Monday, August 29, 2011

STYLE GURUS

GAULTIER, (French fashion designer), is doing good for women. GALLIANO (British fashion designer) is more or less banished.

Gaultier (John Paul, the French guy) designs under things -- bras and panties -- as well as over things -- shorts, shirts, suits, house dresses, and evening gowns

Galliano, (John, the British guy) this past February, had the fashion world with their hands over their ears. He said he loved Hitler. After rehab in Arizona and Switzerland for triple addiction to alcohol, Valium and sleeping pills, he's been tried and found guilty, in France, of anti-semitic comments. Making anti-semitic remarks is against the law in France. His fine, his punishment, will be announced by the court sometime in September.

Will he pay? Yes. Will he be jailed? No. Will he rebound? I bet he will. The fashion world that adores McQueen, falls in love with a designer, and doesn't fall out of love for more than a minute. (A season is a minute.)

These two G's --both named John -- John Galliano and John Paul Gaultier -- are rather weird chaps, unrelated, but similar. Famous weird chaps put poison in our ears. (Yes, I borrowed that phrase from "Hamlet.") Women and men trust them, make them kings, revere them, follow them -- buy and wear their clothes, even when they're uglifying.

Galliano was fired from Dior, even though he's a brilliant, big-selling name designer. He'll be back with something marvelously innovative, shockingly new, that celebrities will wear, and if they wear 'em, we wear 'em

Gaultier has been Madonna's pal for a long time. I have a lot of reservations about what he and Madonna did to styles for women. Those cone bras, black net stockings on a garter belt -- say "Madonna" and you picture sex-gimmicks on her ultra-revealed body parts. Though Gaultier's creations haven't reached the high level of an exhibit in NYC's Metropolitan Museum, or MOMA (like McQueen's did), Gaultier's art is being displayed in museums -- currently in Montreal, and on its way to Dallas and San Francisco.

We love Gaultier things. He looks at and reacts to the swirl of activities, and creates for the real everyday world. (Side note: wherever he exhibits, he displays his good luck charm that sort of tells who he is -- it's a tiny teddy bear onto which he's stitched a tiny brassiere.)

Gaultier has a sense of humor. Oh yes, he's very interested in sexual provocation, but links his aesthetics with trends as well as politics. Daily life is on his runway -- tattoos, body art, Hasidic Jewish traditions, noble turbans of African immigrants, as well as the retro cool of Harlem. And he champions untypical faces -- Cyrano de Bergerac noses, Rubenesque bodies -- he even puts plus-size ladies on his runway.

Meanwhile, while Gaultier's rising, and Galliano's disappearing, Bernard Arnault (another name for our registry of IN people) is the top man. He's CEO of the number one, most powerful French coneglomerate -- LVMH (Louis Vuitton, Moet Hennessy).

Arnaut is aggressively reviving Dior, selling the fashion world on the house of Celine ((for 40 years, the top of the luxury brands for sexy city girls, that's now run by Phoebe Philo). Arnault is also promoting his designer daughter, Delphine.

Delphine may end up being the biggest fame-name. Fashion is a rock star business. Promotion gets us singing and dancing to the latest song.

What all this means, I don't know. I'm merely advocating that you learn the names, the styles. It's a bestseller world -- we'll see, love, or hate, and buy it, in one form or another.

Why? Because fashion reflects, and defines, delightfully temporarily, who you are and who you aren't.

5 comments:

Carola said...

I've never understood or cared for high couture--it all looks ugly to me. However, I have enjoyed watching that reality TV show that is a contest among young clothes designers: that is interesting, because it shows their thought processes, and also how the pieces are put together. Also, the thought processes of the judges.

Anonymous said...

Emily-this is a hard subject for me to discuss because I live in a small town and only see these "today" fashions on TV or magazines, no one here dresses quite like the "runway models!" Lol! I do approve of Gaultier because he puts big size ladies on his runway. I remember Madonna and her cone bra-saw some comedy show making fun and it was great! thanks for sharing the latest info do at least I know what's going on in the real world!
kam Kathleen Ann McGee :)

Linda Phillips said...

It doesn't for me. LOL

Even in the days when I needed to dress for success, so to speak, I always did my own thing. Not that I had the kind of money to dress in clothing of that ilk, but I was always considered a very well dressed woman. I know how to do it on the cheap.

Today, in my Land's End jeans and my somebody or other t shirt, my only fashion connection is my weekly Friday night time watching The Fashion Police with Joan Rivers, a much tattooed, but adorable Kelly Osborne, Juliana Rancic and some guy named George (I think that's his name). I love the way they rip apart the would be fashionistas of Hollywood and occasionally praise some of them. Its a fun show which follows The Soup, another fun show (both on E).

I never invested or wasted my money on fashion magazines...why bother..? They are free at the hairdresser and have nothing to do with my life.

I must confess that my mid calf ivory wedding dress/can also be worn as a cocktail dress, was designed by some well known designer who later went to prison for income tax evasion. I think his name was Leo Narducci...??? But I bought it heavily discounted.
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Anonymous said...

I live in a college town, so anything and everything goes. We made them KINGS because the media and advertisement latches onto whoever is in fashion control for the year and TV and magazines ads complete the picture. They use to say, If you keep what you're wearing now, in 10 yrs it will be back in fashion." I'm not sure that applies today. I didn't wear Madonna's cone bra and I doubt if 10 years from now I will wear it-since they don't make SAGGING cone bras for older women! Lol! kam Kathleen Ann McGee

Anonymous said...

Come to the conclusion that everyone does their own thing for their own reasons and I like it like that. Responsible fun is a good reason to do something, whether it's fashion or not. There always have been people that define us or 'judge' us but the trick is not to care. Those that love and appreciate us don't say.."I just love her because of her clothes." However, I do see 'fashion' as an art form' and enjoy it when it's well done but style and comfort is something we as individuals chose. I agree with Linda P. , feel beautiful, look beautiful, think beautiful be beautiful in your interactions with others. xxxxxoooo H.