I saw a TV Show on PBS on Sunday called “The Secret World of Haute Couture” and it was soooooo very interesting. This woman worked for months to discover who, what and when of Haute Coutour Clothing. She was able to get behind the scenes to a couple of the ultra-rich women who belonged to this secreative and exclusive club and the designers. And it took months. A couple of the women showed her some of their collection pieces at their homes. I hope to catch it again so I can give names of the woman and designers, and the author of the show. I just don’t remember. My rememberer is often broken. I was tired and sleepy too. I had just come home from my cousin’s house celebrating her birthday and I cooked. So I was tired. I stayed up just long enough to sleepily watch the show, then “lights out”. giggle. So I hope to catch it again.
Oh here: I found the site for the program. All the names and info in this site.
http://www.bbcprograms.com/pbs/catalog/Secret%20World%20of%20Haute%20Couture/hautecouturemain.html
Rodezzy, Fiber Artist
Edited 7/29/2008 2:12 pm ET by rodezzy
Replies
Here you go - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih6SITik-40&feature=related
Now you can watch all 6 parts at your leisure.
Thanks, were all six parts on BBC already?
I do not know about the PBS presentation. YouTube has enough to satisfy my interest.
I watched the six parts and while the garments were outstanding, I could not believe the owners (members of this "club") use such lousy hangers.
Another thing I noticed - while everyone had their attention on the exhibition, one woman in the front row at the Chanel showing was on a cell phone. I wonder if she was booted from the club? I guess it depends on how much she spends and how charitable she is.
Thanks so much for the link - now we all can be 'in the loop', as it wasn't shown on the PBS station that we receive.
Gloria
Spicegirl, thankyou. I love watching these kind of things. Much appreciated. Cathy
Many thanks for this.
Katina
Spicegirl -- thank you for the YouTube link. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this.
If you are interested in haute couture, you should read The Collection, a novel by Gioia Diliberto. It is about a young woman who works her way through World War II Chanel haute couture in Paris. Well-written and very well researched! Here is a link..............................
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Collection/Gioia-Diliberto/e/9780743280655/?itm=1
Wow, this indeed would be a good read. Thanks.
thanks, I look forward to watching this.PS I hope your rememberer is feeling better.
The internet is a valued friend. giggle
How lucky you were to catch the program. It wasn't shown on the PBS that we get from Seattle. Thanks to Spicegirl, who provided the link for all 6 programs, I, too, can watch it. Yay!
Gloria
My daughter and I got to see this on WI PBS this winter. Rachel's 17 and designs a lot of her own clothes, so she was fascinated by the whole business. We were really intrigued by the fact that the runway garments are bought and then modified to suit the client, sometimes to the point that they are nearly completely re-built so that they can actually be worn to an event. We were also sort of disheartened when we learned how little theartisans who actually do the elaborate handwork are paid.
You know, that program cleared me up on "who wears that stuff". I never imagined that they changed the clothes per customer. Makes sense. I know they paid "an arm and leg" for that fitting.....giggle.
Edited 7/30/2008 1:40 pm ET by rodezzy
rodezzy -- so interesting. A world apart from the one I live. Thank you for calling this to our attention.
Rodezzy, thank you for passing on the info about this program. Wonderful. Cathy
Ha-ha! "My rememberer is often broken." Love it.I saw the PBS doc you mentioned also, last winter. Great show. PBS just gives us so much!
I love PBS and watch it all the time. With the new converter box, there are four channel 11's and three channel 20's. I like to watch BBC too. I stopped cable because I felt that I paid too much money to see the same stuff over and over again. Sometimes the same movie was on the very next movie channel at the same time. I buy movies anyway. So all the movies I like, I have any who. So, just get up off my tush and put a movie on. Save money and get a little exercise. Can't beat it with a stick!
Thought DH and I were the last two on earth without cable! Too much TV to watch as it is! And yes, especially now with digital tv. We don't have cellphones, either, much to the chagrin of our children, who think we are inconveniencing them no end! (They're grown and on their own, and have cell phones galore; my grandson - age 7 - thinks it's scandalous that we don't have one, and that we're hopelessly unreasonable. I get a big kick out of it all.)
I saw the program several months back thanks to a call from a friend. I found it fascinating and fabulous. I encourage all who are interested in fashion from the couture perspective to see it. Z
I just finished watching the show and am amazed. I too wondered who actually wore the runway stuff. I always thought it was more theatrical and was just an expensive production for show. I am now watching the show on Karl Lagerfeld. We do not have access to cable where we live. Satellite tv is expensive. We priced it out and realized we really don't watch enough to make it worthwhile. We have a cell phone for the car as added insurance because we often get stuck in winter and need to call for help getting pulled out of the snowbank. (We have a very long laneway to the house, and the girls often work nights)
I know one thing I always tell people, if you have lots and lots of money (like these ladies do) you have to spend it on something. For them, it's a drop in the bucket. For me, its a fortune I'll never realize. So, like one of the ladies said, it's an investment just like fine art. And from watching the artisans work, it is fine art.
