Norman Parkinson in India

The January issue of British Vogue includes a feature that trawls through the Vogue archives for images from exotic locales. 'The fashionable life, lived at home and abroad, was vital to Vogue's early success.' There's Morocco in the 1920s, Hawaii in the 1930s, Kenya in the 1960s and Jerry Hall in the USSR while the cold war was still raging. My favourite images though are the ones taken by Norman Parkinson in 1956. The model is Barbara Mullens, the clothes are elegance manifest and the locations would give anyone itchy feet. I LOVE that yellow Dior gown.

The promotion begins ...

Michelle Williams has just hit the promotional trail for My Week With Marilyn and the buzz is already building around her performance. She wore a gorgeous Nina Ricci black gown to the Hollywood Film Awards the other night (she won Best Actress) and at the New York premiere of the film she looked ravishing in baby blue Dior.
I believe the film opens in Australia over the Christmas period and I'll definitely be checking it out. I've always had a soft spot for Michelle because Jen Lindley was my favourite character on Dawson's Creek plus she has always reminded me of my dear friend Megan. They both have the same reserved beauty.
Oh, and as demonstrated here, Michelle has great style too.

Dita's Off-Duty Style

Dita favours Elie Saab and Christian Dior couture for her red-carpet appearances but I think it is in her everday style where her real personality shines through. Can you have an 'everday' style when your job is to be stylish every single day? Perhap not. I have noticed, however, that she is either looking particularly cute of late, or getting papped a lot.
She shopped at an LA flea market in vintage and she embraced colour, and all purpose wedges, for the Coachella Music Festival. Pairing one of Dior's South Pacific inspired dresses with a sailors cap provides a lovely finishing touch and suddenly I"m flooded with memories of my own sailors cap that I wore obsessively for months on end when I was 11.
PS Her boyfriend is a little bit handsome. Lucky lady.

Frock of the Week: Back to Her Best?

It has been a while since I've done a Frock of the Week post (maybe I should rename it The Occasional Frock?), but there were so many lovely at the Grammy's and BAFTA's this week (hooray for awards season), that I couldn't resist posting my favourite: Nicole Kidman in Jean Paul Gaultier.

Spectacular!

Remember when Nicole, in the late 90s and early noughties, was setting trends on the red-carpet and rarely put a foot wrong? This look harks back to those halcyon Nicole days for me. The woman has a figure made for drama, but lately she's been playing it quite samey and safe. I've got my fingers and toes crossed this is a sign she'll pull something amazing out Oscar night. Couture please?

And now for a little trip down memory lane ...

Nicole married Keith Urban in 2006 and her Balenciaga wedding gown totally brought the drama. I love, love, love this dress (although don't you agree Nicole looks better as a redhead than as a blonde?).

Nicole apparently pocketed $2 million to wear John Galliano for Dior couture throughout the awards season in 1997. The lucky lady was not only rolling in cash, but the alliance seriously upped her profile in the style stakes too. This chartreuse is still remembered as an Oscars fashion highlight 14 years later.

And for some Cinderella out there who has access to more credit than me, I just spied this John Galliano for Dior gown over at 1stDibs. From the same collection methinks? Regardless, it is lovely.

Ten more sleeps til Oscar night!

Inspired Haute Couture

I know I gush over the Dior Haute Couture collections every season, but Galliano's workmanship and drama get me every time. For this latest Spring collection Galliano mined Christian Dior's back-catalogue again, taking inspiration from the 40s and 50s illustrations of Dior's work by master illustrator Rene Gruau. Gruau, who worked for all the top magazines of the day, is so revered that some of his work even hangs in the Louvre. Style.Com says 'the graphite smears, pencil strokes and scribbles, erasure marks, and gouache washes of Gruau's illustrations were duplicated in cloth and embroidery.'

The results are spectacular.

The second last dress is my favourite. I would love to see this on the Oscars red-carpet, but I think it is unlikely. Actresses love to play it safe these days.

Frock of the Week: More Vintage on the Red-Carpet

Oh my gosh ... this dress ... I'm dying.

It's name is Delphine and it is from Christian Dior's Autumn/Winter 1956 collection. The frock is courtesy of Decades again, so it looks like Kristin is becoming their ambassador, at least for the Sex and the City 2 press circuit. Kristin wore this dress to the London premiere after party. It is only May, but this could well turn out to be one of my favourite looks of the year.

She wore this sultry early 60s Norman Norell earlier in the day on the premiere red carpet.

Here is the same dress in red; you can see clearly here how Dior swathed the fabric around the skirt to resemble a scarf.

And here is another breathtaking cocktail dress from the same collection. I reckon Kristin could have got away with wearing gloves.

Alas no amount of pretty frocks is going to make me want to see Sex and the City 2. I was planning to boycott it before I even saw the trailer, and now that the scathing reviews are in, I'm even more convinced I should avoid it. Read this interesting article from Hadley Freeman at The Guardian here on the death of Sex and the City.

Well said.

Resort Collection

Galliano's latest Resort collection for Dior has just been shown in Shanghai, with a decidedly Parisian theme. A mixture of ready-to-wear and couture, I adore the candy colours and am fascinated by the delicate details: peter pan collars, rosettes, bows and flattering hemlines. Photos courtesy of Style.Com. Enjoy (or feel free to disagree ... some have hated this collection).

Hommage to Dior

The UK's Vintage for Goodwood Festival - which celebrates five decades of British pop culture - sounds like it will be a blast, and the inaugural shindig had its media launch today with pop star Lily Allen rolled out as ambassador. The famous 1957 photograph of Dior's house models collected around a ladder was recreated, with Lily and others all frocked up in vintage finery. Very cute.

Lily has recently announced she is quitting the music business (again?) and is planning to open a vintage clothing shop with her sister. She says ladies will be able to rent high-end vintage pieces at their store - named Lucy in Disguise - for the fraction of the cost of buying. It sounds like a great idea and Lily must have some entrepreneurial nous, as she has certainly been successful as a singer. But I can't help be a little bit skeptical as Lily seems to quit music as often as elite boxers retire and then show up in the ring again when their cash runs out.

Remember when Lily first showed up on the scene in thrifted prom dresses and trainers? I thought she looked fresh and original, even though I haven't been caught dead in trainers since 1997. It has been interesting to watch her slim down, get a chic haircut and befriend Karl Lagerfeld. It must say something about how high fashion seduces.

Personally I'm a bit indifferent to Lily, maybe because I'm seen her live show and it was decidedly average. But dear readers, feel free to hose me down and declare your undying love.

Meantime I am just a little bit jealous of her new venture. If I wasn't busy writing press releases and cold calling journalists then I would rather fancy a life of travelling out and about sourcing high end vintage pieces. I'm positive more than a few would find their permanent homes in my heaving closet.

Photos courtesy Wire Image.