More Fashionable Reads

Today I wanted to share three very different yet equally awesome books with you.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: A Novel

I picked this book off the shelf in the library because it had the word seamstress in the title and because it had shoes on its cover. (Yes, I choose my books by their titles and covers, don't you???) I did not know what to expect but boy! was I in for a treat. The story takes place during the Cultural Revolution in China, when the children of professionals declared "the enemies of state" were sent to remote villages for "re-education." That topic alone would have been enough to enthrall me even if the book contained no characters in it who were seamstresses. In the village, the main characters get hold of the forbidden books, befriend the Little Chinese Seamstress, the most beautiful girl on the mountain, and share their lust for books with her. Written in a beautiful poetic language, this novel is full of symbolism. The most prominent symbol here is Balzac or the book - it stands for education, broadened outlook on the world and the self, it signifies the idea of many possibilities of life. Life beyond what is. Unfortunate to protagonists, their arduous reading habit educates the Seamstress out of the village where they, on the other hand, are doomed to stay to continue their "re-education" for an indefinite period of time. Given their parents' status they might never leave. I found this irony heartbreaking. Dai Sijie perfectly conveys the injustice of the regime through personal relationships and destinies of the characters. The second important symbol is, of course, the clothes. The political uniform which enslaves the boys doomed for "re-education" in the country becomes liberating attire for the Seamstress who makes the Mao jacket fit her perfectly and wears it on her journey to the city.

The Tailor's Daughter: A Novel by Janice Graham

Yet another historic novel came my way and I could not resist the urge to read it due to the reasons stated above: the title and the cover! Written in a very Victorian style, this novel is about Veda, a tailor's daughter, who loses her hearing at age sixteen and, for the lack of any other prospects in life, takes over her fathers tailoring business. Contrary to the Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, this book is rich with descriptions of Victorian clothing and clothes-making. Since that was my main interest in reading the book let me indulge and share some of my favourite quotes:

"Ever since I can remember, I have been in thrall to elegance and style. I observed things that slipped by unnoticed to everyone except my father, like a thread hanging from a buttonhole or clumsy shoulder padding. He had an eye for perfection and we could easily be swept to rapture by the suppleness of a doe-skin glove."

"Of course my primary interest was how clothing might enhance the human form, how it might hide or correct the faults of an imperfect body that is generally quite lumpy and lopsided... It was always the way fabric could be molded to the human form that intrigued me, the way a tailor could gently stretch and shape a superfine worsted under the weight of a hissing steam iron to restore a bit of youthful dignity to a slope-shouldered old man."

"After all, any dodger could cut cloth from a pattern, but a good tailor had to develop a quick eye to seize at a glance the shape of a lapel or a particularly interesting trimming on a cuff. A tailor is a judicious thief, stealing a line here and a cut there in the time it takes a man to alight from his coach.. and then he takes this memory to the cutting bench and interprets what he has seen with his own particular mark."

Delicioulsy said!

If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You by Kelly Cutrone

This is an autobiography by a founder of a fashion public relations, branding and marketing firm People's Revolution. Kelly shares her own experiences of making it in the NYC fashion scene. The book contains raw details of her life: ups, downs, success stories and a lot of advice! It is definitely an inspirational and motivational read for any woman who wishes to learn how to become successful in fashion PR (or in any other field she loves!). Figuring out who and what you are and what you love to do is step number one! Oh, and by the way there is not straight road to where you want to get to!

Kelly also has her own reality show with a witty title Kell on Earth. It gives a glimse of what it is like to run and work in a fashion PR company. Recommended for anyone thinking of a career in this field. 

I will end with my personal favourite rule by Kelly Cutrone: 

Normal Gets you Nowhere!

