Saturday, February 19, 2011

SCHIAPARELLI

I admit that I don't know much about the fashion world, but a couple of weeks ago I thumbed through a giant book (above) about designer Elsa Schiaparelli, and I'm glad I did. She was one of the makers of the modern world.






Her first Parisian designs were heavily influenced by Surrealism. She had a great sense of humor. What do you think of the fur shoes (above), or the hat (also above) that deliberately looked like an upside-down shoe?


After a time she set up a second studio in Britain,  to be close to the wool manufacturers. They were experimenting with all sorts of new weaves and she wanted to be the first to see if anything interesting could be done with them. Seeing that a famous designer had set up shop right across the street, the mill people went out of their way to come up with new fabrics for her. It's a case of art and industry combining for mutual benefit.



She designed funny, over-the-top clothing all her life, but the designs which most interest me (above) are the minimalist, almost military designs she did in the thirties and forties.


She was going for simple shapes that emphasized quality fabrics and careful cutting. I imagine that Calvin Klein must have been influenced by Schiaparelli, only he took the additional step of making this kind of elegance available for a price that most working women could afford.

[Let me digress for a moment to defend Klein against his many detractors. Like a lot of people I was dismayed when Klein turned jeans into a high fashion item. It seemed to defeat the whole purpose of jeans, which was to break down class barriers and promote a youthful, adventurous approach to life. What I failed to realize was that tastes change and jeans were doomed to drop out of sight anyway. By adding design to them Klein gave them decades of additional life on the shelves...and they still functioned as class levelers. No small achievement, that. Klein was a hero.]


Over time Schiaparelli developed "The Knack." It seemed that everything she touched, even scarves (above), were characterized by simplicity and elegance.



I don't think Schiaparelli designed this (above), but it owes a lot to her sense of fun and surrealism. Lots of things we take for granted now began, at least in part, in Shiaparelli's head. One writer credits her with the idea of the fashion show, with it's combination of runway, art, music and long, skinny women. Man, some people just write their names on an entire age!

9 comments:

  1. Joel, Brubaker: It took me a week to get ariound to looking up the links on the Keaton Post. Sorry! I posted the answers there.

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  2. Simplicity and fun, that sounds about right.

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  3. I checked "Shocking" out at the library and kept it out for weeks & weeks...just amazing stuff. I loved all the art for the ad campaigns too.

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  4. Jenny: Yeah it's got some great pictures, and the text is interesting, too.

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  5. I think those look more like hair shoes. Unfortunately they wouldn't pair well with a hair shirt.

    The first time I saw the shoe hat idea was in the movie Brazil. I thought it was a brilliant little throwaway joke.

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  6. Love, love, love this post! I design jewelry, and I'm looking into desiging clothes, so fashion history is a passion of mine, and fashion history is very interesting to me.

    I just love Schiaparelli's designs. Like other high-fashion garments, she designed her clothes to wear well and have a great fit. What made her stand out from the crowd is she wasn't afraid of using bright colors, ornate buttons, edgy styles and unusual prints. Schiaparelli, like her rival Chanel, introduced a lot of styles and techniques that are still used in today's fashion. Schiaparelli was actually starting to experiment with using man-made fibers in fashion long before it became commonplace.

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  7. This is an email comment that Isobel Wren sent through YouTube. I didn't know it but you can send personal emails to people when you only know their YouTube moniker. Isobel refers to the "Book Chat #5" post, Nov. 28, 2010:

    Isobel: "Hi, sorry it took me so long to reply. My account was locked for a little while. "graphic or disturbing content" in my videos....who knew boobies/books were so scary?!

    I appreciate the publicity and the compliments. I see why you went into cartooning, you yourself are very animated :)"

    Eddie: Happy to spread the word! Thanks for the note!

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  8. Tanstar6:24 PM

    Hi Eddie, this is a little off topic, but I'd be really curious to know what you think of tattooing, if it's not too much trouble. Perhaps a commentary on old schooly carnival tattooed ladies or Irezumi or modern day body art. It's always a treat to hear your opinion's.

    Thanks Fella!

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  9. Tanstar: A year ago, maybe a little more, I did a post on tatoos. I'd never get one myself, even if Rubens did it, but I have to admit that every once in a while I see a tatoo that doesn't look bad.

    If I were getting one myself, I'd get a South Sea island design or something Aztec, or something by James Flora. I'd make it only a shade or two darker than my skin and put it somewhere that people can't see unless I take my shirt off. But that's me. For a lot of people it would seem silly to get a tatoo that doesn't show easily.

    For me tatoos are for men only. Girls are all about beautiful lines and shapes, and tatoos obscure that.
    If they're hell-bent to get one it should never be around the "naughty bits." It's distracting!

    Finally, too few people know when to stop. They get a nice tatoo then ruin it by surrounding it with a clutter of extra tatoos.

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