Paper Pursuits Fashion & Design Print Collectibles

Acne Paper & Rouge Baiser

2009-04-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

Great cover photo of Missy Rayder on Acne Paper Summer 2009 magazine in the same pose as a 1949 Rouge Baiser illustration by Rene Gruau.

Link to Acne Paper:
http://acnepaper.com/issue.html

The World of Balenciaga March 23 - June 30, 1973

2009-04-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

Just arrived in is a rare 1973 exhibition book, 'The World of Balenciaga'. The exhibition was curated by former Vogue editor Diana Vreeland. An Exhibition Presented by The Metropolitan Museum of Art Under the Auspices of The Government of Spain. March 23 - June 30, 1973.

Balenciaga was born in Guetaria, Spain, and many of his couture designs were inspired by a distinctly Spanish style, from his bullfighter "bolero" jackets to his use of madros, an ornamental trim of tassels, to his Goyaesque shapes and colors. The master couturier was responsible for the creation of the sack dress, the cocoon coat and the balloon skirt.

The book is available here:
http://paperpursuits.com/book_detail.cfm?ptype=Book&pid=8822

Hommage A Elsa Schiaparelli 20 juin-30 aout 1984

2009-04-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

Just in is a super rare French exhibition catalogue, "Hommage A Elsa Schiaparelli 20 juin-30 aout 1984." The catalogue was published in 1984 by the Musee de la Mode et du Costume.

Cover illustration by Christian Berard. Drawings by Cocteau, Rene Bouet-Willaumez; photographs by Horst, Beaton, Francois Kollar, Henry Clarke, and more.

This rare exhibition catalogue is available at Paper Pursuits:
http://paperpursuits.com/book_detail.cfm?pid=8800&ptype=Book

Valentino: The Last Emperor

2009-04-07T15:47:00.000-07:00

Produced and directed by Matt Tyrnauer, Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine, Valentino: The Last Emperor provides a first-time glimpse into Valentino’s world of bygone glamour. Filmed from June 2005 to July 2007, the crew shot over 250 hours of footage with exclusive, unprecedented access to Valentino and his entourage. The resulting non-fiction film is a portrait of an extraordinary partnership, the longest running in fashion, and a dramatic story about a master confronting the final act of his celebrated career.

Playing at select theatres. http://www.valentinomovie.com/

Accompanying publications:
This publication renders homage to Valentino s illustrious career via a copious selection of images from his archives, including drawings, magazine shoots, advertisements, portraits of Valentino, and documentary photographs; presented chronologically, the visual material is accompanied by a vast array of newspaper and magazine articles about Valentino throughout the years. Text also includes Vanity Fair writer Matt Tyrnauer s interviews with twenty of Valentino s closest collaborators and friends as well as an appreciation of Valentino by International Herald Tribune s fashion writer Suzy Menkes. All of these elements add up to an in-depth look at the man, his lifestyle, and his genius a book more comprehensive and stunning than one could hardly dare to dream of.

This unlimited popular edition is for readers on a budget or who were unable to get their hands on the original limited Collector's and Art Edition.

Collector’s Edition(No. 101–2,100). Limited to 2,000 numbered copies, each numbered and signed by Valentino Garavani. Finished in setalux book cloth with six-color silkscreen printing. Comes in a clamshell box finished in silk cloth, especially tinted in Valentino red.

The Art Edition is limited to 100 individually numbered copies, each signed by Valentino. Each book is accompanied by four prints of original drawings from the 1950s and 1960s, all signed by Valentino and authenticated with a stamp on the back. It is finished in an elegant book cloth with six-color silk-screen printing and comes in a clamshell box finished in silk cloth. Many famous friends of Valentino and celebrated fashion experts contributed to this book with very personal texts: Graydon Carter from Vanity Fair; Vicomtesse Jacqueline de Ribes, French Socialite; Farah Diba, widow of the late Shah of Iran; Rupert Everett, English actor; John Fairchild from Women's Wear Daily; Patrick McCarthy from Women's Wear Daily and W; Ingrid Sischy from Interview; Franca Sozzani from Vogue Italia; Anna Wintour from Vogue USA.

