So. it is definitely Halloween in Paris. It is not really celebrated here like it is in the US, but about 3 years ago people started getting into this horror-ific (hehe) celebration.
Then, I hear the American who claims that "Paris doesn't do Halloween..." Hm. Is that so?
I guess we'll see about that, now won't we...
To Be Continued...
muhahahahahaaha =)
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Mercerie ♥ Georges Rech
Bonsoir!
Yesterday I went on an excursion with my fashion illustration instructor and classmates. We went to Le Sentier "garment/fashion prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) district" of Paris; it is devoted entirely to the textile and RTW business. We stopped at a Mercerie shop and a vintage shop, but our ultimate stop was at Georges Rech, a French fashion house--which my fashion illustration instructor worked there before, for 27 years!! Talk about dedication to one's profession...
I don't want to imagine it...
Anyway. My first class of the day was Fashion Marketing & Merchandising. It lasted from 9h30a-11h30a. Fashion illustration was not to begin for another 2½ hours. So, seeing as it was such a beautiful day with nice weather, Stephanie and I decided to walk to the meeting place, which was the metro stop 'Sentier' @ exit 'Petite Carreaux.'
On our walk we ran into a few interesting Parisian buildings and places...
BUT before all that...we ran into a costume shop :) ...
Stephanie ♥ Pre-Katy Perry
Me ♥ Pre-Masquerade/Carnavel...?? Idk yet, I'm working on it :)
Her garment is of hangars...
Yesterday I went on an excursion with my fashion illustration instructor and classmates. We went to Le Sentier "garment/fashion prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) district" of Paris; it is devoted entirely to the textile and RTW business. We stopped at a Mercerie shop and a vintage shop, but our ultimate stop was at Georges Rech, a French fashion house--which my fashion illustration instructor worked there before, for 27 years!! Talk about dedication to one's profession...
I don't want to imagine it...
Anyway. My first class of the day was Fashion Marketing & Merchandising. It lasted from 9h30a-11h30a. Fashion illustration was not to begin for another 2½ hours. So, seeing as it was such a beautiful day with nice weather, Stephanie and I decided to walk to the meeting place, which was the metro stop 'Sentier' @ exit 'Petite Carreaux.'
On our walk we ran into a few interesting Parisian buildings and places...
BUT before all that...we ran into a costume shop :) ...
Stephanie ♥ Pre-Katy Perry
Now...for the interesting buildings...
French signs...
& then we make it to the Mercerie shop...
A mercerie is a shop that sells buttons, thread, ribbon, fabric, and other things that are needed to create a garment. Rose Bertin in the 18th century, was a popular mercérie. In fact, she was Queen Marie Antoinette's personal mercérie. She was an early couturier, however was not officially the first (Charles-Fredrick Worth is France's official couturier--check out an earlier post for more details by clicking here ♡). Bertin would make around 4 garments a day for the Queen. She was able to bring in more business with Marie Antoinette wearing her garment, her business boomed and sold on the fact that to be fashionable, you must do as the queen of the time. Thus political dress became a hit -- just as the small designers of Michelle Obama are able to get a lot of publicity.
buttons, Buttons, BUTTONS!!
& for the finale...
The great pattern-maker for Georges Rech
Everyone is working hard to produce a collection for Georges Rech...
My instructor, d'Argoeuves, is back in her element :)
...she was a designer for Georges Rech for 20-odd something years!! ♥
He oversees Georges Rech production... he was so flamboyant & cute... just wanted to hug him :)
Pattern pieces are getting inserted into the computer...it'll soon create that skirt again...
They're large, mean pattern-cutting machine ♥
Busy, Busy!! It takes GR 3 months to make a collection...
He's working on next season's jacket...
it's his baby...
...& he's very protective of it...
GR in ELLE
C'est la vie!! ♥♡♥
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Madeleine Vionnet & more...
Date: October 14th
Event: Madeline Vionnet exhibit
Where: Le Musée des Arts Décoratifs
I was only allowed to snap a photo of the outside exhibit sign...
...i took the 1st picture and the 2nd is from TravelPod online
The symbol on the left is her logo. It is a sort of androgynous man & woman "lost" in their underpants.
In the 1850's Charles-Fredrick Worth, an Englishman and the first official couturier of France, designed dresses for V.I.P, mainly Empress Eugenie of the Second Empire. He placed crinoline under the garments as a sort of support and way to keep the dome shape of it. The crinoline was made of horse hair and in wet/rainy weather the crinoline could not beautifully support the dress.
Thus, in 1857 Charles-Fredrick Worth sought the Peugot Brothers, famous inventors of the time of things made of metal, wood & iron, like coffee makers and sewing machines. They were asked to help Charles-Fredrick Worth to create a a metal/wood structure that could go under a woman's petticoat to support the crinoline in wet weather.
Voilà.
Being fashionable is made easy again (but of course, at the right price)...
However, the war against Prussia broke out in France in 1870.
= No more crinolines.
& 6 years later...
♥ Madeleine Vionnet was born in le Loiret.
Her mother left her and her father at age 3.
Thus, at a young age she was forced to find a paying job. She became a very talented seamstress through her childhood jobs...but unfortunately her father forced her to marry and have kids at age 18. Vionnet did unto her daughter, as her mother did to her...she left her. She headed to London to learn English and returned to Paris in 1901, determined to make a corset that was more comfortable for women.
The women now must adapt to this new style and slim down...
Madeleine Vionnet came to be a well-known and great designer of the early 20th century. She opened her shop on Rue de Rivoli in Paris in the year 1912 and that same year, she completely suppressed the corset. Although the shop was closed shortly at the break of WWI, she continued with production.
