London Fashion Week SS'19 Accessories Trend Spotlight

By Paige McKirahan

 

Welcome back to the Talkingfashion blog, fashion week lovers! Today, we have decided to take a look at the latest and greatest trends from London Fashion Week that spanned from September 14^th to the 18^th!

 

 

Many of the aesthetics and motifs from NYFW carried over across the pond, with ‘80s references and bright color schemes presented by a multitude of talented designers.

Animal inspired designs roared in Richard Quinn’s and    Christopher Kane’s emphatic collections, both of which used prints and feathers to convey animalistic desires. There were fun themes put on display in lines that boasted mile high head pieces from Pam Hogg and a reimagining of fairytales by Ryan Lo!

 

 

Feminine aesthetics saturated collections with silk scarves and flowing details, perfectly accenting prim and proper designs seen in Riccardo Tisci’s first show for Burberry. Neon accessories and clothing were key in London (looking at you, ‘80s revival!) with single, dangling earrings in bright hues and large colorful hoops making statements in Fyodor Golan’s line.

 

 

Transparent pieces also channeled the ‘80s and ‘90s with Lucite lightning bolts and clear headpieces spicing up already flamboyant clothing designs. Androgynous styles originally popularized in the ‘70s are also a huge hit for this upcoming spring as Erdem Moralioglu’s Edwardian collection paid homage to male and female cross dressers throughout time.

 

 

Novelty bags and jewelry were the center of attention as vegetable inspired clutches were spotted accompanying models down the runway during Molly Goddard’s show. If you’re not into vegetable motifs, don’t worry; Peter Pilotto hopped on the novelty bag bandwagon as well with their ornate oversized and over-beaded bags.

 

 

In addition to food inspired designs, we also saw whimsical accessories inspired by bugs, flowers, and other household items in Matty Bovan’s collaboration with Coach.  

 

 

If you’re tired of ‘80s aesthetic dominating, look to the revival of ‘60s  tie dye this upcoming year as the colorful print is back and better than ever. Feeling like getting a head start on spring shopping or just looking for an excuse to buy some amazing new accessories? Check out our collections for pieces following all of SS ‘19’s trends!

 

  

(image credits to irishexaminer.com) 

Elsa Schiaparelli was an Italian fashion designer who, along with her rival Coco Chanel, is regarded as one of the most prominent figures in fashion between the two World Wars.

Schiaparelli was born in 1890 and raised in Rome, Italy. The cultural background and erudition of her family members served to ignite the imaginative faculties of Schiaparelli’s impressionable childhood years. She became enraptured with the lore of ancient cultures and religious rites. The content of her writing alarmed the conservative sensibilities of her parents, so they sought to tame her fantasy life by sending her to a convent boarding school in Switzerland. Once within the school’s confines, Schiaparelli rebelled against its strict authority by going on a hunger strike, leaving her parents no alternative but to bring her home again.

Schiaparelli was dissatisfied by a lifestyle that was refined, but ultimately cloistered and unfulfilling. Her craving for an exploration of the wider world led her to try to remedy this and when a friend offered her a post caring for orphaned children in an English country house, she saw her opportunity to leave. The placement, however, proved uncongenial to Schiaparelli. She subsequently planned a return to the stop-over city of Paris rather than admit defeat by returning to Rome and her family.

She married a charlatan, whom she got engaged after one day of dating. They moved to NY in 1916 and their lives were followed by FBI and others suspicious of his career credits along and spy actions during war times. Soon after Schiaparelli and then husband Dr. Kerlor had their daughter in 1920, he left them behind. So, in 1922, she moved back to France with her daughter "Gogo". Schiaparelli relied greatly on the emotional support offered her by her close friend Gabrielle 'Gaby' Buffet-Picabia, the wife of Dada/Surrealist artist Francis Picabia.