1966 Lanvin Mod Evening Dress

2009-04-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

From Femme Chic Spring/Summer 1966, the Lanvin couture collection contained this color blocked evening dress and unusual headpiece:

http://paperpursuits.com/magazine_detail.cfm?catid=13&subcatid=111&pid=8743

40 Years Ago...Chanel Tweed Suit

2009-04-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

From French magazine, L'art et la Mode September 1969 issue, here is the Chanel tweed look 40 years ago...

http://paperpursuits.com/magazine_detail.cfm?catid=13&subcatid=106&pid=8745

Leslie Caron's Vogue Dior Dress & Boa

2009-04-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

This 1968 dress with boa was owned & worn by Leslie Caron and photographed for a British Vogue fashion shoot. One of the original images from the shoot is shown below.

The dress is available at Eternity Couture :
http://www.eternitycouture.com/item3263.html

More dresses from other couturiers:
http://www.eternitycouture.com/designerpre1990.html

Elsa Schiaparelli: Empress of Fashion by Palmer White

2009-04-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

Just in, is an out of print 1986 Elsa Schiaparelli book published by Rizzoli. The book is by Palmer White. Palmer White is a long-standing friend of Elsa Schiaparelli's only daughter, Gogo, la Marquise Cacciapuoti and so has had access to all the private family material. Foreward by Yves Saint Laurent.

The book is available at Paper Pursuits:

http://paperpursuits.com/book_detail.cfm?pid=8710&ptype=Book

Starting with knitwear, Schiaparelli's designs were heavily influenced by Surrealists like her collaborators Salvador Dalí and Alberto Giacometti. Below are some of her well known work.

Artist collaborations

Schiaparelli's relationship with the Dada and Surrealist movements continued in collaboration with Salvador Dalí, Leonor Fini, Jean Cocteau, and Alberto Giacometti. Chanel referred to her as 'that Italian artist who makes clothes'. Her collaborations with various artists contributed to the vast range and variety of her work.

Cocteau

In 1937 Schiaparelli collaborated with the artist Jean Cocteau to design a jacket and an evening coat for that year's Autumn collection.. The jacket was embroidered with a female figure with one hand caressing the waist of the wearer, and long blonde hair cascading down one sleeve. The coat featured two profiles facing each other, creating the optical illusion of a vase of roses. The embroidering of both garments was executed by the couture embroidery house of Lesage.

Dali

The designs Schiaparelli produced in collaboration with Dali are among her best known. While Schiaparelli did not name her designs, the four iconic Dali collaborations are popularly known as follows:

Lobster Dress

The 1937 Lobster Dress was a simple white silk evening dress with a crimson waistband featuring a large lobster painted (by Dali) onto the skirt. From 1934, Dali had started incorporating lobsters into his work, including New York Dream-Man Finds Lobster in Place of Phone shown in the magazine American Weekly in 1935, and the mixed-media Lobster Telephone (1936). His design for Schiaparelli was interpreted into a fabric print by the leading silk designer Sache. It was famously worn by Wallis Simpson in a series of photographs by Cecil Beaton taken at the Château de Candé shortly before her marriage to Edward VIII. The illustration here, from Vogue July 1937, shows the ready-to-wear version: a crisp white linen beach dress with a big hat ‘that is no more than a lobster-basket.’

Tears Dress

The Tears Dress was part of the February 1938 Circus Collection. It was a slender white evening gown printed with a Dali design of trompe l'oeil rips and tears, worn with a thigh-length veil with "real" tears, carefully cut out and lined in pink and magenta. Figures in ripped, skin-tight clothing suggesting flayed flesh appeared in some of Dali's paintings, including one owned by Schiaparelli.

Skeleton Dress

Dali also helped Schiaparelli design the Skeleton Dress for the Circus Collection.It was a stark black crepe dress which used trapunto quilting to create padded ribs, spine, and leg bones.

