Sunday, February 28, 2010

FASHION WEEK PARIS


mardi 2 mars 2010
18h00ANTHONY VACCARELLOJoyce Palais Royal - 168/173 galerie de Valois - Paris 1er
19h00NICOLAS ANDREAS TARALIS
Palais de Tokyo - 13 avenue du Président Wilson - Paris 16e
20h00QUENTIN VERON 
Culée du Pont Alexandre III - Paris 7e
21h00FATIMA LOPES BETC EURO RSCG - 85-87 rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin - Paris 10e
mercredi 3 mars 2010
10h00
DÉVASTÉEBETC EURO RSCG - 85-87 rue du Faubourg Saint Martin - Paris 10e
11h00
MOON YOUNG HEEGarage Turenne - 66 rue de Turenne - Paris 3e
12h00
TIM VAN STEENBERGENDoor Studio - 9/9bis rue de Lesdiguières - Paris 4e
13h00
ANNE VALÉRIE HASH Espace Commines - 17 rue Commines - Paris 3e
14h00
LIMI FEUGarage Turenne - 66 rue de Turenne - Paris 3e
15h00
DRIES VAN NOTENVoir invitation
16h00
FELIPE OLIVEIRA BAPTISTALycée Turgot - 69 rue de Turbigo - Paris 3e
17h00
ROCHAS7 place Vendôme - Paris 1er
18h00
GARETH PUGHPalais de Tokyo - 13 avenue du Président Wilson - Paris 16e
19h00
PEACHOO+KREJBERGGarage Turenne - 66 rue de Turenne - Paris 3e
20h00
RUE DU MAIL (by Martine Sitbon)5 rue du Mail - Paris 2e
21h00
DAMIR DOMALycée Henri IV - 1 rue Clotilde - Paris 5e
jeudi 4 mars 2010
10h00BALENCIAGAVoir invitation
11h00LIE SANG BONGHôtel Westin - 3 rue de Castiglione - Paris 1er
12h00HIROKO KOSHINOLe Carrousel du Louvre - Salle Soufflot*
13h00MANISH ARORALycée Henri IV - 1 rue Clotilde - Paris 5e
14h00SHARON WAUCHOBLes Beaux-Arts de Paris - salle Mélpomène - 13 quai Malaquais - Paris 6e
15h00BALMAINIntercontinental Paris le Grand - 2 rue Scribe - Paris 9e
16h00
BARBARA BUILe Showcase - Pont Alexandre III - Paris 8e
17h00
RICK OWENSPalais de Chaillot - 1 place du Trocadéro - Paris 16e
18h00
LUTZGarage Turenne - 66 rue de Turenne - Paris 3e
19h00
AF VANDEVORSTLes Beaux-Arts de Paris - salle Mélpomène - 13 quai Malaquais - Paris 6e
20h00
NINA RICCIVoir invitation
21h00
BLESSLoft Sévigné - 46 rue de Sévigné - Paris 3e
vendredi 5 mars 2010
10h00RM BY THE DESIGNER ROLAND MOURET Gymnase Japy - 2 rue Japy - Paris 11e
11h00ISSEY MIYAKELe Carrousel du Louvre - Salle Le Nôtre
12h00GASPARD YURKIEVICHLe Carrousel du Louvre - Salle Soufflot*
13h00BERNHARD WILLHELMPalais Brongniart - place de la Bourse - Paris 2e
14h30CHRISTIAN DIOREspace Ephémère Tuileries - Jardin des Tuileries – Paris 1er
15h30ISABEL MARANT
Couvent des Cordeliers - 15 rue de l'Ecole de Médecine - Paris 6e
16h30VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
Halle Freyssinet - 55 boulevard Vincent Auriol - Paris 13e
17h30LANVIN
Halle Freyssinet - 55 boulevard Vincent Auriol - Paris 13e
18h30MAISON MARTIN MARGIELAHalle Freyssinet - 55 boulevard Vincent Auriol - Paris 13e
19h30VÉRONIQUE LEROYGarage Turenne - 66 rue de Turenne - Paris 3e
20h30YOHJI YAMAMOTOLycée Carnot - 145 boulevard Malesherbes - Paris 17e
samedi 6 mars 2010
09h30JUNYA WATANABEVoir invitation
10h30HAIDER ACKERMANNLes Beaux-Arts de Paris - salle Mélpomène - 13 quai Malaquais - Paris 6e
11h30TSUMORI CHISATOLe Carrousel du Louvre - Salle Soufflot*
12h30CHAPURINLe Carrousel du Louvre - Salle Le Nôtre*
13h30
VIKTOR & ROLF Espace Ephémère Tuileries - Jardin des Tuileries – Paris 1er
14h30CACHAREL7 place Vendôme - Paris 1er