In 1923, she opened her second shop. She was very aware of the changes of fashion and women in general, brought on by the war and America's Hollywood scene.
She used mostly silk fabrics and became especially known for the bias cut. Bias cut is a term used to describe the cutting of a piece of fabric on its 45° angle. At this angle, you will obtain the most stretch out of the fabric -- which is great for a nice silhouetted gown because it is easy to follow the body's curves. Before Vionnet, accessories was a very important aspect of a garment. After Vionnet, the cut and silhouette became the focus.
Vionnet was a very hard-worker. A lot of time and energy went into each 'Vionnet' garment. She would first design a garment on a small doll, and not until after satisfaction and completion of the doll's gown, was the garment put into production for real women.
I was really excited after seeing THE actual doll...
The red dress on the left, is the dress I saw on the doll at the exhibit
---------------♥
As you may have noticed, I only took one picture--which was not even taken inside of the actual exhibit. I was unable to take any inside of the exhibit, out of respect for Vionnet and J-P-C. She was very obsessed with keeping her creations original and away from the eyes of copiers. So much so, that she even put her fingerprint somewhere in the inside of the dress so that she was able to identify its authenticity (or lack of).
Thus, the pictures below are all from the internet.
Bon appétit...
The 1st picture below is a rare picture of one of Vionnet's original dresses...
-- J-P-C says that it is "quite Isadora Duncan style."
Event: Madeline Vionnet exhibit
Where: Le Musée des Arts Décoratifs
I was only allowed to snap a photo of the outside exhibit sign...
...i took the 1st picture and the 2nd is from TravelPod online
The symbol on the left is her logo. It is a sort of androgynous man & woman "lost" in their underpants.
Thus, in 1857 Charles-Fredrick Worth sought the Peugot Brothers, famous inventors of the time of things made of metal, wood & iron, like coffee makers and sewing machines. They were asked to help Charles-Fredrick Worth to create a a metal/wood structure that could go under a woman's petticoat to support the crinoline in wet weather.
Voilà.
Being fashionable is made easy again (but of course, at the right price)...
However, the war against Prussia broke out in France in 1870.
= No more crinolines.
& 6 years later...
♥ Madeleine Vionnet was born in le Loiret.
Her mother left her and her father at age 3.
Thus, at a young age she was forced to find a paying job. She became a very talented seamstress through her childhood jobs...but unfortunately her father forced her to marry and have kids at age 18. Vionnet did unto her daughter, as her mother did to her...she left her. She headed to London to learn English and returned to Paris in 1901, determined to make a corset that was more comfortable for women.
❝When a woman smiles, then her dress should smile too...❞
- WikipediaShe worked hard and diligently to free a woman's curves of the corset's constraint.
The women now must adapt to this new style and slim down...
In 1923, she opened her second shop. She was very aware of the changes of fashion and women in general, brought on by the war and America's Hollywood scene.
She used mostly silk fabrics and became especially known for the bias cut. Bias cut is a term used to describe the cutting of a piece of fabric on its 45° angle. At this angle, you will obtain the most stretch out of the fabric -- which is great for a nice silhouetted gown because it is easy to follow the body's curves. Before Vionnet, accessories was a very important aspect of a garment. After Vionnet, the cut and silhouette became the focus.
Vionnet was a very hard-worker. A lot of time and energy went into each 'Vionnet' garment. She would first design a garment on a small doll, and not until after satisfaction and completion of the doll's gown, was the garment put into production for real women.
I was really excited after seeing THE actual doll...
The picture is taken from Wikipedia
The red dress on the left, is the dress I saw on the doll at the exhibit
---------------♥
As you may have noticed, I only took one picture--which was not even taken inside of the actual exhibit. I was unable to take any inside of the exhibit, out of respect for Vionnet and J-P-C. She was very obsessed with keeping her creations original and away from the eyes of copiers. So much so, that she even put her fingerprint somewhere in the inside of the dress so that she was able to identify its authenticity (or lack of).
Thus, the pictures below are all from the internet.
Bon appétit...
The 1st picture below is a rare picture of one of Vionnet's original dresses...
-- J-P-C says that it is "quite Isadora Duncan style."
House of CHANEL
This afternoon Monsieur Constant (or j-p-c, as I like to refer to him as) took us on a little adventure. This adventure took place in the haute couture fashion atmosphere of: The Promenade.
Our main destination was to take a look at Chanel's original boutique in Paris.
He schooled us on many aspects of Chanel's vast history...
Below is the place she often visited to purchase her expensive chocolates...
In Chanel's vintage boutique, I saw the famous staircase that Chanel had her models strut down during fashion shows. Her three slanted mirrors are also still at the top of the staircase -- which she used to keep an eye on all perspectives of her make-up, her garments, and all else that went on inside her fashion house.
Check-out House of Chanel's "MySizeFashionDoll" (I like to call them...)
♥ so jet-setter chic
These bags are made for dancing in the rain...
Et plus.. MySizeFashionDolls
Close-up of the fabulous-ness ♥
♥ Notice that the doll's booties are two-toned. Chanel invented this style. She did not like her feet, she thought they were to long and big. Thus, she did not like to show them. Through 2-toned heels, she successfully created the illusion of the tip being her actual toes. Coco Chanel would use this technique inversely -- sometimes white would be the tip and other time black would be the heel's tip.
Gorgeous.
Adorably-chic.
Lastly...
House of Chanel was surrounded by other great fashion houses...
w/great displays...
♥ Didier Ludot
♥ Hugo Boss
♥ Gucci
♥ Miu Miu
♥ Altuza
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)