Click play to hear today's message from Cherie!
If you stop by Shrimpton Couture on a regular basis, you may recognize bits and pieces from the shoot I am sharing with you today. I have been using these pictures for some of the covers over the last few weeks and one of them is on the site right now. I have never really showcased them all in one spot though so thought it would be fun to share it in full. I often lend items to Nadia Pizzimenti, a talented Toronto stylist, and these shots are a result of a recent creative that ended up including some video work as well as the still shots. (I have included them at the very bottom of the post so please jump through and make sure to scroll down and watch them — they are stunning!). The photographer and cinematographer is the talented Takao Shioguchi, hair and make-up was by the amazing Dee Daly and the gorgeous model is Kelleth, who is signed with NEXT Models.
Part of the reason I am sharing this now is because last night I attended a Flare Magazine presentation and the editor-in-chief, Lisa Tant gave a fabulous presentation covering the fall trends. As she clicked through the slides and spoke about color, direction, shapes and pieces that we will see in the shops this fall, I could not help but have a running narrative in my head correlating everything to the past. I have this odd quirk — the vintage girl in me kicks in and automatically started classifying everything I see as it relates to it's vintage counterpart — serious I do it all day. It's like a spigot I can't turn off. More and more, so much of what I see on the runways has such a strong reference to the past that I can almost tell you which pieces from a past designer, a current designer has pinned to their "inspiration" board. As time goes by it all starts to get muddled and the lines blurred don't you think? I for one don't tend to get all up in arms like some of my fellow dealers do about this subject. A blatant line for line copy is never OK but a reinterpretation is always fine in my books as long as it is done well. Anyone who tells themselves that the designers of old weren't doing the exact same thing is fooling themselves — badly. Of course there is a point where an idea is new. Of course there are the leaders in the field who do take an idea or concept and make it so uniquely and thoroughly their own that it is forever associated with them. But most clothes are a simply a reinterpretation of a few narrow themes. It really cannot be any other way — we have a set shape of the body to work with and girls want to look good. Extremes are great fodder for runways but girls are girls and want to look great. That confines every designer that ever lived to a box that I can't see opening any time soon.
Doing what I do, I am naturally far more interested in the original vintage pieces that are doing the inspiring that what is just rolling off the runway, but time does have a way of moving staunchly forward and someday the pieces that are just coming out on the runways this season will be the vintage pieces collectors will hunt for in the future. So I keep my eye on it all. New or old, it always boils down to one thing for me... ... .is it fabulous?
Nadia styles my vintage just like they are new pieces. She does not give a shit that they are 30, 40 or even 80 years old. She looks at the color and the cut and the fit and she looks with an eye to see how she can manipulate them into something fabulous to represent what is going on in fashion today.
And if she can — you can.
Does it really matter if you have the latest item just off the runway? Maybe it does if you are in a certain circle where the peer pressure to buy buy buy is greater then it was to try a cigarette behind the bleachers in high school. In my circle you just have to have style. If that means taking Fall 2012 trends like color & flower prints or exaggerated silhouettes and lots of hand done details and using that as your inspiration to roll out the 1970s Hanae Mori or wear a maxi of insane proportions or a beaded flapper piece... ... .does this make it less valid to wear? Does it make you feel less like you are cutting edge just because it was made in 1970-somethign rather then now?
Hell to the NO! It makes you more.
The pieces used in this shoot from top to bottom:
1. Late 1970s Hanae Mori Couture outfit from the Shrimpton archives, paired with a Anita Quansah neck piece (since sold) 2. 1950s Fully sequin silver gown available here paired with Ophira by Anita Quansah neck piece available here 3. 1960s Pink Chiffon Harem pant set available here, paired with a Anita Quansah neck piece (since sold) 4. Original Donna Karan Sample since sold paired with Anne Deulemeester breast plate, owned by me. 5. 1970s Ossie Clark Maxi available here 6. 1990s Herve Leger Bandage dress available here, arm piece stylists own crazy creation 7. 1960s Chiffon Beaded dress available here 8. 1970s Zandra Rhodes set, similar set in pink available here