Friday, October 5, 2012

Immersed in a Theme


Nothing thrills me more than when a designer takes a theme and carries it through an entire collection from head to toe.


And the collection that delighted me the most in this week's Paris Fashion Week came from the Alexander McQueen Bee herself, Sarah Burton.

From the beekeeper hats...


To the bee encrusted collars and shoes...




To the honeycomb pleating...



The honey-colored, tortoiseshell boning...


And the repetitive use of the honeycomb hexagon...


It was such fun to watch this show.  You can see the full collection here or watch a video of the runway show here.

And the details and embroidery...LOVE!









My two fave looks were the honeycomb net over a "nude" bust...just the right mix of nice and naughty...


And at the end?  You guessed it!  Flowers.


That just made me smile.

Remember the other day I was talking about challenging our brains to really see the whole story?  Well my fashion expert blogging friend, Ingrid Mida, also covered this show on her blog.  I found it interesting how we both saw very different elements in this collection.

The other show who had a great thematic presence was Dolce Gabbana...loved all the island references and the use of native handcraft elements of straw, raffia, rattan to convey the message.  And the scarves!  I wanted to raid Goodwill and find new ways of using all those old silk scarves.


You can view that whole collection here.

And last but not least, have you seen Keira Knightly's spread in Vogue Oct '12?


She's starring in the Anna Karenina movie which is coming out in November...


And those costumes promise to be divine!


That's all the buzz for today.  Have a great one!

20 comments:

Gerry Krueger said...

Except for "wasp-waisted" (which I thought was a great) Ingrid seems to miss the whole bee thing which you covered so well.... I loved the bee shoes and the brass purse handle with bees and flowers just made my heart sing... It will be my inspiration for a button painting today!!! Ger

gracie said...

Thank you for sharing such an interesting fashion show.

Alisa Noble said...

Ahh, I love the McQueen collection. If you look at the thumbnails, numbers 15 & 16 might be my favorites... so wild west to me.
And I am absoutely giddy about Anna Karenina!
Have a beautiful weekend, Susan.

Lorraine said...

Always enjoy reading your fashion posts and comments on all the details. Since I adore bees, this was a favourite post! Am so looking forward to this upcoming movie and I agree, the costumes are likely to be beautiful.

Coeur de freesia said...

Wow, these pictures are wonderful ! these dresses are gorgeous.
I also wondered if you forgot our "swap", I do not have any news from you anymore.
Have a nice week-end
Elena

Marty52 said...

Love the embroidery on that black and white corset... just love the starkness of it. Also, Keira is thinner than ever, gah!

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

What an interesting and beautiful fashion show. I have my favorites. In the thumbnails #'s 10, 27 & 28. Seeing the models wearing these creations was really something.

I would like to have had a closer look at these gowns and the embroidery.

Thanks for sharing ~ FlowerLady

Rachel said...

It's fascinating to see what the ateliers can produce - and more to the point, how designers react when they suddenly have access to all those skills!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for sharing this...I love the creative hats/headpieces some of the designers choose.

Margaret said...

I confess I didn't like the 'encrusted bees' at all...but I certainly loved all the hexagons, especially in that gold outfit and the bustier,and in positive and negative embroideries of silver/gold on black. Yummy!

Createology said...

How amazing these costumes are. The bee theme and elements are wonderful. My favorite is that honeycomb pleating/smocking. Wow! Thank you dear for sharing all of this as I would have missed it otherwise. Fashion is divine inspiration...

Anonymous said...

You bring us such great inspiration - always! This was such a great post,I watched the shows and love the textures and fabrics - the shoes baffle me. ~Kelly

unDeniably Domestic

Vicki Boster said...

Susan- I loved this post! I'm all about fashion- love seeing the " latest" from the runway and go to these designs for inspirations. You've presented a wonderful summary!
Vicki

LisaBelle said...

I love it when you talk about fashion shows/collections. Your posts give me a...vocabulary...a way of seeing things and understanding the cohesion of the individual parts. Haute couture has always been interesting to look at, but I've kind of dismissed it as a sort of bizarre attention-getting device used by designers to get people to look at their ready-to-wear lines.

Emily said...

I have to say, i don't care two wits about fashion, but these pictures actually made me feel like I was looking at art and not just clothing! Love the way the hexagons were used. Very interesting, all of it.

Catherine said...

What a collection! So much to look at! The neck pieces reminded me of the Kayan people, where the women wear the metal rings around their necks.

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

Interesting post by Ingrid Mida.
I don't think I would have noticed that entire theme if you had not mentioned it.

Loved that second collection. Made me think of the 50s.

I have been lamenting about the lack of movies coming out of Hollywood that are worthy of my scarce dollars. The new version of Anna Karenina is one to look forward to.
xx, Carol

WandarArt.Stitch said...

WOW , BEAUTIFUL FASHION ,
Hugs,....

Marie Arden said...

I loved the bee themed McQueen show thought out to the last detail. Some of it quite wearable. All of it lovely.

Padparadscha said...

Susan, I just wanted to tell you about an new exhibition that opened in Paris today in the Museum Arts Décoratifs. It's called "Fashioning Fashion".

Here is a link to pictures :
http://www. lemonde.fr/style/portfolio/2012/12/13/fashioning-fashion-deux-siecles-de-silhouettes-exposes-aux-arts-deco_1805263_1575563.html

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