my occasional musings on life, love, art, perfume ... what else is there?

2.19.2006

Pure Elegance

"The relaxed attitudes of the 1960s could be achieved in couture day wear. Hubert de Givenchy excelled in a style associated with such nonchalant fashion paladins as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Audrey Hepburn. Learning from his mentor, Balenciaga, Givenchy offered a seemingly unstructured two-piece dress - which he dubbed "split level" - indebted to the Balenciaga sack. For necessary articulation of details, he employed "souplesse" instead of a tailor's dart, allowing a supplementary soft fold of material to give shape to these unassuming and chic tops. These ensembles by Givenchy were the "working uniforms" of Diana Vreeland, then editor of Vogue magazine in New York."

The Costume Institute
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

They are very chic looking, I wonder if that would look good on me?
hm, I am such a jeans and polar fleece gal, sad, really.

8:54 AM

 
Blogger Bela said...

Funny, I remember '60s fashion as very 'constructed', 'architectural', strict, not relaxed at all. Obviously, before '68, when everything went loose. I liked it all - no low-rise anything (my personal bĂȘte noire).

3:22 PM

 

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