DE LA BELLE ÉPOQUE AU PRET-Á-PORTER - REVISITED

When I visited the Musee du Costume et du Textile Quebec in Montreal earlier last month, they had reinstalled the Exhibition DE LA BELLE ÉPOQUE AU PRET-Á-PORTER, that I saw a few years back at the Grand Bibliothéque. It was a nice surprise!

 Photos kindly borrowed from the  MCTQs website. 

Attention please! - just a reminder of my GIVE-AWAY. Still one week to go.

CRÉATEUR de COSTUME

Finally back home from Montreal and N.Y., I am able to post about a very interesting Costume exhibition I went to see last thursday at Université de Montréal.  

It was about a Créateur de Costume named François Barbeau, born 1935 in Montréal. Apart from being a costume designer, he has worked as a theatre director, artistic director and set designer as well.
Right after his graduation from the Cotnoir Caponi School for haute couture in 1952, he was hired and created costumes for local theatres.
Later on for the Théâtre Botanique in Brussels, the Théâtre Populaire in Strasbourg, the Comédie Française, as well as Cirque de Soleil and many dance- and ballet companies in North america. He has also worked on programs for television and film. -And even at 81, he is still going strong.

Because of copyrights, I was not able to take pictures myself. But I had a nice chat with the host, who was so kind to give me an e-mail address, so I could aquire the pressphotos, which is shown in this post.

The exhibition was of course displayed in a very dramatic way and the best thing was, I could actually touch the costumes, which made up for not taking pictures.
It is always very fascinating to get a closer look for a professional like my self, to see how the costumes are made.

The Janine dress worn by France Castel in the musical theatre «i» from Marc Drouin and François Dompierre, Théâtre musical du Québec, 1998.

Ninetta dresses worn by Louise Turcot in «l’Oiseau vert» of Carlo Goldoni, TNM, 1998.

 

 

Corsets for differents productions.

 

Fabric samples produced at the Laboratoire de recherche du Cirque du Soleil.

 

Pictures of costumes from «Dralion» (1999) and «Wintuk» (2007) shows of Cirque du Soleil and books research for the Dubai’s project (2009).

 

First drawing for the Dubai’s project (2009) at Cirque du Soleil.

I think this exhibition deserves to reach a bigger audience, even if it´s only in French. 
Especially if you are a student or a proffesional in a creative field. 
It is "a must see". -And watch out, you might even learn something. I was very inspired. 

Go there before December 7th.

Photocredits: Hugues Poirier  © Centre d'exposition de l'Université de Montréal, 2014

OH JAMES !

London is the place to be this year. I didn´t know. But on our way to Montreal, I read about James Bond 50th anniversary in the dutch magazine Holland Herald.

Did you know? - that it actually is 50 years ago the first James Bond movie were launched in 1962. Of course it has to be honnoured with the Exhibition: Fifty years of Bond Style at the Barbican Centre.
Expect everything from costumes and weapons to sets and props designed for the legendary cinema Icon. The exhibition runs until 5 September.

I am going there, since I am a Bond fan and especially find the costumes of the 60s and 70s very in-spiring.

"The first James Bond film, Dr. No, had an impact on ladies' fashion, with the bikini worn by Ursula Andress proving to be a huge hit: "not only sent sales of two-piece swimwear skyrocketing, it also made Andress an international celebrity".
Andress herself admitted that the "bikini made me into a success. As a result of starring in Dr. No as the first Bond girl I was given the freedom to take my pick of future roles and to become financially independent".

It has been claimed that the use of the swim-wear in Dr. No led to "the biggest impact on the history of the bikini". From Wikipedia

1962

 

1963

 

1964

FAIRYTALE COSTUMES

-Once upon a time, there was a Snow Queen. . . and a Nightingale. -You know how the story goes.

 

 

Costume Design & photos by John F. Clément

 

These were two of three dresses from a past Costume-exhibition, that were inspired by the fairytales of world famous writer, Hans Christian Andersen, who was born in Odense, Denmark.

