Frock of the Week: Floral 50s

I thought Dita's lovely turn this week in this 1950s floral cocktail frock deserved a revisit of my Frock of the Week posts. Love the green and gold sash. I say more sashes on dresses. More, more.
This also gave me an excuse to post this more modern dress - Alexis Mabille 2010 Haute Couture - that Dita wore during the Couture Fashion Week in Paris recently. The details on this dress had me in raptures. It is a little bit Belle Epoque, a little bit 1940s, and a whole lot of gorgeous.

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.

Pretty pics for the weekend

Tim Walker is one of my favourite fashion photographers working today and I was delighted to find a new Walker editorial in the current issue of UK Vogue. This shoot was inspired by the Ballet Russes, the subject is the latest couture (the McQueen dress above is divine) and the mannequin is one of the models of the moment, Karlie Kloss.

Walker worked with Karlie earlier this year on a Wizard of Oz inspired shoot for W Magazine. His photographs often draw on fairytale or mythological elements, playing-up well-worn stories. His use of light is inspired and distinctive and he seems to be a master at photographing haute couture.

Here are a few other Tim Walker images I've enjoyed in editorials of the past. All I can say is 'more please.'

Valentino Retrospective

My invite to the Valentino Retrospective Past/Present/Future - opening August 7 at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art -arrived in the mail today. Lucky for me I'll be visiting Brisbane twice in August and fingers and toes crossed that I'll be able to find a spare hour somewhere to gaze at some of the worlds most beautiful and expertly constructed frocks. Here are a couple of samples from the collection:

Haute Couture Spring/Summer 1960 and 1959 respectively.

Spring/Summer 2003

You will note that I wore my orange nail polish today in support of the Netherlands only to be saddened and frustrated by their loss. My cousins in Holland tell me that the whole country is in mourning, but my sadness was somewhat dampened by the arrival of my brand new Kindle - along with this lovely invite - in the post today.

Swings and roundabouts, hey?

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).

Correction (and we all bow down to Christobal)

It turns out Bee Shaffer was not wearing Chanel at the Met the other night. Rather fittingly, considering the occasion, she was actually wearing Christobal Balenciaga. The dress is part of Nicholas Ghesquiere's 'Balenciaga Edition' collection, which sees him regularly mine Christobal's archives for classic designs which are then remade. I actually don't care who was responsible for this wonder, I love it no matter what. But its true origins certainly don't surprise me.

Apparently this is an original 1948 design so I've included another ballgown from the same year above. Christobal must have been in a dusky pink phase.

Below is another example of an Edition dress, and you can check out all the collections (the range began in 2006) on the Balenciaga site. If I had every item in this collection I think I would be the best dressed woman in the world. The man was the king of understated European elegance, and it is nice to think that his classic designs are being reinvigorated and celebrated.

It is amazing how thoroughly modern many of these classic designs from the haute couture greats can look. Just check out Kristin Davis in vintage Balmain at the White House correspondents dinner the other night. She looks like a 21st century version of Jackie Kennedy.

And speaking of lifestyles of the rich and famous ...

Who among us doesn't fancy the idea of being holed up in a French castle (provided you don't have to clean it, that is) and waltzing down the sweeping staircase in Givenchy haute couture. Well, if you are a hop, skip and jump from the Chateau Haroue outside of Paris - perhaps stranded in Europe by volcanic ash - you can now get a taste of what that life might be like.

Hubert de Givenchy has curated an exhibition of forty classic haute couture evening gowns from Cristobal Balenciaga, Phillipe Venet and his own famous label and they'll be available for the public to swoon over from 7th May at the Chateau.

You will be able to examine up close the iconic black evening dress that Holly Golightly wore as she breakfasted at Tiffany's.

And apparently Queen Fabiola of Belgium's Balenciaga designed wedding dress (1960) will also be on display, including the luxe, long and bejewelled veil.

Check out Chateau Haroue's website for more details on its architectural and historical significance. It sounds like the perfect meeting of French architecture and French fashion to me. Now all I need is an air ticket.