Hurrah! Burberry!

Click on image for larger version.Yay, I finally found the tearsheet of the gold Burberry rah-rah skirt! This came from British Vogue one or two years ago, and I was taken with it because of the resemblance of Stella Tennant’s skirt to my own (click here to see it).

I also saw the skirt in colour in a fashion spread somewhere, and recall it was more of a cool, greeny tone; I much prefer the warm hue of mine, rich like 24ct gold. The asymmetric cut of this skirt is interesting though, and I do love the micro-pleating.

Amusingly, the short, ugly vest I was forced to buy with the skirt was also quilted, just like the coat Kate Moss is wearing. I’m sure my skirt predates this duo by several years however, possibly even to the 80s when rah-rah skirts were all the rage. I was chuffed by the similarity though, and chuckled over the undoubted disparity in the price. I’m sure there’d be the several zeros I’d have to add to the $25 I paid for mine!

The Adventures of Lulue the French Maid

No, not that kind of French maid. Tut, tut! This is not that kind of journal.

Lulue is only a little bit naughty (although perhaps her mistress would beg to differ), more concerned with the longevity of her manicure than wielding the tools of her trade. But I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Scroll down to peruse this charming picture book I call Lulue, The Naughty French Maid, and click on the images for a larger version.

Enjoy!

Wallpaper printed with bookshelves is much more maid-friendly.

Help Lulue make up her mind! Lots of delicious shades to choose from here.

Perfect for kissing…

Go on – you know you want to!

Bliiiiiiiing!

Pink, red or blue. Buy some lolly-like gems and make your own heirlooms.

Nothing sparkles like vintage aurora borealis pins!

Check out the full colour versions in the Out-takes & Extras gallery.

Golden Delicious

I’m a bit like a magpie: I go for the bright shiny pretty things. Like a kid in a candy shop, I just can’t help reaching for them.

The gold foil skirt has featured before in this journal, but as I find it completely irresistible, here it is again in another incarnation. I’ve told the story before, but I was searching for an outfit to wear to a wedding when I spied this skirt in the front window of a charity shop in Windsor. I dragged my friend across the road and snatched it up before anyone else could get their mitts on it.

…why wear one metallic fabric when you could wear TWO?

Indian-made from 100% rayon, it is just like the gold foil from a chocolate box. I think I have, ahem, made that comparison before. As mentioned previously, I ultimately teamed it with a chocolate-brown top, but I had such trouble deciding what to wear with it at the time. Most colours looked too gaudy, and I discovered since (when the pressure was off) that neutrals worked best; I’ve subsequently worn it out with a charcoal grey polo neck jumper.  

Here I’ve paired it with a silver ruched t-shirt, because why wear one metallic fabric when you could wear TWO? Nothing so much fun as going giddily OTT. Just ask Cecil, that master of golden deliciousness.

Silver velvet and pearls, against silver walls: Baba, Cecil's sister in 1925. Ph: Cecil Beaton. Click on image for larger version.

(Left) Goldfish or mermaid? Paula Gellibrand, 1928. (Right) A seahorse with such fronds, surely. Tilly Losch, 1929. Ph: Cecil Beaton. Click on images for larger versions.

What is Elegance?

Lift that chin! Taken in Sep 2008, this picture has a little spirit of vintage elegance about it. 1950s vintage headpiece, Veronika Maine top.I have been pondering this question for a long time: what is elegance? The answer could fill a book (and has), but I shall try to be briefer, although I’d like to consider these three concepts: elegance, style, fashion; and elegance as it pertains to aspects of ourselves other than our attire.

Is elegance different to style, to being fashionable?

Of course. When I was a teen, I did not understand elegance, per se, and I did not have my own style. I merely wore what was in fashion. In my early twenties, when I went to art school, I really started developing my own style – inspired by like-minded people; my studies; and the creative, eclectic district of my school. I don’t know when I started to think about elegance. Perhaps it was something I absorbed during my childhood, observing my older sisters; or perhaps it was in response to my various environments, and the behaviours of the people around me as I matured.

‘Elegance is refusal’, said Coco Chanel.

I am certain that something changed when my own style evolved in my late twenties: I moved on from the arty, ‘boho’ (how I loathe that word) look that was a relic of art school, to a type of minimalism that was yet not too Puritan. I wore simple, clean shapes but chose interesting fabrics, colours and textures.

