Black Tie Optional featuring Due Farina
Black Tie Optional
'...people must be very distinguished to look well in black...' -Edward Bulwer-Lyttonn, 1828
One of our favorite (and omnipresent) trends on the Fall 2008 catwalk was menswear(ish) pieces for the girls, specifically, plays on the formal dress, such as the tuxedo and its sharp lapels.
The tuxedo was born in the 1920s; it was a double-breasted reincarnation of the 1880s dinner jacket tailored to the tastes of then Prince of Wales. When the fashion traveled from Europe to America, it landed in Tuxedo Park, the millionaire playground of New York, where the new double-breasted formal wear was sported at small dinner parties. Pierre Lorillard popularized the tailless dinner jacket and named it the 'tuxedo' at an autumn ball. more...
An Androids Tale :: I Dream the Dream of Love featuring Due Farina
When Hampton Fancher set out to write 'Blade Runner' he wanted to cross-pollinate strains of forties Film Noir with the science fiction canon of the early eighties (which was about to come into existence). 'Blade Runner' is both about the future and the past, specifically, about evolutionary and technological change in relation to memory. Rachael (Sean Young) exists in the undoubtedly turbulent intersection of these themes; aesthetically, she represents them.
Costume Designers Charles Knode and Michael Kaplan (under the direction of Ridley Scott), set to 'mix... the style of yesteryear with a look toward tomorrow.' Fine Arts Writer Francesca Myman wrote of Rachael's wardrobe ::
'Shoulder padding, stark straight lines, and lacquered hair make her proportions too perfect and slightly extreme. At the same time, they evoke... historicity... her clothing is closely based on a forties Film Noir model, and it evokes a sense of nostalgia... Her clothing instantaneously places her in relationship to history -- she is not purely modern, instead, she is classic.' more...
Peter Soronen Designer Profile featuring Due Farina
You don't have to be a Fashion Editor to figure out that Peter Soronen's designs have their origin in corsetry. After making made-to-order evening and wedding gowns in Chicago and then New York City, Peter's collection made its runway debut in 2007, the thread through each of his garment evolutions being the aesthetic of Elizabethan Louis XIV, the Victorian era and the '50s (which are all eras when the corset was visible in outerwear.) He made the jump from runway into Barney's fairly quickly with star power like Sarah Jessica Parker behind him. (Hey, if you're going to play the celeb game, it's good to have someone with personal style rather than that more...
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