Rembrandt's Collars.

• Undulating like ribbon candy - crisp and white - the collar of Nicolaes Ruts, 1631.
• Portrait of a Scholar's collar:  The scholar's head rests upon a frou frou frilly wedding-cake-icing collar, piped from a pastry bag.
• Martin Looten's 1632 broad, flat and white as a Pilgrim's collar.
• Dr. Tulp - wearing a prim, Judge Judy collar - dissects the arm of a man (wearing only a loin drape) - while Tulp's scholars and peers peculiarly observe, wearing - predominantly - automotive air filter collars, although one man flaunts a frothy toothpaste collar.
• Joris de Caullery (collar-y) wears a very punk or gothic-like studded metal - and perhaps black leather - collar, rock on.
•  Maerten van Bilderbeecq is wearing the largest automotive air filter collar.
• 1633, Rembrandt paints himself wearing a punk-y, chunky, goth vampire collar of draped black velvet edged in fierce gold chain.
• Portrait of Saskia van Uylenburgh's grey collar as engraved and embossed as an ancient silver doubloon.

And then emerges a period of elaborate lace collars, which must have taken years of arduous embroidery / crochet / weaving and assembly - and nearly as long to reproduce in paint (unless, do you think RVR might have painted actual lace and created a print image of it by pressing the painted lace against the canvas?)

• Oh, Maurits Huygens, I like your collar very much!  The perfect combination of Pilgrim / crochet and Hippie tassels going on - and may I say, you look pleased as punch to be wearing it.
•   1633, Portrait of a Young Woman with a Fan, and a collar like a Queen Anne's Lace / Bishop's Lace / daucus carota flower.  And cuffs too!
• Portrait of a Young Woman - is it the same collar and the same young woman?  It seems one would have to visit first the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston for closer examination, but there are similarities - including a superb ribbon cockade belt.
• Oh, Maerten Soolmans - you magnificent 1634 fancy pants - you are the fanciest of us all and to behold you is soothing salve for the eyes!  The Queen Anne's Lace collar, ribbon cockade, lacy jabots at the knee (!), clocked hosiery, and Queen Anne's Lace shoe ruffs.  Later, Gainsborough's The Blue Boy's top-notch finery might compare, but Rembrandt's Soolmans (with collar and stuff) is a sartorial must-see.
• Ah, Maria Trip - you are Maerten Soolman's sartorial equivalent - with your organdy collar, edged in delicate lace at shoulder and wrist... with jewelry and a sword - and you are possibly the same Young Woman - with Fan and without, and belted in ribbon cockade.

Rembrandt's great collar climax seems to occur around 1639, with another automotive air filter and the organdy of Maria Trip.

Flachen-Schmuck, Rhythm, and Optical Art in Clothing.

Synchronicity, convergence - it happened after I'd been researching works of Wiener Werkstatte artists - reading about Klimt and Floge, while free-falling into Sonia Delaunay wholeheartedly:  a page 103 photo in February 2013 Harper's Bazaar literally sprang from the page, like an accordion-fold... geometric, angular, and going-somewhere.

Harper's Bazaar, page 103, "The Style: Bold Prints, Pattern Up". February 2013.

You understand what I'm talking about here - don't you? - it's that tunic and pant combo, with the jump-off-the-page zig-zag-chevron-diamond-stripe flachen-schmuck, (flachen-schmuck is German for surface decoration... this I learned while reading about artists of the Wiener Werkstatte - who were experts in flachen-schmuck).  I love the term flachen-schmuck, by the way - and have been using it whenever possible to describe anything that zing-zing pinballs my eyeballs.

Flachen-schmuck has become a flexible part of my vocabulary though, because as you well know surface decoration can be good or bad - an example occurring recently as I thought "too much flachen-schmuck" recently when I stood before a 40-foot statue - gilded and painted like Priscilla Queen of the Desert. (Not me, but the statue.)

Here's another beautifully mesmerizing example of flachen-schmuck.  It's a graphic look over which I waxed enthusiastic in this March 2012 post, when the same zing-zing pinballing of my eyeballs occurred.  At that time I was unaware of the term flachen-schmuck, but the graphic-optic patterns of the coat and curtain in Vogue's Francoise Gilot feature were eye-engaging in precisely the same way.

Francoise Gilot - Vogue, March 2012 - Tina Barney photograph.  Oscar de la Renta coat.  Gorgeous!

Since reading about Sonia Delaunay and her idea of simultaneity - which recognizes the behavior and interaction of color groups and the perceived movement that colors can create - I've been brainstorming such theories frequently.  

Look at the curtain there behind Gilot.  

Scroll up and look at the zig-zag-chevron-diamond-stripe tunic and pant ensemble.  

What's causing that rhythm?  

Maybe the colors, but as I see it - perhaps much of that graphic-optic art rhythm is a result of black and white contrasting pattern - with color introduced to the mix.  The red and orange/yellow do vibrate because they're such similar colors... one feels the heat of red and orange... a flame-like flicker.

Then, of course think about the works of Klimt - all that surface decoration.  Not really like Delaunay at all, because with Delaunay - there was more emphasis on surface interruption... interrupting the perceived planes and giving a sense of multi-dimensional depth.  Klimt's rhythmic surfaces seem - to me - more two-dimensional... a gently undulating, albeit psychedelic, plain/field.

Summing up all this flachen-schmuck, it appears there's a Wiener Werkstatte, Delaunay, Klimt, (and perhaps Futurist), surface-decoration trend already pinball-rolling.  

By the way, I would attribute the designer of the great tunic/pant combo - and have tried diligently to discover the designer - but still no answer.  If you know, please comment.  I think it's a fantastic look!  Not subtle, not discreet, not for the timid - but it absolutely emits energy.

