Put Your Best Face Forward

Lately with all the hype over designers collaborating with clothing retailers for capsule collections for the so called masses (think Versace for H&M), one also thinks of other collaborations that have taken place especially where cosmetics are concerned.

We have those designers who have refused to collaborate at all for the fear that it might cheapen their image. On the other hand others have partnered up with every fashion-related endeavor under the sun. Some fashion stalwarts have taken an out of the box approach to their collaborations, bringing some designer cachet to our faces instead. It seems a natural step for some designers who want to achieve a total look.

With his original 2005 Estée Lauder collaboration, Tom Ford kicked off a small wave of designer-beauty brand partnerships. Tom Ford for Estée Lauder was short-lived, however, and intentionally so — the beauty giant turned the collection into a permanent, standalone Tom Ford beauty line in 2006.

Gareth Pugh, the fashion-forward Lady Gaga designer favorite, admits that even he uses MAC Cosmetics, so a partnership with the beauty brand seems natural. Pugh’s dark and stormy aesthetic has been translated into an array of dark pigments and angular packaging. The limited-edition line will be available from November 23 to December 23.

Okay, so Lagerfeld actually collaborates extensively, but his latest endeavor is too good to leave off this list. The designer’s new line for Sephora includes an eye palette and nail polish, and totally inexplicably, a Karl lookalike doll. Unfortunately for those of you in the Americas the range is only available at physical outposts of Sephora in Europe and Singapore.

The up-and-coming designer and CFDA award-winner Chris Benz has yet to dip a toe into the world of fast fashion. However, he’s already partnered twice with the venerable Parisian beauty brand Lancôme, first on a single lipstick and then on a complete beauty product-filled summer tote.

From a Paris couture house long-celebrated for its romantic use of pattern and colour, to the modern evolution of Ungaro today, this was an interesting debut. Live from backstage at the Fall 2008 collections, Ungaro designer Esteban Cortazar, and MAC came together to create a special colour collection as dreamy, refined, and, well, Parisienne as anything this side of the Avenue Georges Cinq.

Back in 2007 McQueen created a Cleopatra-inspired look featuring bold, beautiful blue and green shades for MAC. “Alexander McQueen was very specific about the makeup direction and I translated his ideas of Egyptian, graphic, bold colored makeup into a look that was strong yet hypnotic;” said Charlotte Tilbury, the key makeup artist for McQueen.

So if you missed out on lining up for the likes of Missoni, Versace and others for fast fashion at the crack of dawn, a little bit of designer glam for your face will go a long way and a much easier alternative.

Winter Woollies

I have always been a fan of knitwear. Having grown up with the Martha Stewart of Australia as a mother, I couldn’t help but love it. Jumpers, scarves, gloves you name it I love it. With the colder weather now here, it is the time to bring out the knitwear.

When I was younger I could show my talented mother any of these and say "please" and a couple of days or weeks later I would have an exact replica. I am forever indebted to her for keeping me supplied in fabulous knitwear.

Now I must say men's knitwear has come a long way in the last 30 years pr so. I love big bulky avant-garde styles, which unfortunately do not suit my rather small frame (and age). However if I was 20 something with model good looks I would definitely be saying please to my mother and donning some of these pieces!

Stay warm!

Braces or Suspenders????

If there is one look for men that I haven’t really got behind, is that of wearing braces or suspenders.

For a start what do you really call these things? Call them braces and I immediately think of teeth. Call them suspenders and I think of women’s stockings. One reason why they might be called suspenders is that sometimes they do look like they are suspended in space. So for an article of adornment that has no definitive name the problems are already mounting up.

Trying to find images of an actual man looking good in them was like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. So we are already fighting a losing battle.

Primarily used to hold one’s trousers, pants, slacks or jeans up (which some of our youth today could use) I kind of have the feeling that they look a bit ridiculous. This is why trousers etc. have belt loops. We don’t really need the added pressure of trying to make suspenders or braces look good.

You cross a fine line if wearing suspenders or braces that you don’t look like someone’s grandfather, a Clockwork Orange wannabe or worse a hillbilly.

The social connotations of young men wearing them with close cropped hair is not a good one. Adopted by right wing politically motivated youth a political statement is being made. Do we really want to portray this sort of look?

Middle aged men wearing them and thinking that they a fashionably forward or quirky, seems a bit wrong as well. Picture Larry King here, it is a bit creepy.

Over time designers have valiantly tried to make them look good. We have had chains from dsquared and various other adaptions that basically do not work.

Oh, I do admit that they occasionally look ok, however for classic savoir faire do not go there!

Chez Lanvin par Rateau

Many of us I am sure (being the voyeurs that we are) have always wanted to know, how some of

the most famous designers and personalities of history lived at home? We have seen their ‘public’ side however one always wants to know what were they like at home? For some there was very little distinction between home and ‘work’ so to speak. Such was the case with Jeanne Lanvin.

A lot of us who have been fortunate enough to have travelled to Paris no doubt have visited the
Musée des Arts Décoratifs. When Lanvin’s original residence was taken down in 1965, the complete decoration and furniture of the boudoir, bedroom and bathroom was saved and given to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs where the spaces have been recreated.

