matouenpeluche

Georges Lepape master Art Deco Illustrator

Four exquisite Georges Lepape art deco fashion illustrations from La Gazette du Bon Ton via Gallica.

René Robert Bouché

A mosaic of illustrations from Prague born René Robert Bouché. He was born in 1905 and is most famously known for his fashion illustrations for Vogue and Elizabeth Arden.

Images form here, here, here.

Bon Anniversaire British Vogue!

Apparently, 2016 marks the 100 year anniversary of the start of British Vogue. The National Portrait Gallery in London is holding a huge exhibition to mark the occassion. Meanwhile, please enjoy the illustrated British Vogue covers circa 1916 - 1918 below.

All images from British Vogue.

Lewis Carroll, Grace Coddington and Vogue

Just a night ago I watched an interesting documentary about the fashion editorial team at Vogue (USA) who work under the helm of Anna Wintour. It was called In Vogue: The Editor's Eye. Gee it was interesting! Everyone knows about Grace Coddington who was made famous by the also excellent documentary The September Issue, but this documentary looks at seven other long time editors who have as equally distinctive styles and ways of putting together a shoot as Grace does. Anyhoo, by chance I saw that it is Lewis Carroll's birthday today and I thought I'd celebrate that with Grace Coddington's beautiful Alice in Wonderland themed fashion spread she did way back in 2003. Not only is it shot by master photographer Annie Leibovitz, but it also features all the leading designers of the time which was a quirky touch that delighted many a fashionista! Can you spot Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Lacroix, Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, Steven Jones, Donatella Versace and Rupert Everet (OK not a fashion designer, but there nevertheless)? It also featured Grace Coddington' favourite model at that time Natalia Vodianova. You can read Grace Coddington's account of the shoot here.  

All images from here.

Happy Halloween!

This cartoon is of course by Charles Addams, legendary cartoonist and illustrator and creator of The Addams Family cartoon for The New Yorker and then The Addams Family television series. I think there's probably quite a few folk running around this Halloween day dressed up as Morticia or Gomez or Lurch or Uncle fester etc! 

Above is 1) Charles Addams sketching a model for his elegant Morticia Addams character, 2) the model he used for Morticia Adams, 3) Charles Addams and his wife Barbara, and 4) Charles Addams on location sketching.  

Images form here and here. 

Street Style Details - Vogue

 

Judging by these Vogue Street Style Details, I'd say it's still fairly fashionable to have a smart handbag/ clutch and a pair of pretty shoes. These shots were taken in the streets in and around the grand fashion shows this year i.e. Paris Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week etc etc

All images form Vogue.

Four Favourite Celebrity looks for October 2015

1)DAKOTA JOHNSON in a heavy satin black Dior gown - beyond lovely! 2)  PENÉLOPE CRUZ in a floaty print frock. 3)LUPITA NYONG’O in a polar white suit accented with fluorescent heels and 4) ALEXA CHUNG in something I would love to wear, but I'm not sure I could pull off as well as she does! Her shiny gold pleated skirt teamed with funky retro '70s skivvy is quite terrific IMHO.

Images from Vanity Fair and Vogue.

George Barbier for La Vie Parisienne

 

Both of the beautiful illustrations above are by George Barbier for the weekly French fashion/ arts/ gossip magazine La Vie Parisienne. Both are from my book George Barbier: Master of Art Deco.

Courrèges version 2015

 

According to Vogue, the big news in fashion this week is the highly anticipated Paris catwalk show of the newly re-booted Courrèges fashion label. You might remember Courrèges in its 1960s incarnation as the sci-fi, mod, futuristic look. Originally owned and run by André Courrèges, the label has recently had two new artistic directors appointed, Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant, and it is their collection that will be shown in Paris on Wednesday. 

Images form Vogue, The Red List and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Wide Legged Pants

Wide legged pants. They can look very elegant, but I think you'd have to be pretty careful what pair you chose and what you teamed them with. These photos are from Vogue Street Style where I found a surprising number of wide legged pants being worn. Maybe it's the new thing?

All photos form here.