I put together this exhibition with friend and colleague, Birgitte Ubbe, at The City hall of Odense.  -To celebrate his 200 years anniversary in 2005.

The exhibition consisted of six costumes all in all, three each.

The Nightingale that is shown here, wore a fine silk brocade corset with a peplum and long skirt with tulle and a train. She carried her own empty golden cage in one hand.

The Snow Queen wore a long flared skirt, a corset top with a long triangular train and a bolero with an attached pointed hat. All made in underlined silk taffeta.

The third mannequin wore a black transparent dress with long flared sleeves and a pointed hat, posing as the witch from the Tinderbox. All made in silk organza.

But, I was just thinking, that these costumes also might do as wedding-dresses as well. If you imagine them in the right fabric and colors of course. -For the dramatic bride, who wants to make a statement perhaps.

How does your wedding dress look like? Like a Fairytale Queen or more simple or practical ?

Get inspiration from my previous posts or take a look at Designer- and Wedding dresses in the top menu, for more.

HOLLYWOOD COSTUMES

Talking of London, wait until Autumn to go ! Because Hollywood´s most memorable costumes is to go on display at V&A from October 20.

"This exhibition will bring together over 100 outfits worn by unforgettable cinema characters, from Dorothy's dress in the Wizard of Oz,  Scarlett O'Hara's velvet 'curtain' dress from Gone With the Wind, Holly Golightly's black Givenchy dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's to Darth Vader's cape."

The Exhibition is curated by Hollywood costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis, who explains:
"I didn't go looking for costumes, I went looking for characters. This is not a decorative show. There's plenty of glamour - Marilyn Monroe's dress from Some Like It Hot is jaw-dropping in its nakedness.
But it's not about the fabulousity, it's about what's inside." From The Telegraph.

I am looking foreward to that. Are You coming ?

DE LA BELLE ÉPOQUE AU PRET-Á-PORTER

Is an intersting exhibition, that I saw today at La Grande Bibliothéque in Montreal. 

As the title is indicating it´s about the evolution in fashion from individual made clothes to the beginning of production of clothes from around 1871-1940.

To illustrated the different Epoches, they made all the displayed models up in paper. Unfortunately all the explanations were in french. Luckily I already knew about this period in fashion history.

DEBBIE REYNOLDS - THE AUCTION

The legendary actress and entertainer, Debbie Reynolds extensive Collection of Iconic Hollywood costumes is going to be auctioned on June 18, 2011 at The Paley Center for Media, 465 North Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210.

This may be a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase some of the costumes from Iconic Hollywood movies.
Debbie Reynolds first tried to find an institution or great collectors to keep the collection together, but sadly enough she didn´t succeed. So now you have the chance to bit on your favorite piece.

"My lifetime dream has been to assemble and preserve the history of the Hollywood film industry. Hollywood has been an enormous part of my life as I know it has been for countless fans all over the world.
This collection represents a lifetime of collecting Hollywood artifacts and this is a rare opportunity to own a piece of Hollywood History for those who love the movies as much as I do.
For the first time in nearly five decades, these iconic pieces will be made available to the public through a series of auctions presented by Profiles in History beginning in June 2011."

Debbie Reynolds

AMERICAN WOMAN

 

If you were to come to New York in the near future, then you should look into American woman - Fashioning a National Identity, which is an exhibition on display at The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art until the 15th of August this year.

The exhibition shows the evolution of the perception of  the American woman from 1890 until 1940 and how it influenced the perception of today's woman.
By focusing on American female archetypes through dresses, the exhibition shows how fashion develop-ment reflected her social, political and sexual liberation. How the "Gibson girls", bohemians and film divas laid the foundation for today's American women.

In July American Vogue publishes a report from The Costume Institute´s big Ball on the occasion of its opening on 3 May. Check out the exhibition at The Met´s official website here.