Silent Storyteller

Premiere D'Atelier

Let me introduce you to my new member of staff.

She arrived last week from a far away land ...courtesy of M.C.

Ever since I trained in fashion many moons ago... I have dreamt of having her and now she's here.

She may seem old and tattered but she is perfect

As it has been suggested to me recently that I must have a  'Premiere D'Atelier' in order to complete my 'Parisian Workshop'  I have decided she would be the perfect candidate to carry out the required duties (in silence)

She has been named Madame Georgette and will start working, from tomorrow, on my 10th collection

Edward Steichen

Gloria Swanson

Conde Nast 1928

Heavy Roses, Voulangis, France, 1914 Edward Steichen

Antonio de Marco and Renée de Marco 1935 by Edward Steichen

Greta Garbo 1928

Norma Shearer

Definition of Style

 

An intriguing woman, in a beautiful dress, surrounded by books

 

 

If I could travel in time ....

 I would love to see Loie Fuller perform

 

 

Loie Fuller by John Alexander White 

 

1862-1928

Loie Fuller had no formal training and was an important modern dance pioneer. While performing  she was intrigued by the special effects and would project images  onto fabric by using  calcium lights, drapery and magic lanterns

 Fuller used dozens of metres of the silk fabric as her costumes, and would drape herself in beautiful shapes of butterflies and flowers. Her dances were lit against a black floor and background by colored electric lights.

Annabelle Whitford and the Serpentine Dance 1895

If I hadn't been a designer.... I would have been....

If nature had granted me different genes and a little more patience I probably wouldn't be a designer.

My first passion was dance. I was a keen observer and participant of this art in any of its forms. But as I grew up into my teens the reality was that dancing would not be my future.

 I have no regrets as I love my work and couldn't imagine doing anything else. But every now and then I do wonder what life would have been like, had I the opportunity to choose another path.

Julia Margaret Cameron

 Julia Margaret Cameron by George Frederic Watts

'My Aspirations are to ennoble Photography and to secure for it the character and uses of High Art by combining the real and Ideal and sacrificing nothing of the Truth by all possible devotion to Poetry and beauty.'

Julia Margaret Cameron to Sir John Herschel, 31 December, 1864

 

Thank you Jane from ill seen, ill said for posting my pictures

Thank you Fab Miss B for introducing me to Margaret Cameron

Peter O'Brien for AWear

This is Peter's current Winter collection for AWear. 

I would like to ellaborate on how difficult it is to design with high street budget limitations, specially for a designer coming from couture. Peter somehow  used his magic wand and created a dreamy and affordable collection.  There is a piece in this collection for everyone.

 
Peter's interview with Deirdre McQuillan from the Irish Times

Photographs taken by Barry McCall

Antique Jewellery from John Farrington, 32 Drury Street, Dublin 2

His collection is available online at www.awear.com

As for the future..... watch this space.... his heart is in theatre and costumes....but he will surprise again with exquisite timeless pieces... and who knows maybe one day an OBrien Boyle collection (it's free to dream!)

Peter O'Brien

A/H Couture 2000/2001

Only a small sample of his wonderful work! If you would like to see what he is doing now check Peter O'Brien for Awear

 

 

 

My secret confession

It has been my intention to profile in this journal current designers that inspire me.

It was very easy to choose my first 'victim'

I don't think he knows about the first time I saw his work, nor the effect it had on me. But I always hoped to find the right time and medium to express my gratitude for his influence.

It was sometime between 2002 and 2003, I was working at the time amongst hair, feathers and lurex (some will know what I'm talking about) and we were invited to do a show in a circus tent outside the RDS.

As any show I've done with Catherine Condell there was very little that needed to be done. She always seams to have everything under control. So my job was to enjoy the show and collect the pieces when it was over.

I didn't know who was showing, and to put you in context ,I was very unfamiliar with most designers anyway...

 As I sat there to watch the spectacle I had no idea that what I would see would change my course....(a secret I have kept until now)


I can't remember too much about the show but I do know I witnessed the most beautiful dresses I had ever seen in my life and I was immediately transported somewhere between Place Vendome and 30's Hollywood. Never ending layers of chiffon with intricate pleats in the most beautiful colours. It was like a dream come true.
 
A few months later I handed my notice and ventured into my own dream world.  

Fortunately our roads have crossed on several occasions and he has helped me in more ways than he knows (most memorable was his support with the cursed shrinking dummy at the Embassy in Paris…I still laugh thinking about it)

This modest confession is for Peter O'Brien.

To see a beautiful sample of his work Peter O'Brien Couture 2000

Pieces is progress

 

Model Iseult from Morgan

At the Back Loft La Catedral Studios

La Catedral Studios Shoot

 
 
  

"Le couturier des couturiers"

 

I was introduced to Vionnet many years ago by my first mentor..Isabel Berz.. half German half Spanish she had trained in Paris and is to this day one of the most skilled and talented designers I have ever come across.

Vionnet would be proud of her legacy

When  Peter O'Brien suggested I should visit the Vionnet exhibition in Paris a couple of weeks ago I had to put it on the top of my list..and I wasn't disappointed

I didn't go once, but three times and would be there again today if I could.

The exhibition was wonderfully curated by Pamela Golbin. Her work was well represented and  a peek into her process was exhilarating and inspiring.

If you have the chance to travel to Paris in the next months, and have an interest in fashion genius, don't miss this exhibition

Harriet Quick in the Telegraph

Musée des Arts décoratifs

Paris Fashion Week...

1929

Photograph originally posted by Vintage Lulu

Trip