Schiaparelli’s design career was influenced by couturier Paul Poiret, who was renowned for jettisoning corseted, over-long dresses and promoting styles that enabled freedom of movement for the modern, elegant and sophisticated woman. In later life, Schiaparelli referred to Poiret as "a generous mentor, dear friend."

Schiaparelli had no training in the technical skills of pattern making and clothing construction. Her method of approach relied on both impulse of the moment and the serendipitous inspiration as the work progressed. She draped fabric directly on the body, sometimes using herself as the model. This technique followed the lead of Poiret who too had created garments by manipulating and draping. The results appeared uncontrived and wearable.

Schiaparelli was also renowned for her unusual buttons, which could resemble candlesticks, playing card emblems, ships, crowns, crickets, or silver tambourines. Many of these fastenings were designed by Jean Clement and Roger Jean-Pierre, who also created jewellery for her. In 1936, Schiaparelli was one of the first people to recognise the potential of Jean Schlumberger, who she originally employed as a designer of buttons.

Schiaparelli's output also included distinctive costume jewellery in a wide range of novelty designs. One of her most directly Surrealist designs was a 1938 Rhodoid (a newly developed clear plastic) necklace studded with coloured metallic insects by Clément, giving the illusion that the bugs were crawling directly on the wearer's skin. During the 1930s, her jewellery designs were mostly produced by Schlumberger, Clemént and Jean-Pierre. 

Schlumberger's jewellery, with its inventive combinations of precious and semi-precious stones proved successful, prompted him to launch his jewellery business in New York at the end of the '30s. Schiaparelli also offered brooches by Alberto Giacometti, fur-lined metal cuffs by Méret Oppenheim, and pieces by Max Boinet, Lina Barrette, and the writer Elsa Triolet. Compared to her unusual couture 1930s pieces, 1940s and 1950s Schiaparelli jewellery tended to be more abstract or floral-themed.

 Schiaparelli also designed the wardrobe for several films, including Moulin Rouge in which Gabor played Jane Avril. She famously dressed Mae West for Every Day's a Holiday (1937) using a mannequin based on West's measurements, which inspired the torso bottle for Shocking perfume. 

Schiaparelli's fanciful imaginative powers coupled with involvement in the Dada/Surrealist art movements directed her into new creative territory. Her instinctive sensibilities soon came to distinguish her creations from her chief rival Coco Chanel, who referred to her as 'that Italian artist who makes clothes'. Schiaparelli collaborated with a number of contemporary artists, most famously with Salvador Dalí to develop a number of her most notable designs. 

The House of Schiaparelli was first opened in the 1930s at 21 Place Vendôme, but was shut down on 13 December 1954. The failure of her business meant that Schiaparelli's name is not as well remembered as that of her great rival Chanel. But in 1934, Time placed Chanel in the second division of fashion, whereas Schiaparelli was one of "a handful of houses now at or near the peak of their power as arbiters of the ultra-modern haute couture....Madder and more original than most of her contemporaries, Mme Schiaparelli is the one to whom the word "genius" is applied most often". Schiaparelli relied on inspiration rather than craftsmanship and, "it was not long before every little dress factory in Manhattan had copied them and from New York's 3rd Avenue to San Francisco's Howard Street millions of shop girls who had never heard of Schiaparelli were proudly wearing her models".

Celluloid, Bakelite, and Plastic: What Are They and How Are They Different?

By Paige McKirahan

 

You walk into Barney’s New York with the intention of accessorizing for a night on the town and come to find bangles of all colors. They’re beautiful, light, and handmade. You wonder how normal plastic could look so elegant and check the tag, realizing it is made of vintage bakelite. What is this gorgeous material?

