Tracing the Origin of Fashion Trends.

One may wonder if it is possible to accurately forecast fashion trends of the future.  My opinion is that we can make an informed prediction.  Read a more extensive article here at Dresses and Hats.

November Vogue 2012 - Items of Interest.

In his Vogue essay Bidding Farewell relating a lifelong fondness for objects (and the journey through refining the collection) Hamish Bowles offers this example:  "I feel that I can confidently say that I may well have been the only nine-year-old in the country who knew what a calash was - let alone possessed one." (p.112.)

The calash is a good example of a phenomenon which occurs sometimes in fashion - that what we wear may mimic or borrow characteristics of other objects around us.  For example, the fifteenth century hennin - with its towering conical shape - mirrored the spires seen in architecture of the time.

In the case of the calash, or caleche, the ribbed bonnet that was worn to protect the elaborate and large hairstyles of the eighteenth century mimicked the collapsible canopies of carriages of that age, and also shared characteristics of the hoop or crinoline.

Coincidentally, the November 2012 Vogue also offers a very pretty Chanel ad featuring a model wearing a bonnet that quite resembles a calash.

Chanel advertisement with model wearing a calash-like bonnet.  November 2012 Vogue.

Grace Notes, the excerpt from Grace Coddington's memoir - is fun to read - recounting the Vogue Creative Director's genesis of a modeling career, at age eighteen.

Coddington's fashion anecdotes are sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant, and easy to relate to... as she reveals her innocence, creativity, and even self-consciousness adjusting to the world of modeling, travel, and dating.

For the record, we owe the mod look of drawn-on babydoll lashes to Coddington, who tells us models were responsible for styling themselves and providing an entire arsenal of cosmetics, wigs, falsies, and other props in the mid-twentieth century.

Thought this beautiful 1971 Norman Parkinson spread was great.  Thanks to its inclusion in the Grace Notes article, I was able to enjoy it. 

According to the caption the shot was styled by Coddington on location in the Seychelles.  It reminds me of the word "murmuration" - which is used to refer to a flock of starlings, although these birds seem to be gulls.

Norman Parkinson / Grace Coddington fashion photograph accompanying November Vogue 2012 Grace Coddington memoir excerpt Grace Notes.

And now - time for input from two of my favorite Toile La La employees, Fleur and Number One Good Luck Employee Cat - who have cast their vote for the best fashions in the November 2012 Vogue.

Fleur is my small-scale toile model who has appeared on the Art Fashion Creation header.

Fleur in her dotted pantdress / scooter suit toile. 

These Oscar de la Renta (left) and Celine (right) ensembles really suited her fancy.

Toile La La Fleur's Favorites of November Vogue 2012.  Oscar de la Renta at left, Celine at right.  From What to Wear Where:  Night Moves, photographed by Craig McDean, fashion editor - Alex White. Page 281.

Toile La La's Number One Good Luck Employee Cat.  Art Fashion Creation.

Number One's favorite fashion in the November Vogue is that of Marc Jacobs, photographed by Juergen Teller in this advertisement.  I'm pretty sure her selection was based on the fur hats and the full-body tabby-speckled look.

Marc Jacobs fur hats and tabby-pattern dresses in November Vogue 2012.

Marc Jacobs fur hats and tabby-pattern dresses in November Vogue 2012.

And in response to the International Fur Trade Federation's "We Are Fur" advertisement campaign, appearing in the first third of the magazine, Number One Good Luck Employee Cat responds:  "I am a pre-furred fur aficionado."

Toile La La Photo Shoot.

Good Luck Employee Cat getting the girls photo-ready.  Toile La La photo November 2012.

Taking a break before the photo shoot. Toile La La photo November 2012.

Feuille, the new model. Toile La La photo November 2012.

Number One Good Luck Employee, always stunning, expresses her impatience.  Toile La La 2012.

Coco the millinery model, Hattie mini-millinery model, Camellia Pincushion, Fleur - my small-scale toile model, Mimi in her La Mode Illustree apron, wee Bebe Bouton, and Feuille.

Fleur, sitting on my plaster lima bean, sculpted in college.  Toile La La 2012.

After directing the photo shoot, Good Luck Employee promptly steals my chair and indulges in more preening.  Toile La La 2012.

