Lectura de sambata dimineata

Se pare ca nu decembrie este luna cadourilor, ci februarie – cel putin aici, pe blog.  Pe cat de diferite cele doua cadouri ale saptamanii, pe atat de cool…

Primul dintre ele este o sesiune de shopping de 1.500 de lei oferita de Garanti Bank, iar castigatoarea (sau castigatorul, pentru ca in mod surprinzator, barbatii par sa fie la fel pasionati de shopping ca si noi!) ii va putea cheltui cand, unde si cum doreste! Mai aveti timp pana marti, 26 februarie, inclusiv, sa imi lasati un comentariu aici, iar apoi sa asteptati cu sufletul la gura si pantofii comozi in picioare!

Al doilea cadou este dintr-o cu totul alta categorie. Din categoria elegantei si modei clasice,invitatia din partea atelierului Alexandru Ciucu va pune pe cineva in primul rand al prezentarii colectiei sale pentru femei, Lady Vs. Gentleman (de fapt, nu stiu daca veti sta in primul rand, dar suna bine, nu?).  Un click aici va lamureste cum participati.

Iar pentru ca concursul si cadoul saptamanii urmatoare sunt legate de Dior (poate si pentru ca saptamanile modei de la New York, Londra si Milano s-au incheiat, urmeaza Parisul), va las cu cateva paragrafe despre el. „In his autobiography, published the year of his untimely death, aged only 53, and a single decade after he launched the New Look, Christian Dior explained why, in his view, his first show was such a sensation.

To those of us not yet born at that time, the New Look does not seem new ar all. Chanel – she had invented a new look, had invented modern dress, but Dior’s ballerina-length, romantic skirts, narrow shoulders and teeny waists had been around for centuries. In fact, Jeanne Lanvin had been making dresses similar to these in 1920s for those of her customers who, like her middle aged self, did not have the hipless trunks to support the tubular shape of the flapper dress.

What was new about the New Look was not that is was new in the sense of modern, but that it was new in the sense that it was reviving a sensation that had been long surpressed in wartime: pleasure for the sake of it. Dior writes:

„A golden age seemed to have come again. War had passed out of sight and there were no other wars on the horizon. What did the weight of my somptuous materials, my heavy velvets and brocades, matter? When hearts were light, mere fabrics could not weight the body down. Abundance was till too much of a novelty for a povery cult, to develop out of inverted snobbism… My first creations were called names like Love, Tenderness, Happiness. Women have instinctively understood that I dream of making them not only more beautiful, but also happier. That is why they rewarded me with their patronage.”

Iar acum, on with the reading 🙂

Red carpet trends of the last 15 years – „Editors of The Times surveyed photos of red carpet fashions and ferreted out trends by dress style, color and designer.” In NY Times.

The 1960s, the decade of fashion that never went away – „What a mind-warp the Sixties were, bookended by Jackie Kennedy primness at the beginning and the let-it-all-hang-out body fuzz of Hair and Oh! Calcutta at their close. No other decade offers such a dramatic conflict of styles and conflicting mores. That must be partly why they continue to fascinate us.” In The Telegraph.

Ready to wear – „From skirts to Sicilian chic, the must-haves spring looks to buy now and keep forever.” In Wall Street Journal.

Good taste? That’s not a bad idea– „Absolutes in taste? We assume they exist because among our social and ethnic tribes, there is consensus. There are guidelines. There is William Morris’s pious „have nothing in your house that you do not believe to be beautiful or know to be useful”; there’s Mies van der Rohe’s impossible to live by „less is more” and Coco Chanel’s peremptory „always remove one thing before you leave the house”. Western Good Taste is essentially, Calvinist Good Taste. The more sophisticated you are, the more you’re meant to appreciate restraint. ” In The Telegraph.

Commercially creative – „Designers are common enough in London, even visionaries and stars like Mr. Ford, but just now the city is full of young talent making relevant clothes. For a while, it was the curse of British designers to be misfits. It meant that anyone grounded in a normal life had to struggle against the assumption that they were not as seriously gifted as Vivienne Westwood or Alexander McQueen.” In NY Times.

Global brands are now born everywhere – „Until recently, global brands generally came from the US, western Europe or Japan. Now a new breed of emerging-market company is challenging more developed rivals with both value and premium products. They are especially competitive in technology and fashion, where consumer tastes and lifestyles change quickly.” In Financial Times.

The big business of fairy tales – „Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee runner from South Africa, has appeared in many advertisements for Nike. The shoe company is again taking fire over one of its athletes.” In Wall Street Journal.

Lowly tasks during fashion week – „A behind-the-scenes look at New York Fashion Week, following a group of its unsung heroes: volunteers.” In Wall Street Journal.

Don’t take it personally, it’s just fashion – „For the first time in more than a decade I did not cover Fashion Week in New York, nor will I write about the upcoming Milan or Paris catwalks. Instead, I’m spending the time usually given over to the traveling fashion circus working on my book about the 1973 Franco-American runway extravaganza at Versailles.” In NY Mag.