Balenciaga in San Francisco

On a gorgeous sunny Saturday in San Francisco my daughter Chrissie and I ventured out to the deYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park to view a Balenciaga exhibit. Cristobal Balenciaga was a designer from the early 20th century that was raised in Spain but, became a couture designer in Paris from the 1930s until he retired in late 1960s. The exhibit had 120 ( ! ) gowns that represented the entire span of his career. The garments were all fabulous and very inspired by his Spainish youth. During his career Balenciaga kept revisiting images that obviously captured his imagination such as bows, bubble hems, pom-poms, scooped out skirt fronts, boat necklines, pinked fabric edges, collar details in the back, etc. etc.
The exhibit was a joy to walk through with giant art work reproductions of Velasquez and Goya and bullfights and photos of fisher women that probably influenced Balenciaga's designs. From a technical perspective the garments were inspirational and from a purely visual experience the garments were stunning. The exhibit had my imagination and awe on overdrive and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

There were 120 garments to be awed by at the exhibit. Balenciaga only designed dresses for a few decades ( late 1930s to late 1960s ) but what I enjoyed about the exhibit was how Balenciaga kept revisiting style lines and ideas that captured his imagination. Most prominent was the scooped front and the boat neck neckline. Also, bunching up the skirt bottom which was supposedly copying fisherman wives tucking the skirts into the waistband. Balenciaga exaggerated silhouettes and hid surprises. It is hard to accurately describe the obvious recurring themes in the garments but, they were very noticeable. It seemed Balenciaga kept working on a concept until he got it perfect-and he did get it perfect. Some of the gowns were absolutely breathtaking in their beauty and simplicity. The last striking feature was the modernity of the pieces. Over and over my 19 year old daughter and I were exclaiming " I'd wear that ! "

The exhibit had the lights dimmed so that the textiles of the garments would not be damaged, however that also made it impossible to sneak a good non-flash picture when the guards weren't looking. I can never resist snapping a few furtive photos because my memory is terrible!! Also, the catalog of the show did not capture the spirit of the exhibit AT ALL and did not even have good photos of the garments. The catalogue was so bad that I actually asked if there were copyright concerns that prohibited photos of each garment. The museum cashier looked at me like I was nuts but, I was disappointed that the catalog was so lacking so I did not purchase it. Next month Threads magazine is doing an article on Balenciaga so I'm hoping that will illuminate some of the more intriguing construction details of this amazing fabric artist. The exhibit was truly inspiring and I highly recommend it to all fashionistas.

After the exhibit Chrissie and I drove to Haight Ashbury where once again I totally scored with a great parking place for the vehicle beast ( Ford Excursion ) and we enjoyed a delicious lunch together in a window seat with GREAT people watching. Metered parking was 25 cents for like 10 minutes so we didn't stay long. But, I enjoyed every minute of my beautiful day with my beautiful daughter. Life is good :)

Double the Fun

So these super cute twin sisters made these super cute sun dresses for a super fun time at the Stagecoach concert this weekend in the sunny hot desert.

Avalon's blue denim dress is a Cynthia Rowley pattern for Simplicity( #2250 )and has LOTS of seams, pleats and darts in the bodice that make for a great fit. And don't forget that cute bow in the back.

Jourdan's white eyelet dress is McCalls M6111 and fast and fun to sew. No zippers, buttons or closures, it gets it shape from the straps that tie in the back. Jourdan lined hers and it looks just like the one on the pattern! And again a cute bow in the back.

There's only one word for the work these FASH100 students did- SUPER!!!

ARTS ALIVE!

First a little backstory; last year Mission Viejo had some donated gowns that were unusable for their cause. I said Saddleback would love the gowns and in January OC high schoolers came to Saddleback and selected gowns to be ReDesigned and entered in a competition at the Fashion 'a La Mode event in March at Saddleback. Fashion 'a La Mode and the ReDesigns were a HUGEMONGOUS success!!! And now Mission Viejo is hosting a giant annual art event on April 30th at the gorgeous Norman Murray Center and were delighted to have the ReDesign garments displayed in the Sycamore wing. I LOVE putting up displays and if you get the chance stop by and check it out. The display should be up until May 6th.

It was a very ingenious method to display the garments. There was a track and cables that hooked into the track with little hooks on the cables that could be adjusted. I painstakingly hung the sleeveless gowns from the rods with invisible thread ( you're seeing the cables in the photos ). It seriously took 5 minutes to thread the needle each time because the thread is like fishing line-seriously invisible! I was muttering and saying profanities under my breath but, the end result was worth it because the garments looked great.

All nine ReDesign entries were displayed along with 'Before' photos and Saddleback fashion posters. All the people coming and going were very impressed with the garments and surprised they were completed by high school students. It was easy to spot the old ladies who loved fashion, they all fondled the fabrics!

There was also a display case that I filled with Saddleback fashion class information. Hopefully there will be lots of teenagers that will view the display during Arts Alive and get interested in classes but, if next semester you end up sitting next to a old lady, now you know why :)