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Farewell Yves Saint Laurent


Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent (1936 - 2008)



“Fashions fade, style is eternal.”Yves Saint Laurent

Peerless Fashion and Design connoisseur Yves Saint Laurent departed the catwalk of life this week from paris. The industry, those that wore his clothes and admirers are still coming to grips with the news of his passing at 71 years old.

“Haute couture implies precision in lines.. Haute couture consists of secrets whispered from generation to generation, ... If, in ready-to-wear, a garment is manufactured according to standard sizes, the haute couture garment adapts to any imperfection in order to eliminate it.”Yves Saint Laurent

Yves saint Laurent fashion
Yves Saint Laurent and friends



Instrumental in shaping 20th century fashion, awarded with every accolade that can be awarded in his field and becoming a influence n the way we look at the world and dress in it.

“I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity - all I hope for in my clothes.”Yves saint Laurent

Yves saint Laurent safari
Yves Saint Laurent on Safari


Born in Algeria in 1936 Laurent inherited his eye from his mother and at 17 years of age was lucky enough to start his career under the tutorage of Christian Dior. Combine that with his fragrance lessons from Lady Chanel and you have the foundation for exquisite taste.

Conscripted into the military Yves ended up in a mental institution as a result of bullying from fellow soldiers.

He was a fragile man whose gift was to be able to project beauty onto others. The famed YSL brand came to be in 1962 and ever since he has captured the essence of individual style and eclectic elegance.
“Isn't elegance forgetting what one is wearing?”Yves Saint Laurent

An apt way to end this brief salute is the Times Online.co.uk list of “Seven looks that epitomise the man’s genius” well worth reading, my top 3 personal highlights are:

Belle de Jour (1967)
Safari (1966)
Le Smoking (1966)

Yves Saint Lauren R.I.P.


Yves saint Laurent smoking
YSL Le Smoking

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A whole new genre

October 2nd 2007 10:20
Galliano's last catwalk show for his own label was brash brazen bordehlo but this season for Dior he's shifted from the door-jambs of Paris to the silver-screens of Hollywood, invoking screen sirens and sirs across eras, genders and genres.

Galliano leopard print dress
All images from Style.com

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A Portrait of Pedro and Penelope

August 26th 2007 01:42
Pedro and Penelope
"Smile for the camera!"


What do Pedro Almodovar, Penelope Cruz and camera have in common? Is it their Spanish blood? Perhaps yes for both Pedro and Penelope. But there's something else that some of you probably don't know yet, and that is their ability to create great movies! I know I pretty much gave the clue away when I mentioned the camera bit, but apparently there are still many who aren't aware of their brilliant collaboration in movies.
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J'adore Dior

July 20th 2007 08:20
I realise I’m running a little behind the couture shows but I am grasping the moment because, as the title indicates, my infatuation with Dior continues, exacerbated by Galliano’s recent designs for their couture show.

Couture is the aesthetic height of the fashion industry epitomising Oscar Wilde’s motto: “art for art’s sake”. Certainly some of the dresses are sold but couture is a millstone round the ankle of fashion houses as far as profit is concerned. The hours and effort spend to make each dress are Herculean, the expense of fabric and beading utterly Olympian (as in the Mount not the games


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New York Times does men in Milan

July 2nd 2007 10:21
As usual the New York Times summary of fashion week (this time men in Milan) is impeccable for those time poor and hungry for a fashion injection. So, to borrow their images and a bit of their sentiment here's my favourites of their favourites. (So derivative Alice... I know but didn't I just say I'm time poor?)

Salvatore Ferragamo Menswear Milan
From nytimes.com

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Daria Werbowy: Canadian Amazon

June 15th 2007 00:07
Daria Werbowy
From Dariawerbowy.org


Pictured here all fresh faced and delightful is Daria Werbowy of Canada. Werbowy, like Jessica Stam, passes my knee test (if the thigh is wider than the knee then the model is not sick) and not only that but she exhibits an intelligence one may not expect from models. Maybe she’s simply learned to feign intent with those blue eyes of hers, or perhaps I’m prejudiced because she’s brunette but I do think there’s something more in Werbowy’s brain than is usually held in the mind of a model


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In my habitual internet trawlings I came across quite a feat on the Prada website. Admittedly I didn’t much like this season’s collection but the means by which it is represented is a true cultural document. Prada demonstrates wit, self-reflexivity and pastiche in a way that many other ‘postmodernists’ should envy. As a European luxury brand, descended from a grand tradition to a commercial reality, Prada is a modern day icon but the self-representation offers an entirely new perspective on the brand.

Prada sunglasses
From Prada.com

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Gucci sucks

June 13th 2007 00:43
Just about anyone with any style steers clear of Gucci on the whole and their Autumn/Winter 07 collection only affirms that general principle. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Lily Donaldson in Gucci
From Gucci.com

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French, a singer and daughter of Serge, Charlotte Gainsbourg had to be gorgeous. Obviously inheriting more of her actress/model mother's (Jane Birkin of Hermes Birkin bag fame) looks than her brooding crooner dad. Recently she gained greater Australian exposure in The Science of Sleep, starring alongside Gael Garcia Bernaz as a Parisienne neighbour gradually drawn into a world of fantasy and phantasm. As you can see in this picture there was minimal attention paid to her hair and makeup, her wardrobe was dowdy and still she radiates beauty.

Charlotte Gainsbourg in the Science of Sleep
From MSN.com

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VivienneWestwood.com
From Viviennewestwood.com


After visiting the Victoria and Albert exhibition which travelled to the National Gallery in Canberra a few years ago, I’ve been obsessed with Vivienne Westwood. It’s not just that she’s sixty and has a beautiful thirty-year-old Italian lover, although that does impress me, and it’s not just that she’s been an inspiration for generations of fashionistas, mostly it’s because for Westwood, fashion is thought


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One of the most striking models of the contemporary brat pack is Jessica Stam, a statuesque Canadian who has the kind of natural physique required for catwalk shows. She is indeed long and slender but there is nothing painful about the proportions of her legs or the position of her clavicle. My general rule is that if the knee is wider than the thigh there’s a problem but Stam is in proportion as you can see from the Stella McCartney show.

Jessica Stam in McCartney
From Style.com

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Black is invariably the new black

June 5th 2007 23:49
Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy
From photobucket.com


Although Coco Chanel was really the first to bring the black dress into the everyday wardrobe of the modern woman, its place was indeed cemented with Hepburn’s appearance in Givenchy during Breakfast at Tiffany (see Sisi's post) last year for more on that dress


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Darling Natalie Portman

June 4th 2007 12:21
Recent Psychology graduate and general cutie-pie Natalie Portman has made the remarkable transition from child actor to adult star, in the non-pornographic sense, and astute style siren. With a particularly petite body and despite some onerous comparisons to Audrey Hepburn - no one needs that hanging over them - she has done rather well for herself.

Dramatically cropped Natalie Portman
From MSN.com

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Balenciaga, Vernacular Fashion

May 31st 2007 00:33
Gemma Ward Balenciaga
From Style.com
After using Balenciaga as an example in my white shirt post I remembered what a stand-out collection Nicolas Ghesquière produced for Fall 2007 collection and I was reminded by our very own (why are we so patriotic when it comes to beautiful people) Gemma Ward wearing Balenciaga at Cannes.

Balenciaga Dress
From Style.com

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