A Balenciaga Masterpiece in Toronto

1960s magazine ad for Balenciaga perfume

I recently had the opportunity to examine a superb vintage Balenciaga day coat at the flagship of Toronto’s Holt Renfrew. Canada’s most prestigious clothing retailer, Holt Renfrew, was founded in 1837 in Quebec, and has held royal warrants, such as furrier to Queen Victoria. In the late 20th century, as furs were seen less frequently, and were viewed as politically problematic, the store became better known for supplying designer and other fine clothing and accessories for men and women. Among the brands carried are Christian Dior (a relationship starting in the late 1940s when Dior himself visited the store and Toronto social scene), Chanel, Gucci, Saint-Laurent, Moschino, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, and Roger Vivier. In keeping with the times, and the popularity of vintage clothing, they have offered a diminutive, exclusive collection of pieces by vintage dealer Linda Latner of Vintage Couture. The collection consists of a single rack, but is of such quality and so carefully selected, or curated, that it is always a pleasure to view. This is the closest one can physically get to museum quality vintage couture.

Some months ago, I was particularly intrigued by this superb, mid 1960s Balenciaga couture coat offered at Holt's. Interestingly, it had been first retailed by Holt Renfrew, the same store selling it now, some 45 years ago. Apart from this fascinating historic detail, the coat in itself is an exemplary piece of Balenciaga, the type that connoisseurs and curators of fashion admire. Typically, in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, a few select pieces of couture were brought in, and promoted by top retailers such as Bergdorf's, Saks, and Neiman-Marcus in the United States, Harrods in London, and Eaton's, Simpson's, Creed's, and Holt Renfrew in Canada. They were often featured in illustrated, full page newspaper ads, and would create an exclusive buzz while demonstrating a trend, colour, or theme for the season that was available in the store's less expensive lines. Sometimes, a couture example was reproduced as ready-to-wear, at a much lower price, but with a certain cachet of having the design reproduced or adapted from an exclusive Paris model.

In the mid 1960s, Balenciaga clothes reached an amazing level of skill and design evolution. The clothes were simple and wearable, but very original. Balenciaga believed in simplicity as a form of dignity. Many consider the clothes almost monastic in feeling, reminiscent of liturgical robes, ecclesiastical garments, and religious habits. Balenciaga was partial to heavy, costly fabrics that had body and structure. His designs were simply cut so as to show the quality and beauty of the fabric.

For aficionados who appreciate cut and couture, this day coat deserves closer examination. It is boxy and cut away from the body. It is pieced in large horizontal panels, giving a slightly segmented feeling, especially when it is worn. It has an ease and generous feel that was the antitheses of the corseted, cantilevered, padded and shaped 1950s Christian Dior ideal a decade earlier. The narrowest horizontal panel, about 4” wide, is at waist level (the bottom edge is also the opening to the left and right slash pockets), and becomes a loose, drape-y half belt at the back that holds in the fabric folds in soft box pleats. In a medium weight wool with an almost felt like surface, and in a quiet cream, this is luxurious Paris couture in the most discreet manner. Considering the great expense of Paris couture, a coat like this which sits away from the body, and would actually fit a range of sizes and weight fluctuations, might be considered a better investment than a fitted, limited use, gala gown.

In considering such a design, one should imagine it in different fabrics and colours, just as Wallis Simpson did with her favorite couture models. She is known to have pleasantly surprised Dior himself by reordering one of his own models in an entirely different colour and material. This would be a bewitching evening coat in black or raspberry heavy matte satin. It could be a beautiful spring coat in hot pink mohair. A Donegal or Linton tweed example would be wonderful in fall. Black wool serge or gaberdine would make it the ultimate all purpose coat.

Looking at a really fine couture example such as this, it is understandable that the elite of the 1950s and 1960s, women like Mona Bismarck and Bunny Mellon, ordered several versions for various residences, and in different colours for variety. One is struck by the balance, proportion, and taste of such a design, and yet it has a retiring aspect. Balenciaga clothes are as much about the wearer as they are about the garment, and they have a sense of modesty that is ennobling.

One cannot help but wonder why a stylist or design studio didn't acquire this piece. Top design houses are known to take vintage pieces as "inspiration." It certainly wouldn't have been out of place in a well edited Prada, Jil Sander, or Marc Jacobs collection. With a price similar to a new Chanel jacket, I don't think that such a rare and exceptional piece is unreasonable, but then stylists of the world don't usually think of Toronto as a destination for superb vintage couture.

