Jumpsuit

During the industrial revolution, this working garment became very popular, and then, represented the main working clothes in factories, the uniform of fighter pilots and paratroopers in the II world war.

Properly called "boilersuit" or "coverall" made of heavy canvas or denim, designed to protect workers' street clothes and bodies from oil, soot, grime, sparks and other workplace hazards. 

As well as that women who has replaced men in factories during the war, Jumpsuits were their main garment. Then, during the disco era, jumpsuits was present but in a fashionable option, adorning with flashy colours and flashes. Become a symbol of eccentricity - not always in good taste - It becomes the holding of favourite scene pop stars cuch as Madonna, Britney and celine Dion.

From Factories to Catwalk.

The Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli designed a bunker following a light-blue hooded jumpsuit, braided decorations on cuffs, ankles and waist-line, and a cross-body water bottle.
The futuristic connotation is clear, When The jumpsuit is the suit of sci-fi fiction. For example, the Star Trekturned shiny bi-color jumpsuit Into a cult room.

70's Casual and Disco music

Disco came to be associated with both culture and fashion, and was at the zenith in the late 1970's. The fashion crowd favoured the New York club Xenon, which had a reputation for a more extreme interpretation of the disco look and where dancers cavorted in cages wearing only Spandex leotards and body glitter. In 1977 disco was thrust into mainstream culture by the popularity of the movie Saturday Night Fever, the high point of the disco boom. 

on Stage 

Memorables rock stars, on stage, the flared jumpsuits and over-decorated, embroidered in gold and completed by a short mantle, seen on an exhilarating Elvis Presley. Characterized by a glam and psychedelic vide, the striped jumpsuit with exaggerated cut, worn by David Bowie in the role of the androgynous alter ego Ziggy Starddust in 1972. Unforgettable check the black and white jumpsuit is Freddie Mercury and the diamond-print one on Mick Jagger.

Elvis, Nick Jagger, David Bowie, Freddy Mercury 

90's Glamorous decadence

The Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace (1946-1997) and Dolce & Gabbana celebrated the the return of high-voltage fashion during the 1990's. 

Flamboyant print jumpsuit by Versace, 1990's.

In the early 2010, luxuries brands by Saint Laurent, Alexander Wang using silk fabrics, purple and hooded for Diane Von Furstenberg, pink patterns by Marc Jacobs, or horizontal stripes - a trademark- at Sonia Rykiel.

Ready to wear, Saint Laurent Spring 2014.

Summer 2010. Among the Most Famous jumpsuit, the floral-printed one by Stella McCartney, the multi-pocket one by Givenchy, the one made of silk plaid by Prada. Pixie Geldof Attended the H & M flagship store opening in London and has Wore shorts jumpsuit mustard. Erin Wasson Attended a party in Los Angeles wearing Prada The Above Mentioned room. Elettra Wiedemann and Helena Christensen Wore loose jumpsuits and long: the first Attended a Swarovski cocktail wearing an orange number, while the second Was spotted at a party for Antony Todd wearing a jumpsuit with no accessories. Was Rihanna snapped in Los Angeles wearing the floral, ultra-girly and frilled jumpsuit by Stella McCartney.

Zara Jumpsuit Summer 2021.

BCBG

 Bon Chic, bon genre or  good style, good class is an expression used in France to refer to a subculture of stylish members of the Paris upper class living on the right bank (rather than the intellectual, countercultural left Bank). The main characteristics in its style are: 

polish,

good breeding,
good booming,

This smart uniform with classic luxuries items are: a cashmere sweater, kilts and twin-set, a pair of ballet pumps, an Hermès Birkin bag, and some accessories like a silk scarf,  school satchels, pearl necklaces, and  expensive watches.

 BCBG is also to be known as "seizieme' after the 16th arrondissement, one of the most chic neighbourhood in Paris. This style was the symbolism of the style had its greatest power, it often looked more old-fashioned, the young dressing much like the old, with safe conservatism.

Most of the French actresses is still wearing this style, like Marion Cotillard with a polished style, clothes with perfect figure, a glamorous evening gown, and understated makeup.

