summer breeze

Oscar de la Renta, Resort~ just in time for Summer

mirror mirror

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Charles James at left, Oscar de la Renta Spring 2011, at right

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très chic

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exquisite! 

the dresses from Oscar de la Renta's Spring Collection are heavenly confections-could they possibly seem more so?

yes, 

as seen on DOSSIER JOURNAL:STYLE  

through the lens of photographer SAMANTHA CASOLARI.

see all Casolari's de la Renta images at DOSSIER JOURNAL here
& her other fotos for Dossier here

printemps

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more is more-
only when less is more- perfection?

likely my favorite dress from a week of mountains of clothes piled  in the New York streets for fashion week from the many designers showing on runways, instantly live streaming, images present on all news sites- fashion overload (and I was not there)

a string from the bow of a violin- vert clair -dissonant strains, then pizzacato, Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps.

we hear, we see- again,
yet-still a frisson of frenzied pleasure- unlike the response to The Rite's 1913 Paris premiere was of frenzied shock.

Marcio Madeira photographs from VOGUE
a review from Hamish Bowles  here

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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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coming & going

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-form endures.

 Genius creates, 

and Taste preserves.

Taste is the good sense of Genius; 

Without Taste, Genius is only Divine Folly.

alexander pope

1st image Balenciaga 1965-from Lesley Miller's Balenciaga
2nd image Balenciaga 1957 Winter photograph Harry Meerson from Balenciaga Paris
3rd image Oscar de la Renta worn by Eliza Reed Bolen from the pages of Vogue



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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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where is your style compass?

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One of the features on 1st Dibs is called STYLE COMPASS- recently it featured Oscar de la Renta-It is a beautiful review of the World of... Highlighting his new textile collection for LEE JOFA and his charitable largess, Mr. de la Renta also makes his favourite picks from 1st dibs. This- from Kentshire Galleries, Isn't it heavenly?

A 1780 Italian neo-classical carved and painted hall bench with original decoration. The stepped back with swagged laurel wreath crest above a central roman portrait medallion and crossed boughs within a guilloche border, padded arms and upholstered seat on six legs.

 My style compass right now? It seems to be where it typically points and catching sight of this extraordinary gown from Alexander McQueen's 2011Spring Collection leads me to all things Chinoiserie.Chinoiserie in black lacquer with gold decoration that is.

another McQueen creation.

The collection is being lovingly interpreted by McQueen's longtime assistant Sarah Burton. She returns to his archives -and Tim Blanks review for style.com puts it this way: Burton "confidently revisited some of her own favorite moments in her mentor's saga with a lightness that could be easily construed—for want of a better notion—as a woman's touch... & lets some light shine in."

Gorgeous really, Am remotely likely to wear it? No- Would I? Of course! Easier though, why not add a stunning piece of black laquer to a room in the house.I have a few pieces and would love another, large imposing piece. Friend and mentor Sandford did beautiful work in this style.

Here are some of my pieces:

 & this antique table.

another country piece that Sandford did for a friend and client-(read a full post from the archives about this interior here

 These are simple pieces.


but just Look at this cabinet on stand from the Marella Agnelli Sotheby's Auction in 2005. The piece is one of a pair of Louis XVI ebony and Japanese and European lacquer in her New York Drawing Room.  These pieces are circa 1785 and stamped C.C. Saunier, JME- from the collection of William Beckford ( another story for another day)

Exquisite.

Here are some of my favourites and a part of my eternal wish list, always on my Style Compass

from 1st dibs  these two pieces-

from Yale Burge

Louis XV Style Black Lacquer Chinoiserie Table 

After Design by Jansen, Paris, Circa 1950

& from Harbor View Antiques

I can't help myself- I love this chair!
from 1st dibs
These fascinating chairs from a Newport, Rhode Island estate were made in the late 19th century during the Aesthetic Movement period, after the opening of Japan by Admiral Perry. Exact scholarly knowledge of "Japanese" design was not available and these wonderful chairs have both Chinese and Japanese elements with a strong Colonial Revival accents. "Japanning" which was the gold leafing and lacquering with Asian figures and designs was a term first coined in the 17th century. The chairs painted finish are in original untouched condition. 

 & these 3 beauties  from Therien and Company

CHINESE EXPORT & BLACK LACQUERED AND GILT DECORATED TABLE

the rectangular top with concave sides and outset shaped corners incorporating removable panel with game board enclosing interior with paint and gilt decorated backgammon board, over conforming apron enclosing single drawer raised on cabriole legs ending in carved ball and paw feet; the whole displaying original gilt decorated reserves depicting country scenes and floral sprays within gilt decorated borders-19th century

CHINESE EXPORT BLACK LACQUER & CHINOISERIE CABINET ON STAND

the upper rectangular case with two fielded panel hinged doors enclosing fitted interior consisting of two shelves, two long drawers, and two short drawers with turned ivory pulls, with paneled sides, surmounted by ogee moulded cornice;

the lower conforming base with ogee moulded and shaped apron raised on contiguous cabriole legs ending in hairy paw feet; the whole enriched inside and out with various gilt decorated vignettes of scholars and nobles in stylized landscapes with pavilions, all within meandering floral and foliate borders- Circa 1800, Qing Dynasty

CHINESE EXPORT BLACK LACQUERED FLIP-TOP GAME TABLE

the triple-leaf top with outset rounded corners, on single action gated cabriole legs ending in scrolling toes, opening to decorated tea table surface reversing to gaming surface with candlestick insets, recessed counter wells and centered chessboard;  the whole gilt decorated with exotic landscapes, scattered flowers and diapered reserves-18th century
(all descriptions provided by Therien and Company & all their Antiques here )

Where is your style compass right now? China? New York? Last week I got to visit the Oscar de la Renta Showroom and the clothes were Out of This World.

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