SARTORIAL INTEGRITY: Delicious...

DELICIOUS

JPG A/W 09/10

These four pieces are currently at Cose at the moment. Sam who does the women’s wear buying has an amazing eye for choosing some of the more wearable pieces with a twist in the collections. For this collection, Gauliter was trying to convey a message of a global melting pot. The invite (which is somewhere at work) was a mish-mash world map, with countries placed in jumbled locations. Therefore, the collection itself was a mish-mash of cultural looks, and Gaultier always has some over the top theme. This collection, shows how fashion is an ever changing melting pot of themes, and how we dress changes daily. The four pieces are of course a play on of the tailored jacket or coat. I have tried all four on myself (as if you wouldn’t!?) the cut of each piece is amazing, and the fit is perfection. All have classic features; single breasted or double breasted front, jet pockets, welt pockets, lining details etc. The twist with all of them are the hidden features. The first coat; felted wool, single breasted front with a large lapel and stand collar, its has no button closers apart from the waist tie. The velvet hood with front pouch pockets and frogging details with fringing is a zip panel that can be worn with or without the coat. Not to mention, half the coat is lined with silk crepe. The second jacket; double breasted floor length, with silk collar, made from viscose and polyester, the fabric imitates wool crepe, but no were near as beautiful. It features jet pockets, and a two piece sleeve. The jacket has a built-in hidden mesh corset that sits around the upper thighs and waist keeping the jacket close to the body. The third jacket is classic, double breasted, with jet pockets and a wide collar/neckline. The red and black jacquard fabric, with a mandarin collar is built in to the jacket, has an invisible zip at centre front. The fourth jacket is a play on le smoking jacket. Clean tailored lines, no pockets, silk collar, and has a bib with frogging detail attached to the inside of the jacket. The bib is fastened with four press studs on the left shoulder and ties up on the inside of the jacket….delicious!

X marks the spot…

JPG A/W 09/10

This collection was all about S&M…I remember Sam telling me the show closed with two of the models getting into a staged catfight, only to be broken up by a real dominatrix carrying a whip…delicious.This cute little double breasted jacket in viscose/polyester (we had the cropped version in store) with its simple lines, has only a welt pocket with a contrast silk lapel. The sleeve is interesting, as the back of the sleeve is also in a contrast fabric that turns over the sleeve head into the arm hole to form a peak. The seam of the sleeve that runs down the outside of the arm is also edged stitched to create a sharp edge, thus creating a square silhouette.

Dries Van Noten A/W 2010/11

This collection was a serene piecing-together of classic menswear tailoring, washed-out military fabric, fifties and sixties ladylike shapes. The success was that Dries was able to integrate all these elements in such simple, wearable ways that didn't scream "fashion." In almost every silhouette, there is a juxtaposition of something grand with something street. Jackets had a tailored body with army-drill sleeves. The cut of these jackets was primarily a men’s tailored block, a reference to the boyfriend jacket.

Dries Van Noten A/W 2008/09

No one can do prints like Dries, same goes for his arty-ethnic textiles and beaded details. He has a knack for throwing everything in and making it look grand. With this collection Van Noten moved into marbleized printing techniques that added a beautiful distortion to traditional paisleys. His design team did extensive research into a particular method of wax printing from the 1930’s. They eventually ended up finding the original fabric house that produced these prints, and then discovered that the factory, hidden somewhere in the abyss, were unused wax rollers with the original marble prints from the 30’s. A technique that Dries explains in-depth in his look book for the collection, I must get my hands on one and explain this process in more detail and share with everyone. The two coats I have selected (as Dries is one of our biggest labels and we tend to get a lot of it) are both beautiful in there own right. I think the first jacket is a good example of relaxed tailoring, featuring a drop shoulder with a large revere collar, jet pockets and placement print. The second jacket is single breasted, in felted wool with rabbit fur detail.