One of our most recent brides wore this butterfly printed taffeta gown in white by Zac Posen. It was breathtaking, we literally gasped at the first look. She descended the massive sweeping staircase inside the New York Public Library, in the evening, amidst lovely projections of butterflies — fantasy indeed of the highest order. Serendipitously, I am right in the middle of reading Studio Saint-Ex, by Ania Szado. It is a brand new novel about Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, his exile in New York City in the early 1940s and the writing of The Little Prince. It is also very much about the fashion world during the war years. A certain collection of butterfly gowns is a central element at the start of Studio Saint-Ex, a character in itself, just as Zac Posen’s gorgeous butterfly gown was a most fabulous guest at the wedding.
Studio Saint-Ex by Ania Szado(Alfred A. Knopf, 2013)
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| Photograph by Erin Baiano/New York City Ballet |
When we first wrote here in anticipation of Angelin Preljocaj’s new work for New York City Ballet, we never could have predicted what it would be. Now that we have seen Spectral Evidence, we can tell you it was magnificent. The choreography, set to vocal music by John Cage, was primal and powerful and quite unfamiliar for that stage. The costumes by Olivier Theyskens were a perfect compliment to the movement and to Preljocaj’s starting point for the creation of this ballet, the Salem witch trials. Spectral Evidence is by far one of the most exciting, impactful and important contemporary pieces I have seen NYCB perform, included on this list are Red Angels and DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse. The great news is it will be performed again this winter!
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| Photograph by Norman Jean Roy |
I adore this image from the Oscar de la Renta fall campaign. In fact, it makes me swoon. Those coats, gorgeously cut and draped, the colors perfect. The gloves, hats and belts exactly right. And the anthracite suit dress in the center — that is the piece I really dream of wearing this fall. My goodness.
www.oscardelarenta.com
The BATON team can most often be found setting up for events in our Saint James shirts. We find they are the ideal uniform for the job and they definitely get better with a lot of wear. In fact, among our favorites are those from a special collection at Calypso a few years ago that came perfectly broken in, exactly as we want them to be. We’re planning a trip to Paris in early 2014 and will definitely be on the hunt for vintage Breton striped shirts — after all, Saint James has been in business since the late 19th century!
One of our most recent brides chose this elegant cotton cady dress from the Marni spring/summer collection for her wedding. She paired it with two exquisitely tailored, collarless, three-quarter sleeve jackets, also from Marni — a white, floral jacquard for the ceremony and a navy peplum for the evening — and Manolo Blahnik BB Point-Toe Metallic Silver Pumps. The result was extremely ladylike and timeless, and a very clear reflection of this lovely bride’s fantastic and inherent style. Absolute perfection.
Dorothy Shaver was without question one of the most important figures in American retail and fashion in the first half of the 20th century. Shaver began her enormously successful career in retail at Lord & Taylor in the early 1920s. She created the store’s department of Fashion and Design in 1925 and was elected to the Board of Directors in 1927. In 1928, she mounted the groundbreaking Exposition of Modern French Decorative Art — a selection of objects from the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, never before seen in the United States. Perhaps her single most significant project at Lord & Taylor was “The American Look”. Established in 1932, its function was to introduce and promote the work of American designers who were creating garments expressly for American consumers. “The American Look” featured ready-to-wear pieces from notables like Claire McCardell and Adrian, among numerous others. Shaver continued to move through the department store ranks promoted first to vice president and ultimately president in 1945, a position she held for the next fourteen years. But her reach and influence extended well beyond Lord & Taylor. She was heavily involved with the Red Cross and the redesign of women’s military uniforms and was in fact one of the founders of the Museum of Costume Art which became The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1944. She was simply unparalleled in her achievements as a woman in the retail world at that moment and most certainly paved the way for those that continue to follow.
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| Photograph of Diana Vreeland by George Hoyningen-Heune |
In the midst of the world’s fashion weeks — New York ended yesterday, London starts today and Paris on September 24 — I’m thinking not so much about present day fashion culture but instead about the trailblazing fashion editors and retailers from the first half of the 20th century. Foremost in my mind is the unequaled Diana Vreeland whose twenty-six years as fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar starting in 1936, subsequent seven years at Vogue, and final eighteen years at The Costume Institute were legendary. Her work in fashion and publishing remains among the most impactful and influential in history. Her great style, huge personality, vitality and curiosity transcended well beyond. I own several books about Mrs. Vreeland, but what brought her most to life for me was the intoxicating 2012 documentary, Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, by her granddaughter-in-law, Lisa Immordino Vreeland. And the newest book about her, Diana Vreeland Memos: The Vogue Years by her grandson Alexander Vreeland, is coming out in October. It will definitely be on the top of my reading list.
www.dianavreeland.com
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Charles James, “Butterfly” Ball Gown, 1955
Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
We were so excited at the announcement last week that the Spring/Summer 2014 Costume Institute exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art will focus on the British-American designer Charles James (1906-1978). We knew very little of James and his work until 2010 with two great corresponding, simultaneous exhibitions at The Met (American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity) and the Brooklyn Museum (American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection) and the marvelous catalog that was created to compliment both, High Style by Jan Glier Reeder, that featured his designs prominently. The shows celebrated the merging of the museums’ two renowned costume collections in 2009 which, still identified separately, are housed together permanently at The Met. The Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds the largest collection of James’ work in the world which includes, in addition to the garments themselves, six hundred related materials such as sketches and patterns. With Millicent Rogers as his muse, James is best known for his exquisite couture gowns from the 1940s and 50s. But we love his day dresses, suits and coats from those decades just as much and have our fingers crossed that we’ll see a lot of those pieces as well in Charles James: Beyond Fashion opening May 8, 2014 — most definitely an exhibition well worth waiting for!
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| Angelin Preljocaj photographed by Lucas Marquand-Perrier |
We just purchased our fall New York City Ballet tickets! The one ballet I am most looking forward to is the new work by French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj that will premiere on September 19. This, his second commission for NYCB, is a collaboration with Belgian designer Olivier Theyskens who has created the costumes, no doubt extraordinary. And it is set to music by the great American composer John Cage. The use of Cage’s music is brilliant and I expect a sort of American coming home. Before founding his own company, Ballet Preljocaj located in Aix-en-Provence, Preljocaj traveled to New York in 1980 to work with Merce Cunningham. Cage and Cunningham were of course partners in both life and art for over forty years, and very much like them, Preljocaj is one of the most avant-garde artists working in his medium today. I cannot wait.
www.nycballet.com www.preljocaj.org
I looked at my daughters’ summer espadrilles this morning — well worn and much loved. And sadly, quite ready to be retired and replaced with two new pairs next summer. I have coveted espadrilles since my first trip to Spain at age 13. We get ours at La Manual Alpargatera in Barcelona and usually stock up on sizes to be sure we’re ready for the next season. We also buy them as gifts. La Manual Alpargatera has been making espadrilles in the ancient tradition since 1941. It is firmly an institution in Barcelona and an absolute wonderland for the espadrille-obsessed. Instead of mourning the end of summer, I will think about all the great places these lovely handmade shoes have traveled these past few months and how lucky we are.
http://lamanualalpargatera.es/?lang=en