15h30
SOPHIA KOKOSALAKIHôtel Westin - 3 rue de Castiglione - Paris 1er
16h30ANN DEMEULEMEESTERCouvent des Cordeliers - 15 rue de l'Ecole de Médecine - Paris 6e
17h30COMME DES GARCONSVoir invitation
19h00JEAN PAUL GAULTIER325 rue Saint-Martin - Paris 3e
20h00LOEWEEcole de Médecine - 12 rue de l'Ecole de Médecine - Paris 6e
dimanche 7 mars 2010
10h00KARL LAGERFELD
Espace Ephémère Tuileries - Jardin des Tuileries - Paris 1er
11h00ANDREW GNLes Beaux-Arts de Paris - salle Mélpomène - 13 quai Malaquais - Paris 6e
12h00AKRISPalais de Chaillot - 1 place du Trocadéro - Paris 16e
13h00CÉLINEVoir invitation
14h00COSTUME NATIONALEcole de Médecine - 45 rue des Saints-Pères - Paris 6e
15h00HUSSEIN CHALAYANCouvent des Cordeliers - 15 rue de l'Ecole de Médecine - Paris 6e
16h00
SONIA RYKIELHalle Freyssinet - 55 boulevard Vincent Auriol - Paris 13e
17h00
JOHN GALLIANOHalle Freyssinet - 55 boulevard Vincent Auriol - Paris 13e
18h00
MARTIN GRANTChapelle des Petits Augustins - Les Beaux-Arts de Paris - 14 rue Bonaparte - Paris 6e
20h30
GIVENCHYVoir invitation
lundi 8 mars 2010
10h00STELLA MCCARTNEYVoir invitation
11h00EMANUEL UNGAROHôtel Westin - 3 rue de Castiglione - Paris 1er
12h00LÉONARDLe Carrousel du Louvre - Salle Le Nôtre*
13h00GUY LAROCHELe Carrousel du Louvre - Salle Soufflot*
14h00GIAMBATTISTA VALLI7 place Vendôme - Paris 1er
15h00ZUCCACouvent des Cordeliers - 15 rue de l'Ecole de Médecine - Paris 6e
16h00KENZOEspace Ephémère Tuileries - Jardin des Tuileries - Paris 1er
17h00COMMUUNPalais de la Découverte - avenue Franklin Roosevelt - Paris 8e
18h00VANESSA BRUNOPalais de Chaillot - 1 place du Trocadéro - Paris 16e
20h00YVES SAINT LAURENTGrand Palais - entrée avenue Winston Churchill - Paris 8e
mardi 9 mars 2010
09h30MARIE BISHARAAmbassade d'Egypte - 56 avenue d'Iéna - Paris 16e
10h30CHANELGrand Palais - avenue du Général Eisenhower - Paris 8e
11h30THIERRY MUGLERPalais de Tokyo - 13 avenue du Président Wilson - Paris 16e
12h30JEAN-CHARLES DE CASTELBAJACLe Carrousel du Louvre - Salle Le Nôtre*
13h30INGRID VLASOVLe Carrousel du Louvre - Salle Soufflot*
14h30CHLOÉEspace Ephémère Tuileries - Jardin des Tuileries - Paris 1er
15h30JUNKO SHIMADAHôtel Westin - 3 rue de Castiglione - Paris 1er
17h00
VALENTINOHalle Freyssinet - 55 boulevard Vincent Auriol - Paris 13e
18h00MARITHÉ & FRANCOIS GIRBAUDHalle Freyssinet - 55 boulevard Vincent Auriol - Paris 13e
19h00
SHIATZY CHENLes Beaux-Arts de Paris - salle Mélpomène - 13 quai Malaquais - Paris 6e
mercredi 10 mars 2010
09h30TALBOT RUNHOFHôtel Westin - 3 rue de Castiglione - Paris 1er
10h30ELIE SAABEspace Ephémère Tuileries - Jardin des Tuileries - Paris 1er
11h30WUNDERKINDLe Carrousel du Louvre - Salle Soufflot*
12h30VALENTIN YUDASHKINLe Carrousel du Louvre - Salle Le Nôtre*
14h30LOUIS VUITTONVoir invitation
15h30PAUL & JOEHalle Freyssinet - 55 boulevard Vincent Auriol - Paris 13e
16h30HERMÈSHalle Freyssinet - 55 boulevard Vincent Auriol - Paris 13e
17h30CERRUTIHalle Freyssinet - 55 boulevard Vincent Auriol - Paris 13e
19h00MIU MIUVoir invitation

GUCCI FW 10/11


"I've grown up. It's more mature clothes for more mature women, because that's what I am," Frida Giannini said.




















