Daphne Guinness at FIT

Daphne Guinness doodles...
Daphne Guiness' collection is at Fashion Institute of Technology museum till January 7, 2012.
She was there in person last Thursday for the Fashion Icons conference...
Signing her book and sharing fashion tales...
If you missed the McQueen or even if you didn't, do stop in at FIT for more fashion drama and extravaganzas...

Seen sprinting through Leicester Square in his red kimono, McQueen yelled out,

"Och, that's my coat you're wearing"

The rest is fashion history...

The exhibition collection is divided into categories. 'Dandyism' reflects Guinness' 'absolute passion for men's clothes.'

Waistcoats, cumberbands, epaulets...

Military jackets galore..

'Sparkle' evokes Daphne's love for anything shiney

'Evening Chic' equals classic elegance. "I like structure...with a bit of chaos."

Wilde said,"One should either be a work of art or wear a work of art".

A plumed bird...

Valentino says he knows Daphne's been there because of the trails of feathers and beads left in her wake...

BONJOUR DAPHNE!

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty

Yesterday I went to the press preview for Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at the Met. WOWZA! The drama was mind-blowing. The best words are McQueen's own on the walls throughout.“There is no way back for me now. I am going to take you on journeys you’ve never dreamed were possible.” "I’m a romantic schizophrenic"

Costume Institute curator Anthony Boltan, reminded us of McQueen's favorite Shakespeare quote from Midsummer's Night Dream,
"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind..." Sarah Burton (Creative Director at McQueen and designer of Kate's wedding dress) told of 'Lee' coming in Monday morning with a pile of mussel shells he'd picked up on the beach on Sunday...
And making a shell bustier on the spot.

McQueen (of Scottish descent) created a 'Rape of Scotland' collection to express his political anger at England. He often showed up at events in tartan kilts.

There are McQueen tartan items in the gift shop. You don't have to be Scottish to wear them.

Stella McCartney studied with McQueen at St. Martins, on Savile Row. When they arrived together in Paris early days, Lee said,

"Come on Stell, let's start my empire!"

The idea of the sublime. An unfettered emotionalism-Primitivism -Naturalism-Exoticism

A not-to-be-missed exhibition at the Met

May 4 - July 31

McQueen's last Spring 2010 collection of digitally printed organic forms and patterns.

"It was an...unmissable formula...McQueen's message throughout was essentially sunk into the short dress—a steady development of his engineered sea-reptile prints, worked into a nipped-waist, belled-skirt silhouette. The colors—first green and brown, moving to aqua and blue—were exceptionally executed, swagged, and molded across panniered structures. Each dress was a work of computer-generated art crossbred with McQueen's couture-based signature cut." The Guardian

The catalog, Savage Beauty is just as sumptuous.

A McQueen acolyte arrives appropriately outfitted.

Don't miss SAVAGE BEAUTY!

Harvey Nichols London

I've been watching gritty British movies on Netflix of late. Have you ever seen Mike Hodges' Croupier or the gangster movie to top all gangster movies, Get Carter?

Not that either film has much to do with swanky Knightsbridge or Harvey Nichols, but they do get you in a British frame of mind.

I saved Harvey Nichols for last - it's one of the best department stores.

They don't get swankier.

It's like an art museum - you never know what to expect visually floor to floor. Even the escalators have surprises. 

The fashion floors.

Are par excellence-this Alexander McQueen dress says it all. 

The food halls.

Definitely glittering.

Cupcakes rule in London. 

Cupcakes in every imaginable kind of gift box.

And such gorgeous tea trays on offer! 

Loaded with Whoopie Pies!

Truly spectacular windows at Harvey Nichols. 

Knock-your-socks-off window displays. 

Rather unusual cups and saucers as only the British do them.

By the way, THANK YOU for all the cups and saucers you've sent me to paint, some even from Budapest! Thank you Chas for your Cafe Deux Magots cups. 

A big Thanks to Julie of the Provence Post for the shoutout about the cup/croissant watercolors. Do visit Julie, who spends half the year in Provence...quelle dommage

BONJOUR HARVEY NICHOLS!