Dirty Fabulous: Elsa Schiaparelli

Showing posts with label Elsa Schiaparelli. Show all posts

Thursday, 27 April 2017

Statement earrings - How Will You Wear Your's?

Wear them like an iconic celebrity

Audrey Hepburn

Elizabeth Taylor

Grace Kelly

As the finishing touch to evening wear

Frances Howard, 1925

Harper's Bazaar, 1955

Extra large and out of the ordinary

Suzy Parker in the 1950's

Harpers Bazaar, 1966

With a touch of luxury with designer pieces

Elsa Schiaparelli, jewelry

Rock them like they did in the swinging 60's!

David Webb, photo Bert Stern, 1966

Donna Mitchell by David Montgomery, 1966

With some fancy headwear

1950s Fashion

Lucy Doraine, 1920s

l’Oficiel de la Mode 1969, photo by Roland Bianchini

Like the lady you are

Helen Williams, 1960s

Jean Shrimpton

Walking your dog, obvs...

1950's Fashion

With very little else!

Photo by Roland Bianchini. L´Officiel 1972

Space age 1960's!

We have a huge collection of vintage earrings in all styles for pierced and non-pierced ears. Your only difficulty will be choosing which ones to make your own!!!

Get in touch to make your appointment to peruse our jewellery collection at your leisure.

01 6111842

hello@dirtyfabulous.com

Monday, 16 December 2013

Elsa Schiaparelli, the glamorous surealist!

Elsa Schiaparelli was a fashion pioneer from the 1920's throughout her career to the 1950's. She was arguably one of the most important designers of her era along with Coco Chanel, although she couldn't have been more different than her understated counterpart!
She began designing basic sweaters and sporting clothes but in the early 1930's expanded her collections to include everything up to couture.
Schiaparelli was an artist and a designer, her pieces drew heavily on surrealism and whimsy. She collaborated with many famous artists on her collections which had themes such as circus life, Greek mythology and the zodiac.
She loved to stray away from what was currently in vogue and constantly liked to shock the fashion world.
Personally, I love Elsa's designs. She was a true innovator and when I look at her early pieces I can see many of today's designers paying homage to her. Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, Lulu Guinness and Alexander McQueen echo elements of Schiaparelli's collections.

The many signature Schiaparelli elements:

High Waistlines
Shoulder pads and broad shoulders
Exaggerated Silhouettes
Bright colours such as royal blue and shocking pink
Trompe L'oeil knits
Zippers and decorative elements
Long-line, bias-cut dresses
Backless evening gowns
Geometric prints
Whimsical designs

As you can see from the collection below, Schiaparelli's customers needed to have a degree of confidence and attitude to wear her pieces!

1930s evening gown with typically exaggerating structure, this one focusing on the bust

The Tears Dress, fabric designed by Salvador Dali courtesy of the V&A

As pictured in Vanity Fair

Typical high waisted mermaid dress with pink embroidered bolero which highlighted the shoulders

The Apollo of Versailles Cape, 1938

Backless pale silk gown from the Circus Collection

This beautiful pink and ivory silk gown was designed to accentuate the female form and represent whats underneath the corset,

This was an idea that Elsa first showcased with her controversial "Skelleton Dress" in 1938.

While on honeymoon last year Caroline went to see this dress in the Museum of Modern Art in Vienna. It must have been incredibly radical looking in 1938!

1940's dress with whimsical butterfly print

Loud geometric silk print coat from the late 1930's

Droooool...... I love this 1940's cape with the giant bee!

Schiaparelli's more wearable evening jacket ensembles. When she was young, Elsa was often told that she was short and unattractive so it was her desire to create pieces which elongated and enhanced the female form.