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Monday, February 11, 2019

Monday Morning Inspiration/Dior

I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to see the Dior exhibit at the Denver Art Museum this past week. Getting there was a bit harrowing as I flew into Denver during a blizzard. As the plane was making its approach, I looked out the window and thought, "this is not going to be good." When the gear touched down, I could feel the plane swearing a bit from side to side. I closed my eyes and in the form of a prayer said to myself, "hold onto this horse boys." The pilot did an amazing job by allowing the plane to keep rolling until it naturally slowed. Thank goodness for the super long runways in Denver!

For those of us who sew, we've had it drilled into us how important a muslin is. And, for those of us who sew, we've all experienced the garment that we thought really didn't need a muslin, only to make it up and find that it's a mess and into the garbage it goes :/ 

I'm sure you've seen the picture below many times. What you may not realize is that it is not a wall of white garments. It's a wall of muslin garments. Although meant for a muslin fitting, many of the pieces could actually be worn out in public. The attention to detail is absolutely incredible.


I was able to get an up close picture of this piece. The boning, the pleating, perfection.


The exhibit is huge, so large that I found it a little overwhelming. It's one that you can see at least twice, if not more. I took tons of pictures, so I will share them over the upcoming weeks as I know that everyone can't possibly get there, so a few up close pictures is the next best thing :)

This week I'll concentrate on some of the dark pieces that I especially enjoyed.

The piece below is so sleek, but then has the unexpected twist of the puddle on the floor,


and the super cute bag attached at the hip. 


Now, if you've followed the blog for a while, you know I love an interesting sleeve. This pleated sleeve is actually not a sleeve. The jacket is sleeveless. 


The "sleeve" is actually a pleated panel that is attached at the shoulder and just gives the illusion of a sleeve. 


A fairly simple garment, but I loved how the satin was inserted to give movement and slims the body. 



A piece from the 1940s. From a distance it doesn't look like much.


But, this is what I loved...those teeny, tiny little pleats that were inserted into the princessline seam.


I would gladly wear both of the garments below. The piece on the left is especially intriguing to me. 


I LOVE the collar detail. I need to do a little research as it looks as though it could possibly be a hood as well.


This jacket hangs so beautifully. I would love to see how the jacket was structured. Look closely, very closely and you'll see how perfectly the welt on the pocket was matched to the jacket.


The last piece for today...
I love this little dress. It's simple, and yet exquisite. The design is perfectly balanced with the trim that goes around the neckline and down the front, as well as the trim around the bottom of the sleeves.


As I said, I took tons of pictures. The collection is really quite bright and exciting. I look forward to sharing more with you.

The video below is only a minute long, but it will give you the feeling of actually walking into the exhibit. As you'll see, the dark pieces I've shared today are just a very small portion of the exhibit. 

   

If you would like to see more pictures, and read more about the exhibit, you can find it all HERE on the Denver Art Museum's site. 

Have a wonderful week!

Rhonda



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19 comments:

  1. What a great exhibit, there should be a week long, sleep-in camp for Dior-lovers, to have the opportunity to absorb all the details and impressions of it. :)
    Thank you, Rhonda, for bringing us some pieces of it. :)

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    1. Ohhhh. I like that, a week long sleep-in camp. What a fabulous idea :) If only...sigh.

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  2. This is a GIFT. Thank you so much for this post. Am off to dive into their website, loving that black wool collar/hood?

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    1. Isn't that a fabulous piece?!!
      Next week I will post a jacket with the most incredible sleeve :)

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  3. Dior had an heroic sister. You can read about her here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-3721959/We-salute-Miss-Dior-story-sister-Christian-Dior-immortalised-iconic-fragrance.html

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  4. Thank-you for sharing - particularly the details. Exquisite.

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  5. I saw this in Dec when we visited our son - I wanted to stay alllllllll day ,it was amazing

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    1. I saw your pics on Instagram and was so sorry that we could not see it together.

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  6. My heavens, what an incredible exhibit! I can see why one could find it overwhelming and worthy of several visits. What a tremendous amount of effort went into this! Thank you so much for sharing, Rhonda and I look forward to the upcoming pics. My fave from the video - the rainbow swirled gown, oh, my!

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    1. Incredible is right. And the amount of work that went in to setting up the exhibit is just amazing. I did get a pic of the dress you referred to. Really interesting design.

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  7. This is such an interesting blog and so interesting as the Dior exhibition from Paris has been transferred to the V & A Museum here in London. It has been put together by the V&A curator, including some of the clothes from Paris and others from various London sources. It looks very similar with all the muslins. The exhibition started to much acclaim on 2 February and I am going next month. What with that and the return of the Great British Sewing Bee tonight, its all looking good.

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    1. You are going to LOVE the exhibit, I'm sure. Isn't wonderful that we have the opportunity to immerse ourselves in such beauty and creativity?! :)

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  8. Thanks for the close-ups. Looking forward to the exhibit when it arrives in Dallas in May.

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    1. I didn't realize that it's coming to Dallas. Allow lots of time! On my visit, I went back and forth so many times. I'm sure there were people who were aggravated that I didn't follow the flow. Oh well :/

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  9. I saw the exhibit in Paris in January, 2018. The exhibit was fabulous from beginning to end, but I was simply blown away by the beauty of the muslins. You are right, Rhonda, many of them could be actual garments and no one would be the wiser.

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  10. Incredible exhibit---I, too, saw the exhibit (twice) in Paris. For me, it was those miniature dresses!

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  11. Wow! I cannot imagine getting to go to that. Breathtaking. Love the colors. Thank you for sharing it with us, Rhonda.

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