The Web of Fashion (Or what it is really like to attend Fashion Week)

LG Fashion Week Opening Night, Photo by Ingrid Mida 2011

It is easy to get caught up in the glitter and glam of the fashion web. Being invited to attend a fashion show seems like the ultimate confirmation that one is part of a closed clique of the fashionable elite. And yet there is an underbelly to this world that rarely gets written about. And while I had a wonderful time at the opening of LG Fashion Week on Monday night, it also gave me pause to think.

Walking into an event like this, the red carpet looms not as a beacon of welcome but as the first test of whether or not one is fashionable enough to be photographed.  From that moment on, the test continues inside and does not end until the night is over. Every set of heavily made up eyes gives you the once over from head to toe, making instant assessments of whether your shoes, outfit and handbag are sufficiently fashionable. You can feel them passing judgement, even if no words cross their collagen-injected lips and it takes a high degree of self-confidence and a good sense of humour to endure the non-stop scrutiny. I laughed my way through it with several glasses of champagne, a free makeover by L'Oreal and photo ops with some cute male models.

The next threshold to cross is the show venue itself. One is assigned either a seat or section, depending on your status and importance to the designer. A gift may or may not await you, depending on whether you are considered swag worthy and depending on whether or not your bag has been pilfered by those around you. Even getting to your seat can be like crossing a minefield, requiring the dexterity of a gymnast and the graces of a diplomat to pass by those engaged in air kisses and who-is- fabulous-now conversations.

It's all a relief when the show begins.... The reason I came is to see the artistry of the designers I admire. And yet, not everyone is looking at the runway; some are looking at who is looking at them!!! All too soon it is over, in a blur.

It is not all bad, but it is work to attend a fashion show and write about it. Making sense of what I've seen, culling through the good, bad and the ugly to define the trends and colours takes effort and it is easy to be distracted by the fashionable firestorm around me.

In the end, I am glad that I can hover close to the web of fashion but have a strong enough sense of self to not get wrapped up in it. Taking an academic approach to fashion suits me well. It fuels my art practice and I actually enjoy the hours I spend in the ROM and University of Toronto libraries conducting research. I don't have to dress up for this but I do anyway as an expression of my personality. I might not be one of the fabulous few, but I like who I am.

P.S. To read another perspective on this event, read this post Cinderella at the Ball by my clever and witty friend and neighbour Annie.

LG Fashion Week 2011 Opening Night Gala

Finale Holt Renfrew Presents Can't Live without Canadian Fashion 2011

We Canadians are a humble people. Not given to loud swagger, we simply do our thing and mind our business. But damn it, we should be proud of the many talent Canadian designers in our midst. Tonight during Holt Renfrew's runway presentation called Can't Live without Canadian Fashion for the opening night of LG Fashion Week 2011, I was in awe of the huge talent in evidence. Many of the looks by labels such as Greta Constantine, Smythe, Lida Baday and Todd Lynn could have come from the runways of New York, London or Milan.

Fall-winter 2011 in Canada will be a season of cocooning with cowls, fur, and draping in abundance. The grays and blacks were punctuated by beautiful deep reds and bright olive greens. I  almost wish I could wear these fabulous looks right now as we await more spring like weather in Toronto.

Lida Baday FW 2011 at LG Fashion Week

This is an outfit I hope to wear to work or perhaps for my speech for the American Costume Society Mid-west Conference. Check out the cool olive green socks and heels! What an elegant way to avoid blisters and cold feet!

Smythe FW 2011 at LG Fashion Week

And I think I'll take this Smythe outfit for my next trip to Aspen.

Me walking the red carpet in a Lida Baday skirt at LG Fashion Week

I'm still reveling in the glow of all that fabulous fashion, champagne and swag. Not surprisingly, it will be tough to get up to go to work tomorrow! 

Thomas Gainsborough and the Modern Woman

Mrs. Sarah Siddons, oil on canvas, c1785 by Thomas Gainsborough
National Gallery London

Although it may seem to be a contradiction of terms to describe an 18th century woman as "modern", this exhibition of paintings by Sir Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) at the San Diego Museum of Fine Art illuminates the painter's progressive ideas about women. One of the notable paintings on display is his portrait of his two daughters, Mary and Margaret, who both hold sketchbooks in their hands reflecting his ambition for them to have their own careers as artists and independent women.

