CoudreMODE » Designer Inspirations

Book Review: “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty”

coudremode — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 18:10:19 +0000

“I never conform to any sort of fashion ideal. My ideal was to always show reality, even though I started at Savile Row and ended up a Givenchy in Paris, to depict the times I live in”

- Alexander McQueen, Harper’s Bazaar, September 2008

VOSS collection, spring/summer 2001

The death of Alexander McQueen in February 2010 at age 40 rocked the fashion world and elevated his too-brief 15 year career to mythic status. Savage Beauty is the book published in conjunction with the 2011 Metropolitan Museum of Art’s retrospective of his work and it’s a fine addition to a sewers library as a visual chronicle of the most unique couturier ever to work commercially in the modern fashion industry.

This book is all about his work, don‘t expect much insight into Lee Alexander McQueen as a person. Unlike Andy Warhol or Yves St. Laurent, both of whom had very public artistic careers that spanned decades, McQueen was clearly an artist who spoke through his work and for the most part eschewed the glitz of the fashion industry. The book recounts that instead of hanging around after his shows to speak with the media and press the flesh more often he would duck into a car and speed off, leaving his work to speak for itself. There is some biographical content but no new information or analysis of his tragic suicide other than to note that he ended his life just 9 days after his mother died from cancer. Like most fashion books the preface is several pages of bloviating fashion writing and the most interesting content is at the end, where Sarah Burton, who took over as creative director after his death, offers fascinating insights into the creative process behind his work.

And his work speaks volumes.

Carved elm wood. No 13. collection, spring/summer 1999

Aimee Mullins ensemble

“Art is a man’s name” is a quote from Andy Warhol. Those 5 words, so simple, dismissive, ironic and astute, pretty much sums up our modern world were Art with a capital “A” has no real influence or meaning in the lives of most people. After Western fine art freed itself once and for all from the constraints of the church and cultural censorship by the end of the 20^th century it had all been said, done and put out there and really for those of us alive today what is left of Art with a capital “A” that is transcendent and yet accessible? Well we still have fashion and fortunately someone like McQueen to show us what can be produced from the convergence of history, culture, painting, sculpture, performance, couture, technology and metaphor. Add to that mix a good dose of mystery and a willingness to embrace taboo like Diane Arbus or Robert Mapplethorpe and the end result is the most potent, provocative, frightening and beautiful fashion of the recent past. And just like Arbus and Mapplethorpe he was one of those rare and brave artists who had no persona in his work: what you saw was really him and he put it out there for the world to see without apology.

Savage Beauty does a good job of explaining the more obvious and easy to understand aspects of McQueen’s work and the book’s large format and numerous full length photos enable a reader (and especially a sewer) to linger over his astonishing technical skill in not only couture dressmaking but also bespoke tailoring. His facility with color and texture is amazing; there are gowns made from the shells of razor clams and mussels, gowns with animal skulls, horns and taxidermy birds rising from the shoulders. There are close ups of digitally printed fabrics that are milled in such a way that the pattern pieces must have been printed at the same time as the motifs and then the garment was hand draped before being sewn. In these same prints the motifs continue flawlessly from woven fabric still with its selvage fringe (I’m guessing) to a knit mesh with no interruption in the motifs. He worked in every conceivable type of fabric and material with equal skill whether it was wool, silk, lace, metal, leather, rubber, wood, hair, fur or boning. He also used just about every embellishment technique known to man, everything from beading to historical types of embroidery such as Stumpwork, used on the piece that is my absolute favorite in the book, a jacket made from grey and pink silk Birdseye. Stumpwork is three dimensional embroidery done with padding and wire; notice how the bird’s wings stand away from the surface. The Amaranthus in the hat look almost totally 3-D. Notice also the sleeves cross over the body like those of a strait jacket. I’m still trying to figure out what that means.

Click

As with any art book the format is large and the binding is very nice. The paper is matte finished so every detail can be seen at once, and my only small complaint is that some the photos are heavily retouched in the details and this is especially notable in accessories like shoes. The front cover has one of those flat plastic lenticular lenses that we all know from childhood where the image changes depending on the angle you view it; a melting skull transforms into McQueen’s face. It makes me think of that Frances Bacon painting that interprets a Diego Velazquez painting of Pope Innocent X. The two seen together sum up, for me the approach that McQueen used. And the very last piece in the book is what his art is about in metaphor: it’s a wooden boot that is actually one piece from a pair of prosthetic legs carved from elm wood that legless athlete Aimee Mullins wore in his 1999 show with a knee length skirt made from lace and a leather corset. So many emotions come together in that one silent but fascinating object: craft, fashion, disability, norms, beauty and perception. Evidently fashion editors still request it for shoots thinking it’s merely a pair of boots.

