Saturday, July 31, 2010



Last week Anna Beth and I went to the Frist to see the The Golden Age of Couture. The exhibit displayed couture of French and English designers from 1947-1957. This era brought a bit of extravagance - unlike the flappers of the roaring 20's who insisted on short skirts, these women showed their wealth by the amount of material they could afford, thus making longer skirts and dresses most desirable and fashionable. As we mazed through the runway of once upon a time fashion, we discovered our ever-loving passion for anything Dior - or maybe it was the nostalgia, or perhaps a more appropriate phrase, the glamour of the past. As we continued we discovered strong feelings for Balenciaga, Channel, Givenchy, and in Christian Dior's terms, all of the "golden age" designers. Yes, it was the golden age of fashion, garments adorned with jewels, petticoats made of silk, tiers of ruffles and bubble skirts, tailored suits and stilettos, and....cinched waists? Dior believed that the waist of a woman should be no wider than one hand length. I think that's about six inches if you have a large hand. Wait, I thought curvy was "in" back then - I mean wasn't Marilyn Monroe a size 12? Nevertheless, I think Anna Beth and I were unconsciously "sucking in" by the time we left the fashion show, convinced that we should dress more "classic." Wouldn't that be a riot - the two of us showing up in real 1950's couture - we'd be stunning - perchance trendsetters of our own generation, our love of pure fashion truly shining from vintage hat to pointy toe.

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