Many of the other portraits on display are of women with notorious reputations including the beautiful cello-playing Anne Ford, the dancer Giovanna Bacceli, the infamous Duchess of Devonshire, and the courtesan Grace Dalrymple,  mistress to both of the French Duke of Orleans and the British Prince of Wales (the future George IV) and who also survived imprisonment in the Bastille during the French revolution. The exhibition highlights Gainsborough's depiction of these sitters as self-assured and "modern" women.

Not only was Gainsborough progressive in his portrayal of these women but his brushwork is a forerunner to impressionism. His loose painterly brushstrokes in the gowns worn by the sitters conveys a sense of movement and an underlying sense of the body within these larger than life portraits.

Mrs. Ann Ford, oil on canvas c.1760 by Thomas Gainsborough
Cincinnati Art Museum

I have to say that standing in the middle of the ten portraits by Gainsborough in this gallery is nothing short of glorious. The works come from a diverse group of museums including the National Gallery and the Tate in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Huntington in Los Angeles. Also on display are 18th century stays and two gowns from the Cincinnati Art Museum.

I was mesmerized by the story behind the portrait of Ann Ford (shown above). An accomplished cello player, she played the instrument "side-saddle" style because putting it between her legs would be unseemly. Being a cello player myself, I can attest to how difficult this would be. And yet, she played well enough to play concerts. In Gainsborough's portrait of Ann Ford, her cello sits in the background and he conveys the sparkle of her beauty and her accomplishments by adding crushed up glass blended into his oil paints for her dress.

Giovanna Baccelli, oil on canvas c1782 by Thomas Gainsborough
Tate London

The other painting that caught my eye as the portrait of the dancer Giovanna Baccelli (c1782). She is depicted in costume for the ballet Les Amans Surpris (The Surprised Lovers). Her yellow and blue robe a la polonaise is very much like the costume that I acquired from the Opera Atelier. Remember this post?The dresses are uncannily alike and I'm guessing that my costume was inspired by this painting by Gainsborough.

Thomas Gainsborough and The Modern Woman is on at the San Diego Museum of Fine Art until May 1, 2011. If you cannot get there, a beautiful exhibition catalogue is available.



The San Diego Museum of Art
1450 El Prado
Balboa Park
San Diego, CA 92101


Photo credits: Images from the San Diego Museum of Fine Art.

Pulp Fashion, the Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave

Pulp Fashion at the Legion of Honor
Photo by Ingrid Mida 2011

The Legion of Honor, Museum of Fine Art is currently showing a retrospective exhibition of paper dress sculptures by Isabelle de Borchgrave. These recreations of costume, which have been inspired by paintings, photographs, museum archives, and literary works, are made entirely out of paper that is painted, manipulated and glued to mimic the look of fabric, lace, trim and gems. The exhibition presents a retrospective of Isabelle de Borchegrave's work as a paper artist over the past 15 years. Divided into six sections including a recreation of her studio, the exhibition is a marvel from beginning to end. . As well,  textiles and objects from the museum's collection have been displayed alongside adding historical references and context to her work.

Elizabethan gown by Isabelle de Borchegrave
 Photo: Andreas von Einsiedel

Papiers a la Mode includes Isabelle's earliest work which were created in collaboration with Canadian costume designer Rita Brown and previously exhibited in a show by that name. The gowns in this room include iconic pieces from costume history, including the Elizabethan gown shown above as well as gowns by Worth, Poiret and Chanel.

In White presents eight gowns constructed out of white paper to illustrate the changes in silhouette in women's fashions over history.

The Fortuny Room, which includes a recreation of an exhibition tent from the 1911 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs in Paris,  was inspired by the work of the Spanish born fashion designer Fortuny. The tent is an exotic creation with a mystical sensibility that highlights Isabelle's great skill with paper and provides a total immersion into the Fortuny oeuvre.

The Medici Room which includes life-size recreations of the women and children of the Medici family was  based on historical paintings. Some of Isabelle's most extraordinary work is featured in this room. The eye-popping details of lace ruffs, jewelery and rich fabrics have been meticulously crafted and bring to life costumes that otherwise only exist in paintings.

Inspiration includes the recreation of five new costumes inspired by four paintings in the museum's collection. 

To see more photos and read a more detailed review of this exhibition, see my article in the online journal Fashion Projects.

Pulp Fashion, the Art of Isabelle de Borchegrave continues its run at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco until June 5, 2011.