Marcellus Blog

Cristobal Balenciaga – How a Myth was Born

written by: Marcela Tags: Balenciaga 0 Comments

Balenciaga is certainly one of the great names in the field of fashion. This house owes its fame to two men: first, to the founder, Cristobal Balenciaga and second, to Nicolas Ghesquière who has given it a second life.

Born in Spain in 1895, Cristobal Balenciaga was fascinated during his youth by the most popular fashion designers of that time – Coco Chanel, Madeleine Vionnet and Elsa Schiaparelli. He was so passionate about the architectural fashion pieces that he used to dissect and reassemble them, seeking to discover their structure and all the secrets they held. In 1918 he founded his fashion house in San Sebastian. Cristobal Balenciaga wanted to control everything in his creations. Coco Chanel said that he was the only one who can draw, cut, sew and assemble a model by himself.

His style goes for simple shapes, combined with rich fabrics. Some items used so expensive raw materials that the company soon faced bankruptcy. After opening two shops in Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), he took refuge in London for one year and then forever established in Paris where he became famous. He is one of the few fashion designers not to close his house during the Second World War. Moreover, the scarcity of tissue was a source of inspiration for him and led him to develop cutting techniques that allowed it to obtain volume without accumulating layers of material.

His Spanish roots can be seen in the well known Infanta gown he designed in 1939. This pink satin dress was adorned with black velvet around the hips and the luxurious neckline. Spanish influence and consequence of tough economic conditions, the Matador boleros emerged in 1946. Among the typical lines of the Balenciaga style, one of the most remarkable is that so-called peacock’s tail, leaving the knee exposed and going down on the back.

But they also count on accessories, some of which become a cult like the Lariat bag. Perfumes are also a major windfall as they allow the house to survive during difficult periods. The most famous fragrance bottle is Le Dix, named after the Parisian address of the house.

To his loyal customers’ disappointment, Cristobal Balenciaga decided to close his fashion house in 1968, after fifty years of career and success, right after having designed the Air France stewardesses’ uniform.

Classic Elegance With Wedding Hats

written by: Marcela Tags: hat 0 Comments

When you are trying to look exquisite and very elegant for a wedding, you should consider wedding hats. They are great accessories and will provide you with a classic but extremely beautiful look. Here are some things that you need to take into consideration when wearing hats at weddings or other important events.

The size of your hat is of great importance, especially when attending an event with a lot of people. You might be blocking their view during a ceremony so make sure that you are not that person. Also, it is important to consider your body size when choosing the hat and avoid wearing really big hats when you have a smaller frame because they might look a bit ridiculous.

You also need to make sure that the hat you wear goes well with your whole costume. So the color should be either the same or complementary. The fabric of your hat is also important; some fashion critics say that your costume should be made from a similar fabric while others consider color more important. In the end, you should only wear whatever feels comfortable and looks good in that situation, but make sure that you don’t wear a hat that is completely different from what you are wearing as an outfit.

There is something called social etiquette that is also applicable to hats. It is important to make sure that you do these according to the social group and sometimes social norms differ from a culture to another. However, traditionally, you can wear your hat indoors if you are a woman, but men will have to take them off. Also, don’t confuse the term hat with what is called a headpiece. Those are different and they can be worn regardless of being outdoors or indoors.

When it comes to hats, storing and maintaining them can be a real struggle. Make sure that you only wash it with detergent that is required for the materials it is made from and also if you don’t want it to lose its shape you should store it accordingly and in something that will keep it smooth.

How Watches Changed Over Time

written by: Marcela Tags: watch 0 Comments

Timekeeping has been a preoccupation of humans for more than 4000 years. Although nowadays watches are much more than anyone could imagine and some of them are mostly gadgets, things weren’t like this 50 years ago. In this article we will try to present the timeline of watches development since the beginnings of time telling.

The first known device used for timekeeping was the one developed by the Sumerians which dates to approximately 2000 BC. The Ancient Egyptians also had a way to tell time; one of their ways was a type of water clock but the most used method was to divide the day into 12 hour periods and use the movement of the Sun and obelisks to tell what time it was. In Asia the same water clock was used and other types of clocks that used the movements of the sun. Other types of clocks were: incense clocks and candle clocks. These clocks were unfortunately not very precise and ineffective in certain weather conditions, especially the Sun movement clock, so in the 10^th and 11^th century, Asians and Arabs invented different clock mechanisms that used mercury and weights. Also in the 11^th century a Chinese astronomer called Su Song managed to develop an astronomical water clock which used a mechanism that was powered by a chain that moved the armillary sphere.

