Mad about the Girls

All too often in the world of Haute Couture names come and go. Some are revered as gods to the craft while others sink into oblivion only to come alive in museum retrospectives or on blogs like mine.

Mad Carpentier is one such name. The brainchild of two of Vionnet’s employees (who was talking of retirement in 1939) the house was created in 1940 by Mad Maltezos and Suzie Carpentier. With the advent of war and the subsequent occupation, this was extremely risky. However, with the void that was left with Vionnet’s closing, the business prospered.

These two women represented the continual evolution of Vionnet’s style and ensured its survival. Through the war years there was a certain mystique of these women as Mary Brooks Picken and Dora Loues Miller, authors of Dressmakers of France: The Who, How, and Why of the French Couture (New York, 1956) passionately enthused, "When it was almost impossible to think of luxury, of the richness of colors, of the beauty of fabrics, in a city without joy and without light…these two talented women carried on.”

The Vionnet style still continued and was sustained however two new distinct directions totally autonomous from this style were pursued. Mad Carpentier created incredibly beautiful evening dresses of extraordinary historical fantasy that were pre-runners to Dior’s new look of 1947. These gowns did not achieve the same flamboyant success of Fath and Dior because the Mad Carpentier gowns are too redolent of the past and failed to capture the spirit of the "new" necessary to the marketing and imagination of the postwar era

The other direction taken and perhaps the lasting legacy of the house were the remarkable coats for both day and evening wear. In all manner of shapes, silhouettes and textures these became virtually the hallmark of the house and were widely copied everywhere rivaling the sway that Balenciaga had achieved.

Women's Wear Daily (14 April 1948) commented, "the firm has gone its quiet way, and now ranks as a house for clothes of distinctive character rather than one taking an active or publicized role in the general development of the Paris couture. Carpentier clothes have the handmade air of Vionnet, but do not always follow the bias technique of that school of dressmaking."

Closing in 1957 Mad Carpentier turned out to be a house of traditional clothes bordering on the genteel, however offset by sensational coats. Its understated, highly proper sensibility was at odds with advanced and aggressive postwar fashion and only in the exuberance of its sculptural coats did the imagination and reputation soar.

A Cardin Summer

Serious fashionistas tend to write off Pierre Cardin these days as being passé, or just not with it. What impresses me most about Cardin when it comes to fashion is his constant refinement of his style repartee. While sure this might no be everyone’s style, I think that he can still hold his own while designing for a particular niche of client (which everyone else does). It takes a certain woman to wear Cardin.

Critics labelled his latest at Paris fashion week as disjointed and a disaster. I on the other hand believe that the clothes were instantly wearable and Cardinesque. What do you think?

Spring Savoir Faire at David Jones

Combine millions of flowers and Sydney’s premier department store and you have a virtual Garden of Eden. Full of riotous colour and temptation this is a paradise for the flower lover and shopper alike.

For 25 years David Jones, Sydney’s iconic department store has ran their annual flower show in Sydney. Heralding the beginning of spring down under in the antipodes, flower lovers flock in the droves like bees to pollen to experience this over the top flower display. Comprising of upwards of 350,000 flowers plants and foliage, floral displays are cleverly mixed with merchandise to tempt shoppers to touch smell and even buy.

Behind the scenes of this public display is almost 12 months of continual organisation, culminating in a very long night after the store closes at 5.30, to bring the concept to fruition on the opening day. Store windows and retail space comes alive, like magic, in the few hours before opening next day.

Different themes each year have Sydneysiders on edge wondering how DJ’s can top the previous year. One year a complete window was transformed with 1000’s of live butterflies. Windows take on the personas of tropical rainforests or desert landscapes depending on the whim of the floral designers.

The prospective fashions for the coming season are checked to ensure that the theme will complement them. It is after this aspect is clarified that the first meeting with the florist takes place, and the theme is presented to them, with a brief of how it is envisaged the Flower Show should look. This year is distinctly different from last year, which was very contemporary, using very bright vivid colours. The brief for each flower show is a challenge, trying to come up with an idea that is completely different from any done before.

There is a team of florists who come in to water every day at 6.00 am before the store opens and also to replace all of the spent blooms because the air conditioning and lighting causes the flowers to perish more quickly than in more natural conditions.

So if you are down under in September a little foray into DJ’s would not go astray. Maybe like Adam or Eve you will be tempted in one way or another.

*Images courtesy of Bluemountaindaisy

The Monday Blues!

Blue and white that is! As most of you know I just love blue and white together! How could you go wrong with colours that nature has given us with blue sky and white clouds! It is a natural pairing.

Bring these colours indoors to decorate with blue and white and you have a natural winner full of savoir faire!

I just love the solid blocks of blue with the white accents in the rooms below. This is dramatic and understated at the same time. Overwhelming to some, they appear elegant and sophisticated without the appearance of being overdone and too contrived.

Change it around and have white as the dominant colour with accents of blue and you enter a totally different world of cool elegance and summer afternoons. These are light and breezy interiors that I am sure come evening take on a nice relaxed edge with just a hint of coziness!

The Urns of Caron

Any perfumenista or lover of glass stepping over the threshold of the Caron Boutiques in either Paris or New York, could be forgiven for thinking that they have died and gone to heaven! Upon entering one is met by the fabled urns of Caron!


Caron that veritable Haute Parfumerie of Paris whose very name conjures up a world of luxury and savoir faire, is one of the few traditional style perfume houses still left. Founded in 1904 by Ernest Daltroff, Parfums Caron has a rich heritage in perfumery and is still considered a true fragrance house, a distinction very few companies hold. Caron is one of the great Paris houses to still remain entirely devoted to fragrance and one of the last perfume houses to still have an in-house 'nose' (Monsieur Fraysse).


Upon entering the boutiques one is met by towering Baccarat crystal urns of Napoleonic proportions filled with pure perfume. Yes it is a bit over the top, however for an hour or so you are in another world! Within these urns Caron have preserved some of their most famous and finest perfumes, to create an n olfactory and visual feast. Customers can choose between 12 of the perfumes and fill a bottle via a little brass tap. One can choose from a variety of bottles etc to fill and after filled it is loving tied and sealed with gold cord. Although not offering a bespoke service some customers have been known to mix perfumes under the watchful eye of a consultant.

With names like Tabac Blond, En Avion, Farnesiana, Alponia, Narcisse Blanc and N’aimez que moi, any visitor is whisked away to another world of luxury and savoir faire!