 

 

Celluloid and bakelite are vintage jewelry staples often mistaken for the normal plastics that are usually casted to make jewelry. These materials are among some of the first man made plastics on the market. Celluloid predates bakelite and was created in an attempt to win a contest calling for someone to create a substitute for ivory in the 1860s. Though it did not win the contest, its creator, John Hyatt, chose to begin a manufacturing company that used the plastic to create billiard balls. The problem, though, was that the material was flammable; it would create small explosions on billiard tables if the balls knocked together! It also constantly sparked fires in hot projection rooms on movie sets when used to create movie film. To identify this plastic, you don’t need to wait for it to accidentally catch fire; the easiest way is to rub the piece vigorously and smell it. If it is real celluloid, it should smell similar to a ping pong ball.

 

 

 

Now, when Bakelite emerged on onto the scene in 1909, it made a sort of different explosion. It became wildly more popular than celluloid because of the simple fact that it didn’t quite literally explode and was more lightweight. When it first came into circulation, it was used primarily for industrial purposes until it started becoming available in a variety of colors. This inexpensive material then became a huge favorite of jewelry makers and differs from regular plastic jewelry as it is hand carved or polished into its design. You can check to see if your bakelite isn’t an imposter by using the 409 test. You dip a cotton swab in 409, the common household cleaner, and touch a small area of the piece. Be sure to touch a part of the jewelry that will not be seen! If it is true Bakelite, it will leave a yellow stain on the cotton swab.

 

 

As a collector or simply a jewelry lover, it pays to know if you have a piece made with one of these materials as their value has only increased over the past few decades. Authentic pieces can sell for thousands of dollars and are coveted by many in the collecting community. So now that you know the what and how on celluloid and bakelite, we invite you to pull out your vintage pieces and start testing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Drab to Fab: The Functionality of Dress and Shoe Clips

By Paige McKirahan

 

Have you ever wondered how you can change your boring, plain dresses and shoes into something spectacular? Something with character and pizazz? Well, the answer to that question of how lies in the 1930s with Hollywood icons and simple silhouettes.

By the ‘30s, dress and shoe clips were the “it” accessories; in the midst of the Great Depression, many women were looking for ways to emulate opulence and spice up plain clothing for cheap. This era paired with the imminent second World War forced fashion to become rationed, so these clips were an easy way for women to inexpensively adorn themselves to look similar to beloved movie stars like Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead, Lana Turner, and Fay Wray. Dress clips were commonly worn as it is shown below, on the straps of a dress, or clipped as a symmetrical pair on square or sweetheart necklines.

 

 

 Marlene Dietrich sporting a dress pin

(image credit to deviantart.com)

 

 The popularity of the dress clip prompted the revitalization of the shoe clip, which originally came into circulation in the 18^th century. The resurgence of the trend in the 1930s aimed to embellish plain pairs of flats or heels with some sparkle and flash, which differs vastly from the feathers and ruffles that were being clipped to shoes at the trend’s conception. Since the rise of hemlines began in the 1920s, these shoe clips were an easy way to accessorize an outfit from the ground up and could even be matched to dress clips to create a complete, cohesive look!

Though expensive jewelry makers were at the front of the line in creating these fun wearables, every costume jewelry maker from America to Europe had a line of clips in circulation. Eisenberg, Trifari, Coro, and Napier were rivaling Cartier and Van Cleer & Arpels in attempt to create a more affordable alternative to luxury pieces, catering to the economic climate of the era. Common materials used in these pieces were bakelite, faux gemstones, glass pearls, and other early plastics. These companies eventually stopped manufacturing this type of jewelry in the ‘50s and ‘60s, but they are still sought out by jewelry aficionados worldwide.

 

 

Coro Dress Clip Ad

(image credit to frenchgardenhouse.com)

 

Shoe and dress clips gave women the ability to sparkle literally from head to toe and that option is still available today. Charlize Theron and Sarah Jessica Parker took notes from old Hollywood starlets and sported dress clips on the red carpet at recent events. To spice up your look in a similar fashion, head over to our collection of brooches and pins so you too can start feeling that 1930s glam!

 

 

 

 (image credits to everthingzoomer.com)