This book is rich in meaning and one that repays me with with something new every time I open it. For Alexander McQueen “Art” was much more than a man’s name.

Fashion, She is a Harsh Mistress

coudremode — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:13:15 +0000

Inside Coco Chanel

coudremode — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:45:31 +0000

This video shot inside Chanel’s private apartment above her Rue Cambon boutique is better than most I’ve seen, there are some really cool shots of the objects inside and its fascinating to see how these things influenced her designs.

And this is a two part French interview from 1969; this was only two years before her death and she is quite elderly (age 86); however she’s pretty feisty nonetheless. There are no subtitles so I have no idea what she’s talking about, but one point her eyes well up with tears; from what I’ve read vulnerability was a not a trait associated with her so it’s pretty remarkable to see this on film . The interview also cuts away to her 1969 collections and the soundtrack is, of all things sitar music (well it was the late 60’s after all.) In those days couture shows were not the multimedia extravaganzas we expect from Fashion week, they are much low key as you will see.

Part I

Part II

Here she exits from her Ritz Carlton suite and walks across the street to work at Chanel. I love the little kids running around on the street; passersby ignore her so she must have been a daily sight. Part II shows her 1970 collection, just a year before her death. I hope I’m that spry when I’m her age! There is a runway show here too. Who is the rock star in fop suit and fur hat?? I wonder if its Brian Jones or Jim Morrison. I love the chain necklaces with brooches attached that pin at the waist or hip; I’d love to see what KL would do with that idea.

Prepping for a Susan Kahlje Class

coudremode — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:29:36 +0000

Click for a Closer View

This Friday Ann is hosting Susan Kahlje at the Gorgeous Fabrics Studio and I finally fixed on my project. For a while I’ve wanted to make a Lagerfeld-era Chanel jacket. I really like this one from spring 2010 RTW. Photoshop is great for altering photos to pick up details; the highlights were darkened and the shadows lightened. As you can see there is more to this jacket than you might assume from the runway photo:

There is a conventional shoulder seam
The side panel is uneven
The front black panel appears to be steam shrunk to keep the grain of the boucle aligned with the pattern piece

I also believe the black panel has been just laid on top of the upper bodice piece and stitched down; the white and black fashion fabric trim hides this lapped seam; a lapped seam also keeps the jacket fluid.

The trim is simple but ingenious:

There is a lace underlay on the sleeves and the black panels
The black panels also have double (looks to be bias) fashion fabric trim around the outer edges.
There is a zipper closure
The collar edge has more fashion fabric fringe as do the sleeves

Fortunately I found this jacket from Burda WOF to use as a base:

The basic shape is the same in terms of the princess seam placement
I’ll re-draft the two piece sleeves into a three-piece sleeves and shorten them
The bottom of the armhole may need to be raised because this is an outwear pattern
The collar needs to be a little wider and shorter
The facings and other details are eliminated
I’ll need to draft the front panel (the black pieces on the original)

Today I need to trace off the pattern and do traditional thread traced muslin so that Susan can help me fit and re-draft the sleeves.

Love At First Sight

coudremode — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:29:05 +0000

Click for a Closer View

This Aquilano Rimondi blouse is just to die for, but the price tag, Ayyyyy!!! However I think I can knock this off for myself. I’ve been looking for something foppish and feminine but not too formal or spinster-ish to fill in the neckline of my (almost finished!) Burda jacket. This blouse would be great in white silk charmeuse with the matte side out. For a pattern the middle view of Vogue 8322 comes pretty close. It has the covered placket, smooth sleeve cap and narrow sleeves of the original and I think I can redraft the collar to bring the edges together at center front. The princess seams in the bodice differ from the original but that’s not a deal killer for me. One thing I really like are the “pleats” across the front, which are not pleats but more like layers of fabric; notice the top two layers hang free, the one across the bust appears to be stitched into the armsyce and the bottom two layers hang free again. The short sides of each free layer are ever-so-slightly canted inward. I also think each loop of the ascot is sewn individually. The original also has a placket on the sleeve and the neckline fastens with a two buttons on a chain (love that!)

