Monday, 6 February 2012

Frolicking around in the Snow...


Greetings to you all! Here to post, and hoping it will cheer me up after a freezing cold day accompanied by headache and swelling in the jaw area. Yippee for me.
Anyway, though I am feeling utterly miserable and am experiencing a good many symptoms of fatigue, I am posting these photos which I took yesterday.

What was my aim for this outfit? Well, I wanted to show the contrast between the whitness of the snow and the darkness of the coat as well as showing off my gorgeous cloche hat, "Chic, no?" and gloves... also, to some extent, giving me a good reason to go outside when any sane person would be happy looking at the snow, sitting on the sofa and drinking a cup of hot chocolate. Honestly something I should have done.




The Snow that never drifts —
The transient, fragrant snow
That comes a single time a Year
Is softly driving now —

So thorough in the Tree
At night beneath the star
That it was February's Foot
Experience would swear —

Like Winter as a Face
We stern and former knew
Repaired of all but Loneliness
By Nature's Alibi —

Were every storm so spice
The Value could not be —
We buy with contrast — Pang is good
As near as memory —

Ignore the fact that the video says 'Richard Burton' instead of 'Richard Harris'. Minor mistakes in the editing are worth it for the sake of superior quality. Anyway, I hope you enjoy because this scene does sort of mention snow and I wanted to share it. The music is beautiful - as is Vanessa Redgrave - and Richard Harris presents it so wonderfully. Sadly, this is a new discovery of mine. Camelot is not one of the musicals my Mother bred me on during my childhood.
On a last note for this video, do you not think Vanessa Redgrave's facial expressions are simply perfect?



Here are a couple of vintage pieces. A Vogue Cover of which I do not know the date (if you know, do not hesitate to comment) and a French Advert for the Mont Blanc.
I tied these in because they sort of went well with the theme I had set by wearing my cloche hat. I simply adore cloche hats, and I love the sophistication they give an outfit.






Mont Blanc is the monarch of mountains;
They crown'd him long ago
On a throne of rock, in a robe of clouds,
With a diadem of snow.






Thank you for reading! I would love to write more, but I have pledged solemnly to attempt to tidy my room, and my throat is hurting terribly again... and my sister is shouting because a poor little mouse, probably very hungry, has nibbled at her dress. I understand where she is coming from but, to be honest, it was not a very nice dress to begin with. Too tight. Too short. It did not flatter her figure and I think the mouse might have done her a service.

Please comment and do follow if you like!

Oh, and the poems are by Emily Dickinson and Lord Byron respectively.











Saturday, 4 February 2012

Alexis Mabille - Couture Spring/Summer 2012

Hello again! Here to introduce those of you who do not know who he is to Alexis Mabille - who, although I have been very much aware of for a couple of years, has only just become one of my Fashion crushes. Those of you who will already know him, we can simply sit back and appreciate. Why? Because even though some of the clothing is not enirely my cup of tea (and I know this last collection wasn't widely received very well) his haute couture lines are beautiful, the first I saw, the Couture Spring/Summer 2011 collection... which was absolutely to die for! Oh, and I simply adored the amazing soundtrack. Does anyone know exactly what any of it is? Some of it does sound familiar.



Now I would a floor-sweeping cloak... although I have done for quite a while. The only difference this time is that I want a gauzy, white one.

This collection was a hymn to a semi-fantasy. A woman, a modern-day vestal priestess figure in a way, dressed almost entirely in white, reminsicent of sculptures by Rodin. Alexis Mabille created a collection in which I would have loved to wear almost every item (One of the things which proves that life is cruel and unjust... I could not have afforded an area the size of my little fingernail)

Alexis Mabille is, in my opinion, a talented designer with deliciously luscious designs: luxurious, sophisticated, dynamic, beautiful, imbued with fantasy and an element of both flamboyance and eccentricity.

