The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier

Jean Paul Gaultier
Photo courtesy of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

I'm off to Montreal this morning to attend tomorrow's press preview of The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk. And I'm going even though there is a looming strike at Air Canada and there are a myriad of important events on the schedule for this week.

From what I've read and seen in the advance press materials, the show is going to be spectacular. I was granted interviews with curators Nathalie Bondil and Thierry Maxime Loriot and will be writing an exhibition review for Fashion Projects.

In preparation for my trip, I looked back at posts I wrote about Gaultier in the past (of which there are nine!). I also reread my posts from June 2008 about the Yves Saint Laurent retrospective which also was held at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Back then, I wished that I'd been able to attend the opening for that exhibition and three years later I have just such an invitation in hand....

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

During its run in London at the Royal Opera House, Christopher Wheeldon's version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland performed by the Royal Ballet was a hit. The National Ballet of Canada recently brought this co-production to Canada and it has been playing to packed audiences since its opening. The reviews have been glowing on all accounts including this one in the Globe and Mail. 

A few months ago, I toured the National Ballet's costume facility and got a sneak peak at the costumes. Of course, I  bought my tickets without delay.

Wonderland Tutus in the Hallway at the National Ballet

Inside the hat department of the National Ballet

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a captivating and lively balletic version of the famous story of Alice. The action is non-stop and although Wheeldon has taken liberties with the story, the entire show is enchanting. Not only are the dancers superb, but the production is filled with magical costumes and brilliant sets. It is my new favourite ballet. In fact, it is a ballet that I would say is worth sitting in the rafters to see. Get your tickets, if you can, at the National Ballet website. 

Book Review: Seventeenth-Century Dress Patterns, Book One

The cover of this book with the ghostly x-ray image of a slashed satin bodice from 1630 is but a hint of the extraordinary contents within. Edited by Susan North and Jenny Tiramani, Seventeenth-Century Dress Patterns (Book One) includes patterns for items from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection including several waistcoats, a mantle, a smock, hood, gloves and other items. Enhanced by colour photographs, x-ray images, highly detailed patterns, cutting instructions, technique descriptions and images of paintings, the book is intended to provide experts and home-sewers with the means to replicate these pieces as well as minimize the repeated handling of the objects from the museum's collection. Seventeenth-Century Dress Patterns is extraordinary in its content and its beauty and also builds on the cumulative work of Janet Arnold as well as other dress historians like Norah Waugh and Dorothy Burnham.

This is the first book in a new pattern book series published by the Victoria and Albert Museum. The new format was the inspiration of Jenny Tiramani, who not only worked as a costumer for the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre from 1997 to 2005, but also completed Janet Arnold's last book Patterns of Fashion 4 (after Janet's untimely death). Last year, I heard Jenny Tiramani speak at the Royal Ontario Museum when she visited to research some items from the museum's collection (read the post about her talk here). Her attention to detail, willingness to share her knowledge and her charm are reflected within the pages of this meticulously crafted book.

Title: Seventeenth-Century Dress Patterns, Book One
Edited by: Susan North and Jenny Tiramani
Publisher: V&A Publishing, London, 2011
Category: Non-fiction, Historical Dress
Number of Pages: 160