Shoe Hat

Schiaparelli's Fall-Winter 1937-38 collection featured a hat shaped like a woman's high heeled shoe, with the heel standing straight up and the toe tilted over the wearer's forehead.This was worn by Gala Dali, Schiaparelli herself, and by the Franco-American editor of the French Harper's Bazaar, heiress Daisy Fellowes, who was one of Schiaparelli's best clients.

Victoria & Albert Museum: An Anthology by Stephen Jones

2009-03-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

Working with radical hat designer, Stephen Jones, the V&A presents an ‘anthology of hats’. Drawn from V&A and international collections and ranging in style and period from a 17th-century Puritan’s hat to a 1950s Balenciaga couture piece to hats by Jones and his contemporaries including to the latest creations by young milliners such as Noel Stewart, the exhibition investigates the cultural and historic importance of millinery. The exhibition is arranged in four main themes - Inspiration looks at the myriad of sources including historicism, exoticism and the natural world; Creation explores the techniques, materials and processes; The Salon focuses on the buying and selling of hats and the millinery shop; and The Clients which examines the wearing and etiquette of hats and features headgear worn by well known clients of some of the world’s top milliners including Audrey Hepburn, Anna Piaggi, Dita von Teese.

24 February - 31 May 2009
V & A Museum, The Porter Gallery
£5 Adults, £4 Seniors, Students, 12-17 yrs, ES40 Holders

Link:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/hats
http://www.stephenjonesmillinery.com/

Some samplings from the V&A website:

Millinery work in action:

Millinery in action: making a hat in the Stephen Jones workroom from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.

Exhibition book available at Amazon.com:

Kim Kardashian -- Vogue Magazine Collector

2009-03-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

Kim Kardashian recently made an entry in her blog about her new hobby:

"I just started a collection of vintage Vogue magazines. So far I have some from the 1940s, '50s, '60s and '70s. You wouldn't believe the ads and photo shoots inside, and how much we take from them today! I started this collection because a dear friend Darren, who put together my entire workout DVD, introduced me to them and now I am fascinated."

Link:

http://kimkardashian.celebuzz.com/2009/02/vintage-vogue-collection.php

vintagetextile.com

2009-03-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

VintageTextile.com offers exquisite vintage clothing 1750-1980: Early Costume; 19th-20th century Couture; wearable designer fashion for the discriminating collector. Since 1998 exclusively on the internet, Vintage Textile has offered a wide selection of the best high-style clothing in all the major categories: Early, Victorian, Edwardian, 1920s, 1930s-1950s, 20th century Designer, Shawls/Textiles. Pictures above include a black Worth dress, Christian Dior champagne dress and a 1920s sequin dress.

Some well-known labels are available here--Dior, Worth, Lanvin, Pucci, Chanel, Galanos, Ceil Chapman, Bob Mackie, Valentino and more. Some samples of items sold:

http://www.vintagetextile.com/gallery_designer.htm

You can view items for sale here:

http://www.vintagetextile.com/1920s_to_1930s.htm

The Golden Age of Couture

2009-03-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

Follow the lives of the great couturiers and the houses they founded, and find out more about their training, careers and work. Explore the fascinating connections and events that link the earliest days of couture in Paris and London, through the decade 1947-57, to touch fashion even today. The great couturiers include: Balenciaga, Balmain, Dior, Cavanagh, Desses, and Givenchy.

Exhibition is now closed at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Their on-line "exhibition" still exists and provides great information:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/index.php

Exhibition book available at Amazon.com:

Van Cleef & Arpels

2009-03-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

VAN CLEEF & ARPELS is a French jewellery company that was founded in 1896 by Salomon Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef. They opened their first boutique in 1906 at 22 place Vendôme, Paris. Van Cleef & Arpels are renowned for their expertise in precious stones and have won particular acclaim for a groundbreaking gem-setting procedure known as the Mystery Setting.

Left, a 1965 ad. Below, Marisa Berenson on cover of Paris Vogue December 1967 wearing jewelry by Van Cleef & Arpels.