Although I know many people were not impressed by this new Spring/Summer 2012 couture collection - they felt it lacked a grand couturier's instinct. Lacklustre. Or  "The concept of these dresses is respected however the delivery does lack some level of refinement necessary for a couture collection." and also, "Even the most modern looking pieces seemed to be re-treads of things Mabille has done in the past. The whole color thing seems like a gimmick to try to keep such a haphazardly inspired collection together. Yeah, it works as a spectacle, but if you take each dress on it's own they're nowhere near groundbreaking and are barely worthy of the term couture. And what's the deal with the trim on the final dress? It would have been perfect without it."  Maybe so, but there is a certain amount of unfairness here. I am sorry, re-treads of things done in the past? Hmmm... that remind me of a very famous brand called Chanel.
Even though I appreciate Chanel, it is years since anything new has been done. Yes, I know the Chanel Jacket and skirt formula works and we all need some classics in the great brands. Yes, I realise that there is a certain image. However, there are certain brands where everything is so established, nobody would dare say anything. It is generally agreed that certain people are geniuses. If this collection had been presented by Chanel (which it would not have, it is not really their style at all) or, more likely, Dior, then I am sure the reviews would have been slightly more positive. I am therefore not really in the mood to attack Alexis Mabille. Not as good as his last collection? Definitely. Fun to watch? Yes! Nothing is truly original. Ever.

I like the fact that he is somebody who obviously loves fashion stating, when asked what his inspiration was, a photograph of iconic model Lisa Fonssagrives on a beach, her face suffused with pink from the sunlight coming through her umbrella. Along with a more recent picture of Christy Turlington by Patrick Demarchelier.  Again, this was almost a cause for criticism. "There was scarcely an outfit that wouldn't have worked a miracle in a Hollywood film from the thirties or forties or fifties that called for the heroine to wear "fashion." Take a look at the kimono jacket in pink-lined red satin over a red column dress, or the peignoir of palest blue tulle over a full-skirted gown. The painted faces only emphasized the artificiality of the clothes." I am going to admit that the gold dress was pretty horrendous, but I liked the painted faces.

At least he knew his concept. Take for example, Versace.
A set constructed with mirrored steps that was just as glistening as the dresses themselves. Each girl walked down in sky-high Versace gladiator stilettos, giving the audience a look at the beautifully beaded works of art in colors like silver, copper, gold, and even orange. Metallic insets giving the dresses a sculpted touch and a mix of high-end warriors meets futuristic space glamazons. My main problem was not with the dresses. Too Versace (not all off it. I actually thought that some items were wearable) and the models' hair scraped into what looked like a designer version of a 'croydon facelift' - I could manage that. No, the significant problem for me was that I found Versace's couture collection really hard to watch. It was the way the models carefully made their way down the steps that did it for me. Very awkward to the point of being funny.
The music was very wrong too. It did not fit the situation, and I think it might have been classier with something less Operatic, more 1950s Hollywood.
It was as if Donatella was trying to add culture to a brand that has very little.
At the very least, the music at Alexis Mabille was appropriate and did not detract from the clothes, instead working together in technicolour, clashing, rainbow harmony.



<<< Beautiful Kimono Jacket. I really like the pink lining - so stylish, colourful and chic. One would naturally feel lovely wearing it. Not that I would ever know.

>>> Aaaah! Attack of the sleeves.

<<< I adore this vivid Orange ensemble. I actuallyr really like this, would wear it if I had the money and will not hear a word of criticism about the colour or the frills. 

>>> This one? Less so. Less my style but still very nice. Probably would not wear it, but I know many people who would say that this dress was the best element of the collection. It is just a matter of taste and situation. I challenge anyone to have a jig in the orange dress.

>>> Even though I like Alexis Mabille, I must say that this dress was pretty hideous. I am sure that there were members of the fashion world who loved it, but to me it looked like a cabbage among the flowers.

<<< The acidic yellow was my second least favourite. I almost like the bottom half though.

I completely adored both of these, more pastel, ensembles. Floaty and Lady-like, with waists and floor-length skirts. Yes, they both remind me of something done by Dior quite a few seasons ago, but they are luscious with an almost ethereal air. I even think  the flower works charmingly and refuse to hear otherwise. Something for Ascot anyone?       In short, whatever anyone may say, I am standing behind Alexis Mabille, for better or for worse. (Does anyone know if that is his real name? Only Alexis Mabille sounds like Alexis m'habille, which would be quite a clever name for a fashion brand) I cannot wait to see his Autumn Couture Collection.
