I agree with fashion historians who have assessed Balenciaga as the greatest couturier, and I’ve seen many incredible pieces in museums, private collections, and books, but this has to be one of my favourites. Because it is such a superb example, and is a document of the way Paris couture was disseminated to far away, sparsely populated Canada, I would loved to have seen it go to the fashion collection of the ROM, Seneca College, or the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. But least I have photos and got to hold it in my hands, and in a way, that was better than viewing it behind glass and in obligatory archival low light conditions.

Many thanks to Lynda Latner for generously sharing the images, and for sleuthing out such a masterpiece.

http://www.vintagecouture.com/

Images courtesy of Lynda Latner of Vintage Couture

mid 1960s cream wool Balenciaga coat


detail of back of Balenciaga coat; note the elegant yet casual draping and the way the back panel is one with the sleeves (cut Raglan style at the front)

these wonderful large buttons, so simple and beautifully proportioned for the coat design, remind me of French macarons from Ladurée

the labels of Balenciaga and Holt Renfrew that connect the old and new world with couture

LILLY PULITZER, Fifty Years of Palm Beach Preppy Prints

vintage Lilly Pulitzer men's slacks, circa 1970, worn with a Lacoste polo shirt in the Palm Beach manner

1960s Lilly Butterfly Print Skirt
an array of 1960s-1970s Lilly Pulitzer Men's trousers, private collection

Summer is here, and the prospect of barbecues, holidays and relaxation stretches before us. Summer isn't just a season, it is a state of mind. One of the ways we enjoy summer is in the more casual way that we dress. Seersucker, linen, bright and light colours, all look and feel great and help us enjoy the season. What would July and August dressing, or for that matter resort dressing, be without Lilly Pulitzer? Lilly is the Florida designer known for her unmistakable, brightly coloured prints, who this year celebrates the 50 year anniversary of her first designs.

In the label's heyday of the 1960s, her fashions were worn by Jackie Kennedy and members of the Kennedy family, as well as Vanderbilts and Rockefellers. The look said, "Leisure class, preppy, country club, cocktails by the pool." It was establishment, but very funky and slightly eccentric establishment.

Growing up in cold Canada, I never really knew Lilly. When I was in university in the late 1970s, I used to frequent thrift shops. From time to time, I came across trousers in colourful prints with the label, "Lilly Pulitzer, Palm Beach." I had never heard of the designer, but the prints were so whimsical, so original, and so amusing, that I was smitten. At that time, I tried to research the designer but found that the label was out of production. The label in fact ceased in 1984 and was revived in 1992. In the 1980s, to most eyes, the prints looked hopelessly wild and psychedelic as the fashion industry embraced the haute Conservative, haute bourgeois propriety of the Reagans. Nonetheless, I continued to collect these powerful Pulitzers. Then I noticed, almost simultaneously with the revival and renaissance of Pucci fashions and that label, that hipsters and those in the know could be seen wearing vintage Lilly Pulitzers. Eventually, the label was revived and a new generation was introduced to the designs of Pulitzer.

At first glance, a Pulitzer print looks rather bold, especially in a world where so many are in black or beige. But look closely, and you will see that often only one or two colours are strong, and the rest are retiring. The themes of the prints are whimsical and charming. There is always something sophisticated or a certain finesse in the patterns that prevents them from looking comical or juvenile. These are not your typical 1960s wild flower power florals. Most motifs were based on nature and include subjects like pandas, seashells, butterflies, tropical fish, etcetera.
"lilly" signature concealed in the stripes on the zebra's back signature concealed, like camouflage, among the spots of a seashell
a wild, tropical pineapple print
signature in the fur of a panda bear early 1970s print of pandas and bamboo in a typical green and yellow colourway of the period this print was of yellow and aqua; the overprinted areas resulted in the verdant green Lilly Pulitzer fish and shell motif print, perfect for seaside resort wear; signature at edge of the shell
All the prints are discreetly signed. It is hidden, like a treasure to be found, in the design. "Lilly" might be spelled out in the veins of a leaf, or the stems of meadow daisies, or the fur of a panda bear's back. While current Lilly prints are charming, they cannot touch the vintage ones for charm, whimsy, and innovation. Really, I wish that they would periodically re-issue the old ones. Lilly is famous, but not nearly as famous as she deserves to be. It is my hope that there will be more research and documentation of her wonderful work. Porthault, Manuel Canovas, Paule Marrot, and Emilio Pucci prints are wonderful and unmistakable, but nothing says,"Fun in Palm Beach," like Lilly Pulitzer.

