Galliano for Dior, Fall couture 2008

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John Galliano for Christian Dior, Fall Couture 2008. Photo by Alessandro Lucione

Collections for Fall Couture 2008 are already out on the runways in Paris and my favourite thus far is John Galliano for Christian Dior. An artist who uses the human form in expressing himself, I have thus far, never tired of Galliano’s creations. Even after the season has come and gone, I find myself constantly drawn back to his creations, to peer over them, to study their expressions and sometimes, wonder if they were user-friendly.

Fifties silhouette with wasp waists, full skirt and lace details. Photo by Antonello Trio.

The soft female form seems to be Galliano’s focus this Fall for couture, drawing inspiration from the fifties with nipped waists, full peplum skirts, and sheer organzas that accentuate the luscious curves of shoulders, thighs and thin ankles. But even with an accent on curves and the use of sheer materials, the overall impression is one that is still proper and demure with knee-length or t-length skirts. Continue reading “Galliano for Dior, Fall couture 2008” →

The Chanel 2.55 Classic

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The Chanel 2.55 Classics and Reissues, my favourite colour being the one in ivory with gold chains.

What you put in your bag is very important to you…Traditionally, for a woman, a bag holds the things you need for the day, but it’s also your little beauty factory, which is very important to the identity of the woman. …the modern bag …by 1920, …became a symbol of women’s independence. It said she could go where she wanted to go, and didn’t need a man because he held all the possessions.

~ Farid Chenoune, author of Carried Away: All About Bags (2005)

Chanel bags have previously not appealed to me because I found the quilting too much mademoiselle. But I love bags with a story to tell and the Chanel 2.55 Classic quilted flap is one such bag. Launched in February 1955, hence its name 2.55, the quilted flap bag draws its inspiration into being, from many threads of Coco Chanel’s life, most of which came from the orphanage and convent, Aubazine in the south of France.

Coco Chanel wanted a bag that was hands-free, thus the double function of the chained handles to the bag, where one could wear the bag across the body or on the shoulder. The burgundy coloured lining in the original design for the black quilt flap 2.55s, came from the colour of Chanel’s school uniform at the Aubazine convent and the inspiration for the quilting came from several sources, including the stained-glass windows of the abbey at Aubazine, jockeys’ riding coats as well as her own light-brown suede cushions in her rue Cambon apartment in Paris. The open back pocket of the bag was where she stashed extra money and the zippered pocket was where she had her love letters. The original bags came with a Mademoiselle Lock because Chanel never married and the honorific mademoiselle was the custom. The bags with the interlocking Cs are today known as The Classic Flaps, whilst versions of the bag relaunched by Karl Lagerfeld in 2005/6 are known as Reissues. The Reissues have a twist lock without the Chanel logo on the outside. Continue reading “The Chanel 2.55 Classic” →

Maria Gibson, at Midsummer’s in traditional folkdress

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Maria in a traditional Swedish folkdress, hand-stitched and sewn. Photo by Robbie Nordin, Robbiesphoto.com.

For some years now, I have observed that Swedes have several forms of folk dresses and a National Costume, that they use on special, festive ocassions such as Midsummer’s. Sverigedrakten lends a good history of the folk dress, where the dresses displayed the wearer’s province of origin, their distinct style of clothing, their culture and history. Folkdresses went out of fashion around the mid-1800s, where these days, they can fetch enormous prices at auction houses due to that the textile to the dress was usually hand-loomed and then the dress hand-sewn. An approximate cost to a folkdress today would be around 15,000 kr to 20,000 kr, which is about USD $2,500 – $3,000 or SGD $4,000 – $4,500. Continue reading “Maria Gibson, at Midsummer’s in traditional folkdress” →

Midsummer’s Day 2008, in the Western Swedish archipelago

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Brrrrr! My first toe-dip of the season, and possibly my last.
Missing the warm beaches at Singapore’s Sentosa Island. It would take quite a lottery win for me to go swimming in the sea this summer if the weather doesn’t let up! Outfit: A white crochet halter neck dress by BCBG Max Azria.

This island in the western Swedish archipelago has its own tradition on Midsummer’s, where it was here that the Society of Arbores literally brought back forests and green life.

