We all develop at different ages in our lives different passions. As the years pass some of them wane, but others mutate, turning into proper interests or even into fully-fledged obsessions.
In my case, a typical childish fascination with ballerinas transformed into a passion for classical ballet (and costumes…) while my interest in politics led me to a personal exploration of the links between power, politics and fashion.
Monarchies, totalitarian regimes, democracies and even revolutions always implied a spectacularisation of power, a sort of aesthetisation of politics, with specific attires marking or eliminating class distinctions.
If we think about it, the “clothed body” is never neutral because it always expresses something, from our personality and moods to our beliefs and even our political affiliations.
Wearing uniforms can express belonging, but also imply issues of nation, nationality and nationalism.
Military uniforms are indeed embodiments of the body politic, metaphors of active political participation, and, for centuries, they also signified women’s exclusion from military action, politics and even citizenship.
Yet uniforms, their symbolism, colours, tailored details and embellishments often influenced and inspired fashion designers.
Giovanni Bedin, current creative director at the House of Worth, the iconic maison founded by Charles Frederick Worth in 1858, showed in his recent collection that it is even possible to move from history and military uniforms to create a haute couture collection.
The second House of Worth collection (Autumn/Winter 2010)
since the maison was re-launched in January, has indeed two precise starting points: Worth's designs (with their corseted, multi-layered skirts and rich embroideries) and uniforms from the Napoleonic wars.
Bedin filtered the latter via the former and transformed the "body politic" into a "body balletic", turning Worth's famous crinolines into short yet rich tutus.
Sculpted tailored details such as the elaborate golden epaulettes, shoulder straps and plastron-style lapels (slightly reminiscent of the "Bardin uniform") with yellow or dark piping were indeed directly borrowed from uniforms.
History also appeared in the Elizabethan cartwheel ruffs used to create rigid wings around the hips in designs characterised by frayed hems that seemed to evoke a degree of decay.
These military and historical references were mixed with the richness of Worth and of ballet costumes, hence the heavily embroidered rich brocades and silk fabrics, colourful floral motifs and handmade enamel buttons.
Worth's traditional tournure silhouette was transformed into a tutu, crinolines were substituted with layers of frills and laces, attempting in this way to create contrasts between the rigidity of the uniforms and the ethereal beauty of ballet.
By looking better
at the designs we could highlight another reference to uniforms and women's wear: in the
1800s, English writers often accused French soldiers of wearing excessively
tight and almost debilitating neckwear.
The same could be said about corsets and their debilitating action on women’s bodies.
Worth's A/W 2010 collection wasn't definitely modern or designed with a contemporary woman in mind.
In fact even the intimate
presentation called back to mind Worth's iconic status at the very end of the 1800s (remember the tableau dedicated to the designer in the
Salon Lumineux of the section "Toilettes de la Collectivité de la Couture"
in the Palais des fils, tissues et vêtements during Paris’s World's Fair,
held in 1900?).
Yet, while it would be good to see Bedin moving away from Worth (otherwise there wouldn't be any point in resurrecting the maison after so many decades and in our financially critical times), it was interesting to see this mix of "politic" and "balletic" in one collection.
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