How the Heck the Hennin Happened.

The hennin, a fifteenth century headdress seems to mirror the highly revered steeples, towers, spires and heavenward architecture of that period.  

• Was popular reception of the hennin a phenomenon resulting from travel in distant lands during the Crusades? 
• Did the hennin stem from a Byzantine influence? 
• Was wearing the hennin a step toward looking more worldly and well-traveled... an effort to stand out and gain attention?  
• Did hennin-wearers adopt the trend subconsciously or was there a conscious and well-defined reason for choosing to wear it?
• Was the pointed hat a "trickle-down" trend - originating with holy men and women, then borrowed by society?

Though not on my head, the hennin has been on my mind. 

One thought:  During the Renaissance, arts and literature - even higher learning - were more accessible to members of the church and religious sects.  Simultaneously, much emphasis was placed on construction of very large and grand churches.  Perhaps the hennin was not only a subconscious reflection of steeples and spires - but also of the search for higher knowledge.  The hennin - a heavenward hat housing the divinity of the mind.

Another thought:  Why do we later see a similar hat shape worn by people associated with magical powers?

Albrecht Durer.

Collegiale Saint Quentin.

Domenico Quaglio die Kathedral Reims.

Albrecht Durer Innsbruck.

Albrecht Durer Aix La Chapelle.

Jean Fouquet Aix La Chapelle.

Rogier van der Weyden - for a Carthusian monastery near Brussels, 1445.

Leonardo da Vinci Ginevra Benci, 1474.

Maurice Quentin de la Tour - City of Saint-Quentin.

Jan van Eyck.

Fouquet - Charles IV and Marie Luxembourg.

Hans Holbein, 1500.

Hans Memling, 1480.

Hugo van der Goes - Maria Porinari, 1476.

Kaiser Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy.

Petrus Christus, 1450-60.

Margaret of York, Duchess Consort of Burgundy - 1468.

Rogier van der Weyden Seven Sacraments - detail.

Petrus Christus, 1470.

Vittore Carpaccio - St. Stephen.

Rogier van der Weyden.

Michael Pacher - Mary of Burgundy, 1490.

Rogier van der Weyden - Young Woman in a Pinned Hat, 1435.

Pisanello - Princess of the House of Este, 1449.

Post Prompted by Punk: Emotion-Driven Fashion and How to Find Fashion.

Pondering aspects of punk culture - mainly the look it produced, leads me to analysis of fashion deviants and fashion oddities.  Punk culture stemmed from a dissatisfaction with the norm - a quotidien refusal - a feeling of rebellion, which sometimes culminated in destructive tendencies, but was quite often channeled into music or fashion which embodied and released that pent-up feeling.

Considering the psychological aspects of fashion reveals a maze-like and infinite variety of perspectives.  In many instances, fashion is a mask or facade hiding the feelings generating the look.  An array of feelings may be expressed - portraying for example, merely a desire to be different, an aesthetic sensibility, refusal, conformity, or even - privileged boredom.

In studying - and enjoying - these fashion observations, I have found it advantageous to use as a viewing reference the various online resources covering the greatest number of runway collections worldwide - rather than relying on fashion or trade magazine coverage of collections - as the magazines rely upon advertising for their livelihood.  Because of this advertising-dependence, the coverage is biased - so an observer of fashion does not receive a clear view of the truly creative and amazing designs being produced globally, but instead a limited and monetarily-motivated perspective. 

I now see fashion in a different light - perhaps not the spotlight, but daylight - after having read books written by designers and journalists within the fashion industry, and as a result - gaining a better understanding of the cogs and gears within that world. For so many years, I mistakenly perceived fashion magazine and press reports as equating a mark of quality or a seal of approval.   If you too share an interest in the creative, artistic, psychological aspects of fashion - do realize you can find fashion everywhere, all around the world - in the street, on the bus, in the thrift shops, or there beneath the needle of your own sewing machine - not just on the runway or in the pages of a magazine.

Just as our language, music, technologies - and lives have evolved and bloomed and hybridized, so has our visual language of fashion - which has changed so much from its earliest origin of being primarily utilitarian, then decorative.  Fashion is very often - now - a feeling.

My Dear Vogue, You Have Grown Too Thin.

My Dear Vogue,


True companion, with love and concern I type this letter to you - for pen and slow mail may find you too late. 

Your heft and rustling pages have comforted me through most of the days of my life.  