Clothes Looking for a Script: Comme des Garcons Fall 2012 RTW.

See this Kawaii Kakkoii Sugoi blog link for full-length videos of Rei Kawakubo's Comme des Garcons Fall/Winter 2012/2013 Men's and Women's Collections, then contemplate with me.

First of all, I think Kawakubo's clothing literally creates thought. That cannot be said for all designers. No matter what your opinion of these collections, I believe you will notice you cannot prevent yourself from thinking strong thoughts about what you see on Kawakubo's runway.

All Flat-Stanley and paper-doll references aside, some of the womenswear coat shapes have a fresh appearance and lend the models a youthful look. Seeing the models present the womenswear, I felt some of Kawakubo's looks were at times inspired by Tavi Gevinson, then later by the paper-cutout artwork of Matisse. I could easily visualize the "dress-within-a-dress" silhouette looks being minimized to figure-flattering styles.

Despite the practicality of offering a place to rest one's hands, the pannier extensions of Kawakubo's Fall 2012 collection would present a predictable kerfuffle when worn through airport security - not to mention difficulties in the daily office cubicle. These are designs requiring a certain place, a certain time, and a certain mode of transportation. Imagine wearing one of the pannier dresses, riding a bicycle - in a gust of wind... off you'd go, like a kite.

Rei Kawakubo Comme des Garcons F/W 2012/2013 RTW. Image from Collections at Vogue.com.

Or, in the instance of the above garment - a gentle breeze might send the wearer pirouetting prettily, whirling like a maple-seed helicopter.

The shiny metallicized dresses seem like an excellent idea - maximum effect bling. Think of all the bandage-sized night-on-the-town dresses that exist - not much bling for the buck. Kawakubo's shiny dresses are big, startlingly-shaped, and shiny. If you didn't have time for the videos, there's a link to the Vogue runway collections here.

But to see the inspiration for this post title: Clothes Looking for a Script, you really should see the Kawaii Kakkoii Sugoi link above. Rei Kawakubo's Fall 2012 menswear inspired me to imagine a short movie script. Here it is:

Ministers of Music - Happening perchance to discover a trunkful of items stored on a Hollywood backlot, contemplative time travelers find solace in assembling eclectic ecclesiastical ensembles. Donning their diverse "thinking caps" the ministers of music find they have a prediliction for crewel embroidery, Chanel wool,  and cabbage rose chintz. Offering services free of words, the ministers of music stroll, contemplate, and meditate their next destination.

Art Institute Chicago: Fashioning the Object

With its Fashioning the Object exhibit, Art Institute Chicago presents concrete evidence that fashion can be a valid art form.

Displaying works from designers Bless (Desiree Heiss, Ines Kaag), Boudicca (Zowie Broach, Brian Kirkby), and Sandra Backlund - Fashioning the Object, as an entire experience, is thought-provoking.  Reading the designer overviews, I liked Boudicca's description of their approach as "investigative rather than simply decorative" - and thought this aptly characterized the installations of all the designers in the exhibit.

Wandering through the Bless No. 45 Music curtain, visitors may touch and inspect objects hanging from chain curtains, which rustle and make sound.  Viewing and interacting with the Bless objects gave me the impression of discovering a fashion zoo, displaying exotic species rarely seen by man.

Within Boudicca's exhibit are many fascinating videos.  I especially liked the System Error presentation - and in particular the Solitary Dress, with pockets for hugging one's own self.

To have had more time to view the Boudicca videos completely would have been ideal, for I was intrigued by the time spent in their creation - and the subjects were fascinating to me - such as one focusing on the behavior of fabric on bodies of dancers in motion.

Sandra Backlund's installations were primarily knitted art to wear.  Her technique is very architecturally sculptural.  Imagine magnifying traditional stitches, making the stitches and features 50 to 100 percent larger.  I imagine wearing a Backlund creation would be like wearing the lightweight yarn version of an ornate Greco-Roman marble column or pediment.

See and hear Zoe Ryan, Art Institute of Chicago Curator of Design and Chair of Department of Architecture and Design, as she describes the Fashioning the Object exhibit and the work of these designers here (via Youtube clip).

Spritz Overload: A Tale of Sniff and Run.

Hook, line, and stinker... the perfume packaging reeled me in.  I spritzed each arm with several of these sprays - packaged in charming boxes resembling miniature bohemian-artsy apartments.  I hurried out the store with a pretty good idea of the names - Gina, Rita, Carmella, Bella - and arm location.  For Mother's Day, I asked for Gina - but now that she's here, I'm pretty sure the scent that enticed me was actually a melange of the migrating fragrances.

Nevertheless, Benefit's graphic design artists outdid themselves with the boxes housing the eau de toilette sprays!  My imagination ran overtime thinking about how I would wear Mary Katrantzou creations and live in this box if I were a 2-dimensional and tiny person.

Photo Toile La La.  Benefit Packaging.

Photo Toile La La.  Benefit Packaging.

Photo Toile La La.  Benefit Packaging.

Photo Toile La La.  Benefit Packaging.

Note to Gina:  Fed the flamingo.  I had a lovely stay!

Photo Toile La La.  Benefit Packaging.  Collage using Mary Katrantzou dress design.

Suitcases ready.  Flamingo at right, blushing with health.  I designed a velvet rose-petal hat to wear for departure.  The lampshade dress was a bit short - but in the smaller photo above you'll see I added to the hem a modest indigo lace border.

Photo Toile La La.  Benefit Packaging.  Collage using Mary Katrantzou dress design.

The dress center bodice features a glowing chandelier, so a chandelier chapeau seemed in order.  Please pay no attention to the one hand looking like a foot.