For a number of decades every century, as long as anyone can remember, huge shoals of herring used to suddenly appear along the western Swedish coast. It is said that the sea was so full of herring that they could hardly find space to swim amongst themselves. During winter the fishermen could cut a hole in the ice and the herring would pour up onto the ice by themselves. While this might be of a slight exaggeration, the thing was that year after year the herring did indeed come back, by the millions. The most important periods were between 1747-1809, and then in 1877-1904. Continue reading “Midsummer’s Day 2008, in the Western Swedish archipelago” →

Midsummer’s Eve 2008

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I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine
~William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, II (i).

Sitting at the foot of the Midsummer pole. Western archipelago of Sweden, 2008

The weather is ever changing this Midsummer’s Eve, which marks the ancient middle of summer or the summer solstice. It is during this time that even south of Sweden experiences hardly any night and where night is marked these few days with a long dusk that turns to dawn. Continue reading “Midsummer’s Eve 2008” →

Meeting with Geoffrey Pereira: exploring expression in photography

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Part of Geoffrey’s Fabrics portfolio. Model: Vanessa Tarachin. Photo by Geoffrey Pereira.

Geoffrey Pereira (left).

Journalist Geoffrey Pereira and I met whilst he was on a visit to Gothenburg, for the World Editor’s Forum that took place in early June, 2008.

It was wonderful meeting a fellow Singaporean on foreign soil and Geoffrey shared that, while managing a small IT department in Singapore Press Holdings, he had cultivated a passion of another sort, one that allowed for self expression beyond words, that of photography.

I had the opportunity to browse through Geoffrey’s themed photography portfolio. The above bare-backed picture of a woman with saturated colour swirls, is one obtained from his Fabrics portfolio, where he experimented with expressing the female form against various types of fabrics, the colours and textures of the fabric contrasting to the pallor of skin.

A portfolio that caught my particular attention was what Geoffrey called his Trash Bag Project, where he worked with cutting and stitching pieces of trash bags to form wearable outfits. Continue reading “Meeting with Geoffrey Pereira: exploring expression in photography” →

Western Swedish Academy of Gastronomy: prize giving ceremony and gala event, 2008

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The setting makes half the event and what better fitting place is there in Göteborg for a grand dinner than the 350 year old Torstenson Palace, now the private residence of the Governor of Gothenburg and his wife, Lars and Ann-Christin Bäckström.

Every year, the Western Swedish Academy of Gastronomy holds a traditional dinner in recognition of the most outstanding chefs and all things gastronomical in Western Sweden.

Awards and prizes are given out, after which a dinner that seldom fails to impress the hardiest bon vivants, is served. Continue reading “Western Swedish Academy of Gastronomy: prize giving ceremony and gala event, 2008” →

Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum

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Nibbling the Big Apple X

Outside the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro-Nilsson 2008

Since its opening in early May, the Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum has drawn quite some media attention with numerous write-ups, press conferences and an opening night gala dinner, where all invited were supposed to dress to the superheroes and fantasy theme. My favourite evening wear for the night was an elaborately padded silver gown by Chanel, donned by Anna Wintour.

I couldn’t well pass up on the chance to view this exhibition at the Met, when in New York. Continue reading “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum” →

Swedish summer cooling with denim shorts and strawberry wine, July 2008

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Cool blue in the summer.

I find denim shorts a long time staple when it comes to hot weather. Whether in Southeast-Asia or Scandinavia, denim shorts seem to appear in various cuts and lengths when sweltering temperatures set in. This season, I’m once again grateful I have these to don.

With the insisting sultry temperatures in Sweden, a perfect accompaniment in mind is lemon sorbet in frozen strawberry wine, topped with champagne before serving.

Sorbet with sparkling wine at ChikaLicious in New York. Photo by ChikaLicious.

The idea is very much like the sorbet with sparkling wine at ChikaLicious for St. Valentine’s Day 2008, but with a slight twist of champagne.

Lemon sorbet in frozen strawberry wine and champagne

What you’ll need:

  • Lemon sorbet
  • Your favourite strawberry wine
  • Your favourite champagne

    • Place the strawberry wine into the freezer. Let stand for at least 2 hours. Fill half the dessert glass with frozen strawberry wine. Add a scoop of lemon sorbet to the wine. Fill up the remainder of the glass with your favourite champagne and serve.