Paris, Dior and Travel Memories, Part 2

Are you a fashion maven?  Do you watch the runway shows or grab the latest fashion magazine to see what's in style?  Do you send your clothes to a consignment store after a year or two so you can sew or buy more current ones?  Are you planning a gown for a black tie event you will be attending or your luxury cruise wardrobe?  Yes?...you might enjoy some of the visuals in this post.  No?  Neither do I nor am I a person who pursues the latest styles.  But, despite a life filled with more outdoorsy pursuits hiking, dog walking, kayaking, outdoor concerts or picnics and sewing in my underwear (oh wait, that's indoors), I do enjoy seeing costume and fashion exhibits.  They are simply eye candy for me.  I love textiles, I love colors, I love the artistry and the engineering.  Some sewing friends attend and come away inspired recreate a detail or design in their own way.  Me, I just come away fulfilled with the sheer beauty of it...and that's exactly how I felt when Mr. Lucky and I took a one day trip to Paris while we were in London last month.  
Once again our timing was sheer luck.  Since my friend Amy had invited us over to England in mid-September it just happened to coincide with the extravagant, fabulous, over-the-top Dior 70th anniversary exhibit at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Since we were only a Chunnel train ride away....not our usual 3,000 miles...we splurged on a day trip and had a fabulous time gawking and lunching.  I won't try to write up a fashion review since others have done that so well but am just sharing these photos so I can recall their brilliance and stunning artistry on dreary winter days and nights.  Dior fashions are so over the top, extravagant and magical and the displays honored that spirit over and over.  There were rooms of garments but also of accessories and perfumes and make up all displayed with grandeur.  It was one of those exhibits that makes me understand how important an industry fashion is in France, sort of like a world's fair for fashion.  Enough words, here are some of my cell phone pics....and links to blog writers who have done a much more marvelous job of highlighting this exhibit.  Picture time:

Since I had just done a program on fabric flower embellishments I was taken with the flower detail everywhere:

Of course there are the classic silhouettes and designs that are immediately recognizable:

 The displays were jaw-dropping:

Other writers have done terrific posts about the fashion significance of the exhibit so let me share those that I particularly enjoyed reading before visiting this exhibit.  Heather Lou's wonderful site
Closet Case Patterns, Alicia at Marquise Electrique does translate this exhibit into ideas for those of us who sew garments.  And the Dior celebration is international this year which I learned when I read this post on Inside Out Style
  Let's also pay tribute to the people who made these marvelous garments...because we know the effort and precision that go into this process firsthand.

 

It's all art, isn't it?  Fun, oh my gosh yes.  Exhausting, oh my gosh yes.  Worth every penny, oh my gosh yes.  Lucky, more than I could ever dream.
Here's hoping you have something happening in your world that makes you smile and feel the excitement of creating.