Stephen Bruce and myself, Serendipity 3, New York.
Yesterday I took the opportunity to visit Serendipity 3 and meet with Stephen Bruce, the owner and one of the three founding Princes of New York’s legendary dessert restaurant and boutique. Continue reading “Happy Birthday Stephen Bruce at Serendipity 3, Upper East Side, New York”
Oyster Dress by Alexander McQueen for S/S 2003. Ivory silk chiffon and silk organza.
I’ve been revisiting Adressing Fashion by the Metropolitcan Museum of Art (the avatar to the left will bring you to the MM’s website) and have picked out my favourite pieces from the their exhibition, to write about in this post. This is a subconscious streaming of thoughts, as it were, back on my favourite ponder on fashion, its connection to language, inspiration, geist and towards an understanding of a people.
My favourite pieces from this exhibit were the ones with a fuller silhouette, with soft flowing volume; their diaphanous design and characteristic, bordering on the ethereal. Even the ash grey of Theyskens piece below, with tones of grey darker than that of Badgley Mischka’s on Sarah J. Parker didn’t pull down my spirits or enthusiasm for the dress.
Evening dress by Olivier Theyskens for Nina Ricci, S/S 2007 in steel grey crinkled silk organza.
I’ve always thought fashion and personal style as a broad language of sorts. Looking at how the various designers expressed themselves in their pieces and how clothing changed with the times, the pieces in this exhibition called to mind Lars Svendsen’s philosophical take on fashion in his book, Fashion: a Philosophy. Svendsen (2006:64ff) didn’t quite agree with Lurie (1983) when she wrote that clothing was language. He was rather more convinced of Barthe’s (1967) theorizing on fashion as a system, paralleling that of Saussure’s signifier and the signified. I haven’t as yet read Lurie’s (1983) work but in light of Kress and van Leeuwen’s (1996) work on The Grammar of Visual Design, perhaps a more concrete theory on the grammar of clothing isn’t too far away?
As fashion today is so diffused in culture, the grammar of clothing and thus clothing as a concrete language is difficult to assume diachronically. Fashion is studied diachronically, most of the time with regards to their transformation, perhaps as a commentary on the life and times of the people, “an immediate expression of our zeitgeist” as the Met Museum has it. What for example, could have expressed a certain meaning for a sub-culture, is today more diffused. High heels in the late-1800s associated with street walkers for example, are today standard office wear for most women. And most people today would gawk at the thought of one equating wearing high heels solely with prostitution purposes (which tangently reminds me in this instant, of the song Free Your Mind, by En Vogue).
For Halliday (1994, and almost all works from the 1960s ff), the system of language and meaning making is a conscious choice of words, people choose what they want to say it and how to say it, to fit the context. I think that point of view can be broadly associated with the fashion system. The fashion system, in designing and building up a wardrobe within one’s limits and means, is also a choice. It is a choice of textiles, textures, cut, silhouette, colour, function etc. Synchronically, perhaps fashion is an expression of personal spirit, as defined closest to Hegel’s geist.
Madame Grès (French, 1903–1993). A hand-pleated silk jersey dress by Grés herself, from 1971.
The work of Madame Grés (1903-1993) was part of this exhibition and she is to me, the epitome of self-expression in clothing design and manufacture. A tragic biography to behold, Grés reached the peaks and depths of the fashion industry. A legend already in her time with a Golden Thimble award in 1976, she passed on without word and in poverty in 1993.
Madame Grès silk jersey draped evening gown, c.1945. Picture from Vintage Textile.
Grés was a sculptress at heart and in training. In her 50 years or so as atelier, her designs shifted not with the raveling fashion trends of the time, but towards a concretion of a greater sense of personal style, personal achievement and perfection of her technique.
In light of Grés, I see many out there who use fashion as an immediate expression of personal style and spirit. From designers such as Westwood, McQueen and Galliano to individuals on the street who use current trends to their own understanding and purposes. Even those who are uncomfortable with being ‘fashionable’ haven’t missed a beat, as Stella Blum has observed,
Fashion is so close in revealing a person’s inner feelings and everybody seems to hate to lay claim to vanity so people tend to push it away. It’s really too close to the quick of the soul.
And so it goes that to understand a person or a people’s history, in addition to the study of events, language, culture and architecture, one would do well to include a study of the people’s sense of style, their choice of clothing for a particular era or period of time in order to understand their history, their lifestyle. Perhaps likewise in getting to know an individual.
Adressing Fashion in blog format is now closed, and I hope the Met Museum will have more of such showing formats in future, since it allows for an international audience to view and comment on the pieces on exhibit.
References
Louis Vuitton Monogram Glacé porte-billets monnaie zippé in Grizzly.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro-Nilsson 2008
Depending on what you’re looking for in design, this porte-billets monnaie zippé / wallet in collectible Glacé monogram holds bills, change and credit cards – zipped in. So why not that lipstick too between its covers if it fits?