Fashion Child Stars

We all had a dream when we were children. I dreamed too. Not so much about what I would be as about how I would dress. And to that end, I used anything I could get my hands on in our apartment to materialized my fantasies into reality. Pillow cases turned into princess' veils, huge towels wrapped around my head created cascades of long thick hair. Whatever cloth I could find in my mom's wardrobe would be subject to pinning, tying and tucking thus as to create the most fabulous dress my five-year-old hands were capable of creating.

I am obviously not alone in dreaming. Millions of girls dream. These young girls, however, were able to materialize their dreams into reality without waiting for their post secondary diplomas or full-time careers.

Please meet Tavi Gevinson. She has been a fashion blogger since she was 11 years old. She captured the attention of the world of fashion at large and earned herself a front row at the biggest designers' fashion shows:

She's grown up since then and has her own online magazine and has recently presented at TED:

Pretty impressive and admirable if you ask me!

Another young star I want you to meet is Elena Valez, a 15-year-old fashion designer. The video speaks for itself:

And they are getting younger and younger! Take a look at this 10-year-old designer Cecilia Cassini:

How is THAT of inspirational!

Creative Inspiration or Insolent Theft?

One question that most creative people ponder at one time or another is: From where do fashion designers source their ideas? The question we hear asked of designers most often is "what served as an inspiration for this collection?" To me, this question often sounds redundant for I believe that creative people take inspiration from everywhere and everything. Like sponges, they absorb the environment around them and translate it into their designs. At least, that's how I personally see it. 

Apparently, according to Tom Ford, I am not that far off. In his conversation with Guy Trebay, he explains that designer's tendency to draw inspiration from everywhere, including other designers, can result in similar if not identical designs. That is why we often see designs which seem "ripped off" or "plagiarized."  In fact, referencing other couturiers and fashions of eras past is more than acceptable. Moreover, replicating other designers' work is not all that rare in fashion and, what is interesting, it does not worry the famous American designer in the least. In Ready to Share: The Ecology of Creativity in Fashion talk Tom Ford comments on borrowing design elements from other eras and designers, "I don't think that the 70's look of the 90's will really look like the 70's which by the way was inspired by the 30's..." Currency is what's most important in fashion design. If you have a spare 40 minutes I highly suggest listening to this talk as it offers some thought-provoking points of view.

Another reason why such unrestricted copying proliferates in fashion is that fashion industry is restricted by the trade mark protection law but there is no copyright protection which could regulate the use of any given design detail (cuff, collar, etc). To put it simply, any one can copy any garment and sell it as their own, as long as they do not knock off the original logo. As a result, we see logos of the following kind:














Johanna Blakley's TED talk - Johanna Blakley: Lessons from fashion's free culture - explains that apparel is viewed as too utilitarian to qualify for copyright protection. It is considered to be a necessity rather than art. Johanna, however, argues the opposite. She sees the lack of copyright protection as a blessing for fashion design. Thanks to the lack of ownership, she argues, designers were able to elevate fashion design to the level of art. I couldn't agree more!

Incidentally, last time I was at the library I bumped into Austen Kleon's book whose title I just love! Kleon promotes the development of one's creativity along the same lines as the previously mentioned speakers. My favourite quotes from the book: 

"What is originality? Undetected plagiarism" - William Ralph Inge

"Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find your self." - Yohji Yamamoto

Contrary to common "be yourself" kind of advice on creativity - which sometines promotes channelling creativity from outer space - Kleon's somewhat controversial advice will be a relief to those of us who have been struggling to find a stream of originality within and, perhaps, may have given up altogether. Well friends, never fear! It's just that you have looking in all the wrong places. Next time you want to produce a masterpiece you might have to du-plicate, tri-plicate and multi-plicate a few hundred of other masters' chef d'oeuvres first. And that, I assure you, is a short cut!

The Making of Magic

As promised, this post is my report on the 60 Years of Designing the Ballet and the Tutu Project exhibitions at the Design Exchange. Ballet is a childhood obsession of mine, which never really left me, simply moved aside to the back of my mind making space for the clothing design obsession. These days, the two obsessions have found perfect partnership in regular visits to the National Ballet of Canada and in constant admiration of the choreography, costume and set design. The DX exhibition is dedicated to the process of creation of the magic of ballet.