For summer or resort, the perfect look for a woman is a Pulitzer skirt and a Lacoste polo shirt, or a simple Pulitzer print shift like Jacqueline Kennedy wore when in Florida (even to church!). For men, the equivalent look is Pulitzer print slacks with a Lacoste polo shirt, worn with or without a tropical weight navy blue blazer.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the label, there will be an exhibition the the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History in Palm Beach County from August 3, 2010 until May 31, 2011.


vintage Lilly Pulitzer garment labels

Photos by Square with Flair

http://www.mlfhmuseum.org/exhibitionschedule/upcomingexhibits.html

Poor, but Pretty in Pucci

Pucci is one of the most iconic fashion looks of the mid to late 20th century. I remember one fashion expert saying that in the '60s, "If you weren't wearing Pucci, you didn't exist." To be in a Pucci dress was to be recognised as a member of the jet set, and those who were fashionable, modern, and had European sophistication. Pucci reached the height of popularity in the late '60s to early '70s when brilliance of colour and pattern could be seen on fashions for children, men, and women, as well as household products such as bedding, wallcoverings, upholstery and drapery fabrics. The most sophisticated patterns of this era were by Emilio Pucci of Florence. Women became weary of the brilliant looks in the mid '70s, and the immediately following trends played with Edwardian, Victorian, and romantic influences by Laura Ashley and Ralph Lauren. Within a decade, the futurism of Cardin, Gernreich, and Couregges was abandoned for high necked blouses, buttoned granny boots, and patchwork skirts that evoked the previous century. The most notable example of this was Lady Diana Spencer's 1981 neo-Victorian wedding dress, covered with lace, frills, and bows.

Diana Spencer's 1981 wedding dress in neo-Victorian style

The renaissance of Pucci started in the early '90s with women wearing vintage pieces. Around this time, books were published about Pucci, and this brought awareness and discovery to a new generation, who was smitten with Pucci's unique dolce vita modernism. Eventually the house itself increased advertising and production, and after an absence of two decades, Pucci was seen again in the most prestigious clothing stores

Iconic fashion like Pucci rarely goes on sale, and when it does, selections are very limited in terms of size, style, and colour. One will sees very expensive fashions on sale, but less frequently does one see fine classics like Chanel suits, Hermes handbags and scarves, Burburry trench coats, or classic Lacoste polo shirts, at reduced prices. That is why when they do go on sale, it is a good opportunity to buy, especially if you've always dreamed of one of these iconic pieces, but never been able to afford it.

Pucci blouses and dresses have been worn by the most fashionable women of the 20th century, including Audrey Hepburn, Catherine Deneuve, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, the Duchess of Windsor, Elizabeth Taylor, Helen Gurley Brown, and Paloma Picasso. A Pucci print is very sophisticated, and recognisable in the way that a painting by a good modern artist is. Pucci prints are bright and colourful, but upon examination, many of the colours are not so brilliant as they seem. The colours are so well coordinated and contrasted that they sing and vibrate. If you look at some of the colours in these Pucci prints in isolation, you'll see that many of the colours aren't nearly as electrifying as when they play off the other very carefully selected tones. The mixing of these colours is much more difficult than one can imagine. This is why most vintage psychedelic prints of the 1970s are brash and vulgar when contrasted with a Lilly Pulitzer, Porthault, Paule Marrot, or Pucci. In Pucci prints, each area of colour is delineated by a very fine black line. The small and very discreet signature "Emilio" is scattered throughout the print, so that one can discern if the pattern is authentic.

Just this week, I was surprised to come upon this rack of Puccis on sale at a major Canadian clothing discounter. There were blouses, dresses, pants in cotton and silk. Prices were half suggested retail, so that $600.00 blouses were $300.00. Considering that most fashion loses 90% of it's value when it leaves the store, these sale pieces are an excellent investment compared to most clothes. The $300.00 blouse will likely get you $100.00 to $200.00 if resold, whereas virtually any other clothing in that price range will bring nothing if resold.

Puccis are very noticeable, and some people think they are difficult to wear. This is not correct. The best way to wear them is as separates, so that for example, a blouse would be worn with slacks, jeans, or a skirt in a solid colour of one of the tones used in the print. A cotton Pucci print blouse and a pair of simple white jeans will take you almost anywhere this summer.

