The Dolce & Gabbana Factor .. A philosophical view ..

One of my favorite designers that I have been obsessed about throughout my life has been and always been .. Dolce & Gabbana
                                
Since I was a child I was mesmerized and enchanted by the advertisements and the chic way they portrayed an " Italian Woman" ... the epitome and the definition of what Italians may describe " belle donne" or " bella figura" ... but I am happy to say as I grew older there is much more then what meets the eye to this particular brand.. It is much more then corsets, body hugging dresses, black ties and sharp suits ..This Brand is far much more then that..

 

 Before I can describe philosophically the style of Dolce & Gabbana ..

 One must understand the concept of what it means to be Italian ..  The history, the daily life, the geography, nature of the people... because these fundamental concepts make up Italy as a Nation as a Whole and is the prime fundamental idea of the Brand .. " Dolce & Gabbana "...  Italian culture has to do with their identity.. Who they are , each city state is unique , the people in the North and the South .. each have their own dialect, food , belief system and their own history. Dolce and Gabbana has unified Italy through their designs as well as their advertisements.
   In the 90s Dolce & Gabbana incompassed what it meant to be an Italian Woman , from the South of Italy. Using Monica Bellucci in their fragrance adverts, as a sensual beautiful woman looking for love from afar . The respect of observing but not touching or conquering. Today is 2013, This brand has an entirely different focus .. The focus is Family. 
           

 

 

 

  Family is very important to Italians. Sitting down to dinner on Sunday with the entire family sharing food laughter and love. Since the 1950's after ww2, the aspect of family changed in Italy. Young adults are moving to other cities for education and starting their life. They are no longer tied to their familial roots but trying to make their new family. Dolce and Gabbana through their advertisements and their new movement , insinuates that we must return to the old appreciation of family and keeping the family close.  Through our roots, we can appreciate heritage. Italian Heritage is all about food, fashion and beautiful cars. Wealth and Luxury.. the epitome of Dolce & Gabbana

 

 

 

Christian Dior : 2013

 Today , I am going to go back to some of my favorite looks from Christian Dior 2013 Spring and Fall collections. . I think it is important because there has been a lot of change to Christian Dior's " look" for the past several years. Due to the fact that Galliano left.

Forexample, lets start with 2013 Spring .. Dior at this point in time has elected Raf Simons to be the designer for the collection of the season. My overall view is that in the beginning of the collection there is a bit of masculine elegance. What I mean by masculine elegance is that there is an overall sleek quality towards the suits and the lines presented in the garment itself. There is also hints of the femininity within the overall look by adding scarves.  Even though Raff does add in the old Dior elements at the end of the show with the " ball Gowns" .... I feel there are some reminiscence of  Grace Kelley Rear Window .. He modernizes the old Dior "Ball Gowns" by adding metallic sheer fabrics on top of the flair of the skirt. But before the Evening wear , there is a minimalistic metallic trend of mini dresses in which are leg bearing.  Raf Simmons Pops a lot of shape and contouring to a lot of his designs . For example a jacket that can be used as a vest/ dress/ jacket .. A mini dress that can be used with shorts .

Observe for yourself ...some of my favorite looks for 2013 Spring Dior

For Fall 2013 :  Raf Simons designs a new look for Dior, there is this new ultra-cool look of feminine/ masculine appeal.  It was a NEw Dior with a touch of Alexander McQueen feel to it , I believe to the use of checkers /  black and whites.  Every look was absolutely wearable and it was this new start for Raf Simons to show what he believed the look for Dior should be through his vision and his eyes. Also no Dior Fashion Show is a Dior Fashion Show without Evening Wear and Raf Simons made the Dior evening gown come alive with its vintage blue-ish pink with a new modern twist. I admire that he used a trapeze sort of top with a floral patterned skirt .. OR asymmetrical drape that was over a suited pants.. I admired Raf Simons for giving this sort of empowering look to a woman. Glamour can be masculine. Sleek can be Feminine in Raf Simon's vision.

 

Carolina Herrera : A Part of my Youth

Good Morning Everyone,

As I woke up this morning , I remembered my childhood. Since my mother was a gorgeous fashionista ,always wearing the best of the best .. I have seen some of the best couture in my days. We can say, I had my hand on a lot of one of kind couture Chanel Suits, Escada, YSL, Prime Lagerfeld ... and most importantly a lot and a lot of Herrera. One of my very first perfumes was in fact Carolina Herrera ..  My mom used most of the bottle up she let me have the last finger full of the perfume which remained because "I wanted to be just like Mom" .. I was absolutely fascinated about this fragrance .. it was so floral and majestic.. warm and woody.. As a child of 8 years old I remember it warming up my neck on cold days .. Also as a I child I loved the bottle and the little box it came with yellow and black polka-dots .. like a little bumble bee .. I use to call it ..
                                 

 As a child and even now , I seen my mother exhibit a lot of Carolina Herrera's style such as white shirts beautifully pressed and straight ,  black pants , red flowers .. pure elegance.
Let me discuss about Carolina Herrera , she was born in to a lovely aristocratic family, her grandmother was the one to introduce her to the world of fashion .. she married in to a Spanish family and received a royal title, " the Marquise consort of Torre Casa"  .. She is always on the " International best dressed list " and she was a part of history... She dressed Jackie Onasis to Michelle Obama. She was at Studio 54 partying with Warholl and Jagger. 

Besides her history .. the best way to describe her and her designs if one doesn't know her is that ..
    
Carolina Herrera is not like other designers, when Tom Ford makes a woman feel sexy and Valentino makes a woman feel beautiful .. Its Carolina Herrera that makes you keep your back straight and confident ...  she lets you enter the world of elegance that is pure and understated ...  letting you have full knowledge of your womanly duties and power ..

Now for her collections, I am going to show you  Spring 2014 and some of my other favorite collections from the past .. Sit back and enjoy  ...

 Spring 2014

Fall 2010

 
Fall 2011

Fall 2006

                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

              Hope you enjoyed some of my favorite looks from this designer ..
                         xoxo Camille Dujour