As the elevator took me up to the exhibition hall on the second floor I felt that I got magically transported to cloud number nine. This exhibition is pure heaven not only for ballet lovers but also, and especially, for costume designers. It features objects usually found only backstage and offers a close up look at some of the costumes worn by principle characters in major National Ballet productions. Here are some of my favourites:

a headdress from the Nutcracker

a fragment of a dress from Sleeping Beauty

Juliet's costume from Romeo and Juliet

Other costumes on display include head pieces, wigs, boots, pointe shoes (in cross section too!), a whole wardrobe from the Nutcracker, a bolero worn by Mikhail Baryshnikov and, needless to say, a great multitude of tutus including one worn by Karen Kain, the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada.

The highlight of the exhibition for me was the "show Bible" for the Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet. 

The "show bible" is the most important document in the wardrobe for each particular production. It documents everything from the sketches of all the characters of the ballet to the fabrics swatches, trims and buttons to be used for each costume, to the instructions on how the costume was built. It is referred to when costumes need to be remade or repaired. I drooled over the bible for minutes on end and took tons of photos. 

The following two videos from the National Ballet of Canada website do a wonderful job at explaining the process of building a costume. 

What an exciting peek behind the scenes! 60 Years of Designing the Ballet exhibition gave me a privilege I do not normally get when I climb up to my seat in the 5th ring of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts! It definitely helped me acquire a new appreciation of the grandeur of work that goes into each production.

The exhibition is on until the 2nd of September. When you come, make sure to wander around the first floor of the DX. Here, you will find a fun and colourful parade of various tutus designed by artists, designers, and members of the community. This part of the exhibition is free to see and is very inspiring in nature.

In the Beginning There Was Advanced Style...

Hello Dear All!

This had to happen sooner or later. The ideas inside me have been bubbling up for a while and have reached a critical mass which my brain alone is no longer able to contain. From now on, I will be sharing them here. 

This blog is about fashion, art, ideas and all thing which I find inspirational, stimulating, disturbing, outrageous, beautiful, subversive and worth sharing. I hope some of them will provoke a discussion in which case don't be shy to leave your comments.

Why fashion? Because we cannot escape it. Because you wear it every day whether you are aware of it or not. Because it is as much a form of art and self expression as it is a plain utility and necessity of every day life. Fashion is tribal. Fashion is individual. Fashion is both ends of the spectrum and everything in between. I believe that a subject so elusive yet to obvious is bound to stimulate an engaging discussion.

I use the word 'fashion' very broadly and in no way seek to promote any particular designer. In fact, I am all for a creative approach to your wardrobe and respect any form of DIY production: designing, sewing, knitting, crocheting, re-purposing/refashioning. I do not believe that expensive clothes equates good taste or original style. I argue that one can look absolutely terrific in something inexpensive. Periodically, I will be posting my outfit ideas some of which will incorporate pieces made by yours truly.

I would like to dedicate this first post to one of my biggest inspirations not just in fashion but in life in general. That is Ari Seth Cohen's project "Advanced Style" and, more specifically his beautiful models. Cohen seeks out and photographs women of mature age who live inspired lives and are not afraid to be different and express their individuality through fashion. Their love of colour and ability to take themselves humorously is admirable.

As a matter of fact, Ari Seth Cohen's book Advanced Style came out very recently. A collection of vibrant photos of these stunning ladies, this book can serve as a great "pick-me-up" on a gloomy day. Not only do these stylish women teach us that you only have to turn to your closet to put a little spark in your day, but they also set a great example of living life to the fullest at any age! Besides, I cannot but agree with Cohen's main premise - that personal style evolves and only improves as we age! Can you think of a more positive way to look at silver-haired years?