Sublime. The more I look at it the more I love it.

Marc Jacobs Embellished Cape – Even Better!

coudremode — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:50:03 +0000

I think this 08/2009 Burda Style pattern is an even closer match to the Marc Jacobs original, especially the raglan shoulder. Must.Find.This.Issue!

Allure August 2009

Marc Jacobs Embellished Cape

coudremode — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:17:35 +0000

Click for a Closer View

I just love the embellishment on this Marc Jacobs cape! I’ll pass on the scarf since I’m not planning to enter a convent any time soon; however the cape and embellishments are easy to do. M&J Trimming has a great selection of glass stones in settings both oval and square. I have some purple wool from Gorgeous Fabrics ageing in my stash too. As for a pattern, there is McCall’s 5764. I think either the green, purple or teal stones would be great (the fabric is not as bright as it looks in the photo). Faceted beads are easy to find, Fire Mountain Gems & Beads has Czech fire polished beads with a metallic copper finish. The flat discs appear to be matte finish shank buttons. I may have a designer zipper in my stash but if not they are easy to get from Pacific Trimming because I don’t think I have any with a antique brass finish.

: Click for a Closer View

Your Very Own John Galliano

coudremode — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 14:06:08 +0000

If you follow this link, you can download this pattern for John Galliano’s Pirate Jacket from his 2001 collection. The site also has a gallery of examples that sewers have made (I really like this green one.) The SHOWstudio site is also some great background on the jacket and its place in his collection. Natually I had to download a copy; I’ll never wear this (DD might) but this design is worth saving because the pattern PDF appears to be the actual oaktag cutting templates, and they are covered with hand written construction notes.

Be warned however; the re are 60 pattern pieces. And only one size.

Spiderlily Patterns 12808: Bib & Bow top

coudremode — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 23:41:47 +0000

About a week ago I turned out a prototype of this top. It was okay, but it needed more design and embellishment work. My original inspiration was a post Gigi did a while back on the fabulous Blumarine top on the right. The coolest thing about this design is that it’s made from two very similar, yet different, fabrics. Compare the sleeve fabric and the bodice fabric; they are not quite the same. I just love that idea, and adapted it here; both fabrics are a white, black and grey floral but one has a crinkly texture with Jacobean carnations, vines and thistles while the second is a smooth knit with more naturalistic lilies and dogwood blossoms. The smooth knit also has large areas of black, so I used one of those motifs for the bib. The first version had no binding, and this posed a problem because the differences between the two fabric were blurred. The smooth knit is also a natural white and the crinkle knit is bright white so I had to minimize that difference. Black binding solved the problem.

Ann has a stunning lightweight matte jersey on Gorgeous Fabrics that she recommends as a binding; that’s what I’ve used here and it was definitelythe right choice (yes she is a close friend but trust me this is one terrific black knit. Actually – all three fabrics are from her.) The black binding has a beautiful crepey RTW texture that is superior to the common-as-dirt black leotard knits you see at Jo-Ann’s. It’s also very heavy and drapey like slinky, and it was what this top needed to separate the different patterns.

DD didn’t like the bow front version, and wasn’t crazy for buttons, but when I suggested grommets instead that appealed to her edgey taste. Gigi again has done an excellent tutorial on using grommets.

I made a few slight design and construction changes:

The center front contrast piece below the bib was removed because there was a lot happening with the fabrics to begin with and a contrast piece didn’t add anything.
3 inches were added to the length at DD’s request – she likes her tops long
The trickiest part of this pattern is attaching the bib and the bib binding because there are four layers of fabric to contend with. So after the binding was made I machine tacked it to the bodice in four places, and then pinned the bib and ran the whole thing through the serger. That worked well and nothing slipped out of place.

Amy of Spiderlily Patternsdid a great job drafting this pattern; it went together beautifully. The pattern envelope shows three variations, but I think there are several more in there just waiting to bring out your inner fashion designer. A long sleeve version would be adorable too; I may make that for myself.

Now back to that Rucci dress…

The Elusive Birkin? Not So Much.

coudremode — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:16:00 +0000

Today’s Boston Globe has a very amusing story about the Birkin, a handbag whose legendary exclusiveness is firmly quashed in the story.

And if you like Posh’s Roland Mouret dress Burda WOF did a pretty good knock-off.

Erica’s version is really hot!