Tagged: Paris

Into the Night..

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Take a look behind the curtain…photos from AW14 after-show Paris party scene..

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A walk on the wild side from the safety of your computer screen..

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(I can only hope this photo has been photoshopped.  I don’t think my boobs were ever like that…let alone whilst dancing..)

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And then you start to think..there’s no colour, it’s not very chic…black and white dominates…It’s as if anti-fashion is the name of the game for fear of putting a foot wrong…which feels like the beast is eating itself from the inside out.

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There are the exceptions.  Little tasters.

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But they’re an oddity rather than the rule (Loving that handle!)

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(All photos by Maxime Ballesteros, Style.com)

Between you and me..I think it’s best to dream about what it’s like..I suspect we had more fun at the school quiz!!

Laters, Kate x

YSL lives on..

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Back to reality..almost..

There are certain places I have visited only in my dreams, but one day, one day Rodders, I’ll get there…Coco chanel’s apartment, the Picasso Museum in Antibes..and the Studio of Yves Saint Laurent at 5 Avenue Marceau, 75116 Paris.

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For a lucky few and until the July 21, it’s possible to go on a guided tour of the studio and library courtesy of the Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent Foundation. The Foundation was set up to share the forty years of accumulated memories and artefacts of this iconic creator with his intimidating reputation for excellence and meticulous sculpting of cloth.

Oh to be a speck of dust. To be still and drink it in.

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But if I can’t be there in person. Sigh. There is still the internet – part of the Foundations aims is to promote cultural projects and with this in mind, they are releasing all sorts of wonder through their site which is so worth a visit.  For instance, there are the production boards..

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Illustrating 1283 production drawings from 81 Haute Couture collections from 1962- 2002. Each garment features a sketch, a sample of fabric from which the final garment was produced, the name of the couture workshop that produced it, the name of the model that wore it and even the order in which she walked during the Fashion Show.  It is a little glittering cyber treasure trove…

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It’s also possible to buy a beautifully bound four book edition of the Production Drawings. And if I had 2,100 euros handy..I would.

The latest release from the Website is the ‘Paper Dolls’ – Yves Saint Laurent made these beauties between 1948 – 1949 using from amongst other things, cuttings from his mother’s favourite magazines – Vogue, Jardin des Modes and Paris-Match.  These fragile works of art are the physical embodiment of his vivid, verdant imagination and somehow make him feel very human..touchable even.

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The website allows you to pick a ‘doll’ and then choose her outfit by clicking on it..how super cool!

DOLLS10-2012-04-10-020 2012.04.20.008 2012-04-20-023 DOLLS01-2012-04-01-011 DOLLS09-2012-04-09-001 DOLLS09-2012-04-09-012 DOLLS09-2012-04-09-004 DOLLS09-2012-04-09-033 DOLLS09-2012-04-09-007 2012-04-20-031

Hours and hours of nostalgic Haute Couture pleasure…with more than a little bit of fairy dust.

Laters, Kate xxx

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A blast from the past…

Do I detect a whiff of spring in the air? A frisson of change? Better bloody hope so…I’m starting to lose the plot with tights (blurgh) socks/balaclavas/the-general-togged-up-michelin-look..I want to have bare legs, bare feet and feel the breeze on my sun-starved skin without dying of hyperthermia.  But which shoes are best for that tricky transition into summer?  After seeing this picture:

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I feel the pull of the loafer again – there are certain things that are designed to a point of perfection – the tube map, Laduree packaging..the horse bit on a Gucci loafer.  Having said that, this is a pic of a mans loafer which definitely has an edge: more chunk n gravitas.   Anyways, I was discussing this man/woman design conundrum with Anna last night, over a herbal tea and a dress pattern when she remembered writing a post about her loafer obsession in the 90s.  And then, as if there was fashion magic in the air, I turned on my computer to see Amanda Brook’s post about Loafers…wooooah – this is all too much! – like Harry Potter is living in my hard drive…But odd things happen, sometimes for a reason and this has compelled me to re-find this lovely post from our archives….unfortunately the edit gremlins won’t allow me to space it properly, but hey, sometimes we have to suffer for our art…

At the risk of reminiscing I’m going to tell you a bitter sweet fabulous fashion moment.  Picture the scene: I was a fashion student at the Royal College of Art and I’d won an internship at Karl Lagerfeld in Paris.OOH! what to wear? Every day was a massive ordeal to concoct an outfit. And OH! how I lusted after these Gucci stilettos. I even had a picture of them on the wall of my Paris attic apartment.
For 3 months, everyday, I scrupulously composed outfit after outfit from my vintage finery. I strived that each look would achieve just the right mix of style, insouciance and fashion forecasting, and that whilst wearing it I’d be being able to perform the tasks of a fashion design intern without falling over, sweating to death or (the worst!) looking DULL!
One day preshow Liz Tilberis came into the studio to preview the catwalk looks.  She was then Editor of Vogue. I had only just got over my daily awe of Karl and now had Liz Tilberis standing right there in the black version of  my object of desire-these shoes. After my initial’ hello, how do you do?’, imagine my surprise as I heard myself launch into a stream of concsiousness  ”I love your shoes, I’m saving up to buy them, they are my favourites, I love the new look Gucci, blah blah blah… I continued , as LT incredulously looked on at me!Eventually, my diatribe faded  as Karl said something like  ”So, Ve look at the clothes,no?!”
and I sat, uncomfortably, down, silenced, staring at my rather lacking footwear.
Anyway I HAD been saving and I bought the shoes ( in tan- although I still wish I had them in black!!) and as you can see I wore them just the other day again for the first time since those days of youth and crippling embarrassment. Now I’m only crippled by the shoes! They just look right again…
I’m wearing them with a vintage fur jacket( type unknown) and my current favourite jumper a gold knt from Zara topshop Baxter skinnies

So Amanda, if you are reading – what about a mans loafter instead – or even better, a vintage stiletto?

Laters, Kate (and Anna) xxx