Marc Jacobs - Monochrome

Marc Jacobs mixes it up with monochrome spots and stripes at New York Fashion Week


Marc Jacobs made an impact on the 10th september 2012 New York Fashion Week punctuating the catwalk with bold monochrome prints. From stripy jumpsuits to polka-dot dresses the U.S. designer showcased an array of sixties-inspried designs, with expressionless faces the models let the statement garments do all the talking.

Research - monochrome

Mary Quant


Immortalized by fashion iconography as the originator of the miniskirt, London designer Mary Quant had an art-school background and had been designing and manufacturing her own clothes since the late 1950s. She had one distinct advantage over previous designers: She was a contemporary of her clients. Convinced that fashion needed to be affordable to be accessible to the young, she opened her own retail boutique, Bazaar, on the Kings Road in 1955, introducing the "mod" era and the "Chelsea look."

Quant has claimed that she did not invent the miniskirt, but, the girls who visited her shops did, as they wanted them shorter and shorter. These skirts were also in development by other designers, but Quant's is the name most associated with them. She even named the garments after her favorite make of car: the Mini.

The mid-1960s saw Quant at the height of her fame, when she created the micro-mini and the "paint box" makeup of 1966, and added the shiny, plastic raincoats and little grey pinafore dresses that came to epitomize the 1960s fashion era. She expanded her brand further into a range of original patterned tights, a range of cosmetics and other fashion accessories.

Late 1960s and Beyond

Quant went on to popularize hot pants in the late '60s, and concentrated on household goods, makeup and clothes during the 1970s and '80s. In 1988, she designed the interior of the Mini Designer, which incorporated black and white striped seats with red trimming and seat belts.

1960s style is remembered as the period that broke with fashion traditions. Designer Mary Quant is credited with the creation of the leg-baring mini-skirt, coloured tights and hot pants, which were key aspects of the decade's style.

In London in the early 1960s the preppy, art and music-inspired Mod movement (in opposition to the leather-wearing rockers), took hold. The pastel hues of the 50s were replaced by bright colours, bold geometric shapes, boxy jackets and patent shoes, with mohair suits for the boys. Model and trend-setter Twiggy became the poster girl for 1960s style, especially the Mod movement, with her pixie hair and almost-cartoonish eye makeup. 

Barbican Museum - Jean Paul Gaultier

BARBICAN MUSEUM

Jean Paul Gaultier's take on fashion has always come with a playful wink - think of the infamous conical bra worn by madonna in the 1990's, an exhibition at the Barbican celebrating his work is no exception.
The exhibition is a theme park of a show, with a moving catwalk, a set designed to look like a boudoir and mannequins wearing wigs designed by hair stylist Odile Gilbert with faces projected on the their heads to make them appear alive.

At a press conference ahead of the opening of The fashion world of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the sidewalk to the catwalk, the french designer quipped that he had previously resisted the idea of a museum show "because that's something for when you're dead".

All of Gaultiers superstar designs are included- from the outfit worn by madonna on the blonde ambition tour to coustumes fro Pedre Almodovarfilms and the "pregnant" corset Joudan Dunn modelled in 2009.

                                                  

The exhibition works through different themes of Gaultiers designs classics, starting with the breton stripe. The first galleries show its various incarnations- as a long sequin sheath dress, a huge hat and as a cropped top for men. A mannequin dressed as Gaultier in stripped jumper, kilt and peroxide hair completes the picture.

                                      


A room labelled Punky Cancan explores Gaultier's love of London street culture, which he first encountered on frequent visits in the 1970's. Kilts, tartan, ripped denim and camouflage are included, but re-appropriated into ballgowns and smart suiting for an unexpected, and very french, chic.

   

While some rooms, particularly in the upper galleries, lose the viewer when the overly dramatic sets threaten to overshadow Gaultier's status as a couturier, gowns in one gallery have captions on how many hours they took to make – making the craft of an atelier explicit. One red raffia and tulle design, for the spring/summer 2005 Tribute to Africa collection, clocks in at 163 hours.

Originally exhibited in Montreal in 2011, the London stop marks the eighth venue for The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier, which has now been seen by about 1 million visitors. It is expected to be just as popular here. There will be a film season at the Barbican curated by Gaultier, the London College of Fashion has a companion exhibition of Gaultier's show invites over the years and the patisserie chain Paul has created a Breton-striped eclair in its honor.

