All things croc.

Hello Paris '99ers!
Haute Couture season is upon us, and I, and surely you too, have been flicking relentlessly through all the images available on the various website, namely www.style.com.
One thing has struck me is that there is a lot of crocodile about. Stamping, print, and of course the real thing.
You all know that I love Giambattista Valli, from his work at Ungaro to the edgy 1950s sensibility of his own line. Here is what I think is the perfect croc vest; extremely waisted and with no extra trimmings so all focus is on the narrow waist and that beautifully billowing peplum hip, difficult enough to achieve with wool and horsehair canvas let alone with crocodile skin.
And of course the matching skirt, straight and to the knee. I think there would be women out there who would wear the two together, and what a mighty force that would be (not to mention the price-tag!)

 Both images are taken from vogue.com.au, thank you :)

Now amid the major speculation surrounding who will take over from John Galliano at Dior, the 'acting' designer Bill Geytten sent out a collection full of the grand silhouettes Galliano, and of course Christian Dior four circles before him, is remembered for. Tulle, embroidery and all the hallmarks of couture are here, and yes, plenty of croc! I love the simplicity of cut in these jackets; invisible closures, the way the darts help define the hip shaping and the combination of tailored and slouchy. The 'wrap' vest outfit, which seems to swathe around the body as if made from silk. The last two looks might not even actual croc, (a little help here...), but the texture is undoubtedly that of the luxury hide. Either way subtlety of the wider cut neck and dropped shoulder line lend a softer, cooler edge. And nothing beats a big jacket with nothing on the bottom, well, apart from a wispy chiffon pleated skirt of course!

All photos taken from www.style.com, thanks :)

How could you not be just stunned by the work in the Riccardo Tisci collection for Givenchy? Impossible not to be. The fact the every single scale was separately cut then reassembled to the dress worn by Stella Tennant is beyond belief and shows what couture is all about. Here you can see the back, just as important as the front, (and don't they forget it sometimes!), and also the rest of the ten outfit collection, as I just love big fashion group shots.

All images from www.style.com, thanks :)

Finally, well. till today, the Armani Privee collection (and I should totally learn how to type the accent, oops). While mostly focussed on snake, there were a few croc moments, and in such colours too! Fantastic peaked shoulders, though not as over the top as those by Margiela in 2007, provide a great anchor for the rest of the jackets to fall from, and although it may be a leap, I definitely see croc in the print on the gown, and even the bustier looks like croc made from green tinged rocks. Correct me if I'm wrong of course!

All images taken from www.style.com, thanks :)

Haute couture week continues for a few more days, and as I write this, one of the masters and one of my favourites of course, Jean-Paul Gaultier is about the start his show, and I hazard a guess that there will be croc featured here too, I'll have to update tomorrow! Enjoy! xx

New dress.

Hello dear Paris '99ers, I hope you in Melbourne are enjoying this mini heat wave, and that like me, you can take advantage of the sun by enjoying outdoor drinks and company.
I recently visited Darn Cheap fabrics on Glenhuntly Rd, and was pleasantly surprised they were in the midst of a sale, so I stocked up on some beautifully subtle striped burgundy silk, and a silk cotton mix in the same construction. As you know, I'm totally feeling burgundy in the air, and of course in my fashion eliteness, can only imagine what synthetic fabrics would feel like as I work very hard to totally avoid these!
So here is the result (still in progress) of my draping and cutting of this newly bought fabric.
I enjoy the way the wind dictates what happens to the drape of the dress as most of the seams are not completely stitched down, thus allowing for air to breeze through and change the fall. I also have left the fabric as organic as possible, raw edges abound, and the selvedge used as I find the holes quite beautiful.
Of course this dress will be on the mannequin for a while, until I make another one!
xx

First yoke try, clearly too much fabric, nowhere near sexy enough...

Some adjustments to be made.

Better :)

Love the back yoke shape!

First time the silk is introduced.

As much as I like the back in this design I decided to keep it long and flowing. And don't worry, I have more of the silk left so there will be more exploration in tops, skirts, or even as part of a jacket!

The front panel is the width of the fabric and the back is the two left-over triangles layered over each other and tacked at intervals on the sides.

Reveals at back, and down below is the almost too high centre back slit. Hope you like!

xx

My dear friend Bea!

