CoudreMODE » Designer

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.

Memo to John Galliano

coudremode — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 14:03:44 +0000

TO: John Galliano

FR: CourdreMODE

RE: The Incident

John, I have admired your astounding work for many years and I just need to give you some sincere advice. I’ve worked in the corporate world for for a long time and have witnessed all kinds of corporate intrigue and you made a few crucial mistakes:

Develop a relationship with your CEO. I read in news reports that Mr. Toledano said that he had no personal relationship with you and he communicated with you through staff. This is career suicide for someone at your level because even the lowliest worker needs allies in business.

Every cell phone has a camera and people are always on the look out for ways to compromise celebrities. You may not be Oprah Winfrey in terms of face recognition but obviously more people know who you are than you might think.

Remember that the people who really make it all happen in couture are the seamstresses and tailors – the people onstage in the photo. Karl Lagerfeld understands this, just watch “Signe Chanel”

Please don’t turn out like Yves St. Laurent, who lost the last half of his career to various demons and substance abuse issues. The last two collections you did for Dior is some of your finest work and I hope that you solve your problems and come back stronger than ever. The world needs the beauty you create; we don’t need hate speech, there is plenty of that in the world already. Coco Chanel spent a decade in exile and I hope that doesn’t happen to you.

Best of luck,

CoudreMODE

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.

Chanel Spring 2010 RTW Spy Camera

coudremode — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:44:44 +0000

Chanel’s iPhone/iTouch app always has some interesting tidbits, I think the company uses it to test ideas and just get content out in ways that wwon’t require a press release and full phalanx marketing.

This KL sketching for a special collection connected a Chanel Boutique opening in Shanghai. He literally does this design in less than 30 seconds.

Click for a Closer View

Naturally there is a host of celebrites who pose for gratuitous photos. The women pose alone and the guys pose with models who drape themselves onto the guys. This is Sean Ono Lennon. The Chanel model with the Beatle haircut and suit looks like an Asian John Lennon. Creepy. The app currently has a video of the Spring 2010RTW collection. They put a camera on a model to give us the model’s point of view of show. The ”Hoe Down” setting had me scratching my head tyring to figure why KL chose this theme, but the cinema verite look of it is fun.

I’ve scrutinized this video and the collection on Style.com and I’m pretty certain sure this is the model with the camera, its in the chignon on the top of her head. If you look at the entire collection she is 1/2 through the show. I’d love to be able to share the whole video, maybe it’s on YouTube. Here are some stills I pulled off my iTouch

"Yes its working"

Tiny makeup artist doing touch ups

Show Time!

Lineup Storyboard

The Stage Manager. He does most of the work. Stage entrance is to his right

Many Scowls

HUGE Audience

Exit Stage Left

KL watching from backstage

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.

Vogue 1075 – Chado Ralph Rucci, Thread Traced Lace Bodice

coudremode — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:47:17 +0000

Yesterday I ordered the fabric for Abby’s gown and thread traced the first bodice piece for the lace overlay. The good news is that she is young with a dancer’s figure; the size 4 fits her perfectly and all I I need to do is adjust the length. I’ll post photos of her in the muslin as we just got her shoes yesterday. The muslin went together really fast and even though the pattern pieces are oddly shaped and bias edges meet straight grain edges this style is so perfectly drafted that I had no problem at all putting it together. I suspect RR’s pattern maker had a lot of input into the draft because the quality of the drafting exceeds anything I’ve seen in a regular Big 4 pattern.

Click for a closer view

Here is the front bodice piece. The lace is tread traced because the beads and sequins will need to be removed in the seam allowances so the gown can be sewn together. The process involves removing the beading/ sequins outside the tread traced seam lines and then cutting-on the seam allowances. I’ll save the removed sequins and beads and then re-embroider them onto the gown to fill in the lace after the gown is constructed. The beads/sequins in the darts will also need to be removed; the dart will be machined stitched, trimmed and hand fell stitched so no lace shows underneath the finished darts.

I bought the fashion fabric yesterday, Gorgeous fabrics has a nice polyester crepe backed satin that will work well. I just can’t justify making this gown from silk when Abby will likely wear it only once and it won’t fit her after a few months because she’s still growing. Ann gave me this lace (Thank you Ann!), and from what she tells me it was originally outrageously expansive but someone gave it to her and she passed it on to me. So I don’t feel the least bit guilty about using it!

No sewing today, its my birthday and we’re heading up to NH to see my niece Jackie’s dance recital.

My Good Friend Karl Lagerfeld

coudremode — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:54:21 +0000

On Twitter anyway. I read that he tweets on a regular basis so naturally I had to see for myself, and sure enough, there are 36,193 people plus me following him. Like Mademoiselle, he shares her penchant for aphorisms. Here is a recent sampling of his tweets, which are by turns insightful, banal and bitchy:

“When I took over Chanel, nobody wanted it anymore. People said don’t touch it, it’s dead. I saw possibility for years to come.”
4/9/09 12:32 AM

“I only wear the latest thing. It’s my job”
3/28/09 6:59 PM

“My dream? Transparent fur. The hair on plastic and not leather. We’ve tried, but nobody has found it yet.”
2/18/09 10:34 PM

“On this day each year, I soak the previous year’s calendar in my mother’s favorite perfume and then set it ablaze. Here’s to a fresh start.”
1/1/08 3:13 PM

“Florals are for middle-aged women with weight problems.”
1/27/09 12:15 AM

Priceless, non? I’m pretty certain KL writes these gems himself; and from what I understand at this point in his life he owns nothing other than technology. His collection of iPods numbers in the hundreds and his living space is pretty much a bed (or perhaps a coffin), a bathroom and computers; he has divested himself of most other material things. This was not always the case, and if you read The Beautiful Fall you’ll know that he has bought, collected and sold vast collections of property and goods from every decorative era from the Rococo to Art Deco and Modernism.

And now that his arch rival Yves St. Laurent has passed Karl is certainly having the final say. Maybe he’ll live forever, for all we know he could be Undead already.

Vogue 1075 – Chado Ralph Rucci

coudremode — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:55:48 +0000

So after cutting out two Ralph Rucci patterns and blogging about one of them I’m finally getting around to making one. My DD Abby wants to wear 1075 next month to the awards banquet for the American Dance Awards Nationals in Holly wood, Florida. This dress takes 6 yards of 60 inch fabric, so there is no way I’m making this out of silk because she will wear it only once. The bodice will be a beaded black lace shot with gold threads, I’ll take photo of that soon. There are only four pattern pieces, but each one is unique. The dress fastens in the back with an invisible zipper that runs from the right armpit to the left hip along the seam that separates the beaded bodice from the skirt. The vertical darts on the skirt are actually quasi-side seams that shape the skirt, one dart is on the front skirt piece, and the otherdart is on the back skirt piece. The skirt pattern pieces are so large that they need to be taped together a la BWOF and hopefully 60 inch wide fabric will accomodate the skirt pieces. One anomaly on the technical drawing shows a pieced skirt train; however on the 4-6-8-10 size range no such pattern piece exists in the envelope. It could be the larger sizes require a pieced skirt. Abby is tiny so I’m just going to make a size 4 and then fit her from there. This style hangs from the bust so if she needs support and bra cups I can add them and I’ll make a back stay like a bra band that she will fasten before she zips up the dress.

Above is the tread traced muslin, each photo is clickable for a closer view.

Isabel & Ruben Toledo Speak

coudremode — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:15:46 +0000

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVST97Wy9P4]