This September past - year 2012 - your cups ranneth over.  Over an inch in thickness, you carried your weight beautifully.  You elegantly displayed your boom-chicka-boom, va-va-voom love-handles-of-fashion and they rendered my knees weak.

On the heels of The Health Initiative pledge, you were not only barking - but biting and ravishingly ravenous - voracious.  You were healthy and vibrant.  Imagine my dismay, when I caught a glimpse of you on my grocery store shelves... your emaciated January 2013 presence a meager, wraith-like version of your bodacious September self.

Being so intelligent - as well as lovely - you are well aware that rapid weight loss is not healthy.  One's body needs some fat - not the subcutaneous fat of advertisements and inserts and celebrity gossip, but the good-cholesterol fat of page after page of artful fashion, educational articles, and friendly chatter.  

This mnemonic device is sometimes helpful - HDL (good cholesterol) "healthy", LDL (bad cholesterol) "lard".  Simply think to yourself:  Certain advertisements and celebrity gossip - LDL lard - versus artful fashion and smart articles - HDL healthy.

Good Friend, contemplate with me Marilyn Monroe - setting aside any comparisons to individuals in the present day, .  Monroe's curves were delectable and to them I could sing appreciative praise - all day - and couldn't you too?

Has the internet - along with its gadget companions of plastic - caused you to dwindle, diminish,  and suffer?  If that is the case, I find it ironic - because the Plastic Box has broadened my horizons - in more ways than one.

Though the internet has offered to me an omnispective scope into the Great Wide, viewing it has required a lot of sitting and standing-still languor... creating a bigger (but still healthy) version of my self.  However, I realize you are of a different body-type and constitution.  Be you ectomorph, mesomorph, or endomorph - I know you rely on a bit more advertising fat.

Heaven forbid I might have contributed to your extreme weight-loss.  Purchasing you frequently from retail shelves, you were unable to rely on my steady subscription.  A fair-weather-friend I have been - it seems - and for that I say, forgive me. 

Let's agree to enjoy a happy medium my dear Vogue: Not too thick, not too thin - healthy, bodacious, bellissima, boom-chicka-boom.

Please Plump-Up Dear Vogue.

Your Friend and Blogger,
Toile La La at Art Fashion Creation

Postscript:  Please realize I speak to you of this out of genuine care, not fur-flying-claws-out-hissing-spitting-you-are-thinner-than-me-jealousy, but adoration-of-oomph and intelligent beauty.

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."

Sense of Otherness and Fashion Trend Archives.

Posts of the previous week have opened a window into the development of my own fashion archives. Since the archive will be incorporated into a larger project, I have shared only a fraction of its contents. However, the following filing system might be of interest to others - like myself - who notice trends and analyze their origins.

As mentioned in one of the earlier posts, one of my main categories has been: "Sense of Otherness" - a term I give to what is shockingly new or so different as to be considered avant garde. My Sense of Otherness file entries bridge a gap between great and bizarre. With time, I realized that what shocked my senses initially would very often begin to look quotidien. Individuality is often mimicked, so - very predictably - styles that shocked frequently became trends.

Aside from that main category, here are some other file-headings I kept pre-1980 to post-2000:

• vintage
• textiles
• scot-irish
• spanish toreador
• sports
• russian
• old west
• orient
• nautical
• interesting personalities
• haberdashery
• gypsy
• floral / fauna / nature
• fashion history
• fashion articles 
• eye-catching advertisements
• dance/fitness
• breakthroughs/innovations
• africa
• accessories

Of course, that isn't an all-inclusive list, but does give an idea of the archival scope.

Booty-Shaking, Pop and Lock, All-Night Dancing: What to Wear.

Plugging into Electro-Funk 80's music turned me into a dancing machine. One 11-hour night, I tore up the dance floor with my dance partner of two first names - Billy Freddie. For a fund-raising Dance-A-Thon, with only 10-minute breaks on the hour, we unleashed all our uninhibited moves: the bird, the smurf, and a dance all our own that looked like rotating and spanking ourselves... sometimes we moon-walked. Slow-dancing was not our cup of tea. When Billy Freddie and I danced, we meant business and we burned calories. It's only fair though - to admit that my key to success on the dance floor that night must be attributed to the jumpsuit.

From experience, it was evident some dances didn't fit the look of a skirt or dress. Heels were out of the question for this kind of dancing. Big, jumbled piles of heels always grew on the outskirts of the dance floor.