This collection was vibrant, crazy, very 1980s while simultaneously being quite a variety of other decades (I couldn't quite pin it down. 20s, 40s and 50s elements also came into play) But I shall stick by Alexis Mabille, and say that I thought it was good, if a little ostentatious at times. Dita von Teese appears to agree with me, looking beautiful in one of his creations. (He has also dressed Sophia Coppola and Keira Knightley, but that is not relevant to this collection)

On a last note of mild fantasy, when I am ruler of the world and Jean Paul Gaultier shall be creating the costumes for West End Productions of 'South Pacific', Alexis Mabille will charged with the costumes for the flowers in the West End version of 'Alice in Wonderland' - as well as doing what he is already doing, because creating clothes for the catwalk is mildly more important.




Thank you for reading. Please comment and follow if you like. :)


 "It is only women who do not know how to dress that are afraid of colours..." Marcel Proust

Wednesday, 1 February 2012

A note on the subject of Procastination

Greetings! Me again... and here to have a little moan about the internet, imagination, pencils which lead to doodling and all the boring things which have to be done within a certain time limit. Oh yes, I am here to leave you all a note on the subject of procastination, and some of the more interesting ways in which I have been avoiding doing the hoovering or my german coursework.



1.     Poetry. Although I would consider this a worthy use of my time, the truth is, I really do not have any time. When I should be preparing for Spanish Oral exams or researching osteoporosis, I am either writing poetry or, more likely, simply learning poems by heart. In many ways, it is also an answer to the fact I have been reading less lately due to time limitations, although I am due to start a Dickens soon and have almost finished both 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' by James Joyce and 'The Magician' by William Maugham (as well as being somewhere close to the beginning of 'Wings of the Dove' by Henry James) Just a note on poetry, Dorothy Parker = Cynical and Disillusioned, but absolutely brilliant!


By the time you swear you're his,
Shivering and sighing,
And he vows his passion is
Infinite, undying -
Lady, make a note of this:
One of you is lying.


2.     Daydreaming. The only word that can really describe the situation. It involves gazing off into the distance, telling yourself fairytales about a wonderful future and pretending to be interviewed. Ha. Or even, just sitting in a corner of my room, singing along with the 'Dirty Dancing' soundtrack or Luz Casal singing either 'Piensa mi' or 'un año de amor'... depends how I feel really.





3.     Doodling - though it has been suggested many times that, contrary to expectation, doodling is supposed to help stay concentrated, "A study that compared how well people remembered details of a dull monologue found that those who doodled throughout retained more information than those who tried to sit and listen."
Check out these different (and pretty appalling, both graphically and artistically speaking) doodles, along with the *cough* lessons *cough* I did (not) do them in.

Physics Doodle
Mathematics Doodle
German Doodle

4.     All those little things which help Procastination. Facebook, Hunting for split ends, BBC iPlayer, Wikipedia surfing (a hobby of mine. You find out the most interesting things) Youtube's endless supply of music videos. In terms of Youtube music videos, I feel like I have been spending my last few days either watching 'Belle qui tiens ma vie' (I have to learn it for a play I am doing in July and August) or the whole South Pacific Soundtrack. I have actually scratched the DVD half to death, and I don't like watching whole films online, so have been reminiscing over the songs. :)

  



>>> Could anyone else imagine what it would be like if Jean Paul Gaultier designed the costumes for a more metrosexual, gay and flamboyant version of South Pacific on the West End? Or is it just me?
And, if so, wouldn't you just love to see it... ;)




5.     Last, and definitely not least, my latest discovery - British Pathé... it is absolutely amazing! I can watch really amazing historically interesting videos, of both fashion and historical events. Take, for example, this one (which I had to get from Youtube, because I am an absolute fail and technology and can not work out another way) everything is so 1950s, with the voice, the models and the background music that it could practically be a parody which, of course, it is not. Anywho, fashion related videos from as far back as 1900 can be found, and other videos from up to ten years before that. I advise anybody who is interested in vintage fashion to take a look, as well as people who enjoy history. I found excellent clips of John F. Kennedy's 1964 memorial service, and even of Queen Victoria's funeral. Everything is there, and everything is easy to find.



Anyway, my quick note on the subject of procastination. Congratulation you for already having survived a twelfth of 2012, and hoping you will keep reading. Please Comment, even if it negative (as long as it isn't personal, because I will just delete it)

Oh, and I thought I might just mention, I am not obsessed with videos. I felt I had to point that out because I mentioned three sites which purely do videos in my list of items that lead to increased procastination levels.


"In delay there lies no plenty." ~William Shakespeare