Savoir Faire Italian Style

Only half way through winter and design houses and Savoir Faire are already thinking of what we are going to wear in Spring/Summer 2011? I know it seems a bit pre-mature for this, but hey we need something to keep our minds off the snow that is starting to accumulate outside! I am always impressed by the Italian's innate sense of style and their designers. One that always manages to impress is Bottega Veneta.

Now, I am not some young 20 year old, however there are certain elements from the 2011 Spring/Summer Collection which I would wear. Thomas Maier for Bottega Venata is taking us on a summer holiday filled with mixes of hyper casual and semi formal in outfits in a monochrome colour pallet.

The emphasis here is on a fine balance between technicality and refined technique mixed the ease and movement of athletic wear.

The ease of movement behind these super smart casual suits does not betray the fabulous tailoring that is lurking beyond those seams. They are classic and would suit any man who wears his clothes with confidence.

Even these are short shorts, the styling is brilliant, in a Indiana Jones meets Tarzan sort of way.

Although colours border on shades you might find in camouflage wear, they are just right when presented as a whole.

Definitely something to translate into our everyday style!

A rose is a rose is a rose

“What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;”

(Romeo & Juliet Act II, Scene II)

For most the rose is a symbol of romantic love, however to the designers of these modern day posters for various Shakespeare plays, more than romance is implied.

During Shakespeare’s time the rose took on a number of other associations, representative of both the divine and the profane. The image of the rose was used in both religious and secular contexts to represent a multiplicity of different images and settings, to invoke a variety of intellectual and emotional responses from those who encountered it, and ultimately, to mediate between the human and the divine.

The images below illustrate this perfectly. The roses depicted here are charged with emotion and passion. Some fearfully laden with doom and violence, they hint at the unknown.

Of course it could be a given for illustrating Romeo and Juliet with the image, but Hamlet? This is a masterstroke! To me not only death is implied but the long lost friendship which has been cruelly taken away from our young prince.

Henry IV clutching a rose in place of a crown! Symbolism is high here, with the play taking place during the War of the Roses. The rose takes on the symbol of victory in place of a crown. However, the victory is not all sweet, but painful as well with the blood trickling down the palm of the hand.

The Polish poster for Love’s Labour’s lost hints at the bitter twist at the end of the play which was unusual for Shakespeare. The rose again is prominent again symbolising both love and death

So shall we believe Gertrude Stein when she so candidly writes “A rose is a rose is a rose”?

Looking to the Future

Over the last couple of years Parfums Piguet have been riding high on the re launch of some of the most iconic fragrances of the late couturier’s repartee, most notably the fabulous Fracas and Bandit of the late 1940’s.


Piguet opened couture house in Paris, 1933 with Pierre Balmain, Christian Dior, and Hubert de Givenchy all studying under his tutelage. He enlisted the noses of Germaine Cellier and Francis Fabron in the creation of his singular fragrances such as Fracas, stunning and as original as his gowns...

So at the start of the New Year let’s look to the future with the latest relaunch from Piguet in the signature black bottle, Futur!

The signature black bottle just reeks of refined simplicity, elegance and savoir faire!

When Futur by Robert Piguet was originally launched ca.1967 Monsieur Piguet had been dearly departed for 14 years and the couture house had closed its doors for an even longer period of time. Once a couturier was dead a sure fire money spinner is the production of perfume relying on the name alone to sell.

At it’s launch Futur was heralding in the space age as envisaged by Cardin and Courreges. The closely cropped bobbed hair and the enormous water drop earring are heralding this new age. Twiggy was a feminine ideal then and so the model resembles her. Futur in order to make sense to a young audience in 1967 needed to borrow from the signs that felt relevant and especially, current, especially since coming from a closed couture house.

Not exactly knowing how long the original was around for, Piguet have updated the image to be more concurrent with this day and age with out much reference to the future as previously imagined. If anything it has extreme fetish undertones which maybe what Piguet sees of the future.

Who knows what the Future holds?

Naive Savoir Faire at Dinner!

I hope that All Savoir Faires had a wonderful New Year and that 2011 will be filled with much happiness.

After a very relaxing week away filled with perfect weather we are back to the grind tomorrow!

Even though Cunard had touted themselves as "the Only Way to Cross" the Atlantic by liner in the late 60's, Savoir Faire knows that the only way to cross was via the French Line. With their paqueboats deluxe if you wanted a bit of French joie de vie and savour faire then this was the way to go. The dining rooms on all the French Line Liners were continuously rated as being the best French Restaurants in the world. So when you put superb food and superb illustrators together you get a savour faire match made in heaven!

One particular illustrator who had a long and prolific association with the French Line was Jean-Adrien Mercier. A graduate Fine Arts student Mercier had a very popular career designing movie posters during the 1920's and 1930's, with his work being recognized by Contreau, by becoming artistic director for the company. In the late 1930's he began illustrating children's stories which no doubt influenced his work for the French Line.

One particular series of menus that were used on liners as diverse as the Liberte, Ile de France and the France, featured illustrations of well known folk songs or nursery rhymes with the actual music and songs lyrics printed on the back of the menu. So much did the French Line think of Mercier's work, was that they still used his essentially classic and naive designs on the the ultra modern almost space age France of 1962.

Primarily in watercolours, his illustrations are populated with fairytale figures in various scenarios, which are romantic and melancholy at the same time. He manipulates colour and technique for a highly recognizable style, that is evocative of illustrations of the early 19th century. Usually watercolours can be bland and insipid, however those of Mercier are outstanding in their depth and also transparency.

These are menu covers and illustrations that you would not expect to find in some of the finest French Restaurants in the world, being perused over by the wealthy of the day. This is what makes them special. One would expect a fantastic art deco or modernist design in keeping with French line Aesthetics, however we get rather fun naive illustrations perhaps reminding our sophisticates of a lost childhood.

Off to Sunny Mexico

Well Savoir Faires, I hope that all had a wonderful Christmas! We will be incommunicado for a week or so as we are headed for some R&R in sunny Puerta Vallarta in Mexico! First time so looking forward to it immensely! I hope that all have a wonderful New Year and we will see you in 2011!

Christmas Kisses from Fauchon!

A very good friend of mine here in Toronto, knows all my weaknesses. Having just returned from Paris, she gave me for Christmas a little tin of Fauchon Pralines. I have an incredible weakness for chocolate and Fauchon!

With fabulous window displays and food it is one of my first stops whenever going to Paris. Here I am sealing Christmas with lots of kisses from Fauchon! These lips are fabulous, and I love the creative force behind them. The signature shocking pink is one of my favourite colours!

Have a wonderful Christmas all, and a big thank you to all my followers. May the season bring to you all that is dear to your heart!

Oh Christmas Tree!

There has been a lot of press lately on the extravagance of the Christmas tree erected in the lobby of the Emirates Palace Hotel in Dubai. Valued at just over 11 million dollars it is being touted as the “most expensive Christmas tree ever”.

The 13-metre (40-foot) faux evergreen, located in the gold leaf-bedecked rotunda of the hotel, is decorated with silver and gold bows, ball-shaped ornaments and small white lights. However it is the necklaces, earrings and other jewellery draped around the tree's branches are what give it a record value.

However our Christmas trees do not have to be such extravagant affairs to have a bit of savoir faire. I like the ones below, which are a bit cheaper, being vintage ads. Hung collectively in the shape of a Christmas tree on a wall would be a great idea! (and cheaper).