the ATELIERS

Tzuri Gueta for Yiqing Yin

Branches of coral in silicone-fed fabric and applied to silk tulle for a Chinese-inspired red wedding dress

Helene Farnault has opened the doors of the HAUTE COUTURE ATELIERS in her new book by the same name. It's more than a glimpse inside the Artists that make fashion's Haute Couture the unique world it has been for decades. With a foreword by Hebert de Givenchy, who after many years as a designer is still quite amazed at the level of the craft. The Haute Couture artists of Lemarie and Desrues are two he particularly favors.

Introductions to couturiers like OSCAR CARVELLO open Farnault's book and indeed his work is quite extraordinary. True, much of haute couture is-with designers taking their work to high art on Paris runways. Carvello seems to go a step further though, lavishing each of his works with details from many of the ateliers, yet his creations show great restraint simultaneously-a wonder with the entirety of choices available to him. His high art evokes the old world Erte drawings, and designs of Paul Poiret.

A Carvello gold brocade dress, with fur epaulettes and bead embroidery

Each of the Ateliers, artificial flowermakers, featherworkers, pleaters, embroiderers, passementerie makers, leather workers, & costume jewelers are delved into by chapter. This is where the photography by  Alexis Lecomte captures the workers at their craft, photographing their premises and their hands at work.

at BRODERIES LANEL

Black organza embroidered with matt silver and gunmetal cup sequins. Relief applique embroidered petals.

Feathers at NELLY SAUNIER

Design notebook containing lists of materials, colours and dye references, as well as feather samples

 Fur by MARION CHOPINEAUR, and SOPHIE HALLETTE Embroidered Lace

a confection of fur and embroidery by Yiqing Yin Haute Couture

PRELLE Weavers

Colour Sample Books with skeins of silk yarn used from 1898 to 1900

Raf Simons of DIOR seems to capture a modernity, and unite the fine embroideries of haute couture as current director of Dior. His Spring-Summer 2012 Haute Couture Collection, (above & below) show just that. Fabric flowers with bead centres on tulle with black chainstitch stem.

 photograph from Style. com

"Like planets in motion around the sun, fashion designers, especially those in the field of haute couture, carry thousands of workers in their wake. All the crafts in the fashion industry are satellites within this solar system." - Helene Farnault 

Easily getting lost in space, HAUTE COUTURE ATELIERS will take you amongst embroidered stars, beaded planets, and gently drop you back to earth. You'll only wish to return in haste to any of its pages for a few moments of cosmic bliss.

principal photography by  Alexis Lecomte

available from Vendome Press

one of the many books I selected from the offerings from Vendome

Summer Seduction

Surrealist, Dorothy Tanning

 Alexis Mabille Fall 2014 Haute Couture

Catherine Denueve's Library

Schiaparelli Fall 2014 Couture

 Jan Vermeer van Delft - The Glass of Wine

Dodie Rosenkrans Venice Palace Palazzo Brandolini İtaly

Casaquin de velours rouge, vers 1700-1725, France

Gordon Parks, 1961.


the Colour Corail








more of it here

Inspired

by SPRY.


how about you?

 Harper's Bazaar Editorial, April 1957

from once wed here

Rhea Thierstein floral photographed by Tim Walker here

source unknown

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scenes at Creel & Gow

in the world of Creel & Gow by the light of day there is stillness,
but I wonder what happens at night when the lights go out?

another look at coral : Oscar de la Renta

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coral from Vicenzo Campi, Italian 1580

Oscar de la Renta is on to SPRING 2011 in the upcoming NY fashion shows- what will we see? from my Summer trip to his showroom -the Resort Collection 2011 - Coral  to wear

my favorite piece with horn

it appears to be The color.

Oscar de la Renta fashion images from style.com here
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a little more Coral, & provenance, Mr Worthington.

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 one of the most beautiful portraits of a child wearing coral is perhaps this-

 son of Rubens, Nicholas Rubens, 1619

Peter Paul Rubens

 after the post on a little bit of Coral.

I found this-

 in my mailbox-
 from-

Toby Worthington. I always enjoy hearing from Toby Worthington, through comment-but even better- an email. We email chatted and  Mr. Worthington said I could share this beautiful Regency children's portrait-with two of the children wearing coral beads-no less. The painting is Mr. Worthington's, of course, and happens to have belonged to the one and only decorator Rose Cumming. I -of course loved the painting, the provenance, the current owner- and the dog- we both agreed- He is perfection.

& this- from Toby's 1980's incarnation of the Rose Cumming painting. The walls are covered in a linen damask- reminiscent of  several Rose Cumming fabrics- I might add. Though we did not discuss this photograph in detail-the chintz looks very much like Rose Cumming too- if not, close. For his part- TW noted the Dorothy Draper retour d'Egypte chair as a particular favorite in the day.

Toby Worthington on the painting:  "The same painting hung in the blue music room at Rose Cumming's last apartment in New York. The Regency Painting~wrongly attributed to Raeburn by Rose and Co.~is plainly that of a young lord with his siblings. There's a Palladian pile in the distance. Apart from that, we haven't a clue who painted it, nor where it originally hung, though it would appear to have been done around 1810 or later. Seeing it in that vast  drawing room of Mrs. Petrasch, in Adam Lewis's recent book, The Great Lady Decorators, indicated that Rose initially acquired the picture for her client, then afterward it became her own. "

Rose's Blue Music Room

the Petrasch Living Room

he added, "Probably not terribly interesting in an of itself, but fascinating to one who has lived with the picture for 30 odd years."  

Well,  TW-You know I am-I find if fascinating indeed!

I am along with any reader that visits Little Augury.

Now that coral has new meaning- take note, when next you see one of these.

 a portrait by Paul Moreelse

 Portrait of Charles II, Prince of Wales

Justus van Egmont

& in the Egmont painting a coral teething, strung on coral beads (one is shown below)

A George IV silver-gilt coral and bells, Charles Rawlings, London, circa 1820.  six bells hung from serpent heads, with a central band of roses, thistles and other flowers with whistle top and coral teether.(photo Sotheby's catalog from the Property of Mrs Charles Wrightsman : The London Residence.)

 The Sackville Children by John Hoppner, 1797

Portrait of Emily St.Clare by John Hoppner

at the Nelson-Atkins here

more coral anyone?

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