Schiaparelli Savoir Faire

You could always tell a woman who was dressed by Schiaparelli. Her clients were women who were assured of themselves and ever so confident. If you wanted people to talk you wore Schiaparelli. The originality of her couture translated well into the period before the World War II. The depression had ended and people were optimistic about the future and thus willing to undertake a few risks when dressing.

Of course there were strong surrealistic undertones at Schiaparelli however I believe a good many of her ideas were just pure fantasy. If you couldn’t afford Schiaparelli with a few clever innovations and the right accessories, you could give the appearance that you did. Even after the couture salons closed in the early 50’s accessories were still being produced, which could give you the Schiaparelli edge.

Newspaper printed silk was used for dresses and scarves, and who but Schiaparelli would make sure that the articles represented were about herself!

Buttons were never conventional, every shape and figure from acrobats, butterflies and stars cascaded down jackets and coats.

Flies and cockroaches adorned plexi-glass jewellery.

Golden pine cones hung from a velvet collar around your neck.

Perfumes and cosmetics were lavish in their presentations and tongue in cheek humour.

Love the powder compact designed by Dali in the shape of a telephone dial, just the thing to put in your purse shaped like a bucket.

We are all aware of the famous shoe hat which was surrealistic however shoes in the 60’s were more conventional. No matter what the style they still oozed glamour.

Eye glasses also played a part in the Schiaparelli look, going from fantastic frames with exaggerated eyelashes attached to highly decorated frames in the 50’s.

Continuing the theme of incorporating body parts on accessories, the below gloves with fingernails (in Shocking Pink) of course created a furore.

And to top it all off the stunning cuff below, is enough to make all swoon in admiration.