I Am A Color Sponge Wholly Absorbed by Ken Nordine.

Color beckons me. Not merely the look of colors, but their names too - reel me in.

Many years ago, driving to some now-forgotten destination, I heard - from Ken Nordine's Colors  Word Jazz album - the Green selection. 

In Green, Nordine's voice, the epitome of the phrase "cool as a cucumber", describes various shades of green - assigning them personalities. According to Nordine, "... green can be a problem... there's the green that should never have happened - the stupid green", but then - on the other hand, there's another green -  the one "to be seen with" . "We should spend the better part of our time - yours and mine - with a green like this," says Nordine about the green to be seen with.

Here's a link to a Jonathan Kaplan YouTube video word animation of Ken Nordine's Green.

Nordine's album includes what sounds like a whole coloring crayon box full of selections: olive, lavender, burgundy, yellow, green, beige, maroon, ecru, chartreuse, turquoise, white, flesh, azure, puce, magenta, orange, purple, muddy, russet, amber, blue, black, gold, crimson, brown, rosey, hazel, mauve, fuschia, sepia, nutria, cerise, grey, and coral.

Nutria was the only color that threw me for a loop. A nutria is an invasive rodent, so - as a color - it posed a challenge visually.

This Skip Heller article at Asphodel paints a nice picture of the making of Nordine's Colors album.

Fresh Tunes: Search for Sound Frequency.

Heavy bass, drums, dramatic cascades of sound... I hear those sounds and can't be still. For many years, music with a thumping good beat was part of daily life. I taught fitness classes and almost every night created exercise programs incorporating salsa, kickboxing, hip hop, and strength training - ending with a cool-down of pilates and yoga. The best part was that most clients were seniors and it was a wonderful surprise to learn that they were open to most forms of music - not just music of their youth.

Try to visualize your grandparents step-aerobicizing to the Gorillaz 19-2000 (" the cool shoeshine"), bouncing a gigantic ball Harlem Globetrotter-style to Led Zeppelin bron-y-aur stomp (bouncing started at approximately 24 seconds), or low-impact kickboxing to Fatboy Slim's remix of Pierre Henry's Psyche Rock. A class favorite was kickboxing to Afrika Bambaataa's Mind Control (the Nebula Funk Danmass instrumental version). To Billy Idol's Dancing With Myself we shook our booty while working on kickboxing punches... and near the song's end counted how many times Billy shouted the word "sweat". 

It was a beautiful sight to see people more than two times my age dancing, exercising, smiling and acting like teenagers.

As long as the music had the appropriate beats per minute, the lyrics were not offensive - and there wasn't too much mosquito-like high-pitched electic guitar - the class was very open to my music selections.

Of course the music for yoga and pilates was more laidback. For yoga, music with a beat similar to that of a resting heart was appropriate for most classes. For Pilates, chill music with a vaguely Latin rhythm was a nice accompaniment to many of the movements.

What makes you dance? 

I'm looking for sound that one cannot listen to sitting still. 

Lately, surf music is something I cannot hear enough of. A lot of it is formulated like a wave - to wash over the listener. It finally became evident that one of my favorite old TV theme songs (from The Munsters) was based on a surf-band sound.

Here's a classical musical mystery:   Do you know of classical music that sounds like a charging brigade on horseback? (Not Rossini's William Tell Overture - which is certainly energetic, but there is a mystery song that produced the charging brigade image in my head - and I never heard the composer announced.)

Coincidentally, Beck's Guero (2005) is the only album I could repeatedly listen to in its entirety - no skipping tracks, no turning down the volume. A curious ear in search of fresh tunes finds a treasure trove of sound frequencies with Beck, who stitches it all together with a fascinating beat.

Music works best for me when it progresses in this manner: First there's a bit of ambient stillness, then a sound is introduced. A distinguishable beat, or variety of beats, interact with the first sound - which develops into a symphony of beautiful, invigorating noise... and then the music begins to peel away - like layers of an onion - until the song is reduced to the simple origin. 

These ears are adventurous listeners, give them almost any genre - but please don't let the sound be too "canned". If the sound is electronically generated, I still require variety - so the evidence of the human touch is detectable in the sound engineering.

Your suggestions will be appreciated.