No, that's not Kate Moss' wedding dress, it's the Madame Grés exhibition at the Musée Bourdelle in Paris which is now on my list of best fashion exhibitions, ever. Along with Madeleine Vionnet and The Golden Age of Couture.
That's Not My Age loves a spot of elegant drapery - the ancient Greeks and Romans certainly knew how to dress - and the sculpture museum makes the perfect setting for Grés (real name, Germaine Krebs), who wanted to be a sculptor but settled for a life in haute couture. Manipulating fabric directly onto mannequins, the couturier created beautiful goddess gowns for the likes of Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich back in the 1930s - though her work is unbelievably timeless. Apparently Moss has opted to stand by her old friend Galliano but the stunning eau de nil number (above) wouldn't look out of place today.
Grés carried on designing right up until the 1980s, I'm familiar with her drapes and folds so was interested to see some of the more geometric shapes from the sixties and seventies:
That's Not My Age loves this fabulous faux fur coat from autumn/winter 1970-71.
Switch off your Frump Alarms please, there now follows a most unlikely coincidence. On my return from Paris an attention-grabbing email entitled The Marais Collection dropped into my inbox. From purveyors of middle-aged-merch Planet it announced a 'new direction' for autumn. And whilst this may not be in the same league as Madame Grés, which is a bit like comparing Jamie Hince to Johnny Depp, it ain't bad.
The Madame Grés exhibition is on until 24 July 2011 at the Musée Bourdelle, Paris.
me encantan estos vestidos , son tan elegantes...
ReplyDeleteun saludo desde SPAIN
te invito a visitarme
karmucaycuquino.blogspot.com
The gown in the 1st shot looks amazing in the museum setting. Perfect placement to make the inspiration point. Like the dress from Planet. Xxxx
ReplyDeleteThat fake fur coat is so gorgeous and I love both the pleated dress and those stunning geometric pieces, too.
ReplyDeletePlanet? That collection looks a lot better than those pleated skirts and short sleeved jackets they used to knock out in the 1980's. x
Her designs are still so wearable and I love the rich neutrals. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteFabulous photos! That must have been a knockout of an exhibit. I'm so sorry we missed it. I'm not familiar with Planet, but I love that last graphic print dress you've shown us!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this!! I loved walking through the exhibit with you!
ReplyDeleteWasn't it wonderful! And there are a few pieces in the Yamamoto exhibit in the V&A that are direct tributes. I love that Planet pleated dress -- that kind of pleating always makes a knit easier to wear at the tummy level.
ReplyDeletelove that coat!!!!
ReplyDeleteand hello, i love jamie hince and johnny depp in one sentence.
xo
Beautiful drapery. Did the exhibit show a step by step in her process of draping? How long was the material she began with? I often imagine the variety of things one could make with a length of silk.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of Madame Gres before but those dresses and the coat are just fantastic! Thanks for showing such elegant clothes
ReplyDeleteK xx
Wow Fraulein Krebs would have such different connotations!
ReplyDeleteOh and I'm buying that silver grey Planet dress, that's me to a t
ReplyDeletethe darker dress in the 3rd image is really stunning, I have only discovered madame gres recently, and find her draping extremely beautiful, its kind of minimalistic, and under stated in such a modern way
ReplyDeletelove love the Madame Gres pics - she was a genius! would love to see/have seen this - going to check date it ends!
ReplyDeleteJust beautiful. Would love to be able to see this exhibition. xx
ReplyDeletewe can be followers
ReplyDeletevery fed up that I won't be able to get to the Madame Gres exhibit before it closes - could the V&A be tempted to bring it here I wonder?
ReplyDelete