Saturday, February 27, 2010

MISS COLOMBIA UNIVERSE 2010 NEW PIC

MISS COLOMBIA UNIVERSE 2010 NEW PIC

JIL SANDER


BACK TO THE 90'S...


The boots were AMAZING. Simple but efficient !

PRADA FALL WINTER 2010 2011









"It's normal clothes," Miuccia Prada explained. "Classics. Revising the things I did in the nineties."


THE DEEPAK AND DAKSHA HUTHEESING COLLECTION IN PARIS


I've always been fascinated by maharadjas' clothes and jewels.

The Hutheesing Howeli in Ahmedabad is home to one of the richest and most amazing textile collections : assembled by the Hutheesing family over the course of four generations the collection includes more than five thousand exceptional pieces, most of which date from the early 19th century to the middle of the 20th century and which span all walks of life, from princess and wealthy merchants to tribal and nomadic communities as well as the working classes of India's past.

A choga, stolen with my iPhone

The Hutheesings are one of the most prominent families in Gujarat and India, having served as bankers and advisers to the mogul emperors.

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS COLLECTION IS PRESENTED TO THE WORLD.

FROM THE GREAT DURBAR TO INDEPENDENCE (1911-1947)

The British crown left the maharajas their titles and property, but took away the foundation of their power, the right to wage war. Deprived of force, the favored means of expression of these warrior princes, the last maharajas cultivated luxury and competed through the grandeur of their image. Clothing was at the heart of the social bend during this courtly period - from the Delhi Durbar of 1911, which brought all the noble families of India to the city, to the declaration of independence in 1947 - which marked the swan song of the Maharajas'  indian splendour become the official language of the  courts.
For textile creation it was a remarkable era that sparked the talent of Indian citizens like never before. GOLD, SILVER, SILK, BROCADE, EMBROIDERY and a PROFUSION OF COLOURS AND PRECIOUS MATERIALS; one could smell in the magnificence of this era's costumes, which features luxury on an excessive scale, the beautiful and tragic fragrance of decadence. They are the last fireworks of the indias, a couuntry which, in those days, wrote its name in the plural to emphasize the diversity of cultures that can be seen in these costumes and which would later fade somewhat with the widespread use of kadi, the white cotton that symbolizes the independence of a single united India and is to this day still the fabric of choice for most ministers in the Parliament. All that remains of the grandiose spectacle of the courts of the last Maharajas are the costumes: achkans, chogas, shervanis, saris, abhas, the garments with wich this history collection was written...

THE PHOTOS DON'T SHOW THE REALLY AMAZING QUALITY OF THESE CLOTHES.

MEN CLOTHES
SHERVANI

ACHKAN
Men's upper-body garment that is often knee length, overlaps on the chest and is braided or knotted on the sides. Traditionaly associated with the muslim aristocracy of northern India.



CHOGA
                                                      
WOMEN CLOTHES

SARI

ABHA

CHANYIA

Paul Smith modifications - a review

As the proud owner of one of Steve Ricks’ famous Tennant Coats, it was only a matter of time and money before I commissioned him again. This time though, it was the Matt Smith look I was working on.


A bit of background: when those pictures were published of that Southerndown beach shoot in July last year, a lot was made of the tweed and bow tie. However, for me, the two most striking elements of the costume were the boots (oh those elusive All Saints...) and the shirt; such a strange but stylish pattern, when combined with the bow tie and tweed gives a strangely modern but retro look at the same time. In fact, when I first snapped eyes on the shirt I thought ‘old-man’s shirt’ - kind of knackered, charity shop style. It wasn't until you venture up close and see that design that you realise there is more than meets the eye.

My good friends on Gallifrey Base went into costume over drive and we soon worked out the various brands: All Saints boots, Topman trousers, Harris Tweed jacket and... a Paul Smith shirt. Yes PS by Paul Smith to be precise, but I was surprised.

