Savoir Faire New York Men's Colelctions Review

While the Paris collections for men are almost conceptual in their approach, with just minor elements filtering down to the man in the street, the New York collections could go straight from the runway onto the street. These are no fuss designs relying heavily on classic cuts, and colour to give them the edge. We see new interpretations of where colour and pattern can be used and I am all for it. All too often the man in the street is not very adventurous where colour or pattern is concerned, just sticking to those tried and true combinations that we feel comfortable with, so as to avoid any sort of fashion crime or looking like a clown.

Michael Bastion showed wonderful clothes with subtle elongated lines and deep necklines, that should I dare say it looked very slimming. The high cut waists (so unusual on the street these days) and narrow shoulders I thought very versatile. The colour palette used great combinations of darker heavy outer layers with pops of colour underneath. We also saw from Bastion nice subtle interpretations of everyday classics, however not everyone can pull off the shorter trouser, as you definitely need the right shoe.

Monarchy presented a definite preppy look which I adored.

Philip Lim did what he did best with wonderfully tailored shorts and jackets, which are classics. I have a pair of Lim shorts bought several years ago and they look just as fresh now as what they did then.

Y3 while more conceptual than others showing still presented a very wearable collection for the young hipster around town, with lots of bright colours and fairly unstructured jackets.

Classic stripes with a nautical feel prevailed at Lacoste for supremely elegant and breezy resort wear.

However two collections which won hands down for me were those of Tommy Hilfiger and Perry Ellis. I am not usually a fan of either, however just love both of these, for the wonderful colours and pattern combinations.

Perry Ellis’ wonderful coral striped sweater and coral shirt are winners for me.

And really who can go past Hilfiger’s wonderful pastels and combination of pattern? Looks like plaid ties are going to be the big hit!

Savoir Faire in the Underworld

I have always been intrigued by the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice with the Jean Cocteau film Orphee being one of my all time favourite movies. Full of symbols of deep love, death, mortality, trust and loyalty the film is a visual masterpiece. Although the legends of Orpheus extend way beyond that of Orpheus and Eurydice this is the legend that has garnered more attention than his other exploits. Orpheus and the underworld has been portrayed by many artists, moviemakers and musicians, however I think none did it better than Cocteau and maybe some of the Pre-Raphaelite artists.

We are all familiar with Orpheus’ journey to the underworld to rescue his beloved wife Eurydice on the advice of the nymphs and his subsequent disastrous return

Cocteau with his usual savoir faire updated the legend and set it in modern contemporary times taking liberty with original story to create an incredibly moving and thought provoking piece of cinema. This has now become a classic.

Imagery abounded, for example the underworld’s messengers being portrayed as two motorcyclists with rather menacing attitudes.

Another interpretation of the legend was Portland Opera’s production of Philip Glass’ Orphee. Philip Glass one of the most renowned and often produced composer of modern times, carefully follows the script of Cocteau’s masterpiece to produce an intriguing work. Although not ranking in the same league as Cocteau’s I definitely give it an honourable mention.

The Portland Opera like Cocteau sets this in contemporary times so that the audience can relate better to the situation and may at least feel some sort of empathy for the characters. Placing it in a modern day setting we tend not to think of the ancient origins of the story.

This is an incredibly stylish production that creates parallel universes with the use of mirrors and transparent borders through which the main characters can travel to and from the underworld.

As in the Cocteau production death is represented by La Princesse. Cocteau had her elegantly attired in black, while the Portland Opera has costumed her in white fur, maybe to make her more appealing to our protagonist.

New love may have its passion; however married love brings adds whole new dimension to the passion, so that two almost become a single being, with partners sometimes going to extraordinary lengths to stay together as Orpheus has shown us.

Savoir Faire avec les Parfums Worth

With inspiration coming from my last post on the House of Worth, I have been tempted to take maybe a little bit of artistic licence with this one and have done a bit of a relaunch of my own.

As mentioned Worth are poised to relaunch their classic Je Reviens fragrance. This has long been one of my all time favourites and I have worn it for years. Unfortunately with most classic perfumes the current edition available is just a shadow of its former self. So let us hope that Worth gets it right this time.

While doing a bit of research for the Worth post I came across an interesting story of previous perfumes launched in the 1920’s through to the 1930’s including Je Reviens. With the names of 5 perfumes Worth created a little hidden poem on love.

Dans La Nuit (1924) in the night

Vers Le Jour (1925) towards the day

Sans Adieu (1929) without bidding farewell

Je Reviens (1932) I will return

Vers Toi (1934) to you

Given this I was wondering how to illustrate this poem and have taken a few liberties of drawing images from Helmut Newton and various other sources to do this. Mind you my interpretation is a little darker than what Worth might have had in mind; however I am happy with the result. I did have a little trouble sticking to just one image for each perfume, as you can see.

Dans La Nuit

Vers le Jour

Sans Adieu

Je Reviens

Vers Toi

Worth a Second Look!

It is very significant that the name of the House of Worth’s premier perfume was “Je Reviens”, literally meaning “I Shall Return”.

Credited with being the father of Haute Couture, Charles Frederick Worth was an Englishman who set up shop in Paris in 1858, eventually closing in 1956 just shy of its centenary. Many of the things we take for granted these days were formulated by Worth. He is credited as the first designer to put labels onto the clothing he manufactured. He can also be credited with creating the fashion parade being the first to show his creations four times a year in parades. He completely revolutionized the business of dressmaking and formed the basis of what is the industry today.

With fashion week in Paris a couple of months ago, there was a resounding buzz of anticipation of the return of Worth under the helm of creative director Giovanni Bedin. Lying dormant and mothballed for decades and with basically a paired down perfume business, keeping the name active, is this the ultimate comeback for the house which invented Haute Couture? The house is even returning to their original address in Paris on the Fauborg St Honore.

Bedin originally trained with Thierry Mugler and Lagerfeld, presented a tiny collection (by today’s standards) of just 8 ensembles! Bedin presented two looks, both with tiny waists, stiff collars and hourglass shapes that evoke high Victorian femininity. All created out of fine silk brocades intricately woven with embroidery and embellished with gravity defying ruffles. Bedin says he “wanted to emphasize the essential—which, to Monsieur Worth, was always l’élégance.”

The show being very intimate and elegant gave the audience a chance to get up close and personal with the designs and a chance to appreciate the fabulous detail, which is not possible at a full blown runway show. The tailoring was magnificent recalling the Victorian shapes that would have been prevalent in Worth’s heyday.

Whether this is in tune with the modern woman of today who might not want to feel so constricted we shall have to wait and see. A prêt – a –porter line is rumored to be launched in November, so it will be interesting to see how this high couture look is going to be translated into ready to wear.

Je Reviens is also due to be relaunched, so upon the return, the question is will the modern day woman embrace this return. Maybe something that will help persuade her, is if Lady Gaga beacme a client?