Dior <3's Gruau 4 Life

Having a lil perve on the couture shows there filled me with awe and immense sadness. Awe at the INCREDIBLE level of work – Elie Saab’s couture just makes me want to cry it is such perfection – and great sadness at the fact that I will most likely never, ever get a chance to swan about in such levels of perfection. But neither of these observations are the purpose of this post. It’s about how Gruau-esque Dior’s presentation was. Like, so Gruau.

I guess if I am totally honest, this show was very DIOR also. But then the two have a very entwined history, working so closely together helped to solidify the iconography of the brand. If I am honest, I havn’t been a massive fan of Dior for some years now, but Gruau still does it for me. There is something timeless in his illustrations, the sensitivity of line and romance of it all. The way he uses colour and space on a page is something really magical. Which is what couture should always be, given that it is created especially for very wealthy people to do fancy things in. I am therefore very pleased that Bill Gaytten seemed to have flipped through some of his books and captured that delicacy of line and play on volume. Admittedly, it could be argued that without a head designer to steer Dior in a Post-Galliano direction, the team are playing it safe with their collections. But something tells me the guys took more than a little inspiration from the man who used to illustrate them.

I guess what I am saying is…. here, look! See?

Dior Couture Spring 2012

Dior Couture Spring 2012

Dior Couture Spring 2012

images via style.com

Rene Gruau

Rene Gruau

Rene Gruau

 link, link, link, link, link, 

Is it vintage yet?!

Back when I was making fat wads o’ cash I did a most peculiar thing – I decided to invest some of it in something…Clearly, it was not going to be something boring like stocks or bonds (in hindsight, probably just as well!), but instead in fashion. My logic ran something like this – that I probably wouldn’t have as much disposable income in the future (how right I was) so I should probably get a few designer pieces to have and mature with. So I duly went out and bought some designer shit. It’s not actually the worst logic I have ever come up with. It was nothing too extravagant – the stacks weren’t that fat, but given that the Tiger died c.2008, what I do own is in that designer limbo – where they are not yet vintage, but too far around the fashion cycle to be current either.

For the most part I don’t think about it. Sometimes though I worry I made bad investments that will never be cool again, which makes me worry about why I am not worrying about more important things in life… The other day though, I was cleaning out a bunch of stuff and I found this tshirt. I know Dior is kind of a bit of a persona non grata at the moment, but I still like the shirt. It’s fun! and I don’t own that many fun things. It’s pink! and I don’t own many pink things. It has a funny fashion take on sports tshirts, and I love the tongue-in-cheek-ness of it all. And for sure, logomania has long past, and I know that Carrie Bradshaw wore one in a SATC film and I HATE her stupid moany self involved character, but Patricia Fields is an amazing stylist so she had a point. And I know it’s not very now, but I just like it, ok.

skirt; thrifted, shoes; primark, tshirt; dior, bow; vintage

 I don’t know why but I always feel a bit like a school teacher when I wear this skirt…

Oscar the Grouch

The Oscars were last night. I don’t really have strong feelings on this. But I did look at the dresses. Overall I was seriously underwhelmed by what I saw, and as per usual I didn’t have a breeze who have the birds in the dresses were (I’m shit at pop culture). Here are some lovely ones….

Dior

Sharon Stone looking FIERCE in Dior. Galliano is in a bit of hot water at the moment, what with all those allegations roaming around….but this dress is amazing, in a cruella de ville meets red carpet kind of way.

Givenchy

I LOVE what Ricardo Tisci is doing at the moment, and I am so glad that someone wore such an amaaaazing dress on Oscar night. It’s just so beautiful!

Gucci

Gucci = glamour. Oscars = glamour. Gucci = Oscars. See, I know fashion AND maths.

L'wren Scott

aka Mick Jagger’s missus’ dresses. Though to be fair she deserves recognition for being a good designer, not just a rock star’s bird. I either don’t like the neckline on this or I don’t like the neckline with the necklace….I think I don’t like the necklace. I think she should just have worn a bracelet or something instead. Because I think it’s a rocking dress.

Marchesa

Marchesa. That’s all I really need to say about that. swoon.

Monique Lhullier

I think this is a really great dress. Also, the internet tells me it’s Mandy Moore in the dress, so I like it even more, because it makes her look not like herself, in a really good way.

Valentino

Valentino. Looks great. In a you-don’t-have-to-get-your-baps-out-to-look-good kind of a way.

