late 18th century to the early 20th stocking purses were commonly used. A long knitted or crocheted tube was folded in the middle where it had its opening with 2 rings. You could place items in either side which were often decorated differently to distinguish one side from the other and the small rings would slide over to secure the closure.

{vam.ac.uk}

MATERIALS

In the 18th century straw was a very common material for fashionable bags that was split, ironed flat and mounted onto wood, leather, cardboard, or cloth. Through the heating of the straw embellishments, there could be added granules of gold or stains of color to vary the style. Leather emerged with the need for a more durable bag due to the increasing frequency of train travel. Unique materials such as ivory were used in the 19th century to the first quarter of the 20th century for ornate carvings continuing the art and fashion of handbags.

BEADED BAGS & SILVER FRAMES

Weaving in and out of popularity in the last 200 years, beaded bags can be truly looked upon as a work of art. Often made from about 50,000 beads and handstrung in a strict order to form the pattern, it would take an experienced knitter two full working weeks to complete one bag. Many were crafted from Bohemian or Bavarian glass beads in Czeckoslovakia and Germany, but these bags also came from France, Italy, and Austria. In the early 20th century they began being paired with silver framing for closures but by the 1930's beaded bags began losing their demand.

The silver frame bags started being fashionable to Dutch women in the last quarter of the 17th century and was typically placed under the apron and hooked to the belt or skirt. Because silver was a precious resource, these bags were often passed down from mother to daughter. Accompanying the silver framework would be fabrics of velvet, damask, silk, and leather. The knitted bead bags also began pairing with the silver frames at the start of the 19th century. With the arrival of the 20th century, handbags had staked their permanent claim in the wardrobes of women and therefore a silver chain was added to the metal frame for easy handling.

NEW MATERIALS

By the end of the 19th century, there became more and more experimentation with new materials, and also easier methods of some favored techniques. Metal mesh bags formed by the joining of many tiny silver metal rings were popular in the late 1800's. Germany and the US were major producers. A production innovation by American company Whiting & Davis made it possible to mass produce the popular style Disden Mesh affordably. The colored patterns on the metal were huge in the 20's and 30's prevailing with the art deco style.

{lins-antiques.com}

Materials like marcasite, a mineral pyrite began being experimented in different cuts similar to diamonds to adorn the purses. Leather began disersifying as people experimented with the uses of many varieties. Luxury goods may have included options of snake, crocodile, toad, ostrich, armadillo, lizard and even shark! With the continuous advancing of technology the arrival of plastics in the United States in the 1950's also sparked a micro trend of plastic bags, desired for their sturdy form and new translucent quality.

CONTEMPORARY

As you know, nowadays what you carry on your arm can make a world of difference while walking your city streets. Women give nicknames to their purses and may even stick small dogs inside of them. In 1724 George Frederic Strass created the imitation diamond that became imenseley popular by Coco Chanel in bags of the 1920's and 30's. In 1896 the Louis Vuitton Luggage House created its famous canvas bag with the LV logo and designer bags have never been the same. In the 50's celebrities began having quite an influence on this industry. Whether it was the quilted Chanel, the Hermes Birkin (created for English actress Jane Birkin) or Jessica Simpson's decked out Louis, if a celebrity covets a bag, rest assured it will become the next 'it' bag.

(These bags pictured above were displayed in a special Swarovski room. I loved this room, and my girlfriends deemed this last black bag, "Me in Bag Form" apparantly ruffles, zippers, studs, and lots of fun sparkle are my fashion qualities...I can't say I was surprised)!

For men, the arrival of pockets gradually dismissed the handbag as an item of interest and excluding the briefcase and some gaming bags, this thriving market is now predominantly run by women. As every season rolls around, new colors, materials, and styles create a glimmer in the eyes of many lovely women, and so the story continues.

WHAT DO YOU THINK FASHION'S NEXT

HANDBAG PHENOMENON WILL BRING MES CHERIES?