Tag Archive | Fashion

Eye On Design: Orange Shirred Velvet Corset Dress By John Paul Gaultier

Jan8

Orange Shirred Velvet Corset Dress
Photos By Gail

John Paul Gaultier was among the createurs who helped make French fashion so exciting in the 1980s. The way he played with conventions of sex and gender, in particular, has had a profound influence on fashion. For example, rather than using coresetry to reinforce conventional ideals of beauty, Gaultier has always emphasized that many body types, genders and ages can be attractive. This Orange Shirred Velvet Corset Dress, featuring Gaultier’s signature cone bra top (made famous by Madonna) is from his 1984 Fall collection.

Orange Shirred Velvet Corset Dress

Photographed as part of the Exhibit Paris, Capital of Fashion at the Museum at FIT in NYC.

Eye On Design: Brocade Evening Coat By Jeanne-Marie Lanvin

Nov6

Brocade Evening Coat By Jeanne Lanvin
Installation View (Photos By Gail)

The Nazi occupation of Paris lasted from June 14, 1940 to August 25, 1944. The Nazi authorities initially planned to move the entire Paris fashion industry to the German Reich. Lucian Lelong, then head of the Chambre Syndicale, convinced them that the haute couture could only exist, “in Paris or . . . not at all.” Among those who could legally purchase Paris couture during the Occupation were some 20,000 French women (who had special couture ration cards) about 200 Germans, and citizens of neutral countries, such as Spain and Switzerland.

Jeanne-Marie Lanvin was a French haute couture fashion designer, who founded the Lanvin fashion house and the beauty and perfume company Lanvin Parfums. She designed this gray, black and gold Brocade Evening Coat in 1943.

Brocade Evening Coat By Jeanne Lanvin

Photographed as Part of The Exhibit, Paris, Capital of Fashion, On View at The Museum at FIT in Manhattan Through January 4th, 2020.

Eye On Design: Rei Kawakubo’s Tartan Dress

Oct9

Rei Kawakubo Tartan Dress
Photos By Gail

Fall weather is slowly creeping into NYC, which means fashionable ladies are thinking about layering-up, integrating heavier fabrics into their wardrobes, and maybe adding a tartan plaid to a traditionally muted seasonal color palette. From the look of it alone, one might assume that this voluminous design by designer Rei Kawakubo is from a fall line, but you would be mistaken. It was Kawakubo’s collection from Spring 2017 that featured enormous garments that engulf the body, such as this geometric Tartan Dress for her label, Comme de Garcons. Her designs have typically embraced abstraction and, more recently, a non-functional style. Since 2014, the designer’s collections have consisted of garments that bridge the gap between art and fashion, moving into uncharted territory.

Photographed at The Museum at FIT in Manhattan.

Rei Kawakubo Tartan Dress

 

Eye On Design: Meat Dress By Jeremy Scott

Sep11

Meat Dress By Jeremy Scott
Photos By Gail

Even if you weren’t watching the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards at the time of its broadcast, everyone remembers at least hearing about Lady Gaga’s controversial dress made of raw beef, which was commonly referred to by the media as The Meat Dress, by designer Franc Fernandez. That dress was one-of-a-kind, but did you know that another designer, Jeremy Scott, made an entire line of meat inspired couture? Yes, it’s true. This form-flattering dress — with it’s jewel neckline and elbow-length sleeves — comes from Scott’s Spring / Summer 2011 collection and appears to be fashioned from prosciutto, but it’s actually just pink and white printed latex. I love it.

Photographed as Part of the Exhibit Camp: Notes on Fashion at the Met, Which Closed on September 8th, 2019.

Meat Dress By Jeremy Scott
Meat Dress Installation View

Eye On Design: Baby Ruth Paper Dress By Waste Basket Boutique

Aug21

Baby Ruth Paper Dress
Photos By Gail

Garments such as this A-line Baby Ruth Paper Dress (circa 1968) by Mars of Ashville (marketed under the name Wastebasket Boutique) became popular marketing tools for brands during the 1960s. The work of Pop artists like Andy Warhol was similarly turning everyday products into works of art. “Paper is the clue to the future,” declared Women’s Wear Daily in 1966.