The interiors decorated by Armand-Albert Rateau in the 1920s are a lavishly Art Deco styled heaven and oasis of femininity.

Rateau also designed Lanvin’s fashion house and managed the Lanvin-Décoration department of interior design (established 1920) in the main store on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

He also designed the Lanvin spherical La Boule perfume flaçon for Arpège about 1925–34.

Lanvin was one of the first along with Poiret in capitalizing on the whole "lifestyle look”.
Living by example Lanvin used Rateau to decorate her private residence.

The interior design of her private quarters although classed as Art Deco, is quite removed from what we know today as quintessential Art deco. With hues of cornflower blue, known at the time as ‘Lanvin Blue’ and some remarkable bronze furniture, the interior was were more refined and individual than the current trends.

Lanvin blue was the basis for her bedroom in a monochromatic color scheme, and it achieves a striking yet reserved effect. The white-silk-embroidered fabric used on the walls, draperies
and bedding was made by the same seamstresses that embellished her robes de style, and add a sense of cohesion to the room.

The living room was decorated in a similar vein, which gave the whole apartment of cohesion.

The bathroom in stark contrast is something that could have been a relic from ancient Rome. The chic mixture of black and white tiles on the floor in a mosaic pattern is quintessential art deco. Again the fixtures were designed by Rateau, with accessories also including the spherical Arpege bottle.

Rateau's specialty was the creation of luxurious objects using a deliberately restricted but striking mix of materials which was influenced by disparate sources such as, the Wierner Werkstaette in Austria and the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy.

These preserved interiors not only give us a glimpse into the private world of one of the great couturiers of the twentieth century. Although some may argue that these interiors may not be
as refined and elegant than say the private apartments of Chanel, I tend to disagree. Whereas Chanel was trying hard to forge an identity for herself, Lanvin had already found hers.

Regretting Coupland

You know I am kicking myself now that I did not pick up anything from the Douglas Coupland collection for Canadian Clothing Retailer Roots last year.

Coupland is a Canadian novelist whose fiction is complemented by recognized works in design and visual art arising from his early formal training. I like the concept that originally a visual artist Coupland would do the cover art for his novels. I would think that nobody would
be best to illustrate a novel than the author themselves.

A concept collection for Roots last year featured iconic Canadian images re-worked using Coupland’s trademark style of bright colours and simplification. A common theme in his work is a curiosity with the corrupting and seductive dimensions of pop culture and 20th century pop art, especially that of Andy Warhol. Another recurring theme is military imagery, the result of growing up in a military family at the height of the Cold War.

Liking the style maybe I can whip up something myself?

Savoir Faire has Returned!

Well Savoir Faire's one is back from my whirlwind trip home to Australia. It was all too quick, however a few of the highlights follow.

A walk in the country to catch the wonderful flora that abounds in Australia.

A family wedding that was exactly the way the happy couple wanted it.

Of course you could not have gone wrong with a reception held at a winery!

A pause to remember our war heroes on November 11th.

Guerilla knitting Sydney Style.

Unfortunately a day early for the exhibition of the decade!

And lastly a favourite statue on a perfect Sydney day!

Heading Off!

Many of Savoir Faire’s followers are aware that I grew up in Australia in a very small country town in the middle of nowhere. A small village of 1500 people nestled in rolling countryside with a strong historical past.

The town is a virtual time capsule which attracts tourists (luckily not too many), wine lovers (great vineyards in the area), historians, artists and just the curious. The main basis of the town as we know it today was the fact that gold was discovered in 1870, and at one time the town boasted a population of over 20,000. The gold petered out, the people left and the town settled down to become a farming community based on sheep and wheat.

Another claim to fame of the town was that it was the home for a time of one of Australia’s noted authors, Henry Lawson. Images of the town during the gold rush and Lawson were featured for many years on the Australian $10 bill. This has led to the dubious distinction of being known as the Ten Dollar Town.

Not much in the town has changed thanks to a very strict conversation policy which has preserved many of the town’s older buildings including the 5 pubs that cater to the small population. Walking down the main street is like going back in time.

Wonderful colonial Australian architecture still abounds and it is still a pleasure to go and admire the details and spend some time under these cool verandahs in summer, when the temperature can be over 100.
The town even boasts an Opera House called the Prince of Wales Opera House.

Mind you growing up in the middle of nowhere is not easy for teenagers, and one could not wait to escape the confines of the town and head for the big smoke and bright lights of Sydney.

Now the tide has turned and one always looks forward to visiting one’s home town, which Savoir Faire will be doing on Saturday. After a marathon flight from Toronto, via Shanghai to Sydney, Savoir Faire then boards a train, and then changes to a bus, to then be met by one’s mother at the old railway station and then home!

The purpose of the trip mainly being to attend the wedding of one of my nieces. This particular niece’s fiancé, proposed to her on top of the Rockefeller Centre in New York last year one evening while they were on vacation. How romantic and full of style is that?

So Savoir Faires for the next two weeks I will be incommunicado enjoying the relaxation of home!