Then & Now Special Edition: Lady Gaga

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Keren Ben-Horin

I am not a Gaga fan, in fact I am always surprised how many people (who should know better) admire her. Music aside, the Lady has an interesting fashion sense. Some worship her sartorial choices, others think she is nothing but a copycat. Either way it is hard to ignore her (well, yes, she is everywhere). Here is a random selection of her fashionable quotes:

(left) My Fair Lady, 1964. Costume design by Cecil Beaton. (right) Lady Gaga, Vanity Fair, January 2012. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.

(Left) Isabella Blow, Lobster hat by Philip Tracy. (right) Lady Gaga, Lobster hat by Philip Tracy, 2010.

(left) David Bowie, 1970s. (Right) Lady Gaga, August 2011.

(left) fragment from  The Times of the Day, by Alphonse Mucha, 1899. (right) Lady Gaga, Vogue March, 2011. Photograph by Mario Testino.

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Then & Now

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Keren Ben-Horin

(left) Gianni Versace Spring Summer 1991, scanned from the book Vanitas Designs. (right) photograph by Steven Meisel, Vogue Italia 2007.

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Thank You for a wonderful 2011! See you next year

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Keren Ben-Horin

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 25,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 9 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Alexandre de Paris, Hair Styling Royalty

Posted on December 31, 2011 by emmakpenner

I recently saw the Grace Kelly: From Movie Star to Princess exhibition, currently on view at Toronto’s TIFF Lightbox. Of course, I fell in love with the dresses and jewels, but after leaving the show I kept thinking about the sketches of hairstyles designed for the princess by the legendary hair stylist, Alexandre de Paris.

Sketches of hair designs for Princess Grace.

Alexandre's logo designed by Jean Cocteau

Alexandre was born in 1922 in Saint Tropez and from an early age knew that he wanted to work in fashion. He eventually went to work with “the emperor of hairdressers,” Antoine.  Soon Alexandre was working on royal hair, becoming the stylist to the most discerning tresses, including the Duchess of Windsor, Jacqueline Kennedy, and, of course, Princess Grace. The list of celebrities that have donned his do’s goes on and on, perhaps most famously Elizabeth Taylor, who worked with Alexandre on several films (he did Cleopatra’s hairstyle in the Hollywood film) as well as in her personal life.

Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra. Hair by Alexandre.

Alexandre’s hair styles are also found everywhere in the world of (especially French) fashion. You name the designer – Chanel, YSL, Dior, Ungaro, Karl, Jean Paul Gaultier – and ADP has done the hair for their runway shows and editorial shoots.

With Karl

This might give you some inspiration for your own New Year’s hair styles or, at the very least, provide some hair eye candy. Enjoy!

At the first meeting of the Haute Coiffure Francaise. Monaco, 1978.

Hair style designed for Dior Furs, earrings by Dior Boutique. Photo by Roland Bianchini. L'Officiel, 1972.

Alexandre hair style. L'Officiel, 1971.

Works Cited

Phillips, Ian. “Fashion: Alexandre the Great: What a Hairstylist.” The Independent. October 21, 1998. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/fashion-alexandre-the-great-what-a-hairstylist-1179623.html

Monpezat, Etienne. “L’Enfant du Coeur.” L’Officiel. No. 658, 1979. P. 147.

“Sous le casque d’Alexandre.” L’Officiel. No. 593, 1972. P. 54-7.

“The Prince of Coiffure: Alexandre de Paris.” http://blog.salonbuzz.com/?p=967

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Happy New Year!

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Keren Ben-Horin

Happy New Year to all our readers and followers!

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Ice Cream & Art

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Keren Ben-Horin

The Museum of the City of New York is giving out ice cream with every admission, through  January 2nd, while supplies last.

Even a better reason to finally cross the park to see the Cecil Beaton exhibition!

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Downton Abbey Cast Talks

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Keren Ben-Horin

 

Are you an addict? I know I am….

Here is a link to Q&A with the cast of Downton Abbey.

I bet this hat, worn by Lady Grantham:

was inspired by this:

from My Fair Lady, costume design by Cecil Beaton

 

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Vogue Digital Archives

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Keren Ben-Horin

 

I just found out that Vogue Digital Archive is available for FREE in any NYPL location. This is good news, at least for us New Yorkers, as subscription to the new archives, covering each and every issue from the past 120 years, and including 425,000 images, 300,000 ads, and 100,000 articles, dating back to 1892, comes with a $1575 yearly price tag. ouch!

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December Treasure of the Month

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Keren Ben-Horin

What are you wearing to your New Year’s Eve party? undecided?

Here are some ideas from the Bergdorf Goodman Archives, now at FIT’s Special Collections. These dresses and others were available for customers to order through Bergdorf’s Custom Salon from 1950-1969.

Patou evening gown. Lavender blue strapless evening gown with boned bodice, narrow skirt and large bow at back. US.NNFIT.SC.20

Dior Evening Gown. Black evening gown with boned strapless bodice, bow at waist, three rows of deep lace ruffles on skirt, slight train at back. US.NNFIT.SC.20

Leslie Morris Evening Gown. Strapless black velvet evening gown with boned bodice, V-neck, full skirt and coordinating black, white and turquoise stole. US.NNFIT.SC.20

Balenciaga Evening Gown. Rose colored evening gown with scoop neck, full skirt and matching stole. US.NNFIT.SC.20

Schiaparelli Gown Strapless black moire evening gown. Fitted skirt flares at mid-calf level. US.NNFIT.SC.20

Nina Ricci Gown. Brown and orange-gold evening gown with coordinating coat and capelet. Brown bodice has narrow shoulder straps and scoop neck at back. Straight orange-gold skirt has self-sash at waist with fringed edges.US.NNFIT.SC.20

Balmain Gown. Strapless purple evening gown. Bodice is draped over the bust and laces in back. Full skirt is gathered to hip yoke. US.NNFIT.SC.20

he Department of Special Collections  and FIT Archives acquires, preserves, and provides access to a wide range of primary research materials in their original formats, including archives, scrapbooks, oral histories, fashion sketches, illustrations, books, journals, and other items. Subjects include the apparel industry, fashion and regional costume, textile design and the textile industry, the FIT Archives, and, to a lesser extent, art, architecture and interior design. Department personnel are committed to supporting research by FIT students and faculty as well as designers and researchers from the apparel and textile field, other industry professionals, and scholars.

In order to view these original works or other Special Collections material please email us at fitlibrary.sparc@gmail.com for an appointment.

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Why should we go on consuming the past?

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Keren Ben-Horin

In the January issue of Vanity Fair, novelist and journalist Kurt Anderson points to the curios standstill of popular culture in the past twenty years. This is a mind-blowing article that should be read and considered by those who create our culture (musicians, designers, film makers, etc), as well as by those who observe them (us, culture historians).

The phenomena he describes is a big part of why making my Then & Now posts has been quite easy, and although I always try to find the most creative interpretations  and influences, I must admit that since I started to make these posts I realize how little newness is out there. As I tend to look at fashion through two seemingly opposing lenses- being both a fashion designer and studying to become a fashion historian- I find Anderson’s article disturbing, yet fascinating. It’s like watching someone picking its own open wound- you want to look away, but you just can’t.

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