Catherine Deneuve

The queen of BCBG style and the favourite muse of the couturier Yves Saint Laurent. 

Grace Kelly

Francoise Hardy

Olivia Palermo

                                                      Clemence Poesy

Ines De la Fressange

Ines de la Fressange tips

Indecent Proposal

From Nell Gwynn to Vivian Ward, the Julia Roberts character in the film Pretty Woman, the figure of the prostitutes has seduced or pitiful the audience along the history.
So, Why one of the oldest profession is still such interesting in fashion, art and films ?

On September 22nd 2015, at the  Musee d'Orsay in Paris I show one of the most interesting exhibition about this subject: "Splendour and Misery", a fascinated collection of important french and foreign artists, who were atracted and  involved in prostitution in the most different ways and artistic techniques.

So, let me show you one of my favourites paintings, collections, films pictures, which were represented the woman as an object of seduction and the fashion as well. 

in Art

Dante Rossetti, Lady Lilith, 1866

Edgar Degas, L'Absinthe 1875-76, Musée d'Orsay

 

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, At the salon of the Rue de Moulins, 1894

in Films

Dangerous Liaisons 1989. 

Catherine Deneveuve in Belle de Jour (1967)

Pretty Woman (1990)

In Fashion Show

Mario Testino Shoot, UK Vogue March 2013

Versace Collection 2012/13 Fall / Winter Haute-Couture.

Louis Voitton, 2013 

Saint Laurent collection 2015

Second Skin.

In 1965 Furs, that women wore, were expensive, beautiful and bourgeois, but really heavy and unpractical. that was the first step for a women to get a social status when their husband bought a fur coat", say Karl Lagerfeld, creative director of Fendi. Mr Lagerfeld had been a modern vision in fashion, when the "sisters Fendi' hired him.

History 

Animal pelts, or fur and leather, have been used by humankind as clothing since the earliest times to protect their bodies from climatic conditions and harm. 

In the last two centuries, the growing middle classes in Western Europe and North America have developed a love for Fashion fur as a way of expressing their social status. 

Early French Fashion designers as Jeanne Paquin and Paul Poiret started to use fur regularly in their collections in the early 1900s. 

Left evening Dress 1916 and right Edwardia Lady with fur details and brimmed hat. Titanic era.

By the 1930s, fur was used in abundance by designers as trim for coats, collars and cuffs. Hollywood has added fur coat at the Red Carpet and TV stars.

Lana Turner 1944 and model Dovima in 1958

model Veruschka in 1960s and a yellow cout by Pierre Cardin 1966.

Women wearing fur coat, New York city 1974

Retro Silver Fox fur coat.

Dries Van Noten has been working with Faux Fur since 1990, when it was almost considerated kitsch. 

Nowaways, Fur are not a Luxury garment, only for old rich women, and they haven't get older the style.  the new coat are light, colourful, and modern cut. So, Is it posible that Fur coat are a Mainstream?

Last year, the 70% of the collections at the New York fashion Week showed a lot of furs. In fact, this industry runs 40.000 millions of dollars per year and employ 1 million people.

Despite the efforts of anti-fur activists and their sensitizing campaigns associated with animal cruelty, the popularity of wrapping oneself in a “sensual second skin” continues to persist. 

Yves Saint Laurent: Left Angelica Huston, 1971. Right Naomi Campbell 2001.

Prada S/S 2014

A brief history of the ring.

The use of personal rings was present from the time of the Egyptians, the Incas or the Romans. The rings of these people accustomed to put them engravings of gods and emperors, which served to demonstrate the power of whom wore, and only priests, emperors or consuls were worthy of such privilege.

Ring set of Ramses II, Musee du Louvre, Paris

Rings of various sizes and with various incisions showed the degree of Roman politicians, while rings appearing divinity, were worn by pharaohs and priests as protection, but also as a symbol, given directly to the divine strength, its ability to protect its people and knowing guide.

Ring of the Fisherman, wore by Pope Benedict XVI

Rings are the most common and perhaps the most evocative pierces of jewellery. The main sign of love to mark weddings, remember the dead, show a religion faith, a fashion accessory, etc.

