The runway for this season's show appears to be a tiled stone path while the backdrop and background props seem to be a hedge labyrinth in a garden somewhere. The set suggests "the gardens of Versailles", or perhaps a European idyll - possibly even a European fantasy world. The opening outfit certainly seems to agree - at least with the point of fantasy. It features an elaborate crystal headdress that hangs around the sides of the head like an Egyptian headdress while the long black gown is embellished with faint vertical dotted lines which look like stars haphazardly arranged across the night sky while medieval and art nouveau motifs front the piece. The large armour piece on the right shoulder suggests knights - of course, Lisa Armstrong of The Times (timesonline.co.uk) did state that:
The notes for Dior’s show yesterday revealed that John Galliano, Dior’s creative director, had been inspired by a late-night viewing of Les Visiteurs du Soir, a classic wartime French film set in the 15th century. Women dressed as knights, jousters and hedges grappled with stupendous trains, corsets, wimples, heraldic headwear and skirts comprised of whorls of chiffon that quite miraculously resembled moving bits of topiary.
(Above reference taken from this post on TheFashionSpot.com)
Aha, now we know. We can expect more of these knightly women, then. And in case you're wondering, yes, Galliano DID use the "moving bits of topiary" idea. But before we go there (I'm reluctant to do so hahaha), let's see some of the next few outfits first:
The second outfit of this collection. I am very very blown away by the gold embroidery over the sheer pale gold dress - it's luxurious, glamorous yet elegant and beautiful at the same time. And the armour just fails to take away the outfit's femininity - in fact, the armour piece adds an edge to it. And the gold headdress is exotic.
Bleh. The first of the outfits that I do not like. This is part of what I referred to on TFS as the "red-and-black-dying-remains-of-last-season's-couture-outfits" - in other words, it's like the red-and-black outfits from last season's couture isn't willing to go away and is struggling to make a reappearance in this collection - unfortunately, they've failed very badly. Aside from the clown-ish makeup, the headwear is just incomprehensible - is that supposed to be a bat, or a deformed bow ... ? And I'm sure the dress could be a little less angular, no ... ?
I'm still not very keen on the headwear or the makeup and the red streaking over the black dress looks very rough but I love the creative way Galliano has chosen to play with the red belts - they're tied around the body in a way that pulls the top close to the body at where the curves are. Last season's silhouettes had nipped waists formed from large belts - this season, though, the waist is no longer the point of focus but rather ... rather ... hmm it seems too much is going on in the collection for one to be able to determine one or two definite points of focus.
Another theme of clothing appears to have been moved into - no more glamour or brooding darkness - instead, we have an exquisite and executive professionalism. It's the office lady with a couture fantasy twist. The combination of blue and gold is commendable and the meticulous detail of the gold patterns in the front is just stunning. The cut of the suit accents the waist to suggest feminity - in this respect, it reminds me of the suits tailored by Cristobal Balenciaga that similarly place emphasis on the waist to create a strong femininity.
One of the pieces from the "lobster" set. To be frank, I'm not very thrilled by this - I don't like the fact that it's salmon pink or that there's this weird lobster tail "growing out" from the head but I must admit the layering and pleating work done on this outfit is impressive.
The first of the topiary ideas. The idea is interesting, but the manifestation isn't, unfortunately. The makeup is way too ghastly and the yellow-and-purple striped top is just too ... circus-y. And the large puff of green creates an awkward, clumsy silhouette which just isn't too pleasing. The whole collection is so elaborate that it borders on kitsch - most of the collection successfully stays on the pleasant and couture side, but this one above steps straight into the crazy, psychedelic world of kitsch.
No no no no no! The puffy green part just causes the whole silhouette to go wonky and the trumpets with flags hanging down from them just look out-of-place. And Vlada is made to look painfully short because of the weird silhouette.
Nope. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
But let's be fair - I'm sure the green parts took a lot of patience and skill to make, especially the first one. The shape and neat arrangement of the curls probably took ages to be perfected.
It's already past midnight so I'm off to bed. Will continue this review later.
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