The Fall 2010/Winter 2011 Haute Couture shows just wrapped up in Paris. Haute Couture is is a french term for "high sewing" and simply put, it's custom clothing made to order for a specific customer. It is often from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail by very experienced seamstresses. The highest fashion houses in the world produce Haute Couture - Chanel, Dior, Valentino - but it is thought to be a dying breed due to economic reality and the fast paced world that demands something new every other day. In this Gap-saturated world of khakis and t-shirts, a hand sewn seam does not garner the same reverence it once did! While we can debate the merits of Haute Couture in today's world, I think we can agree that the designers who produce and hold the legal title, present some of the most delectable and divine clothing that most of us could only dream of owning.
But it also makes me think. As a fat woman who yearns for an Armani suit in a size 22 (Giorgio can you hear me?), the thought of a custom-made piece of clothing is quite appealing. What is to stop us from taking a photo of a favorite or desired piece of clothing, to a talented seamstress, and having that piece replicated or created in our size? It's not quite "Haute Couture" in it's pure definition, but while I devour every fashion magazine known to man but very few, if any, of them present clothing that is available in my size. Maybe the answer is to take those pictures to a seamstress and have those pieces created in my size? The only thing missing might be a label but frankly, I don't wear a label because I can't. While many designers have customers loyal only to them; customers who own closets full of that designers pieces, I can't be loyal to a designer as much as I can to a "brand" (like Lane Bryant or Calvin Klein RTW) and it's not quite the same. Maybe the answer is to take the bull by the horns, or rather the designers by the shoes, and get those pieces I covet in my own way? Love Lanvin? Seamstress. Adore Armani? Seamstress. It's a thought.
What got me on this subject were the photos of the Dior Fall 2010/Winter 2011 Haute Couture collection. Dior is the epitome of not only Haute Couture, but of fashion. The Dior "New Look" of 1947 revolutionized fashion for women after World War II and the house continues to this day under John Galliano. Whereas people expect so much black from high fashion, this collection is drawn from nature in the form of poppies, crocuses, tulips - and is all about color. And not just color, but saturated, vivid, technicolor. Another piece of Haute Couture is the drama and presentation. You may look and think "what does this have to do with what I wear? I'm not walking out of the house with netting over my head unless I'm Lady Gaga!" What Haute Couture does is guide the ready to wear pieces that will find their way into our local Macy's, Bloomingdale's and the like. Color can be translated, as can cut and shape. Regardless, these pieces are stunning and I wanted to share them here. In the Wizard of Oz, poppies made Dorothy fall asleep. Here, they are as invigorating as a jolt of much-needed caffiene to brighten up a long and dark winter! Enjoy!
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