Later, watches become more and more complex with the development of the spring which was used to power the clock. The development of the spring led to the construction of smaller watches and the manufacturing of wristwatches or pocket watches.

In the 20^th century quartz was discovered to be of great use in the watch industry as engineers were able to produce oscillators that were highly accurate and very durable. Contemporary high precision clocks are called atomic clocks which are used to set other clocks and calculate time in different areas in the world based on the Coordinated Universal Time.

Nowadays wristwatches and clocks no longer have the sole purpose of telling time, some of them being just like gadgets and being able to calculate altitude, tell the temperature and even come with incorporated audio or visual recording.

Military Looks and Masculine Elements at New York Fashion Week

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Initially called Press Week and having Eleanor Lambert as promoter, the first Fashion Week was organized in New York in 1943. Jealous on the French designers’ reputation all over the world and unable to travel to Paris to check on the latest trends because of the Second World War, the Americans came up with the idea of holding such an event to provide more exposure for their own artists. The event was such a media success that magazines like Vogue, which formerly included almost exclusively French names, began to mention and promote American designers as well. After the war, each fashion capital launched its own week, which began a bi-annual tradition.

This year’s edition, which ended on February 16^th with Ralph Lauren’s and Calvin Klein’s collections for the autumn-winter of 2012-2013 came to continue this success story. A few trends could be noticed during this week and the military looks represent, perhaps, the strongest tendency. They made their first appearances during the men fashion parades in Paris and Milan, but they certainly dominated the feminine ones as they are a recurrent element with Marc by Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, Alexander Wang, Jason Wu and Victoria Beckham.

After being noticed at the Mugler and Yves Saint Laurent parades earlier this year, the capes made a triumphant return during New York Fashion Week. Vera Wang presented very feminine wide-brimmed hats, while L’Wren Scott gave hers a darker look of a gothic inspiration. At Rag & Bone and Michael Kors, this trend has been present in the form of blanket-coats with ruffles, reminding the long and cozy winter evenings.

Ties have also found a place under the spotlights at New York Fashion Week. The male influence was very present in Ralph Lauren’s fashion show, where we could see such a black tie associated with a gold richly adorned cardigan and a pair of wide black trousers. Zac Posen used black ties as belts.

The combination of different raw materials for the same outfit is another trend that could be noticed within many ready-to-wear collections (Reed Krakoff, Lacoste, Calvin Klein, Charlotte Ronson). While the first two skillfully played with different types of leather, Peter Som and Vera Wong betted on transparency. The color palette was rather rich in warm tones (red, orange, gold), but the black and white were king and queen within the geometrical patterns of Narciso Rodriguez and Diane von Furstenberg or with Ohne Titel’s stripes.

Fashion Trends at the Cesar Awards Evening

written by: Marcela Tags: Cesar Awards 2012 1 Comment

The French stars have put on their best outfits for the 37th edition of the César Awards on the 24th of February 2012. One could say that fashion trends favor simplicity and sobriety as the dominant colors were white, black and navy blue. Marina Fois wore a superb white dress and a powdery pink purse. Frederique Bel chose a very sensual black dress. Although opting for the same color, Clotilde Hesme and Berenice Bejo betted on a classical style and Karin Viard rediscovered the timeless elegance of the little black dress. While Audrey Lamy combined the black of her skirt with a white shirt, her sister Alexandra appeared in a black evening gown.

One of the few actresses who succeeded to bring a touch of color to the César Awards evening was Marie Gillain. After a long research, she appeared in a vivid red dress, brightening up the whole room. Another interesting color choice was made by Kate Winslet, the winner of this year’s Cesar of Honor for her entire film career. The English actress captivated the audience with an unusually low-cut sequined silver and bronze dress that emphasized her natural beauty. It is believed that Kate’s outfit bears Jenny Packham’s signature as the actress regularly wears her creations on the red carpet.

But, if the dresses are rather long, the necklines are very low, as we have already seen with the evening’s brightest star. Sylvie Testud is another example, heavily discussed by the media. While her masculine-feminine look provided by a black sequined jacket worn directly on the skin was adorable, she was the subject of several hilarious moments as she has failed more than once let out a breast, the right one, to be more precise. Therefore, the public was not far from another Nipplegate episode, but they were all reminded of Sophie Marceau and Janet Jackson.

Yves Saint Laurent – A Controversial Character

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Yves Saint Laurent is probably one of the most important people in the fashion industry. He has been often mentioned by the media to be an extremely influential designer and this can be easily seen if we take a look at his original work. He was born in France and he was so good that he was hired when he was 17 by Christian Dior. He started giving some of his sketches to Dior and he became more and more recognized and admired. He was named the head of the House of Dior at 21 years old and opened his fashion house in the 60s and he actually managed to save the house from bankruptcy with his amazing designs and his unique view.

