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

Fashion in the 18C.

In the 18th century in France, and in wider Europe, one of the most elegant and colourful artistic period was blossoning: The Rococo. The main protagonist in the Rococo was King Louis XV, his Court, and acting as the central theatre, the fantastic Palace of Versailles. Unfortunately, the Queen of France,Marie Leczinska, wasn't in the fashion spotlight, but the super-star in the rococo period was Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XIV of France, and the wife of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette.

 In this picture, by Francois Boucher, we can see some details of garments in the french Court.

1. Flared sleeves: the sleeves are slim to the elbow, pagoda style, and then flare out at the cuff.

2. A richy embroidered stomacher is attached to the either side of the dress. In this case, the stomacher is laden with knotted ribbon bows that are echoed in the choker.

3. the sink dress is timmed with double-headed pink roses.

4. her open-backed Louis heel slippers are trimmed with pearl beads.

5. wide panniered skirt: Pannier or "basket" petticoats could create a voluminous rounded skirt.

This Dress, a la francaise, that Madame de pompadour is wearing demostrates her position in the high society of France and the royal court. 

France led the way in the luxury trade in that time. For example, Lyon was the principal centre of silk weaving and embroidery, while Paris became the centre of haberdashery, accessories and innovative drapery. 

Lots of boutiques of the marchandes de modes (fashion merchants), jewellers and miliners were set up in Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore and Rue de la Paix (nowadays, an area of luxury brands).

Marie Antoinette
Archduchess of Austria and Queen of France and Navarre.

Contemporary Designers

Haut-Couture has stolen the french court in many ocations and different designers.

Dior By John Galliano A/W 2007

Modern Rococo Style By Chanel  

Alexander McQueen

Vivienne Westwood 

Christian Lacroix

Jean Paul Gaultier

Balenciaga By Nicolas Ghesquiere

Givenchy by Alexander McQueen 1996

Magazines

Headdress

The fashion for outsize hairstyles and headdresses was first set by Marie Antoinette, but it was taken to extremes by her courtiers.

Critics spoke of such hairstyles as dirty, accusing their wearers of harbouring nests of fleas.

The model of the ship (picture on the right) featured in the headdress, La Belle Poule, was well-known for its victory against the British frigate Arethusa in 1778, which began french nvolvement in the american War of Independence.

Films

The most famous "Marie Antoinette" by Kirsten Dunst 2006 / Lucille Ball in DuBarry was a Lady (1943)
Keira Knightley in The Duchess 2008 / Glenn Close in Dangerours Liaisons 1988.

Music

Madonna / Kate Perry / Beyonce

Campaigns: perfums

Death became fashionable

A woman in a full mourning dress became the emblematic icon of bereavement in Europe and America during the 19th century. At the time when mortality rates were much higher than they are today, particularly during childbirth and infancy, and the average life expectacy was less than fifty, the loss of the love one was a familiar experience. Formal ritual of bereavement aided in memorializing the death, and mourning attire was subject to increasingly complex code of etiquette and fashion.

Mourning dress served as a visual symbol of grief and of respect for the deceased while simultaneously demostrating the wearer's status, taste, and level of propriety.

By the 1860's, graceful, styish mouring prevailed in Europe and The United States, available from array of mourning warehouses and private dressmakers.

Although fashion magazines and etiquette manuals typically advocated simplicity as the guiding principle of style, even deepest mourning attire could conform to every nuance of fashionable dress, replicating not only its silhouette but also its ornate forms of embellishment.

during the 1870s, fashion columns frequently advised combinations of black and white for periods of lighter mourning, as an elegant alternative to gray or purple, which were classed as outmoded.

Black is more than ever the favorite colour of fashion. there was a time -our mothers will remember it- when the sole fact of wearing a black dress when one was bot in mourning was sufficient to call forth a kind of reprobation, and to cause the wearer to be classed among the the dangerously eccentric women. 

                                                                                       - Harper's Bazaar (August 9, 1870)

Dress worn by Queen Alexandra the year following Queen Victoria's death.

These evening gowns express the opulence of court dress in tones of half-mourning. On the gown by Henriette Favre, a couturiere whose clients incluided ladies of the English court and american women of style.

The whole feeling with regard to the wearing of mourning has undergone a change. In former days the custom of wearing mourning had a double significance: it was considered to be a sign of respect for the dead, and at the same time it announce the seclution of the mourner......
The war has done still more towards moderating the old customs in regard to mourning.

                                                                              American Vogue 1918

Texts and pictures of the exhibition "Death Becomes Her: A century of Mourning Attire", Metropolitan Museum, New York, Through February 1st, 2015.