Hello my dears!
Today I had the absolute pleasure of rekindling my physical friendship with my dear friend Bea who has been living in Amsterdam for the last two years. Bea and I completed the Fashion Design program at RMIT together and actually lived together in Amsterdam in 2007 as part of our studies. She is truly one of my closest friends, no matter the distance between us.
Seeing as Bea had arrived in Melbourne just over 24 hours ago following a delay in Asia and all she wanted to do today was to sleep, I felt very special indeed when the first thing she actually did was drop straight into Paris '99! Really she hasn't stopped hearing about the salon but was a well established Amsterdamienne when it all came to be.
Bea is a blast with so many things going on all that time and all that carefree cycling in Amsterdam is definitely a good way to keep trim and terrific, just look at how all these amazing pieces become even more amazing on her!

Bea in the sparkling Badgley Mischka Couture sequined/beaded jacket. I love a nipped waist with slightly rounded shoulder!

Rocking the early '60s with a literal twist! Cropped jacket and chevron flared skirt by Carolina Herrera and draped silk top by Sharon Wauchob.

This is one of my favourite dresses in my whole collection, the Calvin Klein Collection by Francisco Costa spring 2007 campaign dress. The free-flow cascading pleat anchors the diaphanous floating upper layer and when the light hits it you can see the body hugging silk mesh corset. Just so you know, Bea had not seen this image (courtesy of frillr.com) when she struck this pose. What a regular Natalia Vodianova :)

And we let loose just enough with the crinkled leather Undercover bikie style pants but kept it classy with the Oscar De La Renta silk tie-front top. If you know the scroop sound of silk, this is one of the scroopiest I've heard! (and it is now SOLD!)

Thank you Bea for a lovely afternoon, welcome back to Melbourne and I know we'll see plenty more of you before you take off again! xx

Balenciaga shoe dinner!

Hello dear Paris '99ers!
Now a few weeks ago a dear friend of mine fell in love with a pair of the most divine Balenciaga glamazon heels at the salon. I asked her sometime later how they were and she candidly revealed she had not yet worn them. Shocking indeed!

It was decided then and there that the shoes were to have a 'debut' dinner at a fabulous restaurant in Melbourne, and I had read about an Italian institution, Cantina Cecconi's on Flinders Lane.
Holiday season was right around the corner so we postponed the date till the new year, but something came up and the dates shifted, then something else came up and we had to shuffle again. Finally, last night, it was third time lucky!

I didn't take any photos of me actually wearing my clothes (sorry), but I was wearing a red star print shirt and a tailored vest from a Napoli tailor under my favourite Dries Van Noten iridescent red 'dinner' jacket. Accessorised with an Alexis Belcher laser cut perspex brooch on a silver necklace and my handmade boots from a gentleman in old Jaffa. I actually have three pairs of boots by him, black riding boots, 'Hermes orange' slightly narrow round toe boots and these, the caramel stacked heel calf highs. Unfortunately he has since retired and vanished without a trace. Oh and yes, I did have pants on too, Surface 2 Air fitted jeans, nice :).

By a stroke of good luck I got the last free parking spot a stone's throw from the restaurant. It set the mood for what was a delightful and delicious evening with friends, food and shoes!
Nicoletta, the beautiful hostess, warmly greeted me with a glass of Mumm while the girls were on their way.

We were given the best spot, with prime viewing position of the organised hustle and bustle of the kitchen, and the ability to see and comment on what other diners were wearing, and it certainly was a fashionable and well put together crowd!
Starting our feast with crusty bread in olive oil and wonderfully potent balsamic vinegar dip, we moved on to an appetizer of beautifully cured meat cut nail thin and served with a fig that could have come straight from the garden, it was that fresh. The dish was a flat black cross section of a pebble; just stunning.

My Angus Sirloin steak was the best steak I've eaten in a very very long time, and when combined with the crisp then silky smooth polenta chips, it was texture heaven.

Admittedly, it was all about the dessert: a chocolate pudding that was a like a dark river of liquid chocolate just waiting to be released, and then a literal explosion with the straciatella ice-cream laced with popping candy (excuse my uncultured palette, its what I felt like I was eating!),  a creamy citrus parfait with a powerful passionfruit sorbet and scatterings of freeze dried raspberry and 'snow', and a rich panna cotta with sweet almond biscuit and a surprise chocolate ganache at the bottom of the bowl. Need I say more?

We know that food and fashion aren't always associated with one another (ok, minus the Prada and Stella McCartney fruit themed collections of last spring, and the Dolce & Gabbana vegetable printed frocks from the current show), but thanks to these fabulous heels for bringing us to Cecconi's, and many thanks to Nicoletta and the lovely staff; we really need to find an excuse to come back!

xx

Literally the most amazing dress ever!

Hello Paris '99ers! I just could not contain my excitement for this dress, it is literally the most amazing dress ever! (As per the title of this post ;)) (Love the double bracket smiley face combo haha)! Enjoy, and come and see it in person to share the love!