Your realize, if you aren't new to exercise, that perspiration is a part of energetic activity. If you dance fanatically (acquiring a great pore-cleansing sweat), then you cool down very quickly and chill. To burn the midnight oil and showcase all your best moves, you need clothes that move with you, without constricting, and without looking bedraggled after a few hours... and a jumpsuit met all the requirements.

A girl in the dorm loaned the loose-fitting jumpsuit to me. It was made by Esprit I think - of either cotton or a synthetic parachute-type material. The neck was wide and the sleeves and legs narrow, but long - so that I could roll them and they stayed in place. It was sand-washed olive green and buttoned up the front.

With the jumpsuit I wore red pointy-toed flats (also borrowed... and by the way, it's a good idea to have a change of shoes if you plan to dance 11 hours, because your feet will appreciate the switch).

Double-belts were in style at this time and I wore my red one loose and low. Enormous red plastic earrings were probably involved - but I'd like to forget those.

Billy Freddie's dance-steps were familiar to me and he knew mine as well. Frequently one of us would invent a new move - the other would notice and try it out.

By 5 AM only one other couple still danced. We stopped, they danced a few minutes more.  I trotted back to the dorm and slept thirteen hours.






On a quest to pinpoint this type of jumpsuit, I found a 1985 Simplicity Esprit sewing pattern 7007 that seems very similar. Of the same cut are Simplicity 6394 and even a vintage Pierrot costume by Advance.

Simplicity 6394. Ditch the tie-dye, add a loose belt, roll the cuffs, you're ready to dance all night.

Ultimate jumpsuit freedom.

Want a little music to send you into jumpsuit dancing mode? Here are three links:

• Morris Day and The Time - The Bird (with video, so you too can learn some wing-flapping moves).
• The Egyptian Lover - Egypt Egypt.

• These Boots Are Made For Walking - Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra original remixed by BrianPOP 2008.

The first two songs fit into the dance/pop/proto-electro-funk/rap/hip-hop/breakdance category and the third is an amped-up retro remix (with original 1966 film footage featuring as much energy as I had that 11-hour night).

Hime Lolita Marie Antoinette: Chanel at Versailles.

Imagine Marie Antoinette, healthy and unscathed, frolicking into an eighteenth century time portal and landing upright in 2013. Unbiased by any sensibilities but her own, she might immediately gravitate toward Lolita fashion. Of the various Lolita styles, the Hime or Princess Lolita, the Sweet Lolita, or the Country Lolita would align with her tastes.

Without having to search farther, Marie Antoinette could slip right into one of Karl Lagerfeld's Chanel Cruise 2013 ensembles and carry on with life - this time in some pink trainers, to quickly run from danger.

Chanel Cruise/Resort 2013 at Versailles. Image Vogue.com runway collections.

Interested in Lolita styles, read more here. For more Chanel Cruise 2013 see this Vogue link with Sarah Mower collection review.

Marie Antoinette, artist unknown. Museum of Fine Arts Boston collection.

Looking for other Lolita/Chanel Cruise 2013 references, I noticed the blog Hello Tailor had also made the connection and provided a youtube link for the actual fashion show. It's especially grand to see Karl Lagerfeld appear at show's-end - waving, blowing a kiss, assessing his admirers and regally strutting to the beat. Here's the youtube link.

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.

SCAD 2012 Fashion Show, Exhibits, and Events.

A permanent affection for fashion design was my motivation for attending the SCAD 2012 Fashion Show.  My husband and I attended the 2009 show and decided  to return this year.  We like to absorb everything around us through travel and museum visits - and we like seeing pop culture trends and creativity in action.

We didn't arrive in a limousine or designer clothing.  Our first stop was SCAD's Jen Library - where a librarian discreetly informed me I'd been traipsing about with my skirt tucked into my underpants.  After that bit of excitement, I was immediately drawn to the Static Fashion exhibit - which displayed innovative designs of graduating fashion students.  Although the work of these students did not appear in the fashion show, I appreciated their designs as much as those boasted by the runway later that evening.

Free of human locomotion - and without the distraction of sound -  these designs offered interesting fabric surfaces, whimsical structure, and artistic seam-lines.  This blue dress by Trang Luu reminded me of a blue morning glory with unfurling petals.  And the combined textures of nubby wool, satin, and chiffon were pleasantly unexpected.

Trang Luu Design at SCAD's Jen Library.  Photo Toile La La.

