History as inspiration

Movies are a wonderful escape from the everyday work life. A really good film transports a viewer away from the theater and into a world that can be charming or scary, plain or beautiful. The plot crafts a sense of wonder and anticipation with a conclusion that leave one satisfied. I prefer films with panoramic vistas and intense visual beauty. Moulin Rouge and Phantom of the Opera caught my attention. I was captivated and saw each of them multiple times just for the visual stimulation factor alone. One scene in Phantom had the main character singing in a most captivating gown with stars in her hair.

Years later, I happened upon the source for the costume designer’s inspiration. It was a painting of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, (a.k.a., Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Hungary, or simply, Princess Sissi) as depicted by Franz Xaver Winterhalter in 1865. The costume designer had taken liberties with some aspect of the costume (as did the painter I am sure). Both painter and costumer were able to capture the essence of a feeling/mood that they wanted to convey visually through the clothing. Fashion designers work to do that as well.

Many designers scour the libraries, art galleries and museums to find sources for inspiration for their next collections. Historical dress is one area of that is an unending fountain of rich inspiration. This is particularly true in high end ready to wear and couture. These area of garment sales offer the opportunity to use custom beading, embroidery and unique and special fibers. Many of these supplies are too expensive for mass-market garments. The luxury market offers more opportunity to use these supplies but also they demand more creativity and artistic liscense so one does not seem to be wearing a costume. Here are some recent collections and how they leveraged a source garment to make it usable for today’s wearer.

The Maharaja’s of India come immediately to mind in the collection by Alexander McQueen. His Ready-to-wear collection for Fall 2008 was a mix of embroidey and beading fit for royalty. I was actually quite surprised at the price point on some of these garments. The dress red dress on the right was only $3500 at Saks. OK – while not exactly a bargain, it did not require the princely sums that one would think.

His pre-fall 2009 collection was no less over the top, but took inspiration from the Dickens area of the industrial revolution. It has fiercely tailored suits and jackets but also some fun vest paired with leggings.

The collection was not so much a collection inspired by Oliver Twist’s orphan boys but more inspired by the wealthier citizens of London. Broken apart, the pieces could be also mixed with jeans or other business wear to make a practical addition to a wardrobe.

Also part of his Fall 2009 collection was a homage to the everyday blacksmith. The garments used in blacksmithing go back hundreds of years. These garments could of easlity been around in the 1760’s all the way to the 1950… perhaps even today. Leather vests and aprons were a practical way to prevent getting burned, Today’s foundries utilize modern day flame and heat resistant textile discoveries.

Jean Paul Gaulter Fall 07 Couture and Haider Ackerman Fall 2009 must have gone to the same source library. Both seems to have discovered the collection of Coachmen uniforms at the V&A This one in particular is Russian and from the 1850’s. Both seemed to pick the garment apart either utilizing its incredible fringe detail or the chest/cuff embroidery.

Both collections seem to have a historical reference but fall way short of making the appear as part of costume. Any of these pieces would be a happy addition to a wardrobe but also because it is undated, be worn for years,

1725 opera singer costumers were a source of inspiration for Alexander McQueen in this RTW 2008 garment. The source garment was originally worn by a man but this reincarnation was more suitable for a woman. 300 years later, the garment still works minus the arias.

Haider Ackerman presented a fall 2009 collection that was punctuated by embroidery and draped leather. Originally from the workrooms of John Galliano, Ackerman has a unique design flair that comes from being a Frenchmen living in Columbia and other parts of the world. He takes a very draped approach to fashion but has been exposed to many sources of ethnic and historical dress. This collection takes inspiration from vintage and contemporary matador outfits.

One sad note about doing the research on this collection: it has always been on my bucket list to actually try my hand at bullfighting. I’ve been to Rondo, I like the suit and am actually on a wait-list for matador school… yes there really is such a thing. There actually happened to be a very good school in Salamanca – the pretty town just northwest of Madrid.

But after finding a rather large collection of images including a videos of matadors being trampled/pummeled or pierced by bulls during a match, I have decided to nix the idea of going to bullfighting school. One site in particular noted how one (ahem… 50 year old) amateur bullfighter was punctured and tossed around by a bull… It was so not pretty.