Christian Lacroix. Histoires de Mode

Les Arts Décoratifs invited Christian Lacroix to present his first retrospective--to commemorate his twenty years in fashion. Having the museum's massive fashion holdings at his disposal and, of course, his own House's collections, Lacroix has mounted a historical fashion expedition. This is one man's personal take on the history of fashion. The exhibit is organized around themes: black and white, polka dots, colour, Hispanisme, Liturgie, etc., and shows the evolution of each theme through the ages.

To say that the exhibition is a visual feast is to state the obvious. If you are a fashion nerd like me, you will be clapping your hands and jumping up and down, albeit secretly (although I couldn't help myself in front of the Liturgie section), at the exquisiteness of it all: the delicate fabric, beading, embroidery; the bold color, cut, graphic; the fierce hat, headpiece, veil; the disturbing symbolism, vanity, ostentation. Sigh. I want to go back.

The book accompanying the show can be found here.

Christian Lacroix, Histoires de Mode, Le musée des Arts décoratifs; 8 novembre 2007 - 20 avril 2008.

Random Paris Shots

Jardin des Tuileries

Les macarons from Ladurée
Tour Eiffel
Le Petit Châtelet
Eco Bag from Colette
The Louvrerue Grétry
Gerhard Richter

Random Paris Shops

I took these photos early last week, when Christmas was only slowly starting to pop-up all over Paris.

At La Droguerie.

Ohnona. An atelier boutique on r de Marivaux.
I loved this display of cuffs and collars.
At Tartine et Chocolat. Does anyone else love their children's fragrances?

Absolutely stunning flowers at Sébastien Mengozzi on av George V. Vanna White was stateside, so here is John.

Hats at Hermès.

Librairie Polonaise on bd St Germain.

Galaries Lafayette

Will be back soon...

Dearest D, here's a shot of Venice Beach for you. We'll get together soon, we will! In the meantime, I'm catching up with work and will start posting again as soon as my pile disappears (strategically hidden behind my laptop's screen).

I know they're scary, but...

A conversation from long ago...

D-in-SanFran: "Can you get me one of those Santos dolls when you go back home to the Philippines?"

Republic of Candy: "No, they scare me."

An interesting piece, pictured below, is called the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception. On display for a time at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City, the accompanying plaque reads, Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, 18th century Hispano-Philippine Ivory, partly polychromed and gilded, with glass eyes and silver halo; H. 10 in. (15.4 cm). Gift of Loretta Hines Howard, 1964 (64.164.243). Chinese ivory carvers in the Philippines and on the mainland as well produced numerous religious figures for export to Spain and the Americas via the Manila Galleon route. Although conforming to the iconography of the Catholic church (such as the pose of this Virgin), their Asian origin is usually unmistakable in their physiognomies as well as the style of their drapery.

From Preserving Saints: Devotional Art of the Santero, by Alex Castro, Center for Kapampangan Studies (my dad's province):

Santeros are artists who carve and paint santos, images of saints, reflecting one of the oldest living traditions of religious devotion practiced by Hispanic Americans. Carving santos is an enduring Latino tradition from Central and South America, the American Southwest, the Caribbean, the Philippines, and Spain.

When Spanish missionaries came to Christianize [the Philippine islands], they brought with them religious pictures and images of saints that became potent instruments of evangelization. These artful images were used to demonstrate the power of the new religion over paganism...soon, carved "santos" were replacing primative anitos in home altars, becoming the new focus of household devotion. Thus began a tradition of santo-making in the country-and from Manila to Pampanga, local santeros practiced their craft by carving thousands of holy images copied from estampitas and styled by their imagination.

In the Philippines, Alex Castro writes, "Santo-collecting came into vogue in the 1930's, although earlier than that Trinidad Pardo de Tavera raised eyebrows when he started using santos as decorative accents for his house rather than for their originally intended purpose.... The antique trade boom in the 1960's-1970's hastened the demolition of hundreds of church altars and generated criminal syndicates, sometimes in cahoots with antique traders. Many a precious santo has been lost in this unscrupulous fashion, like the 1984 disappearance of Cavite's Soledad de Porta Vaga."

The OC

I never called it that when I lived there. No one ever did. Sometimes, I do miss it.

THIS WEEK'S YUMMY THINGS

Louis Vuitton Trunks for some great times abroad.


A fabulous sketch or print, above, Gunnar Norrman, Kust, Drypoint, 1983, at the Fitch-Febvrel Gallery.




Burberry's Icon Collection, a magnificent fur-trimmed leather trench.

Cinnabar bangles in Chinatown.

Pito Tubes for Traveling...all TSA compliant....and they don't spill a drop....

Halo-Halo on a cold winter's night...

(Some thoughts for C while she sips her hot chocolate in snow-covered NYC. Look, they put Corn Flakes in it too.)

This is what I ate at the Bohol Beach Club, where we jetted the last weekend before coming back to the States. Here's a recipe for the Philippine's National Dessert. For more information, see this great little article I read on the shaved ice, milk and fruit concoction.

Halo-Halo Recipe

2 tablespoons kaong or...2 tablespoons nangka (jackfruit)
2 tablespoons macapuno (a variety of coconut meat sold in bottles)
2 tablespoons sweetened kidney beans
2 tablespoons sweetened garabanzos
2 tablespoons sweetened plantains
2 tablespoons ube or yam
2 tablespoons custard or creme caramel
2 tablespoons sweetened corn kernels
crushed ice to fill glass
2/3 evaporated milk
a scoop of ice cream on top

where the eastern seas so blue

D, I was thinking of you last Sunday. I thought of you there, in a tropical paradise, perfecting that tan, practicing your sailing moves in the open water, maybe windsurfing. And here I was/am, stuck in the winter wonderland that was/is New York City (it was snowing on Sunday night). And "wonderland" being a euphamism for grey, slushy, and daydreaming of El Nido. I guess I'll have to wait until my trip home in the fall. You're going back with me, right?

But the fall is so far away! So I had my own little vacation in New York today - although I couldn't conjure the tropics, I did a little Japan-in-New York trip.

I went to the gym during lunch. I keep trying to be a gym bunny, as you know. Having kept up with a Broadway-worthy routine in step class, I deserved a tony, but was willing to settle for some pastry. And it's a lovely thing when Minamoto Kitchoan is close by for some wagashi. I always get two pieces of the Hakuun-no-Hotori, a pastry made from milk-flavored bean paste encased in a thin delicate cake.

I still had a few more minutes, so I swung by Kinokuniya and grabbed a few magazines.

Photo from a 2005 Japan-in-New York trip. Craft book and Nippon Vogue from Kinokuniya and green tea wagashi from Kitchoan.

After work, I walked all over the village in search of a gift for my goddaughter. Tired from the search and wanting to avoid the Prince St. mall, I turned south on Thompson - and that's when I discovered Makie Clothier. Created by Japanese designer Yuji Ogata for Makie Yahagi's lovely tiny shop, the clothes show an abundance of beauty, style, and whimsy. And can I tell you how meticulously sewn and well-made these pieces are?

Photos from and collection available at: Mooi Shop.

And then it was time to grocery shop. Where else was I going to get tiny plastic containers of syrup, a tin of macha, Hello Kitty candy, and a box of red bean ice cream? That would be Sunshine Mart. I go to the one above St. Mark's Books.

And so I got home, tired from work and the all the running around town. But I still couldn't shake this image from my mind: