Jean Paul Gaultier Couture Spring 2011

As disenfranchised as I am with the whole fashion industry and their over-inflated sense of self-importance and their pretentious defenses of manufactured commodities (do you hear that Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld? You are not artists; you are producers of capital) and runway collections that could feed a Mozambiqan village for life, I can still admire haute couture. Except for Chanel's collections; Lagerfeld is becoming more and more insane and derivative with his interpretations of Coco's tweed suit. 

I don't know if I respect it? But it's definitely a spectacle for sore eyes. John Galliano still makes majestic pieces for Dior; Givenchy and Jean Paul Gaultier still bring their irreverence to fashion, and the divine beauty of Elie Saab and Armani Privé gowns cannot be denied. The French really have the
élan vital when it comes to couture, I couldn't deny that.

John Galliano for Dior's postmodern geisha collection for Spring 2007 is still one of my favourite fashion collections in history and it is a true demonstration of craftsmanship. I just love the construction of the fabric. I think I adore this one as much as I do because I love paper and I love the idea of origami as a dress applique.

 

With that being said, here's Jean Paul Gaultier's collection for 2011. Although Gaultier has always honoured the punk aesthetic, he really hones it on this collection, something that style.com says is "hardly a new idea for him, and not exactly a thrilling prospect for us." Inspired by Sex Pistol's "Anarchy in the UK," Gaultier goes high street punk (or what I'd call tuxedo punk) and ugly-punk versus the usual frou-frou punk we are so accustomed to seeing on Avril Lavigne and little tween girls. I don't know who does punk couture better: Gaultier or Galliano?

To be honest, I wasn't hugely impressed with the clothes. There were lots of tuxes and suits in similar cuts and fabrics and very unflattering dresses (isn't that what fashion is all about?); I just liked the playfulness of the show.

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

 

I was more impressed with the hair, make-up, and accessories. I love that it takes a Frenchman to show the world that smoking is still sexy.

  

I'd love for someone to do my hair and make-up like that every morning.

All photos courtesy of Style.

J

Make-up

My most recent infatuation as of late: make-up, especially make-up and beauty blogs. I'm just addicted to Temptalia. That girl is gorgeous and the amount of product she reviews and the detail that goes into those reviews and the photos is simply astonishing. I won't post any photos because I haven't asked her for permission yet and I respect a girl's right to blog.

Unknown origin of photo

I'm not a big make-up person. My routine for the day consists of powder foundation, blush, eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick. I only have one powder foundation and two blushes and don't use anything else on my face. I can't stand bases and primers and concealers and bronzers and highlighters (actually...I just bought a NARS blush that doubles as a highlighter so I guess I can't make that claim on the last one) because I feel like a geisha with all that shit caked on my face. I got my make-up done by MAC for my high school prom back in ---- and I couldn't even smile for fear of cracking my countenance. Needless to say, I went home and removed all my make-up and did it again myself. One light coat of Chanel face powder, one Chanel kohl cat eye, two coats of Dior DiorShow mascara, and red Chanel lipstick.

Chanel Rouge Allure

I tend to invest on my puckers because I love bright lip colours. A lot of reviews don't apply to me because of this preference but they also don't apply to me because I simply do not understand the cult of MAC. I always liked Chanel beauty products better than MAC. I always wanted to like MAC, especially since it was more affordable for a teenager to buy their products, but every product I ever bought failed me (except for the eyeshadows - those were hit and miss) so I eventually divorced MAC and went steady with Chanel. But then I fell deep in love with the glossy black packaging and the shimmery pinks and neutrals and the double C logo.

MAC Stylishly Yours Collection

While I was in Hong Kong, I didn't want to pay the premium on designer make-up products (Asia is extortionist when it comes to marking up retail on beauty brands) so I started checking the professional make-up brands like NARS and Make Up For Ever. Wow! Now there's a bang for your hard-earned buck. I adore Make Up For Ever products now. I learned to stop being an obsessive-compulsive brand-whore and that it was OK if not all my beauty products matched. This was when I grew up and stopped putting beauty before quality. (It was also shortly before this transformation that I stopped dating the bad boys and decided to commit to a good guy - my current boyfriend. A correlation between my dating habits and my make-up choices. Coincidence?)

Make Up For Ever

I still love my Chanel products like the Glossimers, the Rouge Allures (although I'm liking these less now because I've already experienced 3 tube defects since I started purchasing them), and their brushes (superior to MAC, by far) and I still care about good packaging (MAC was a bigger disappointment in this department, for me) but I'm definitely open to all that the beautiful beauty world has to offer. This means that I'm open to trying MAC out again. There's still some products that I will never buy again, like their nail polishes, their lipglasses, and any of their face products, but I'd like to think that with all the grudges I hold for this company that I can channel some of that past, pent-up disdain into a satisfying future romance.

Did anyone else out there have bad experiences with MAC or does anyone just simply not worship them like every other beauty addict out there?

J