Baby Ruth Paper Dress
Installation View with Michael Mott Target Minidress (1968)

See more examples of paper dresses from the sixties Here and Here!

Photographed as Part of the Exhibit Minimalism/Maximalism, On View at the Museum at FIT Through November 16th, 2019.

Eye On Design: Multidimensional Graffiti Ensemble by Rei Kawakubo for Comme de Garçons

Jul10

Multidimensional Graffit
All Photos By Gail

Exaggerated proportions and visual intricacy define this maximalist ensemble by Comme des Garçons. The elaborate coat and bodysuit, in various fabrics  including cotton, wool, nylon, polyester and linen — and in assorted shades of pink, red and white, are part of the Spring 2018 Multidimensional Graffiti collection, which appropriated the works 10 artists ranging from the 16th century to today.

Multidimensional Graffit
Shown Here in Contrast to a Minimalist Design By Narciso Rodriguez (Left)

According to Women’s Wear Daily, the result was a mash-up of prints and textures that allied to “the possibilities inherent when wildly unlike visual perspective coexist.”

Multidimensional Graffiti

Photographed as Part of the Exhibit Minimalism / Maximalism at the Museum at FIT in Manhattan Through November 16, 2019.

Multidimensional Graffit

Pink Think of The Day: Pink Metallic Mesh Dress

Jun14

Pink Metallic Mesh Dress
Photos By Gail

I saw this fabulous Pink Metallic Mesh Dress in a shop on Greene Street in SoHo when I was party-hopping during the Open Showrooms evening that closes out the two-week long NYCxDesign event.

Pink Metallic Mesh Dress Detail

Here’s a detail shot of the mesh that I managed to get, even though at this point I was already too tipsy to remember to note the name of the store I was in. Oops.

Pink Metallic Mesh Dress

The camera roll on my phone tells me that pictures of the dress were taken at 31 1/2 Greene Street, but I looked up that address and I am pretty sure it was south of that exact location. It sure is a great-looking dress. I would wear it.

Update 10/19/19: The store is called The Webster and it’s located at 29 Greene Street!

Eye On Design: Mila Schön, Blue Double-Faced Wool Coat

Mar20

Blue Wool Coat
All Photos By Gail

By the 20th century, wool suits and coats were indispensable, practical elements of fashionable daywear for women. Double-faced wool, used here by designer Mila Schön for her Blue Coat (1968) is woven almost as two separate textiles, joined by a set of interwoven yarns, creating a thick, structural, spongy fabric.

Blue Wool Coat

The textile’s density supports this A-line silhouette, while the wool’s pliability eases the inset of Pop Art circles. The hems were self-finished by opening the layers and stitching the edges to the inside.

Photographed as Part of the Exhibit, Fabric in Fashion, on View Through May 4th, 2019 at The Museum at FIT in Manhattan.

Blue Wool Coat

Eye On Design: Anatonmy1 Ensemble By Kei Kagami

Feb20

Anatomy1 Ensemble
All Photos By Gail

Kei Kagami is a Japanese architect and designer living in London whose conceptual, avant-garde designs have been referred to as Torture Couture for their integration of mechanical elements and contraptions. What’s closer to the truth is that they are, like the haute couture of a designer like Alexander McQueen, wearable works of art.

Anatomy1 Ensemble

Anatomy, biology, ecology and futurism combine in his more surreal designs in which glass tubes, vials and magnifying glasses are used to break the traditional boundaries and tackle themes of transformation, and a garment’s interaction with the wearer. Using an eclectic mix of materials such as silk, lether, metaol, plastic an glass, Kagami’s conceptual pieces are always informed by his study of architecture.

Anatomy1 Side View

The Anatomy1 Ensemble (2007) was originally featured in the Museum at FIT’s 2008 show, Gothic: Dark Glamour, but it can also currently be seen as part of Exhibitionism: 50 Years of The Museum at FIT, on view through April 20th, 2019.

Anatomy1 Ensemble

Shark Attack Ugly Christmas Sweater!

Nov22

Shark Attack Christmas Sweater
Photo By Gail

The most amazing thing about this official Shark Attack Ugly Christmas Sweater, which I saw at TJ Maxx, is that the shark on the sweater is also wearing an ugly Christmas sweater! Meta!