THE INFLUENCE OF AN ERA

The Era that continues to inspire designers of today, is of course the 1970'es.

Halston (1932-90) was the designer of the era and dressed all the celebrities at that time.
They all met at the famous Studio 54 in New York, a decadent and notorious disco in the late 1970´s. For more information read more about what they wore at Studio 54 here.

Even today you see a lot of celebrities wearing Halston Vintage at big events, because it still looks effortless, glamorous, contemporary and stylish. Here is a few examples to illustrate.

Even today we still see a very strong influence in the collections from Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs among others. They also frequented the famous club back then.

Tom Ford since gained international fame for his turnaround of Gucci from 1990-2004, because he gave back the house a more contemporary, sexy and glamorous style, inspired by the influence of that decade.

Especially the latest collection in his own name shows very much the impact that era had on him. Read more about his state of mind and why in Harper´s Bazaar here.

 

Photos from Vogue.com

Marisa Berenson, Photo by Terry Richardson

FASHION AWARD WINNER

The result of The 2011 CFDA Fashion Award Winners was finally revealed yesterday at the annual gala at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York.

I wrote about Lady Gagas nomination in an earlier post and of course she won an Award for her origi-nality and influence on fashion.

Her outfit for the occasion was not bad, but the bustier was not fitting very well. They could have done a better job I think. The Cups looks to small and too low on her body.

But it was probably off the rack and not made for her. Am I right or what? What do you think? And was it a well deserved award?
See all the pictures and read a full review of the event in The Huffington Post here.

GOALS & AMBITION

Modesty Blaise, was an inspiration and one of

my favorite cartoons.

I do think it is okay to have ambitions and goals in life, don't you? 

Next to love, pursuing or following your dreams to realize and make them come true, is a great way of getting satisfaction and happiness in your life, I think.
I believe that you always will regret it, if you don´t give it a try. That is what keeps me going. 

Basically you need to be strong, persistent and have a certain amount of confidence. Enough to dare to stand out, no matter what other people think. In other words, you have to believe in yourself.

Is something holding you back from realizing your potential? Feel free to comment and share your thoughts on this subject. 

THE COVERGIRL

During my research on Elsa Schiaparelli in my previous post, i learned that the American actress and beautiful fashion model, Marisa Berenson, is her grand daughter.

She was very popular in the 60´es and Yves Saint Laurent called her "the girl of the seventies", because she was everywhere and the Covergirl of several magazines.

The first time I noticed her, was years ago in one of my favourite films, Cabaret from 1972, where she played the Jewish department store heiress, Nathalia Landauer.

Recently Marisa Berenson has appeared in the movie "I Am Love" last year.

SHOCKING !

-Is the title of Elsa Schiaparelli´s memoires, published in 1955. A very funny and fascinating story. I was so lucky that I´ve got this book from one of my good acquaintances during my exhibition last year. 

Elsa Schiaparelli (1896-1973), born in Italy, was together with Madeleine Vionnet two of the most prominent and influential couturiers of the 1930´s. 

At 22 the adventurous Elsa left Italy to work in London. On her way she attended a Ball in Paris, where she created her first dress out of a piece of fabric, that she pinned together.
She met her husband in England and got married. They went to USA where she had a child, but was since left by him.
She started to work in a shop, where she met different artist, who she eventually followed back to Europe.

Back in Paris she started her own business, encouraged by Paul Poiret, but had to close it in 1926.

The following year she launched a new collection that included a very sensational sweater and her career took off from there.

She liked to provoke and worked closely together with artists like Jean Cocteau and Salvador Dali.
Her collections was inspired by different themes, like circus, astrology etc.

Her great rival at that time, Coco Chanel described her as:- "the artist that makes clothes".

She introduced the zipper in Haute Couture, experimented with new fabrics and invented the colour Shocking Pink and named one of her most popular perfumes Shocking. The Flacon was inspired by the shape of the American actress, Mae West.

During the second world war she went to USA and gave lectures. When she came back, fashion had changed. It was the time of Christian Dior´s New look.

She did not adapt and struggled until she closed her house in 1954. The same year as her rival, Coco Chanel had her comeback.

But she left an everlasting influence on fashion, designing without restrictions she has inspired such designers as Yves Saint Laurent, Gaultier and Galliano.