Barbara Molitor Design at SCAD's Jen Library.  Photo Toile La La.

Barbara Molitor's ivory dress also revealed clever construction (over the abdomen - a graceful arc line with an interrupted "pocket" seam-line).  Incorporating a vintage necklace, the boat-neck dipped to a cowl shape at upper back (reminiscent of a geisha's robe).  I made several admiring revolutions around Trang Luu's and Barbara Molitor's designs.

Granted, library visits may not top your travel itinerary, but think about it - a library is one big box full of knowledge.  I like walking right to my favorite GT and TT sections without worrying about computer glitches or having to be stuck in a chair staring at a screen.

En route to sections TT and GT, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw several shelves labelled "Staff Picks" and every book was fashion-related!  (This is very silly - but I have to tell you - the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah pops into my head at such moments!)

Some Jen Library staff picks at SCAD.  Photo Toile La La.

Browsing the book  Ralph Rucci:  The Art of Weightlessness (Steele, Sauro, Mears) was a good preview for our next stop - The SCAD Museum of Art, where the Andre Leon Talley Gallery exhibited "Looking Back to the Future:  Ralph Rucci Evolved".

 Ralph Rucci Design in ALT Gallery of SCAD Museum of Art.  Photo Toile La La.

Ralph Rucci Designs in ALT Gallery of SCAD Museum of Art.  Photo Toile La La.

Ralph Rucci Designs in ALT Gallery of SCAD Museum of Art.  Photo Toile La La.

Ralph Rucci Design in ALT Gallery of SCAD Museum of Art.  Photo Toile La La.

Ralph Rucci Design in ALT Gallery of SCAD Museum of Art.  Photo Toile La La.

Because our tickets were for the 4PM fashion show, we had minimal museum time - but I was intrigued by Fred Wilson's presentation of the Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art and would have enjoyed close observation of the many historical documents, letters, and photographs in particular.  Luckily, before rushing to the show, we were able to attend a good portion of the panel discussion "A Conversation with Andre Leon Talley, Ralph Rucci, and Robin Givhan".

Andre Leon Talley (Vogue Contributing Editor and SCAD Board of Trustees Member) would later that evening present his Lifetime Achievement Award to Ralph Rucci (Couturier, of 30 years in fashion industry) - and the discussion was led by Robin Givhan (Pulitzer prize-winning fashion journalist and Daily Beast style and culture special correspondent).

From left:  Talley, Givhan, and Rucci - at Savannah College of Art and Design.  Photo Toile La La.

Hearing Ralph Rucci's design-perspective made his creations seem even more powerful.  Rucci professed he does not work with trends, but tries to develop a style language and improve on it with each season.  During this conversation, his advice to upcoming fashion designers was to be an individual, to simplify and reduce design to its essence - to find its strength, to find the design DNA.

The panel of three also discussed how internet has impacted fashion design.  Andre Leon Talley proclaimed, "Emotion has been struck down for immediacy", which led the group to agree that fashion is moving at a speed which makes it harder to appreciate and "absorb" the work of designers.

Robin Givhan prompted the panel's discussion of designer fashion, saying clients realize they pay for the designer's intelligence and knowledge of fashion history.  I regretted having to leave before the conversation came to a conclusion, because it was well-moderated, interesting, and informative - but, it was time to leave for the student show and I hoped there would be an opening performance such as I'd seen in 2009.

Shown to a full house at Trustees Theater, the student collections were marvelously-presented and accompanied by an energetic soundtrack.  It is very exhilarating to feel perched at the apex of newness - and that is exactly the sensation we sought when returning for this year's SCAD fashion show.  I think you can best experience the show by viewing it.  Here's the link.  I discovered the student designers' names on the screens along the runway - only after we'd returned home and I was watching the show online.  (Note to future event organizers and programme designers:  I think it would be very helpful to include alongside their names a small image of each designer's most representative piece.)

Here are the most distinctive features or looks of the entire show... presented in a stream-of-consciousness style:  blinding pure fluorescent white, neutral taupe black and grey leathers, jacket-focus renaissance velvet, piping, military olive, tree bark metallic, banding, studded shoes, fabric overlay, cloud-like, satin Hollywood, space age plastic, ochre-yellow and orange, zouave, double-circle collar, emphasized fanny, "ADMIT ONE" children's ticket shirt, shocking fluorescent yellow and neoprene scuba, sequins, tuxedo treatment, black blue rust-orange futuristic uniform, layered brick-like colors and organzas, orange fur navy fur - engulfed in blue, pokeberry-ink (phytolacca) fuschia, chrysanthemum / puffball mushroom.

