Elegant Lines

Here is the second in my series of fashion editorials inspired by great artists: Amadeus Modigliani (the first was Ingres). Long a favourite artist of mine, for the elegance of his lines and compositions, and the subtle, unusual colour palettes, Modigliani here inspires Sarah Moon, who is incidentally also a favourite photographer of mine.

What beautiful justice she has done to his work, from the painted backdrops to the way the model has been posed, the soft focus and motion blur, and the way the images have been cropped in post-production. Fashion editor Jayne Pickering has done a great job in selecting clothes that suit both the period and Modigliani’s paintings. The model with her elongated nose and neck is a perfect muse too.

These pages are from British Vogue, probably from the early-to-mid 1990s.

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Between Takes

Celebrating the Roaring Twenties in a Special Series

So I might have been a little underwhelmed by the film experience, but these portraits by Hugh Stewart in the May issue of Australian Vogue are just beautiful. They were taken on the set during breaks in filming. I like to imagine the actors rushed off one set straight onto another in whatever they were wearing – sort of like a ‘come as you are’ party – which is entirely appropriate for a film about a man who gave the most fabulous parties ever. 

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In Grace

I’ve been interested lately in fashion editorials that are directly inspired by master artworks. I have collected a few over the years, shoots inspired by Ingres, Bonnard, Gauguin and Tamara de Lempicka. From French Vogue (possibly a 90s or early Noughties issue) and photographed by Michael Thompson, here is a photoshoot styled in the manner of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

Sublimely beautiful in its simplicity, the image above is directly influenced by Ingres’ painting Half Figure of a Bather, (below) although my preference is for the second, The Bather of Valpincon (1808). There is a wonderful flavour of aristocratic indolence with the towels wrapping the hair as in a Turkish hammam. (Where else can one be literally waited on hand and foot these days?)

Half Figure of a Bather, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1807The Bather of Valpincon, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1808

I actually do not like these clothes much at all: they are far too fussy for me, even if I had occasion to don them. The hairstyling, and headdresses are great though – so evocative of historical paintings. The little black tiara in the third image is actually a nineteenth century comb (or a copy of one) – a wonderful gothic take on a traditional tiara. What an enviably beautiful glow these models possess too. I love the minimal, natural makeup; the heavy-lidded eyes – it’s quite startling to see naked eyelashes.

The photographs are beautiful works of art in their own right: here is the whole shoot below.

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Fine and Dandy

Dandies, also known as beaus or gallants, have been around for a long time. A dandy’s raison d’être is Style – through ‘physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self.’ [Wikipedia]

George Bryan ‘Beau’ Brummell, caricature in watercolour by Richard Dighton, 1805Though not the founder of the movement, Beau Brummell (1778–1840) epitomises the notion of the dandy in English society, and was the arbiter of fashion in Regency days (think Jane Austen for you non-history-nerds). He was elegant, immaculately dressed and groomed, and despised the extremities of fashion as worn by the outlandish ‘Macaronis’ of earlier decades.

Fond of plain, dark suits worn with perfectly starched linen and accessorised with an elaborately tied cravat, Beau Brummell instituted a style of men’s dress that has reigned for the past two centuries. He was one of the first celebrities, famous chiefly for being famous, as a ‘laconically witty clotheshorse’. A socialite of olden days in fact. 

This fashion shoot elegantly photographed by Jurgen Teller for Arena Homme in the 1990s is inspired by the dandies of Evelyn Waugh’s era. There is an elegance in these pictures, with a dash of subversive wit to leaven them. The (mostly) black and white photography with faint echoes of René Margritte and the minimal set are immaculate, and the styling and art direction clever.

Enjoy this wonderful homage to the dandy of the twentieth century.

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Life’s A Breeze

Fashion story from Australian marie claire. This comes close to my favourite shot out of the whole editorial.Ah, suffering in this relentless heatwave Melbourne is treating us to, I am fantasising about being on the Riviera right now, living the life in this fashion editorial.

I love Friedemann Hauss’ photoshoots – they are always so elegant, the women so soigné. There is a serene and effortless air about them. There is no frantic rush. Life is a breeze.

I wish I could feel a breeze right now.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, I really love the minimal fashion too. Now sit back, scroll down and relax, ahhh. (Click on the images for bigger versions.)