off to Oscar de la Renta -a visit

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gee, how lucky can you get? *
a highlight of my jaunt to NYC was a visit to the Oscar de la Renta showroom. The clothes are, as you can guess, out of this world. At the moment, the Resort Collection for 2011 is hanging in all its glorious splendor.

A look at some of the Collection's pieces in a cross section where the color and textiles-for just a moment- I separate the design of the clothes. Since I am fascinated by textiles it was quite appealing, but it would be impossible to see color & fabric only-for it is the marriage of all the elements that makes each composition in the de la Renta Collection unique.

This evening dress has to be my favorite. I saw this on Style.com when the Collection debuted. Nothing like seeing this confection in front of my own green eyes. They tend to be more hazel-but for an instant- they were a dazzling emerald, No Doubt.

This gown is in a "kelly" basketweave silk gazar- technically defined as a loosely woven silk with a crisp finish- this gazar defies that definition. The hand on the gown is extraordinary. It has weight- but is weightless. There is a wonderful crispness to it-but it drapes beautifully. I am simply seduced by any fabric with that much to offer- and the design of the gown is perfectly matched to it. Just enough structure-Perfect. Perfection.

Ulla van Zeller of model's own with the "kelly" dress

in detail

on the runway

Light as a feather-with the appearance of filament wire-this fabric in a metallic is plaited all along the bodice of the gown.

The fabric design of the dress below originates from a painting Mr.de la Renta's grandson Henry made. It is dubbed appropriately- "Henry's Print."  The fabric maintains all of the painterly qualities of the original. The colors remind me  of butterflies & the dress is designed in bias strips of fabric-maybe making just the slightest flutter of movement when worn.

 " Trogonoptera brookiana" Photo: Robert Clark, from National Geographic here

Simple lines show off this printed silk chiffon and silk twill banding sewn onto a sheer silhouette.

A silk Ikat print with a lattice bordered edge all along the hem-

Here are two little handbags made from some of the design elements and fabrics in the Collection- crochet appliques on the left are design elements in the cardigan (below left)  and the textile of the bag is the same Ikat above.

The motif translated onto a short jacket-

  

It is no wonder that Mr. de la Renta's creations put me in mind of the Master-Balenciaga. Hints: the green evening gown's construction, the beaded bolero, a flounce here- there, a bodice of lace, all are marks of one who not only revered Cristobal Balenciaga but began his career working in Madrid at EISA, a Spanish branch of Balenciaga's fashion world. This fall  the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute will present BALENCIAGA: Spanish Master. This extensive show was conceived by Oscar de la Renta, Chairman of the Institute's Board of Directors. Opening November 19th and running through February 19th, the exhibition is curated by Hamish Bowles and will included 70 pieces from the Balenciaga archives.

Masterpieces from this highly significant collection include Balenciaga's 1939 "Infanta" gown, and his four-point silk gazar dress of 1967 which illustrates the increasing abstraction and experimentation in his work. In partnership with the Ministry of Culture of Spain, highlights from the Fundación Cristóbal Balenciaga include the extraordinary embroidered 1957 wedding dress of Sonsoles Díez de Rivera (daughter of Balenciaga's Spanish muse, the Marquesa de Llanzol), which is as splendid as the vestments of a Sevillana Madonna figure. Additional objects such as matador boleros from 1946 and flamenco-inspired dresses from 1951 and 1961 come from museum and private collections in America and Europe. The material, some of which has never before been exhibited, includes highly significant pieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, The Hispanic Society of America, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Texas Fashion Collection, as well as Mr. Bowles' own collection and those of leading private couture collectors such as Sandy Schreier. The pieces will consist of garments commissioned and worn by some of the twentieth century's most iconic taste-making women - Pauline de Rothschild, Mona Bismarck, Thelma Chrysler Foy, Doris Duke, and Claudia Heard de Osborne among them.-from the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute site

Diana Vreeland wrote of Cristobal Balenciaga: 'All women search for their special identity. All women have sleeping qualities of luxury  and mystery. Balenciaga brought the body and dress together in harmony and suddenly a woman found herself in perfect rhythm with the universe. She found herself in delectable colors and combinations and almost impossible perfection.'
        (from The World of Balenciaga at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,1973)

The same can be said of Oscar de la Renta's approach to dressing women and his love affair with fashion.


The Oscar de la Renta website here
 (all runway photos from style.com)

*lyric from Funny Lady Ebb & Kander

Satin on my shoulder and a smile on my lips,
How lucky can you get?
Money in my pocket right at my fingertips,
How lucky can you get?

Every night's a party where the fun never ends
You can circle the globe with my circle of friends
Someone I am crazy for is crazy for me-
I'm his personal pet!
Gee how lucky can you get?

Wrap it up and charge it that’s my favorite phrase,
How lucky can you get?
When I see the chauffeur think I'll give him a raise
How lucky can you get?

Weekends in the country -with a Baron, of course
With a wardrobe to boast Mrs Astor’s pet horse!
Making merry music with the one that I love-
We’re a perfect duet!
Gee how lucky can you get?

Hey there gorgeous!
Big success!
What's your secret gorgeous?
Just lucky I guess!

Life's a bed of roses squirting perfume on me
You can spare me the blues- I don't sing in that key!
And if there's a man who'd leave me, I am happy to say
I haven't run into him yet!

Gee how lucky, wow how lucky can you get?

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