I am glad someone else feels it is fine Art as well. The hours it takes, the skill and talents that it takes to turn someones ideas and sketches to life. Without these people with the big bucks spending it on garments like these, a whole industry, and a whole artform would die. Cathy
I was fascinated with watching Karl Lagerfeld draw. Using a fat pen and a few strokes, he created a fabulous picture. I want to do that!
At one point he stated that he did not understand how people could not draw. He said it was just like writing, and people could write. So they should be able to draw line pictures. He must think in a very abstract way. I do see his point. Never thought of it that way before. Cathy
Lagerfeld says he can't understand why people can't draw when they can write--no offense, but what a silly remark. That's like saying if you can walk, you can be a world-class athlete. I can walk for miles, but simply don't have the physical or mental make-up to be a really good athlete. My husband can't write, not legibly at any rate. He's a whiz at math and can build just about anything, but I have to draw the designs for him to show the clients. I teach free-motion quilting which is really just drawing with thread and in any group of six students, there will be one with natural drawing ability that will take to it like a duck to water, four that will gain competence with lots and lots of practice--and will be most successful if they use patterns--and one that leaves the class knowing that she HATES FM quilting and has no natural talent for it. Sorry, but we aren't all created equal--and we need to learn what we can and cannot do and do those things that we can and not agonize over the things that we can't. If you want to draw, you should try and try hard, before admitting that you can't do it--the same holds true with anything else, too. Yes, with practice, you can improve your skills and there are some great drawing books that can help you out, but to say that EVERYONE should be able to draw, or even to assume that everyone can write is POPPYCOCK!Annie in Wisconsin, USA
~~Doodlestein Designs Quilt Patterns
~~Finely Finished: Machine quilting worked on a treadle sewing machine.
See patterns, quilting, and National sewing machines at: http://community.webshots.com/user/damascusannieEdited 7/31/2008 10:53 am by damascusannie
Edited 7/31/2008 10:54 am by damascusannie
Whoa Annie! I agree that Lagerfeld is full of S#### when he says that everyone can write so therefore they can draw. Personally I think the man has a bit of a god complex. What I agreed with is the LINE drawing to get a point across. I cannot draw. I can draw a shape that sort of resembles a skirt on a croquis. I can draw a few detail lines on it to show someone the idea of a pattern to look for, enough to send them shopping, and they will come back with something similar.
You are right that we all must realize what our talents are, and not agonize over what they are not. I have spent my children's lifetimes teaching them that there is never just one way to do some things, and that sometimes, they have to find their own way to accomplish what everyone else can do easily. ( I have children with handicaps/difficulties). I was just pointing out a statement he said, because it was something to think about. Cathy
Cathy--I hope you don't think I was being critical of you!!! If so, please, please accept my deepest apologies! The only criticism I had was for Lagerfeld's attitude, which struck me as arrogant--as you noticed, too. I agree that it's an interesting way to think about drawing, and it's always good to learn a new way to approach a problem, but I had an issue with the blanket statement. If I've learned one thing as a quilting teacher, it's that I cannot allow myself to fall into the habit of thinking that everyone is the same and that anyone can learn to do all things if they just try harder. I had one student who is tremendously creative but simply cannot wrap her mind around the numbers and finicky sewing that can accompany traditional piecing....so I taught her to do a quick and easy applique method and she makes great free-form pieces that give her lots of pleasure. I honestly don't think she'd ever make a good, technical piecer, but she's still a great quilter. We had to recognize both her strengths and her weaknesses and find a solution that would allow her to do what she wanted to do--make quilts--without getting completely frustrated.Annie in Wisconsin, USA
~~Doodlestein Designs Quilt Patterns
~~Finely Finished: Machine quilting worked on a treadle sewing machine.
See patterns, quilting, and National sewing machines at: http://community.webshots.com/user/damascusannie
Edited 7/31/2008 5:16 pm by damascusannie
No, It is ok Annie, I realize you were just being Emphatic. I guess I was trying to wrap my mind around a concept that just did not make sense to me, and I was just wondering where on earth he came up with an idea like that. Altho I suppose that if you can teach someone to follow a basic line to draw a letter, to some degree you can teach them to follow a basic line to draw the shape of something. It does not follow that everyone can do it, and that most probably could not do it with the artistic flair that some could, but most could at least make a recognizable shape. Thank goodness we are not all Karl Lagerfelds, could you just imagine a room full of them? tee hee. Cathy
My sister is an artist, who is so talented in oils, acrylics, water colors, throwing pots (I could actually do that ...but not in the artistic sense ...LOL ...sorry ...just couldn't resist that one), wood working etc. She claims that I could paint (artistically ...not just the outside of the house) ...but I am sure that is not the case. Still, I've not ever taken a basic drawing class so I can't very well argue with her at this point.
On the other hand, she seems incapable of sewing anything ...including a straight line or making a very simple basic apron. Go figure! I kind of think we all have our talents ...and sometimes it interest as much as anything that motivates us to do well. I have no proof of course ...just a thought, right or wrong.
Edited 7/31/2008 7:48 pm by sewslow67
Too true. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Cathy
Loved it!! Just wondering does anyone know what the tool was that they used to complete the hand embroidery? It was defintally more that just a needle and thread.
Heather
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