I checked out the John Anthony website and they were selling the burgundy shirt, but only had S, M and XXL. Now if I knew what I know now about the sizing, I would've snapped up the XXL there and then, however I decided that at £55, I wanted a good fit. So I noticed an alternate colour, navy blue and grabbed an XL and was disappointed to find it was very very snug. Now I don’t consider myself a particularly large chap, but I was making this thing bulge out in a not too attractive manner! So, in the wardrobe it went for a while.

When subsequent filming shots of Matt Smith were released from Croatia (I think), he was sporting that navy shirt (he had been in burgundy up until then). I was immediately fired up to get this shirt of mine wearable. Enter Steven Ricks.

So impressed was I by his customer service and top quality work, I asked him whether he could mod my blue shirt in the MS style - the factory shirts come with little blue sleeve straps to tie the rolled sleeves back. These are removed and stitched onto the edge of the cuff to create a distinctive finish. Also, the buttons are covered by fabric on the PS shirt but not on the Doctor’s.

Steve told me to send the shirt to him so he could examine the pattern so he could prepare a reproduction and while it was in his possession, he would perform the mods. Not only that, but he said that he could also provide me with more breathing space by letting it out at the back.

When the shirt returned to me a few weeks later, it was as you will see it on screen. Finished beautifully, the cuffs are brilliant now and the buttons are visible (on a button stand I believe - am not particularly well versed in tailoring parlance). But this is the clincher - it fits like an XL now. God knows what kind of sizing Paul Smith were using for the factory shirts - I nearly went for a Large, which is what I am in a Marks & Spencer type shirt. All this for a very reasonable price.

Steve Ricks: The man is versatile, thoughtful, very amiable and communicative and above all, his final product is so worth investing in. I can now wear this shirt day to day and not worry about breathing in the whole time. Money well spent.

All I need to do now is find those damn boots...

11 shirt - Paul Smith modifications pt4

I’ve now finished the three main modifications I needed to do no my Paul Smith PS shirt to make it into a Matt Smith shirt: Breast Pocket, Cuffs and Buttonstand.

There is, however, one more modification I am going to make, which may not be strictly screen-accurate – but it’s for my own personal comfort!

The Paul Smith PS shirt is very tailored, in that it is very fitted and quite tight around the middle, being intended for a considerably slimmer frame than most normal body sizes.
The shirt I bought was an XXL, which for me is ludicrous, as I normally wear a simple L. As a result, the sleeves are bordering on being too long and the collar is slightly too big for my neck, BUT the body of the shirt is tight around me.

Having studied the shirt carefully, I realize there is an easy way that I can make it fit better. The back of the shirt has a dart on either side, taking in around and inch each side (see above).

Notice how the shirt is quite taught around my tailor’s dummy.

Because the shirt isn’t lined, these darts are simply sewn and the fabric is not cut in any way, so I can carefully unpick them and press them flat.
There will be a little scarring where the stitching was, but this will be in the back and will hopefully get lost in the pattern of the fabric anyway.

Furthermore, the centre of the back has a double-pleat, as do most dress shirts. However, a conventional shirt has just the tops of these pleats sewn at the yolk-line, allowing the folds to drop out within a few inches. The Paul Smith PS shirt does this a little differently, with a line of stitching running the full length down the back to keep the pleat sharp to the hem. My plan is to unpick this as well and re-sew the hem opened out, giving a further inch and a half across the back.

This will give me a grand total of an extra 3.5 inches across the width of the back!

The fabric is very thin and delicate, so the un-picking has to be done with care. All goes well and after doing all I intended I find the back has become a lot more loose as required.

All I then need to do is re-hem the bottom where I have released the centre back pleat (see left).

So finally I have done all the modification I wanted to do and have a shirt ready to wear  – with comfort!

You can see in the picture (see right) how loose the back now is compared to the BEFORE picture at the top of this posting (shown again, below).








So at last I now have my fully modified shirt ready to wear!
below is the burgundy version for myself.


And here is the blue version for my friend.
Look out for his Review of his shirt in a future posting.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Hollywood History launches with lots of Star Trek stuff!


My first friend in props (I met him in the line for Christie's Star Trek auction) Dana Hammontree, and Wesley Cannon, the admin of a popular movie prop blog, have launched "Hollywood History", a prop company dedicated to bringing props, costumes & such to collectors at reasonable prices. Dana has been collecting props & costumes longer than almost anyone I know and is a good person to start a new company to serve collectors.

Hollywood History joins The Prop Store of London and Screen Used Props in the field of direct sale and consignment of props & costumes through fixed price sales. While both PSOL and Screen Used are good companies with solid reputations, the problem with these sites has often been outrageous prices and high mark ups.