The colour is Grizzly or a rich dark chocolate brown that under certain light would look a sophisticated matte black. Embossed and soft to the touch, the glacé leather oozes understated luxe.
Measuring a 11×11 cm, it might not sit well in the back pocket of any pair of cigarette jeans but personally, I’m loving the feel of this wallet in the hand and in the bag. It comes from Vuitton’s men’s line for small leather goods, now no longer in production.
This Grizzly is for keeps, as far as androgynous goes.
The Porte-billets monnaie zippé wallet in Glacé monogram features:
Lynda Carter
I think most people would remember Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman when the TV series aired for 3 years during the 1970s.
When I was a child, I think I made sure to have watched Wonder Woman regularly, nevermind if her character was boring and not as comprehensively depicted as perhaps that of Batman or Superman. I remember I liked most everything about Wonder Woman, from her tiara, her big hair, to her red, blue and gold colour scheme in her superhero costume. I think I dreamt I might grow up to become Wonder Woman one day. Well, today, I know I can, at costume parties. Continue reading “Saturday inspiration: Lynda Carter”
“You’ll be dinin’ with the captain.” – Pintel to Elizabeth in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) But unlike that scenario, I wasn’t disinclined to acquiesce to the Captain’s request.
Just noticed in DN that Gotheborg III was now visiting Stockholm. The reconstructed 18th century Swedish sailing Ship Götheborg III has made its trip to Canton in China, and back. It was time now to hold a final Board of Directors meeting to close the books on the entire adventure of building the replica ship and its sail to China and back. On the agenda was also the ship’s future adventures. Her upcoming Baltic Sea Tour 2008 looks to be enough of a challenge to keep even the most hard core sailing enthusiasts happy, but even so, it sounds a breeze and a walk in the park compared to the high sea sailing to China.
After the meeting, it was dinner onboard the East Indiaman Götheborg III. Continue reading “Dinner onboard the Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg III”
In April spring of 2008, in the garden, in a Brazilian made denim and lace bikini.
Text © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro-Nilsson 2008
April weather along the Swedish west coast is not always warm. This particular year however, the temperatures were just about alright for a brief visit with the sun in the garden.
Continue reading “April 2008 in the garden, in denim and lace”
Warm cat in a green and teal sequined tunic from Karen Millen and under the tunic, a beaded orange bikini from OK Brazil.
The days are getting longer in the nordic region and at 10 deg C outdoors in the shade and slightly warmer under the sun, the season seems to promise some very good bikini and beach days up ahead. I got a ‘preview’ of the summer ahead today, the sun on my nose made me feel like a cat, warming and basking.
Continue reading “Spring sunning in Karen Millen and Brazilian beachwear”
Cufflinks in gold and white gold, set with mother of pearl and 2 brilliant cut diamonds, c. 0.10 cts. Stamped GD & Co (G Dahlgren & Co.), Malmö 1940, Sweden. These are to be auctioned this coming weekend, at W.A. Bolin.
In a crowded room to any formal event, one could well sweep over the hall and indulge in the general sight of people well dressed. But as the evening draws on and conversations are engaged, it is most often that one cannot help but notice details in a person’s dress. Women for example, might notice details in men’s dressing such as the colour of his tie as in contrast to his shirt, the cut of his jacket or the pockets on his coat, his tie pin if he’s wearing one and then most interestingly, his cufflinks. Every bit of clothing on a person contains information about personality, and a pair of cufflinks might just well tell if he has a sense of humour. Continue reading “Cufflinks – a perfectly smart finish”
A diamond and pearl brooch in the form of a peacock, late 1800s. Picture: W.A. Bolin
Love jewellery? W.A. Bolin, Stockholm, Sweden, is having their international Spring auction on 20 April 2008. Established in 1791 in St Petersburg, W. A. Bolin has its history in Russia, where Bolin was then appointed jeweller to four Russian tsars and three Swedish kings, situated at Sturegatan in central Stockholm.
In the picture above, a 14 ct gold and silver peacock brooch, set with pearls, rubies, emeralds and old cut diamonds. It measures 4 x 6 cm and is from the late 1800s.
The Bolin auction catalogue is online and can be subscribed to via standard mail. Viewing in Stockholm begins today.
A selection of wine and cheese with bread
I think Asians generally have a different socialization towards diary products than Europeans – we just don’t consume diary products all that much. My idea of cheese when growing up in Singapore was hard Cheddar or pre-packed sliced cheese, the kind you toast on bread and little cubed cheese in various flavours, which I liked very much.
I also think my encounters with milk and cheese would be more numerous than my classmates’ experiences since most of their lunches as I recall consisted of spam and bread, hard boiled eggs and baked beans and Bovril sandwiches as the most mainstream. Continue reading “A cheese and wine dining”