Tag Archive | Clothes

Eye On Design: Paco Rabanne Disc Dress Circa 1966

Aug9

Paco Rabanne Dress 1966
All Photos By Gail

Paco Rabanne presented his first fashion collection in 1966. It was entitled 12 Dresses in Unwearable Materials and included garments made from links of plastic fastened with metal hoops. Rabanne had proven that fabric, needle and thread were not altogether necessary to clothing design, and he quickly gained fame for his defiance of tradition.

Paco Rabanne Dress 1966 Installation View

Ready-to-wear Dress Circa 1966: Silver and Black Plastic Discs, Metal Hoops. Photographed in the Museum at FIT in Manhattan.

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Eye on Design: The Tree Evening Dress and The Petal Stole By Charles James

Jul26

Tree Evening Dress
All Photos By Gail

With its petal-like stole, this evening gown, The Tree (1955),  transforms the wearer into a flower, giving her a sensual elegance. Couturier Charles James (1906 – 1978) often envisioned his clients as exotic flowers and he believed that fashion should arouse the mating instinct. Ooh!

Tree Evening Dress

Psychologist Nancy Etcoff writes, “Flowers are alluring landing strips for pollinating insects: They are the plant worlds sex objects.” Think about that next time you see  a flower.

Charles James 1946 By Irving Penn
Charles James, Photographed in 1946, By Irving Penn

Tree Evening Dress

Photographed as part of the Force of Nature Exhibit, on Through November 18th, 2017 at at The Museum at FIT, Located at the Southwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 27th Street, in NYC.

Eye On Design: YSL Color Block Couture Dress Circa 1965

May17

YSL Couture Color Block Dress
Photos By Gail

Yves Saint Laurent’s fall 1965 collection was inspired by the paintings of Piet Mondrian. While it became one of Saint Laurent’s most famous collections, other designers had introduced similar designs before him. The Montreal Gazette claimed that color-blocked dresses by Michele Roiser had inspired Saint Laurent to “add a few black lines” to his own creations. View some of the collections here: https://teranicouture.com/collection/evening-dresses-2016-and-2017

Installation View

YSL dress seen here with a color block design by Lousi Feraud (circa 1967) on the left.

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Photos From Paris Refashioned: 1957-1968 at The Museum at FIT

Apr25

Installation View with Ungaro Coat
All Photos By Gail

For reasons that take too long to talk about, I’m late to the game with my post on the exhibit Paris Refashioned: 1957-1968, which closed on April 15th, 2017. But why waste a collection of lovely photos when I could still post them here, in hope that they will entice you to attend the museum’s next exhibit, while you learn more about the history of French fashion!

Installation View
Installation View

I was fortunate to visit the exhibit one frigid Saturday afternoon in February, when there were very few other attendees and the feelings of nostalgia were great, as it reminded me of shopping with my mother when I was a little girl back in the 1960s.

Installation View with Pantsuits
Installation View with Pantsuits

Paris Refashioned, 1957-1968 highlighted one of the most groundbreaking time periods in fashion history. While many books and exhibitions about this era position London as the center of innovative, youth-oriented design, this limited perspective overlooks the significant role that Paris continued to play in the fashion industry. Paris Refashioned, 1957-1968 examined the combined influence of French haute couture, ready-to-wear, and popular culture during this era, with particular emphasis on how fashion was perceived and promoted by the American fashion press. All objects on view were selected from The Museum at FIT’s permanent collection of more than 50,000 objects.

Please enjoy some of our favorite designs from the show!

Evening Suit By Coco Chanel
Evening Suit By Coco Chanel in Gold Silk Satin Brocade, 1960

Christian Dior Hostess Gown
Christian Dior Ready-to-Wear Hostess Gown, Printed Ivory Silk Satin, 1957

Installation View with Red Suit

Emanuel Ungaro Couture Dress
Emanuel Ungaro Couture Dress, Red Double-knit Wool, Polyurethane and PVC, 1967

Emanuel Ungaro Couture Coat
Left Foreground: Emanuel Ungaro Couture Coat. Blue and Grey Printed Wool Fabric By Sonia Knapp, 1968

Jules Lanvin Couture Evening Ensemble
Far Left: Jeanne Lanvin (aka Jules-Francois Crahay)  Couture Evening Ensemble Dress and Hood in Fuschia Silk Chifon and Rhinestones, 1964-65

Pierre Cardin Coat and Pinafore Dress
Left: Pierre Cardin Ready-to-Wear Coat and Pinafore Dress and Belt in Burgundy Leather, 1967

Arlette Nastat Ready-to-Wear Dress

Arlette Nastat Ready-to-Wear Dress Detail
Arlette Nastat Ready-to-Wear Dress in Black and Pink Linen, 1966

Exhibit Signage

Look for more individual pieces from the exhibit to be featured in Wednesday’s weekly Eye On Design column in upcoming weeks!

Andres Courreges Couture Dress 1968
André Courrèges Couture Dress in Black Chiffon, Tan Silk and Black Vinyl, 1968

Hello Pussy T-Shirt

Feb16

hello-pussy-t-shirt

OMG I Love This. Show your support at each and every Women’s March with this Hello kitty-inspired t-shirt, Hello Pussy! This adorable character shirt will get the attention of everyone around you. Available in both Unisex style y-shirts and Ladies Fit Tees, Hoodies and other wearable swag, and in a variety of colors, at This Link!

Pizza Hoodie

Jan31

Pizza Hoodie
Image Source

Here’s a fun layering item to help keep you warm in the midst of this year’s Polar Vortex: a Pepperoni Pizza Print Hoodie! Oh, I am hungry just looking at it! On sale right now for just $69.84 (save 30 Bucks!) at Rage On Dot Com!

K8 Hardy, Credit Default Swap

Nov26

Credit Default Swap
Credit Default Swap (2012), Duratrans Film on Lightbox, Edition of 2 (Photo By Gail)

K8 Hardy’s work typically subverts common conceptions of fashion and consumerism, combining product close-ups, meticulous styling and staging. Her photographs and sculptures employee layering to confuse and undermine assumptions about class, economics, race and gender. She “teases out” the emotional meanings in everything – from clothes to figures in a landscape. “This blanket expression that you shouldn’t judge a person by their clothes is ridiculous to me,” she said. “Every article of clothing is so loaded with signifiers, I don’t know how you can help but make up stories about people and their desires based on what they wear.”