Rings were traditionally made from precious metals such as gold and silver, alongside the cheaper alternatives of bronze, iron, or tin. Another options were gemstones, enamels, ivory, and for modern jewellers, plastics, acrylics, etc.

  Medieval Style.

Lady Joan Beaufort, Paris, 1430-40

Mary of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant, 1477

In an age when magic, science and religion were intertwined, a ring could be worn as a sign of faith, as an amulet or to cure illness. The gift of a ring could, as now, signify love or cement social relations. 

Some gemstone means a religion and symbolic powers. For example, the Sapphires, they were offen used on episcopal rigs, required to be of gold set with an uncut stone, which were given to bishops at their consecration. Sapphire rings have been discovered in the tombs of several English bishops, including one allegedly found in the grave of William Wytlesey, Archbishop of Canterbury, who died in 1374.

Romantic inscriptions known as posies, often written in french or latin, the languages spoken by educated people across Europe, decorated many medieval rings.

Gold ring, France 1500-30. Outside of hoop inscribed "Ung temps viandra" (A time will come): the inside "mon desir me vaille" (My longing keeps me awake).

18th Century

In the 18th century the diamond ring became an essencial accesory for the well-dressed gentleman.  

The diamond ring appears frequently in contemporary portraits, including in one Johann Christian Bach (1735-82) in which the elegantly dressed composer holds a sheet of music and wears a ring, probable set with a diamond, on his little finger.

Johann Christian Bach.

20th century

In twentieth century brought innovation and diversity in jewellery design. The Arts & Crafts movement begun in Britain in the last decades of the 19thC. Artists rejected industrial manufacturing and its effects on urban life, and looked to the Middle Ages for inspiration, following the design principles of medieval guilds.

Ring belonged to May Morris, daughter of the socialist, artist and designer William Morris. This ring shows the influence of medieval designs and also traditional Jewish marriage rings.

In the Boudoir by Dolf van Roy

The art of Egypt, China and India influenced Art Deco jewellers, who brought exotic combinations colours and style.   Arresting colour combinations were also inspire by the stage stage costume that Leon Bakst created for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, which performed in Paris from 1909. 

Some Art Deco Jewellers took inspiration from abstract art and the modernist principles of the Bauhaus School of Germany. 

An ilustration from the 1927 edition The Delineator, a popular american women's magazine

The romance of the machine and the speed ans dynamism of modern metropolitan life was reflected in these jewellery designs. Left: gold and chrome ring set with diamonds by Jean Depres. Right: platinum with coral, diamonds and innovative black plastic by Alexandre Marchak, Paris, 1920's.

American Actress Irene Dunne 

The 1950's and 1960's Europe saw a desire to break with tradition in architecture, sculpture, painting and jewery. 

Restrictions on the supply of gold continued in Britain after the war ended in 1945. The post-war optimism of the 1950's gradually spread to the jewellery industry as clients returned to the mayor jewellery house of Europe and America, like Boucheron and Asprey.

Hollywood stars such as Ginger Roger, Liz Taylor or Grace Kelly promoted the fashion wearing Fantastic Jewels in films and their social life.

Ginger Roger wears a ring set with a large square gemstone, 1948.

In the 1970's precious metals were another materials, like acrilic. For instance, Wendy Ramshaw won the Council of Industrial Design awars in 1972 with designs based on geometric forms, and inspired by urban archtecture and the space age. 

Wendy Ramshaw: Paper cardboard and plastic jewellery from mid-60's.

Vintage colourful laminated rings, mid-1960's

The most famous engagement ring in the british monarchy.

  

Kim Kardashian's 20.5-carat Lorraine Schwartz ring with an emerald-cut centre stone and two 2-carat trapezoid stone. Her 72-days husband, Kris Humphries, helped design the ring.

The first Mademoselle Chanel's jewellery collection was in 1933, that symbolised  the brand's identity.

The New Ultra ring by Chanel, in 18K white gold, black ceramic and diamond, 2015