More simply stated: The fashion show was a rapidly-presented rush of color, shape, and sound.

A happy Karis Fox, after the SCAD 2012 Fashion Show.  Photo Toile La La.

After the show, I took a few photographs outside the theater.  Among the collections, some of my  favorite pieces belonged to designer Karis Fox - whose work inspired these hastily scribbled notes:  blue cocoon coat, hip drape, changeable blue / green, beautiful changeable lavender triple-tiered funnel-neck.  Perhaps those notes will help you spot her lovely designs in the fashion show video, but I can only offer this mysteriously-chic, Madame Gres-type image of Karis - wearing a brilliant purple turban.

After the SCAD 2012 Fashion Show.  A beautiful fuschia dress leaving beside its designer.  Photo Toile La La.

SCAD 2012 Fashion Show.  Designer alongside model.  Photo Toile La La.

(Imagine the hours it must have taken to create all the frills of the dress above - which for lack of a better description I must compare to a chrysanthemum or a puffball mushroom.  Making her appearance in it - the model delivered a truly dramatic presence.)

It was impossible to move quickly enough to photograph everything of interest.  I must at least mention how impressive were the collections of Kia Brinkley (particularly the engulfed-in-blue dress / muff ensemble), Patricia Garcia (how clever to create an outfit which arrives in one color - and exits in another!), Sarah Pankiewicz (for the easily elegant tunic / legging ensembles, great prints, and wavy-panelled coat), and Lindsey Smith (for her interesting silhouettes and shape-pairings). 

Browsing the programme, I see these young designers hail from a diverse array of states and countries.  At the evening show, after receiving the Andre Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award, Ralph Rucci commended Savannah College of Art and Design for allowing students to think in "out-of-world" terms.  Rucci explained such a learning environment will produce designers who benefit history and contribute to a "larger picture of thinking outside the box".

Postscript:  
Robin Givhan so impressed me with her participation in the Conversation with Andre Leon Talley and Ralph Rucci, I searched for more "Conversation" - related articles online.  The search produced a Robin Givhan interview by Jessica Leigh Lebos in Connect Savannah (May 15, 2012), which led to Huffington Post and Toronto Star fashion blog discussions - that revealed Givhan would like to see bloggers be forthright in stating their credentials and affiliations.  So, I feel compelled to reveal:  I am not affiliated with any fashion publication - or Savannah College of Art and Design.  Nor am I receiving any "perks" for writing this post.  I am an artist and writer - very interested in fashion, history, and pop culture trends.  I sew and therefore notice the work of other people who sew or design.

Disclaimer:
All Toile La La content is presented as perspective and intended in the most positive manner.  In the event you discover incorrect information - or content you own - you may leave a comment requesting correction or removal of your material.  Comments are moderated.

Antony Hegarty: Gold Stars!

His Mona Lisa visage winking at me from the center of I-D Magazine's Spring Royalty Issue, Antony's interview with Susan Corrigan is one of the most compelling, thought-provoking articles of the publication.

Antony Hegarty in I-D Magazine:  Daniele and Iango photography, styling by Patti Wilson.

How could I resist such statements as this - by Antony: "I believe a sustainable future for society and the world requires a paradigm shift toward a more feminine system.  Men should find a profound humility and realise that they were born with the strength to better serve and protect the feminine in society." He believes that is the true role for men, rather than "to dominate and to subjugate the rest of humanity and nature".  

Antony believes a matriarchal system would save the planet:  "Male power is disconnected from a more interior or organic relationship to the environment and the world.  It's a bizarre, hierarchical fortress where all they care about is their own team, just like an army... . It's the most virulent, broken aspect of maleness." He explains that the biological-introduction of testosterone instilled a protective mind-set that has led to destruction and accumulation of weapons.

Summing it up, grandmothers should be managing the important issues.

You may be interested in this Guardian interview with Antony, by Peter Conrad, or on your own - search for YouTube video interviews.

A couple of years ago, with extreme foresight, my husband predicted women would be dominant in the future.  You can read more about this in older "Men of The Future" posts (Oct. 13, 2010 and Dec. 29, 2010).  We laughed as he made a story about it, but increasingly - I'm thinking he's right.  Antony is definitely a "Man of the Future".