Fashion is often fickle and unpredictable. Avoid expensive fashion errors by sticking to time tested looks, and fashion can be much friendlier. Pucci is a dear friend one first met in the 1960s, and who is always cheerful and bright. Pucci is the perfect antidote to economic gloom and the predictable black that so many of us seem unable to shake off. In these times calling for extraordinary fiscal measures, one can still be pretty in Pucci.

© 2010 Square With Flair™

Return of the Maple Leaf Tartan

Maple Leaf Tartan wool tie MacCleod's, jacket by Brooks Brothers


On the evening of Sunday, February 28, after a triumphant but emotionally exhausting hockey game, Canada watched the lavish and creatively produced closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. These were the most extensively watched Olympics in history, and viewers were given an abundance of sensational images to remember.

The most ambitious and lavish musical production number had Michael Bublé in trim retro-lounge style shawl collar tuxedo similar to what Guy Lombardo wore in the 1960s, and statuesque female Mounties singing and dancing around him. This morphed into an extravaganza with gigantic 24 ft beavers and even taller board game lithographed metal style hockey players and intentionally kitschy souvenir style Mounty statues. The maple leaf chorines looked oh so Canadian, with overtones of Vegas and Mardi Gras for festivity and fun. A detail I noted in some outfits was use of the seldom seen Maple Leaf Tartan. The maple leaf dancing girls wore short kilts of this iconic plaid while the band accompanying Michael Bublé wore 60s style tuxedos of Maple Leaf Tartan with green satin buttons and shawl lapels. After years of not seeing it worn, it is wonderful to see garments in this patriotic cloth, a bit like reconnecting with a long lost, dear old friend.

Guy Lombardo wearing a tuxedo in the Maple Leaf Tartan

Around the time we got a new flag, 45 years ago this February, there was a wave of patriotic feeling as Canadians started to prepare for Montreal’s Expo 67 and Centennial celebrations across the country. In 1964, the new Maple Leaf Tartan was created by David Weiser to commemorate the new Canadian flag. While each province and territory has an individual tartan, the Maple Leaf Tartan is the only one representative of Canada. It is also used by the pipes and drums of the Royal Canadian Regiment.


Courtesy of National Defense

The four colours reflect the colours of the maple leaf as it changes through the seasons; green in spring, burnished gold in the early fall, deep red as temperatures drop, and brown after falling. The colours are distinctively rich and somewhat muted. The harmonious shades are considerably less strident than many modern tartans, but not quite as retiring as antique tartans made with vegetable dyes.

Maple leaf tartan, designed by David Weiser, 1963

During the 1960s clothing in the Maple Leaf Tartan was available for women, men and children. This clothing was widely promoted in Canadian department stores such as Eaton’s and Simpson’s. In this tartan there were also other products such as fine English fine bone china with a border of the pattern, and dolls dressed wearing outfits of it.

Currently, vintage pieces such as kilts, vests, narrow neckties, and sport coats are not that difficult to find, but after collecting vintage clothing for 20 years, I can see that there are fewer and fewer pieces of it available.


vintage Viyella shirt in the Maple Leaf Tartan

If you are interested in garments of the beautiful Maple Leaf Tartan, they aren’t available in department store as they were in the 1960s or even into the late 1970s. The best place to find fabric, scarves, kilts, neckties and other accessories of this relatively obscure tartan is at Scottish shops. I got mine at MacCleod’s Scottish Shop in Stratford, Ontario. Prices were reasonable and they were very helpful, courteous and prompt with ordering by e-mail.

http://www.kilts.biz/

Tartan fabric by the meter, including the Maple Leaf Tartan can be purchased inexpensively at fabric stores in Canada, such as Fabricland (170 stores across Canada), during the fall/winter season. Tartan fabrics in different fibers, synthetic, cotton, wool, and wool blends, are available at different price points and depending on what the material is to be used for.

The costume stylists and designers of the Olympic ceremonies are to be commended for reviving this iconic piece of Canadiana and including it in the memorable closing presentation. It couldn’t have been better and it couldn’t have been more Canadian. May it inspire greater love of country and encourage us to proudly wear Canadian symbols like the Maple Leaf Tartan.

Maple Leaf Tartan on the cover of the Toronto Star Magazine, March 6, 1965

vintage Garment tag, Highland Queen, circa 1965

© 2010 Square With Flair™