Coco Chanel, 1936. Ph: Lipnitzki‘Elegance is refusal’, said Coco Chanel. She also advised us to look in the mirror and take one thing off before we left the house. (Going by what some people wear on the streets these days I suspect they don’t look in the mirror at all!)

The OED defines the word elegant as ‘graceful and stylish in appearance or manner’; style as ‘a particular way … procedure by which something is done; a distinctive appearance’ etc; and fashion as ‘a popular, or the latest style of clothing, hair, decoration or behaviour’.

The word ‘graceful’ is an important one: graceful in manner, in movement, in speech. When I think of elegance, I often picture women of the 1930–1950s. Not only historical photographs and films of the period (just take a look at Audrey Hepburn) but modern films set in these times, such as Gosford Park*. Why this period? Surely they don’t have a monopoly on elegance?

(Left) Two 1930s women dressed for a garden party. Ph: Alfred Eisenstaedt. Image from life.com.Perhaps not, but they did believe strongly in good manners. I don’t think you can ever be truly elegant if you are vulgar and rude to the people around you. Not the most beautiful face or careful dressing will hide bitchiness, selfishness, and all kinds of unattractive character traits forever. You will be remembered however – no matter how plain – if you are gracious, kind, a good listener … and ‘sugar and spice, and all other things nice’!

The other thing about these elegant women of the early half of the twentieth century was posture. They stood tall – or as tall as they could. This is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to achieve a little elegance: stand up straight and your clothes – no matter their origin – will hang better, and your figure will be remarkably improved. Hold your head high – yet not so high that you look unapproachable. I once received the loveliest compliment from a man: “There was something in the way you walked, the way you carried yourself – whenever we were meeting I loved to watch your arrival.” How extraordinary I felt to hear that!

Hold your head high – yet not so high that you look unapproachable.

One of my all-time favourite fashion images. ‘Charles James Gowns, Vogue, June 1948′ Ph: Cecil BeatonIt did help that many of these women (the upper class lasses) went to finishing, or deportment schools. Nowadays we have to rely on old movies, and books – or, if we’re lucky – our families, friends and mentors who set an excellent example.

Here’s an inspiring excerpt from How to be Lovely: The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life (Melissa Hellstern) to read before you click and buy. Some other books on the subject: The Penguin Book of Etiquette: The Complete Australian Guide to Modern Manners (Marion Von Adlerstein); Manners (Kate Spade); Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behaviour, Freshly Updated (Judith Martin).

Next time on Sit Like A Lady, I’ll tackle the extremely important subject of CLOTHES!

(Left) Wenda Rogerson, Vogue 1951. Ph: Norman Parkinson. (Right) Audrey Hepburn. Ph: unknown.*Please note I do not advocate their mean-spirited behaviour!

The Extraordinary Evolution of a Couturier

Today I started off writing quite a serious dissertation about the frivolous (or not) obsession with fashion today’s society has… but then I realised that was hardly a fair introduction to a master of lightness and joie de vivre.

Yves Saint Laurent was a man who loved to create beautiful garments, and you will see this nowhere so well as in the two documentaries Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times, and 5 Avenue Marceau.

The first biographical film is a capsule of his career, beginning with his astonishing debut and following his meteoric rise to becoming one of last century’s most influential couturiers. It is not just a film about fashion, but really a historical document, featuring extensive interviews with the designer.

But for me, 5 Avenue Marceau was truly an ode to the beauty of fashion and the passion that goes into its creation. It opens with the intimate scene of a fitting with Catherine Deneuve which I found fascinating (including an amusing conversation about the disgusting habits of foxes and murder most fowl); but what comes after is even more so.

To say that the film is a behind-the-scene glimpse of the creation of Saint Laurent’s final spring line is to belittle the intimate view we are privileged to. We are witness to an extraordinary evolution, from fashion sketch to finished garment. Saint Laurent collaborates closely with his staff, whom we see cutting and sewing, before fitting models whom they bring before ‘monsieur’ to parade the toiles to be critiqued; for final fabrics and accessories to be chosen. He is always gracious whether offering fairly considered criticism or unstinting praise, and it is obvious how highly his staff respect him. I only wish there had been more footage of the final runway show.

Kenneth Turan, of the Los Angeles Times said, “A timeless portrait of an artist at work… A celebration of human endeavour.” I couldn’t have put it better myself.

Buy the DVD here.