 

images via vogue.com, style.com & stylecaster.com

London Calling

Things I saw in London last weekend…

Acne. In EVERY deparment store. Everywhere. I guess I never really thought about it, but I suppose they are pretty much on the money – great shapes in interesting fabrics, and lots of black. It’s funny, because I generally like their stuff but never seek it out. And by the looks of it, I’m on my own there.

Acne Resort 2011

 

Acne AW10

Acne AW10

images via style.com & Acnestudios.com

Gruau & Dior in Somerset House. René Gruau is a really famous fashion illustrator, his use of line and composition is unreal. It was amazing to see his original paintings, that have become iconic campaigns for Dior. If you are unfamiliar with his work, I highly recommend you check him out, you will not be disappointed.

Selfridges shoe gallery. For about two hours…. It’s another world. I spent most of the time being quite sad what with the prohibitive price tags and heel heights. I consoled myself with a pair of patent punched leather chelsea boots from Topshop. I originally had my eye out for a pair of black loafers, but I didn’t see any I liked, and boots make more sense for winter. Win.

Brown’s Focus. For some reason I’ve never been in it before, but the place is unreal. I think my favourite piece was the Hussein Chalayan pleat sweatshirt. It was just the right combination of wearability & Chalayan’s forward design. Sadly the price tag wasn’t so wearable so it stayed in the store. Sigh.

Vogue Oct2010

Cos. I’ve mentioned this store before as a favourite place, and now there’s a concession in BT2. However, I wasn’t really impressed with the selection the BT buyers brought over, so I visited the much bigger and far-more-my-style Regent Street store. Got an amazing thick rib oversize cardigan. It’s a great shape, but the knit really makes it special. I can’t even figure out how it’s done, it’s like double knitting or something. I also had to stop myself from buying their collarless long blazer, it was divine, but that would have been a step too far. I wish Cos would sort out their website though – it’s pretty slick to be fair to them, but it’s a pain in the ass to use.

Pizza East. There was a summer-long running joke in our flat about going to Pizza East, and we never did, so I finally got Pizza East pizza on Sunday. It was pretty tasty, although we got take away so it was a bit cold :/ Next time, maybe. It’s in a pretty sweet space in the Tea Buildings. I’m not one to go on about food, but it’s pretty cool.

Columbia Road Market. Again, this is something I meant to do during the Summer, but the Sunday morning early wake up call meant it never happened! I managed to drag myself out of bed this Sunday (surprisingly enough, everyone else told me where to stick my flowers when I suggested they join me in the rain early in the morning) and headed over. It was the only time during the weekend I actually remembered to bring my camera out with me, so here’s what I saw.

Sunday Up Market. I lived around the corner from Brick Lane over the summer so I was so sick of it after the first couple of weeks I avoided it like the plague, but I had time to kill this Sunday so I went for a wander and got a giant Lion ring for a pretty nice price. Bargains are really hard to come by on Brick Lane/Spittalfields these days, so I was happy.

Friends. Nothing beats hanging out with friends and there was lots of that as well as the fashion things, epic win.

I came home very tired and pretty sick (my awesome new Cos cardigan is not waterproof even a little bit, sadface) but pretty satisfied with myself. WIN.

Hasbags

I have an amazing bag sitting in the back of my wardrobe. I never use it. I am leaving it there, waiting. It is a former It Bag, past its glory days of fashion caché, and yet some years too young to be a vintage classic. I sometimes feel sorry for it, the poor has-been.

I sort of feel sorry for all the has-been bags…

the stam’s,

(image: purseblog.com)

the kelly’s,

(image: fashion-stylist.net)

the baguettes,

(image: pursepective.blogspot.com)

and the paddingtons.

(image: thefashionpolice.net)

The Lady Dior has had a bit of a resergence and the Balenciaga lariat has never really gone out of style since it launched (I still want one).

(images: purspage.com, coolspotter.com)

I also still want a mulberry, but not the alexa cheung one (i know, blasphemy) – but the original beautiful one, the roxanne.

(image: thefashionpolice.net)

In the eternal quest for the new and the now, we discard the just-was. Well, until it has sat in the back of our wardrobes for long enough that it is fresh and exciting again. Which, in general fashion cycle terms, is between ten and twenty years. Oh, and if you havnt already, start hoarding anything early-to-mid 90′s now. The twenty year anniversary is upon us, and is starting to hit runways again. So by that maths, my saddle bag will be making its next outing in…2016, ish…