27 July 2010

poetry in Balenciaga

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"A woman walking would displace the air so that her skirt would billow out just so much, front, back & sides would round out each in turn, imperceptibly , 
 like a sea swell."



"That was the answer to these miracles of cut,
the black tulips he would send out across the floor. 


Nothing held them out, neither whalebone or cages-
nor petticoats gave them any support. 


Legs moved easily, the front of the long skirt running a little faster ahead than one's walk, 
like the tides, 
you were given the elements, 
you could use them at will."

                                                                                       - Pauline de Rothschild wrote of Balenciaga
                                                                                        




photographs-de Rothschild's own BALENCIAGA, from the Costume Institute at the Met

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8 comments:

  1. Ahhh!!! Balenciaga, my hero. Even other couturiers were in awe!

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  2. Maybe this would be just the ticket to garden in. The idea of something stirring the air and bringing on images of sea wall sounds positively delirious to me right now. Edie Beale may have had the answer all along.

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  3. home! perfect. So hot here-deliriously so, 103, 107. we had a lovely steady raining today and last week some drops here and there-greening up some, but loathsomely HOT. how does your garden grow? xo-Gaye

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  4. Gasp>Click>Print>Snip>GlueStick>Press. That black dress just went into my permanent black dress file for its deceptively chaste raw sex appeal. I wonder if the back is the same as the front. AudreyH and JackieO both wore that neckline prototype, fabulous on both of them.

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  5. Flo,Isn't it all that? The archives of B. indicate a strong bent to the ecclesiastical simplicity of priests nuns the like. I am on a tear with B. right now.Glad you liked this post. Gaye

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  6. Balenciaga is my favorite. I just love to say, "Balenciaga." No wonder I read your blog.

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  7. and this is one of my all-time favorites of yours. the gown, the words, the -- most exquisite ever -- skirt: never to be forgotten

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  8. "Your blending of the two is masterful."love from Dorothy

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