Have an account?
Showing posts with label marie antoinette. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marie antoinette. Show all posts

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Bastille Day - Post Revolutionary Fashion




Did you think Gothic style was an invention of recent generations?   Citizens of post-revolutionary France had us beat.  Following the executions of Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI and then the Reign of Terror, the bourgeois population worked out their death issues in fashion, hairstyles and nightlife.

In a radical 180 from powdered wigs, men and women cropped their hair short and exposed their necks to emulate the preparation ritual for a trip to the guillotine.   Jewelry was made in guillotine shapes and other morbid motifs along with mourning arm bands.  Red ribbons tied around the throat became a popular accessory to symbolize cut throats.  


Victim's Balls became the new hotspot, allegedly for those who were mourning friends and family who lost their heads.  Dark colored ensembles could also be scandalously brief, where looks may include only the ribbons themselves.  Gourmand Grimod de la Reynière (one of the first popular food critics) held mock funeral banquets serving multiple courses of black colored dishes on top of a coffin.  


Vive la France!
Image from Dreadful DrearyWitch is me other sources include Supersizer Go - French Revolution

Read more >>

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Film Directors Fashion Ads

There was a lot of press about Tom Ford's film directing debut for the Oscar-nominated  "A Single Man" in 2009.  The movie was loved by critics and praised for its beautiful photography, design and complex characters.
Karl Lagerfeld's love of photography has been well documented.  He promoted a recent collection with a self-directed short film called "Remember Now".

I suppose prominent auteurs of the movie world felt they had to return the favor...

Martin Scorsese is known for his gritty portrayals in films like Goodfellas and The Departed.  What would he bring to the new commercial for a Chanel fragrance?  The result was a slick, darker, stylish short with a rebellious model (that's pretty hot!)



Oscar-nominated director Sofia Coppola was first in front of the camera for a Louis Vuitton ad with dad Francis Ford Coppola.
Read more >>
Site Meter