People always ask me how I can part with all of the beautiful pieces I am surrounded by every day, and its hard, I do get attached to almost everything. I mean I am attached the minute I decide something has to be a part of the salon, and when it arrives in person I'm 99.5% happy, with the very occasional misstep, but even so I understand I am a conduit, connecting beautiful clothes to beautiful women in Melbourne, and I let them go to a happier home, and someone who can actually wear them!

Well let me tell you about this dress, it may just be the exception! From the minute my friend in New York swayed around in it when I first saw it, I knew it would be amazing, but I could only imagine it.

The dress is a custom made for the ball Luca Luca, and regular visitors to the salon will know that I have always loved it, and its not available anywhere else.  Founded in New York in the early 90s by Italian Luca Orlandi, its very Upper East Side; glamourous, luxurious and gorgeously put together, for the gorgeously put together woman. For a stage in the early 2000s the label turned in direction of the 'new young things', catering to the New York party scene and even the Hilton sisters.

In 2008 Raul Mendoza took over from Orlandi as creative director and brought a new freshness and refinement, bridging the gap for everyone, with beautifully designed and lovingly produced wardrobe pieces for everywhere, all the time.

Back to the dress. Now my postman is a bit all over the place, but of course morning deliveries are my favourite, and the box arrived with morning, shipped Express with my friend's name on the box, and tightly wrapped in tape. I was already itching with anticipation, and to not by some terrible mistake damage the contents I slowly unwrapped layer after layer of tape, getting both irritated and now almost exploding with excitement.

And then the box was open. And under a few layers of tissue paper, and a garment back fit only for a gown of its magnitude, there it was!

I grabbed a hanger, placed the hang tapes on its sides, and in one big, dramatic swing of my arm lifted the gown right out the box and seriously almost screamed; it is absolutely stunning! (See title once more.)

The fabric is a crispy dense silk organza, it crunches in the hand, super scroop, for all you textile heads.

The floral print is huge, and has to be, to stay balanced with the massive skirt that booms underneath the neatly fitted corset bodice. The under layers are made of metres and metres of tulle, providing the perfect amount of volume, as expected there is hand finishing everywhere and its all finished with a hand folded watermelon silk crepe belt.

If theres is one piece I will find hard to part with, its is undoubtedly this dress! 

xx

All photos are copyright Yahav Ron 2012. 

Things I like!

So I literally just realised I can blog from my phone, new discovery of the year! This means the whole process of posting will become a lot more organic and easy, hooray.

As you would know, fashion is life, and life is good, and therefore fashion should be good. Narciso Rodriguez is one of my all time favourite designers; well most designers have a place in my favorites as I don't discriminate, but the perceived ease, delicateness and refinement of Rodriguez's pieces just have me hooked. I say perceived, as with all minimalist design, practice makes perfect. The beautiful lines and perfectly body fitting silhouettes are due to hours of painstaking work for a better fit, smoother seam, a finer result.

Now of course as I write this post I realise I actually haven't quite figured out how to add images from the phone, but don't worry, first the words, then the pictures! Above will be an image of the workings of a jacket, as seen in the book Narciso Rodriguez as published by Rizzoli. I promise you it's beautiful.

Of course I love a beautiful dress, and no-one does a subdued and elegant gown like Rodriguez. See images of Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker and Uma Thurman to prove. That blue dress with the square panel suspended in the back and then dreamily cascading to the mercy of the breeze, to borrow from a certain stylist of our times, one could 'die'.
And the subtly yet somewhat overtly sexy red number, shown with gorgeous designer himself, I love the colour, and also what it says about the woman wearing it: powerful, lusty and in control, stunning.
The gorgeous gown as worn by Uma again speaks to me for its small changes which make it so much more than just a Hollywood style halter-neck. The way the side cleavage is revealed almost to the point of no return but stops just before it, the curving seams that send our eyes in and around her beautiful form (and not just her, the effect would be the same for any wearer) and bring us to the explosion of fabric just above the knee, perfection.

Now this isn't a plug, I just have to share a couple of Narciso things that are currently at Paris '99. The stunning cotton body-con (but never in knit with Rodriguez)dress which pushes everything up and in, and is, as expected, immaculately constructed with a contrast white binding on the inside, and the almost charmeuse bubble hem dress which floats lighter than air and is alluring by leaving it to the imagination of the observer; one of my favourite ways of sexy dressing.

Now please forgive my brazen attempt at blogging minus pictures, but they will follow almost immediately, after a few emails from phone to computer. I really am a stickler for more simple times haha!
Much love and till next week x

PS. Here's to learning as you go; thanks to Edit Post everything is in its right place without too much trouble, amazing! ;)
xx