The Daring Issue

Harper’s Bazaar November 2014 issue. Photo by Alexi Lubomirski

Giorgio Armani Privé dress; Cartier earrings and bracelet

Maison Martin Margiela bustier and Donna Karan New York skirt

Posing alongside The Kiss, a sculpture by Romanian-born sculptor Constantin Brâncuși

Altuzarra bodysuit and skirt; Cartier earrings

Balmain bandeau; Philip Treacy hat and Cartier ring

Versace dress and sandals ; Cartier ring and bracelet

Schiaparelli Haute Couture dress

Actress Anne Hathaway is the November 2014 cover star of Harper’s Bazaar US, posing in an Armani Prive gown on the cover photographed by Alexi Lubomirski. Inside the “Daring” issue, Anne stars in a feature made with creative direction by George Lois where she even wears a heart-shaped bustier with the words “I love you” decorated on top. She says about being daring, “I am getting more daring now—I’ll wear my mom jeans in public that haven’t been tailored ‘just so’ yet, just because they feel good.”

Hathaway tips a daring hat to, number one, Tilda Swinton. “Tilda is it, but she’s so cool about it. She’s so cool, she’d be like, ‘Oh, it’s not daring. I just did it.’ Hmm, Jonathan Demme”—who directed Hathaway to her first Oscar nomination, for Rachel Getting Married—“he’s still my mentor and hero. And Matthew McConaughey is the most daring man I know. He never judged himself along the way, and it’s all come together for him so wholly and deeply. He is totally himself.”

Aug 4

You’re so Desirable (Like a Butterfly on a Pin)

Phillip Treacy hat for Alexander McQueen AW 08 collection

You’re so desirable

You’re so desirable
I just can’t resist you
You’re so desirable
I have to give in
That tirm resolve I made
Has vanished away now
I’m happy to say now
You win

You’re so adorable
The moment I saw you
It’s just deplorable
The fool that I’ve been
And yet I’m glad
You’ve got my heart dear
Like a butterfly on a pin
You’re so desirable
I had to give in

Composed by Ray Noble

Recorded by Billie Holiday and Teddy Wilson in 1938

Apr 26

The Brit Pack

From left: Stella Tennant in Stella McCartney, Cecilia Chancellor in Luella Bartley, Erin O’Connor in John Galliano, Jacquetta Wheeler in Nicole Farhi, Naomi Campbell in Julien Macdonald, Liberty Ross in Clements Ribeiro, Kate Moss in Hussein Chalayan, Elizabeth Jagger in Russell Sage and Philip Treacy, Jade Parfitt in Paul Smith, Rosemary Ferguson in Markus Lupfer, Jasmine Guinness in Boyd, Lisa Ratcliffe in Sophia Kokosalaki, Karen Elson in Betty Jackson, Georgina Cooper in Antonio Berardi, Alek Wek in Belville Sassoon by Lorcan Mullany, Sophie Dahl in Matthew Williamson, Vivien Solari in Robert Cary-Williams and Jodie Kidd in Vivienne Westwood. Photo by Mario Testino for Vogue, January 2002

May 14

Of Claws and Clothes

“Beauty should be edible, or not at all.”

Salvador Dalí

Lobster Telephone by Salvador Dalí, 1936

In 1936, Salvador Dali designed the Lobster telephone. By spring 1937, Italian fashion designer, Elsa Schiaparelli asked him to design a lobster as a decoration for a white organdy evening gown. And the dress was made famous when it appeared in Vogue modeled by Wallis Simpson. As an American Divorcee, Simpson gained notoriety when the Duke of Windsor chose to marry her in 1936 rather than become King of England.

The oversized lobster on this dress is strangely out of place on such a romantic and feminine gown. The odd juxtaposition between evening gown and sea creature was certainly not an accident. Many of Schiaparelli’s designs were both shocking and humorous.

Elsa Schiaparelli in her atelier

Lobster dress, in collaboration with Salvador Dali, 1937

Wallis Simpson. Photos: Cecil Beaton

Lobster, Andy Warhol, circa 1982

Isabella Blow at the American Embassy in Paris, 1998

Isabella Blow, in her lobster hat (by Erik Halley), at Julien MacDonald’s fashion show in London, 1998

Lobster Necklace by Erik Halley

Lady Gaga wearing a lobster hat designed by Philip Treacy in 2011

Lobster brooch by Tiffany and Co. which contains 200 pink sapphires and 61 spessartites in 18 karat gold. The lobster’s eyes are made from vivid emeralds and the antennae are sparkling diamonds. Summer 2009 collection.

Thom Browne Spring/Summer 2013

Tommy Hilfiger Short, Exploded Lobster Print Flat Front Short. 2013 Spring-Summer collection.

John Galliano Spring/Summer 2013 Menswear collection

Mar 27

Down To a Fine Art

Renée Zellweger was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance as Beatrix Potter, creator of The Tale of Petter Rabbit, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, and a score of other children’s classics. I’m posting the pictures of a Vogue USA article written by Kennedy Fraser about the play based on the British illustrator.

Actress Renée Zellweger with a favorite Beatrix Potter subject. Alexander McQueen mauve woven cropped jacket with embroidered cream tulle cap-sleeved blouse and A-line skirt with sailor-style buttons. Manolo Blahnik spectator lace-up stilettos.

Zellweger in head-to-toe-jet-black McQueen. Philip Treacy for Alexander McQueen black bowler hat with floral appliqué, silk faille cropped jacket, tulle blouse, and organza ball skirt, all by Alexander McQueen. Badgley Mischka evening bag.

Zellweger bikes in an Oscar de la Renta silk-cotton-blend navy-and-red floral. print dress.

In an elegant nod to retro Hollywood high glamour, the actress wears an Alexander McQueen cream corseted bubble-hem dress with black lace overlay. Christian Louboutin champagne satin d’Orsay sandals.