He went to the military and found out that Dior had fired him, he sued them and won but proceeded to create his own fashion house with his partner Pierre Berge. His style is easily recognizable because he uses a lot of ethnic European references. He is also known to be the first designer who invented the tuxedo for women.

His personal life was an emotional rollercoaster. He was known to be a drinker and user of cocaine but that didn’t kept him from creating even better designs. But the media started to notice that he was having problems. He worked too much and that got to him because he started drinking and using drugs more and more; he was rarely seen sober in the media which influenced a lot of people’s perception. However, he still managed to have an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

He died of brain cancer and his ashes were scattered in a botanical garden where he used to go to clear his head and find inspiration. A lot of women were his muses and a few of the most important were Loulou de la Falaise, the daughter of a French marquis, Betty Catroux, the famous fashion model Iman, and Laetitia Casta. He was definitely a controversial character but also a true artists. He managed to revolutionize the fashion industry with his unique designs and wonderful world view.

Naomi Campbell – A Model With A Powerful Personality

written by: Marcela Tags: model 2 Comments

Naomi Campbell is a famous British supermodel with a very controversial and interesting life. She is probably one of the most popular models in the world and one of the top ranked black models.

Her career as a model started when she was only 15 but she went public at the age of 7 when she appeared in a music video for Bob Marley. Apparently, her career in the media started early as she was a wonder child. She was discovered by the Synchro model agency but soon she would appear on the cover of Elle magazine. People remember her as being a part of the trio of models that were extremely famous and most demanded at that time. The three models were Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista.

Her personal life is quite very interesting. She never met her father and never married. She dated a lot of important celebrities such as Mike Tyson, Robert De Niro, and now she is in a relationship with a businessman named Vladislav Doronin. She was even in rehab for cocaine addiction and she was involved in a lot of acts of violence. Apparently she abused and assaulted a lot of employees. She pleaded guilty at the process.

She was slowly retiring from her career at the end of the 90s but started doing a lot of advertisements for beauty product companies such as Wella or L’Oreal.

Unfortunately for Naomi Campbell, she was always oppressed socially for her ethnicity. She was extremely famous but she always earned less than other famous models in her time. Also, cosmetic companies were very reluctant to sign a contract with her and she is known to have been visibly upset by this. All her career, she spoke about the bias people have against black people and how the girls with fair skin and light colored hair were considered to be better for advertisement.

She is widely recognized for her charitable work as she did countless philanthropic projects. She supported Japan Earthquake victims, the Haiti Earthquake victims, Breast Cancer awareness projects, and she even helped fight poverty in Brazil.

Dolce & Gabbana – Two Minds, One Vision

written by: Marcela 10 Comments

Dolce & Gabbana is a fashion house founded in 1985 by two fashion designers, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The two designers worked in the same location back in 1980 and decided to start a consulting agency which will later be known as Dolce & Gabbana. Obviously, both of them had a great sense of fashion which was completed by the other part and made for some amazing designs to come out with the brand name. It didn’t take long for their style to be presented in the first women’s collection which was quite the success in 1985. Only one year later, they would manage to open their own store in Milan.

A key period in the history of these two famous fashion designers is when they introduced the leotard line in 1987 which made quite a name for themselves. Two years later, they entered a new market niche and started designing underwear and swimming costumes. It didn’t take long for their brand to break the boundaries of Italy and Dolce & Gabbana products started appearing in Japan and U.S. as well as new stores. The men’s collection was introduced in 1990 and other fashion ideas weren’t far behind. As most respectable fashion designers, Dolce & Gabbana need to offer various choices to their clients and not just clothes. Their first perfume was a huge success and others quickly followed; one even won an Oscar for best male perfume in 1996.

The brand created by the two famous fashion designers has two central lines that offer different styles and have different goals.

Dolce&Gabbana is all about offering luxury items that follow timeless trends. Things such as sunglasses, purse and watches as well as other fashion items are made by this line and the designs are meant to always be in fashion. It is the formal line where influences from other designers can be seen.

D&G is quite casual compared to the first line and it is all about coming up with new and unique ideas that would catch the public’s attention instead of following existent trends. It is designed for younger people and it is a bit more rebellious with its styles. The two lines combined create the perfect fashion house with items for everyone and it is only possible thanks to the two famous fashion designers that took the fashion world by storm.