It seems that it has been a month since I last posted. This is partly because entries along the lines of "got up, brushed teeth, had coffee, cleaned, shopped, traced a pattern" just don't appeal to me.
My husband changed jobs in March. We moved out here to the wilds of Pittsburgh as a transfer within Google. Himself decided he needed a change and got hired at Twitter. In San Francisco. You know...near the bay area city we just moved away from? He was out there for five weeks of training; I went out to join him for the last week and I think I saw more of San Francisco than I did when we lived in Santa Clara.
I met my friend Lynn (and her new ride) at a BART station, and from there we went to the de Yonge museum to view the Balenciaga and Spain exhibit. This was a very good collection of his work which highlighted his influence by the culture of his youth. He made much use of black. His father died when he was young, so his female relatives wore mourning dress for most of his youth. The mantillas and cloaks that were common in his area also provided design influence. There was also a whole cluster of church-inspired garments including a raincoat that looks like a monk's robe and a wedding dress that looks very much like a nun's habit.
Interspersed among Balenciaga's gowns and jackets and hats were some examples of the items which influenced them. A complete bullfighter's Coat of Lights, heavily embroidered with gold thread, gleamed next to two velvet and jet-bead embroidered boleros. I love jet, and it looks simply spectacular on deep red velvet.
Photography was not allowed at the exhibit, so I have none to share with you, however, there are several good sources of images online.
Tomorrow: our after-lunch tour of Pulp Fashion: the Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave
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