I know personally I have seen items on Screen Used at prices I would never pay. One Star Trek costume I was interested in was a bit expensive, disappeared from their site, and reappeared at twice the price! Now, to be fair, Screen Used is mostly consignment and they list items at the price their customers want. So if their customers are have unreasonable expectations, then the listed price will be high. But Screen Used has a great site (though the search is not very good as there is no search box) and makes great custom display cases. Jeff and Desi are well respected in the community and do a good job.

Also, there has been a lot of information coming out about the mark-ups that some prop shops charge. 100% - 500% or even higher mark ups are the norm it seems. In fact, frustration with these mark-ups was one of the reasons that Hollywood History was started.

Hollywood History will have to deal with the consignment pricing issues, but they have a few large collectors consigning who are not happy with the crazy prices in the hobby. Going through the site, I found all the Star Trek props & costumes are at reasonable prices (I even bought something!). Dana has said they will make sure that consignors don't ask for unrealistic prices, as they know that reflects poorly on them.

Hollywood History has a ton of Star Trek pieces, so check out their site, and know that Dana and Wes will take great care of you!

Alec

Thursday, February 25, 2010

11 shirt - Paul Smith modifications pt3

Today I tackled the buttonstand on the Paul Smith PS shirt, and found sometimes things are easy, and sometimes they are not!

The shirt Matt Smith wears, although it is a Paul Smith PS shirt, has visible buttons when it is worn (see right).
Studying the pictures, the buttonstand needs to be a full three columns of squiggles wide, lined up accurately on either edge (see right, inset). So I need to bear this in mind when I am reworking the fabric available.

The original shirt has a concealed buttonstand, making a very clean line (see left).

Sometimes these concealed stands are tacked halfway between the holes to help keep it in place, but thankfully this shirt does not have that, which should make things a little easier.

This is very simply created with a single line of stitch which basically forks the shirt front into two equal width fold: the lower has the buttonholes; the upper hides them from view.

The best way to show how the fabric is folded and sewn is in this diagram (see left).

I have a couple of shirts to do modifications on, one for myself and a couple for friends. Mine is a XXL shirt, and both of my friends’ ones are XL in size.

Before starting work I need to take a little time to look the shirts over and asses what to do and the current structure of the shirt.
To my surprise I noticed something curious, and a little annoying!

My XXL shirt has the buttonstand’s edge lining up with the edge of the column (just the way is needs to be) (see right), but both the XL sizes has it breaking a column in half (see far right).
This makes my work a little harder, since it means I cannot use the existing buttonholes for the XL size, and my approach for each will be very different.

Either-way, I need to unpick the existing placket to see what I have to work with. There is a single line of stitch which makes this, and I need to release the top and bottom so I can press it out flat (see left).

Now what I do depends on how the shirt was originally made.

Buttonstand for XL
Both the XL shirts I have have the pattern falling in exactly the same place, with the edge of the existing buttonstand cutting a column of squiggles in half. This renders the existing buttonholes useless to me.

I therefore have to cut them clean off, which I do as close to the holes as I can (see right).

I then press everything out flat and see where the column of squiggles line up with the front of the collar stand, as this will determine where I start from. I can then press the left edge of the new buttonstand and the width of it to three columns wide.

All I then need to do is pleat what is left to create an edge between the new buttonstand and the shirt front.

It was difficult to show this in photos, but I have done another diagram to show what I mean (see above). This is what I am aiming to achieve for both sizes of shirts.

I then had to re-sew the buttonholes through the new stand I had created (see right). I kept the discarded strip of original buttonholes and use this as a position guide.
For my own reference my settings on my buttonholer were:
 Length=halfway Bight=H Space=A.

The finished result came out pretty well (see left).


I am very pleased that the front edge of the buttonstand lines up perfectly with the collar stand.

The second XL shirt I had to do modifications to was the alternative blue version, which Matt Smith has been seen wearing in some of the later episodes, as well as the new series teaser trailer.

Buttonstand for XXL
The XXL shirt has the existing buttons in the right position, so this one is a little easier to do.

Again I unpick the existing buttonstand and open it out to reveal as much fabric as possible, which I then press out flat.

I then fold and press the edges of the new buttonstand to three columns of pattern, with the existing buttonholes in the centre.

It is then a relatively simple process to re-pleate the rest of the edge to create position the new buttonstand in the correct place, following the above diagram as closely as I can. This is stitched through all layers to the front (see right).

It does, however, finish with the edge just short of the collar stand (see left), but this isn’t visible when the shirt is buttoned up.