Link:
www.vancleef-arpels.com/en/van-cleef.html

Vintage Van Cleef & Arpels ads:
http://paperpursuits.com/searchresults.cfm?maincatid=2&keyword=van+cleef
http://paperpursuits.com/advault/adcompanies.cfm?Company=Van%20Cleef%20and%20Arpels

Runway to Red Carpet

2009-03-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

Marisa Tomei
RED CARPET Tomei hit the Tony Awards in a bold belted gown with floral embellishments. The Oscar-winning actress accessorized with simple studs and a patent clutch.
RUNWAY For her march down the catwalk, Eniko Mihalik accompanied the design with a simple banded updo.

More runway to red carpet from In Style:
http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/general/photos/0,,20207690_20238832_20539892,00.html

In Style: Vote for your Woman of Style

2009-03-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

Vote for your favourite Woman of Style, and you could win a gorgeous Art Deco watch from Frederique Constant, valued at $4,360!

http://www.instyle-australia.com/section.articles.asp?CategoryID=24&Pid=6

W April 2009

2009-03-24T16:41:00.000-07:00

Drew Barrymore, 34, is W magazine's sultry April cover girl. The He's Just Not That Into You actress and producer of the upcoming How To Be Single, described as "petite yet sturdy" by writer Diane Solway, tells the magazine: "I’m just learning who I am and how relationships work and how to make them function. No different from anyone else."

Harper's Bazaar April 2009

2009-03-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

Gisele Bundchen, 28, fronts the April cover of US Harper's BAZAAR on a background of peachy-pink. The supermodel and stepmother talks to the magazine about husband Tom Brady and the time in her life when she treated her body like crapola: "I was drinking a lot of red wine, smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes a day, and eating cheeseburgers all day. I was treating my body, which is my temple and my best friend, as my worst enemy. I was almost punishing myself. I was so tired. I was working so much and I was numb." She later adds: "If you are happy, you can give happiness. If you don’t love yourself and if you are unhappy with yourself, you can’t give anything else but that."

David Webb 60th Anniversary

2009-03-24T16:01:00.001-07:00

Designer David Webb is known for his playful, bold, and colorful animal motif bangles and brooches that were worn by socialites and celebrities in the 1960s. Some of those iconic animal designs were reinterpreted for a 60th anniversary collection that was unveiled in company’s Madison Avenue boutique in New York in October. The rock crystal lion bangle, shown, is an example of the artist’s imaginative vision. Other signature pieces include turtles, frogs, and fish. Webb’s new designs are inspired by his recognizable past works, but he’s added a subtle twist for the next generation. The jewelry, which is made in a workshop above the boutique, ranges from $3,000 to $700,000. (212.421.3030)

Link to vintage ads at Paper Pursuits:

http://paperpursuits.com/searchresults.cfm?maincatid=2&keyword=david+webb

Paco Rabanne Rhodoid Plastic Dresses

2009-03-24T15:19:00.000-07:00

Paco Rabanne became known as the enfant terrible of the French fashion world in the 1960s.

Rabanne started his career in fashion by creating jewellery for Givenchy, Dior and Balenciaga. He started his own fashion house in 1966. He used such unconventional materials as metal, paper and plastic for his outlandish and flamboyant designs.

Paco Rabanne is known for his costume designs for such films as Barbarella.

His well-known "Do it Yourself" Mod Rhodoid Plastic Disc Dress "Suitcase" Kit is shown below. Said Rabanne in 1966, "I defy anyone to design a hat, coat or dress that hasn't been done before...The only new frontier left in fashion is the finding of new materials". Enter in the disc dress made of small rhodoid plastic discs that are connected by metal jump rings to create a new kind of dress.
Rabanne even created a DIY kit fully stylized in a clear plastic (logo blazoned) suitcase to create the dress!

1997 Princess Diana Christie's Auction Dresses

2009-03-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

Diana had Christie's auction off 79 gowns collected during her 15 years as the wife of Windsor in 1997 . All proceeds from the June auction went to charity. Here is some sampling of what the dresses were.