The Barbican's show finishes with rooms dedicated to the muses of Gaultier. Madonna's corset is here, along with Polaroids of the designer and the popstar backstage. Designs worn by Naomi Campbell – including a memorable body stocking with sequins for pubic hair – are featured alongside those worn by Kate Moss and Kylie Minogue. A picture of Minogue, photographed by Gaultier collaborators Pierre et Gilles in 2008, shows the singer as an alternative religious icon, wearing a flowing chiffon gown, surrounded by tiny topless sailors with angel wings. This is a typical Gaultier conceit – beautiful, couture-like design mixed with high camp. The exhibition follows similar lines, and is all the more enjoyable for it.

                                           

V&A Museum- Wedding dress Exhibition

 On the 3rd of June I went down to London to see the Wedding dress exhibition in the V&A museum, This exhibition showcased around 70 different wedding dresses and numerous accessories. The wedding dresses shows the history from 1775-2014, The exhibition showed the variety of  how fashion style changes over the years. This exhibition allows us to have a glimpse into the lives of the wearers. Many brides wear white to celebrate faith and nationality. The white wedding dress is a universal symbol of the bride. Royal and aristocratic brides Favorited silks woven with gold and silver. Most women chose coloured fabrics, often patterned with flowers-dresses so they could wear again after the wedding.

Some examples of the dresses are, The Duchess of Cornwall's dave-grey silk Anna Valentine are among some of the highlights of the exhibition. More modern gowns include Pam Hogg worn by Lady Mary Charteris and Gwen Stafani's Dip-dyed Galliano, Others include a silk-satin dress with an 18ft train worn by Margaret, Duchess of Argyll on her big day in 1933.

Supermodel style: The John Galliano dress worn by Kate Moss when she married Jamie Hince in 2011. This dress was one of my favorites out of the whole collection 

Other highlights include the dip-dyed pink and ivory John Galliano-designed dress worn by Gwen stefani to her 2004 wedding to Gavin Rossdale and the unusual purple silk frock in which Dita Von Tesse married shock-rocker Marylin Manson.

                                     

                                    

This Lanvin short wedding dress was worn by Sarah Jessica Parker playing Carrie Bradshaw in an episode of Sex in the city, while the purple gown by Vivenne Westwood was worn by Dita Von Tesse.

Among the most striking is a ravishing silk brocade gown worn by a wealthy woman named Jane Bailey to her 1780 marriage to James Wickham. Equally impressive is the lavishily frilled, embroidered and furbelowed dress sported by New york heiress Cara Leland Huttleson Rogers at her wedding to Bradford Ferris Duff in 1890.

But its not all pretty dresses with stellar pedigrees. The collection also gives an insight into the changing tastes of british brides over the last 300 years. In the 18th century, the most prestigious fabrics for a bride were those woven with expensive gold and silver metal.

This is one on Ian Stuarts dresses which he specialises in, This dress was by far my favorite out of the whole of  the exhibition. 

However wearing white was also a status symbol. In the past white garments were very difficult to keep clean and white was associated with wealth and leisure. 

Although white and similarly pale shades such as ivory and cream remain popular, as Duchess of Cornwall's dress makes plain, other hues are becoming increasingly fashionable. 

Some brides, among the Dita von Tesse, choose to dispense with lighter hues although, while others such as Gwen Stefani and Jessica Biel opt for subtly coloured gowns. there are some excellent examples of coloured wedding dresses in the exhibition, among them are a purple dress made by a lady's maid in 1899, a floor-length dress made from colourful upholstery fabric during world war II and Dita von Tesse's incredible purple taffeta gown designed by Vivienne Westwood.

But while the coloured dresses are gorgeous, what really catches the eye is the social commentary offered by the rest of the collection; reflecting, as they do, the social upheaval and changing in taste and characterised the 20th century whitnessed rapid social change and increasing economic, political and sexual freedom of women, while most women still wanted a degree of formality in their wedding dress, the traditional codes of dress gradually lost their power.

From frilled and furbelowed to silicone and rubber, the dresses on display at the V&A might not be your average bridal gowns, but they are certainly fascinating ones.