The dresses from Christie's auction: http://www.thedianaring.com/auction.html

Princess Diana Remembered shows all 79 dresses:
http://princessdianaremembered.com/dresses.html

Princess Diana 'Dresses for Humanity' - Tampa Bay

2009-03-24T12:43:00.000-07:00

Exhibition from Jan 25 - May 1, 2009

The exhibit of 17 dresses includes the pink silk dress designed by Catherine Walker, Diana's favourite designer, for the princess' state tour of India in 1992. It's one of 13 dresses that Tampa businesswoman Maureen Rorech Dunkel bought for nearly $700,000 at a Christie's charity auction just two months before the princess was killed in a car crash in 1997.
Rorech Dunkel (below)who serves as board chairwoman for the University of Tampa, decided to keep Diana's legacy alive by forming the People's Princess foundation and sending the dresses on a world tour that would raise money for various causes.
Most of Rorech Dunkel's collection, which now totals 15 dresses, is currently on a 10-year loan to Kensington Palace in London. But the palace doesn't display all the pieces at once, and Rorech Dunkel was given two gowns to lay the foundation for what she has dubbed the Dresses for Humanity II tour.

Location: Storefront at 720 Village Circle (signs point you to the Dresses for Humanity II tour)
Hours: 11 am to 8 pm daily
Cost: $20 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 to 12. Tickets for Tampa Museum of Art patrons and anyone who spends more than $50 in Old Hyde Park Village are $10. Free re-admission.

Links:
http://www.princessdianadresses.com/
http://www.changingtheheartoftheworld.com/gallery.html

Diana, Princess of Wales Dress Collection

2009-03-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

In the years following her marriage to Prince Charles in 1981, Princess Diana was the most celebrated model of British clothing since Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy. She commissioned scores of elegant dresses by designers such as Catherine Walker and Victor Edelstein, wearing them at events that ranged from London movie premieres to official tours of the Commonwealth.

In 1997, just months before her death, Princess Diana had 79 of her dresses auctioned by Christie's to raise money for humanitarian causes. Fourteen of the dresses were acquired by philanthropist Maureen Rorech Dunkel of Tampa, Florida, who sent them on a worldwide "Dresses for Humanity" fundraising tour. The dresses are now on permanent display in Kensington Palace.

This exhibition at Kensington Palace focuses on the development of the Princess’s style from the romantic ruffles of the early 1980s to the sophisticated silhouette of the mid 1990s. The exhibition of twelve dresses features seven never before displayed at Kensington Palace. For conservation reasons not all of Diana’s dresses are on display at any one time.

Link:

http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/stories/dianasdresses.aspx

Location: Kensington Palace,The Broadwalk, Kensington Gardens, London, W8 4PX, UK

Travel: High Street Kensington/Notting Hill Gate

Some beautiful dress photos:

http://princessdianabookboutique.wordpress.com/

http://www.changingtheheartoftheworld.com/gallery.html

1966 Eye Makeup How-to

2009-03-22T23:37:00.000-07:00

Go wide-eyed over geometry. 1966 advertisement from Lentheric.

1957 Salvador Dali International Silk Congress

2009-03-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

1957 Salvador Dali illustration for the International Silk Congress.

Martha Stewart - Glamour's 1961 Best Dressed College Girl

2009-03-22T22:55:00.001-07:00

While in high school, Martha Stewart began modeling for upscale department stores in New York City and subsequently appeared in several television commercials and fashion magazines. Stewart was offered a full scholarship to New York University but declined in order to attend Barnard College, where she studied art history while supporting herself through modeling.

Stewart's modeling career was given a boost in 1961 when she was named by Glamour magazine as one of America's 10 best-dressed college students—but just barely. "I was a runner up," said Stewart. "Barnard put me up for this. One of the top ten got pregnant or flunked out, so I got the call!" But Stewart gamely rose to the occasion, mounting a prop flagpole and posing in a vivid orange cape with the rest of the girls, telling the magazine, "I want a simple life: a house in the country."

Later that year she married Andrew Stewart, a student at Yale Law School. Stewart graduated from Barnard in 1963 and continued modeling in New York while her husband established his law career.

The Glamour August 1961 issue is available at Paper Pursuits:
http://paperpursuits.com/magazine_detail.cfm?catid=37&subcatid=88&pid=7007